Pebble Isle and Clifton

We stayed at Paris Landing State Park Marina on Monday night. The trip was very short so we arrived early and got settled. There were two other Looper boats (Jeremiah and Seamore) and they asked us to go to dinner with them. There is a lodge about a 1/2 mile away across the highway. I don't know why but the park rangers pick you up and drop you off in their official cars which means I was in the back of a patrol car with bars and locked doors. I am not saying I have ever been in one but I was sweating just a little. The dinner was a buffet with ribs, chicken, hamburgers, salad, vegetables and desert for $9.95 each. The down side is that the county is dry - but that just saved me money. There was a free concert at the park and fireworks at dark. All in all a very nice place to stay and did I mention the cost to stay one night was $28. All three boats left the next day but we were only going to Pebble Isle Marina which was about 40 miles and they were going much farther, but when we got to Pebble Isle they turned in also which was nice to spend another night with them. There were other Looper boats there including Sweet Pea who we have been running into. Pebble Isle Marina is in New Johnsonville, TN and is a very nice marina. They have free appetizers at night and free cinnamon rolls in the morning. They also have great ribs for dinner which we ate on Tuesday night.

I wasn't going to tell this story until we knew how much damage we did. When we left Green Turtle Bay we decided to anchor out for the night all by ourselves. We picked what we thought was a very easy place and according to the guides had plenty of water. The opening was wide but there was a pontoon near the shore so we went just a little wide to the right and guess what. Yes, we ran aground. We were pretty calm (well Ginny was) and we took our time and then decided to back off the sand bar - only it wasn't just sand, it was mostly gravel according to the noise. We got back in the river and I ran the boat up to full speed to see if there was major damage. It seemed OK so being a college graduate I decided to try it again and well you can guess the results, so we bagged it an went to Paris Landing. I knew Paris Landing did not have haul out facilities so I called ahead to Pebble Isle and Randy said he could probably haul the boat and check the damage. When we got to Pebble I talked to Randy and he suggested getting a diver to check the props before we did anything else. That sounded good to me and he said the diver would be there on Wednesday morning. I had considered using the hooka that Bill from Candy Dish let me use but it was pretty cold. The diver showed up as scheduled on a small boat with a compressor for air and a butane burner like they use to cook outside. The first thing he did was light the burner which seemed odd to me but he said it was used to heat water in a hose that he put down the front of his wet suit to keep him warm. Anyway he went under and said that the props were fine except for a few scratches. Ginny and I high-fived and the rest of the day was spent washing and waxing the boat because we didn't have to sell it.

We left Pebble Isle on Thursday and went 60 miles to Clifton Marina in Clifton, TN. Clifton is a nice little marina and they let us use the courtesy car to go to the store. We are planning on just one night here and then moving on the Grand Harbor in Pickwik where we will stay for 3 nights.

GPS Tracks into and out of the anchorage that didn't happen

Paris Landing State Park Entrance

Leaving Paris Landing

Birds nest in just about every marker.

What happened to the rest of the bridge ?

Going into Pebble Isle

The diver and his helper.

Notice the heater to his left.

Leaving Pebble Isle

This part of the Tennessee is very pretty

Good advertising

Clifton, TN

Sonja was waiting for us when we got in the marina.

Clifton is the home of a Pulitzer prize winner.

His house is now a library.

Back on the Road (River) Again

Well we are refreshed and ready to start traveling again. We rented a car and drove back to Columbus for a week. It was great to see the family and friends. We have been at Green Turtle Bay for 2 weeks and it is time to get moving again. Green Turtle Bay is about 25 miles from Paducah, KY and the marina has courtesy cars so we went to Paducah several times.

One time we went because the girls wanted to go to the Quilt Museum. Luckily for the guys there was a rib fest right on the river which is where the museum was, so we had something to do. Paducah is where we also had to go to rent the car for our trip home, but Enterprise picked us up at the marina and dropped us off.

We had several good meals right in Grand Rivers at the Yacht Club at the marina and the best meal at a local place called Sugar and Spice. Sugar and Spice is owned by a German lady and her husband and they only have 14 chairs. She is only open if someone calls during the day and wants dinner. We called on a Friday morning and we were the only guests she had that night but she still hosted us and served us one of the best meals we have ever had. The kitchen and dining room are in the same room so she would talk to us as she was cooking. If you are ever in Grand Rivers you should eat at Sugar and Spice.

