Clarksville, TN to Bumpis Mills, TN

Date             October 9, 2011

Day               103

Departure      Clarksville, TN Town Dock  8:00 am
Arrival           Bumpis Mills Marina-Bumpis Mills, TN 1:50 pm

Miles                48.6    

Cumulative   2442.4

Up at 6:30 am, just a light mist on the river today.  We were able to get underway a bit earlier than we have been and continued back down the Cumberland River, making our way to the Kentucky Lake and the Tennessee River.  We decided to stop at Bumpis Mills Marina and tried to call them on the cellphone-no cell phone service.  The nearest town is 18 miles away!  Tried to reach them on the VHF, no answer.  We slowly headed up  the marked channel and the marina came into view.  The marina is more of a fish camp than a "marina".  The guide book states they can accommodate two or three boats up to 75 feet in length at various locations within the marina.  Good thing we were the only boat coming in and not traveling with the three other loopers we had been traveling with!  An older man and women appeared on the porch of the floating office and indicated that we should pull alongside the office; we did!  Below is a picture taken out the port side, fly bridge window along with some other shots of the marina.    

Office building roof and docks seen from our port flybridge window

Click on this picture 2x to enlarge.  The painted rings on the tree mark the high water mark from May 2011!

The boat launch area was right alongside our starboard side.  Shortly after we arrived, fisherman in their bass boats were coming in from the river in droves.  I commented to one of them and he said there was a fishing tournament today and the weigh-in was at 3pm!  There must have been 30 boats that came into the ramp and hauled out.  Later on, we took the dogs to shore and struck up a conversation with one of the fisherman who was cleaning his catch.  He gave us some fish he had just caught, catfish and crappie.  Crappie is a small whitefish that is popular in this area.  We cooked it up and enjoyed it for dinner.  After all the fishermen and their boats had left, there was not a sole in the parking area, we were the only ones there!  Thankfully, there was a large bright light at the launch area and it was almost a full moon.  Otherwise, it would have been pitch dark!  This has to been the most remote, quaint "marina" we have ever stayed in to date.  All in all it was a most enjoyable, peaceful experience.

Sunset from the aft of m/v Erika Lin at Bumpis Mills