We also had to part company with our traveling companions on "Free To B" and "Nova" which was very sad but I hope wee see them again soon. There were at least 20 Looper boats in the marina while we were there and we got to meet most of them.

Even though we stopped for 2 weeks we are still a little ahead of schedule because we are going to the Looper gathering in Alabama starting October 23rd which is only about 250 miles away. We are planning on arriving in Joe Wheeler State Park for the rendezvous about October 14. Today we left Green Turtle Bay about 9:30 and are now at Paris Landing State Park in Tennessee. It's good to be back moving again and having something to write about. We are here with two other Looper boats and we are going to dinner with them shortly.

Our last dinner with "Free To B" and "Nova" at the Yacht Club

Quilt Museum in Paducah

Statue of Lewis and Clark

Paducah was founded by Lewis and Clark

The rib fest.

This vendor is from Columbus, Oh so that is where I ate.

The wall along the river is decorated with murals.

Sugar and Spice

The crew at Sugar and Spice (our chef is in the middle).

Our boat at Green Turtle Bay

Leaving today

The yacht club is on the stilts

Leaving GTB

Coming into Paris Landing

Paris Landing Marina

Green Turtle Bay in Grand Rivers, Kentucky

In the last post on Sunday night we were at anchor on the Ohio River across from the Olmstead Dam and I was worried about the anchor slipping. Well the anchor held just fine but I slept (about an hour total) on the bridge just in case. The wind died down and the boat was rocking peacefully until the early morning when the wind came back and it started raining. We had agreed to leave at 7:00 so we could get to Green Turtle Bay. At 6:30 it looked pretty bleak but we left at 7 in the rain up the Ohio. We had three locks to go through and the first one (Lock 53) was only a couple of miles away. Luckily the wickets were down which means that you can bypass the lock and go over the dam. It's raining, overcast, windy and Ginny is in the lead driving over a dam that we hope is really down far enough -not a great way to start the day.

It turns out that would be a piece of cake compared to all of the tows on the Ohio. The AIS was lit up like a Christmas tree for the next 40 miles. The next lock is Lock 52 and the wickets were not down so we had to lock through. We had a very hard time getting the lock master to answer but when she did it was only about a 20 minute wait. We had to pass several tows on the way and at one time we were passing one on his port and another one was passing me on my port. You have to exit the Ohio at the Cumberland which is a right hand turn. The Cumberland is a much different river, it is narrow and much prettier than the Ohio but we are still going up hill. I think I mentioned that we had not pumped out in a while so we were pretty desperate to get to Green Turtle Bay Marina before they closed at 6:00. It was getting pretty late and we still had to go through one more very large lock. "Free to B" was behind us and Gene called and suggested that we kick up the speed for the last 10 miles to make up some time. He no sooner got off the radio before I was up on plane running 20MPH. We made it to the lock about 4:00 and were locked right through. Green Turtle Bay Marina was only a mile farther and we fueled up and pumped out.

Green Turtle Marina is in Grand River, KY and it is exactly what we needed. It is large, well protected, modern with all the amenities you could want. The first thing we did was fill up the water tank and shower. Ginny from the "Free to B" had arranged for a restaurant named Patti's to pick us up for dinner. Patti's is famous in these parts and their specialty is 2" thick pork chops. We are in a dry county and we should have bought our own alcohol but I forgot which was fine because the meal was terrific. After dinner we crashed and I slept like a baby.

On Tuesday we cleaned the boat really well but not much else. When I was washing the boat a guy knocked on the boat and introduced himself as John Wright. He was dressed in business casual so I didn't think he was Looper. It turns out that he has a house boat in the marina and has been following the blog since August. He read that we were going to be in Green Turtle so he drove 100 miles from his house to say hi. John had stuff to do on his boat but he needed to be back home soon so we didn't really get to spend a lot of time but his visit was much appreciated and I hope to follow his blog when he does the Loop some day. We visited with other boats and had dinner on the boat.

Today I changed to oil and then Ginny and I got a golf cart and rode into town for a little look see and lunch at Patti's because they are also know for their pie's which we didn't get a chance to try at dinner. Some of the stores were closed but it was still a nice little town.

We are ahead of schedule so we are going to rent a car and go see the kids for a few days. We are planning on starting back on the trip on October 3. Unfortunately we will be losing our traveling companions. "Free to B" is going home and won't be returning until October 6 and "Nova" is going to continue on because they want to get to Florida and they don't have any restrictions on their insurance. I probably wont be blogging as often but I will stay in touch.

The Olmstead Lock at 7:00 in the morning

Nova and Free to B leaving the anchorage

The Cumberland River

Still a lot of industry on the Cumberland

Now this is a much nicer river

This is where we started going fast to make the lock

The Barkley Lock which has a 57 foot rise

The doors closing behind us.

We have arrived and a pump out is just around the corner

Ginny was all smiles

The town of Grand Rivers

A random sign on the highway

Patti's is a legend

Pork is their speciality

There is other stuff to do at Patti's

Off of the Mississippi and on the Ohio

In the last post we were tied up to a lock wall on the Mississippi and I was pretty frustrated with the river but the last couple of days have been much better because I am more comfortable with the river and the traffic. The night on the lock wall was very comfortable with no wind or waves. We left around 9:00 headed for Little Diversion Channel which was about 70 miles. We didn't have any locks so we arrived to our anchorage late in the afternoon and had plenty of time to get anchored. The three boats rafted together with two of the boats using their front anchor and one of the boats had both a front and stern anchor. It took a little while because the current was going one way and the wind was going the opposite direction so we weren't sure which way to set the anchors, but we got it. After we were set, another three boats came in and they rafted together also. Gene on "Free To B" took his dog Skipper in the dinghy so he could go the the bathroom on shore. Unfortunately the river bank was all mud and Gene was up to his knees in mud.

We started out today at 8:30 and we were only going to travel 40 miles to an anchorage that was supposed to be easy. When we got the anchorage at about noon I went in first and I had a really hard time. The water was shallow and the wind was strong so we all decided to keep going. Jennifer on "Nova" did a great job of calling the locks ahead of us and getting recommendations on places to anchor on the Ohio. We were originally not going to travel on the Ohio until tomorrow, but we decided to go up the Ohio to right before the first lock and anchor. The government is building a new lock and dam about a mile South of the existing dock and one of the tow operators working on the new lock said we should anchor right across from lock on the Kentucky side behind a cell. I knew what a cell was but I had to ask which side was the Kentucky side. A cell is a large round structure built in the river to protect the dam and lock from damage. This cell was right on the edge of the river so we went in behind the cell and close to the shore.

Since we got on the Ohio River we are going upstream into the current. Normally you would expect to turn the boat into the current and drop the anchor which would push the boat against the anchor. We did that but the wind was really strong and was the opposite direction of the current so we kind of just moved around in a circle until the wind died down and now we are being pushed back by the current. It took Ginny and I a while to get into a routine about everything such as driving, cooking, bloging, ect., but we have not practiced anchoring so we are still learning. Ginny compared the process of anchoring to wall-papering with your spouse. We dropped the anchor today and it just wouldn't hold so we picked it up and had to drop it again - now we are set. I have two anchor alarms set, but tonight will be a one eye open kind of night if you know what I mean. Maybe I will sleep on the bridge. We are hoping to get to Green Turtle Bay tomorrow and a real marina. Did I mention that we haven't pumped out in a long time and we are running out of fresh water.

The lock wall on the Kaskaskai River.

The Dam at Kaskaskai

This is view from the lock on the Kaskaskai River looking towards the Mississippi with a tow going North.

These structures are everywhere and are designed to keep the river flowing towards the middle.

They are marked on the charts but you still need to keep a sharp eye out.

A prison in Chester, IL -

The home of Popeye.

I would have said we were in Missouri, but I guess the signs don't lie.

We saw this LST in Peoria a few days ago.

Two of the three other boats that were in Diversion Channel with us.

On the left is an overview of the Mississippi and you can see that it is not straight.

At times we were going NorthEast and still had a current behind us.

When we got to the Ohio this is the first thing we saw.

The first bridge on the Ohio.

The Olmstead Lock and Dam across the river from where we are anchored.

The other two boats with us at anchor.

You can see that they are not exactly lined up with the current.

You can also see the cell I was talking about in the narrative.

This is how close we are to shore and we are still in about 10' of water.