End of the season & back

Our first season in the Vol Navy went by too quickly in many ways.  All the people we met and the fun of being on the river was more than could have ever been imagined.  The time it takes to get to Knoxville for gameday and the time it takes to get back home after it's over were also more than could have ever been imagined.  Next year we hope to be able to shorten that somewhat.

The last two home games obviously didn't go as hoped.  Auburn comes into the season ranked as low as the Vols and look how that has turned out.  We did however have a nice weekend.  Friday was a beautiful day for coming up river and Saturday was forecast to be another sunny day.  Somehow it didn't quite work out that way, but the gray day didn't result in rain which was great.  There were as many AU fans on the boat that day as people in the correct shade of orange.  The party was much better than the game!!

On Friday before the last home game, we had come up river early in the rain to catch a UT men's basketball game.  We were the only boat at Calhoun's so docking was prime.  Our bball game was a W so nice start for the weekend.  Temperatures were falling and a 7 PM kickoff on Saturday meant it would be a cold evening.  The Vandy game was one that we all hoped the team would pull out for a chance at a bowl game, but one red flag at 48 seconds to go changed that around.  Sunday provided another bright sunny day for the last trip to Choto before going back to Chattanooga.

Until this year, I had never had to think about the logistics of moving a boat.  Planning the trip back down river took quite a bit of that.  There's the car that needs to be at the marina in Chattanooga to get us back to Marietta, but we still need to drive to Knoxville.  A one way rental car solved that and my frat brother Mike helped me turn that in and get back to the boat.  It was about 26 degrees that morning and we needed fuel, water and a pump-out.  Ft Loudon Marina was the planned location to get all that done.  It took a bit longer than expected as no one was at the fuel dock, but we got everything done and headed for the lock at about 11AM.

Needless to say, we hadn't been in a lock since the trip up in August and now headed down stream one new twist comes into play.  I like to lock thru with the port side on the dock wall.  That's the way I learned so it's just more comfortable.  But the two locks we have to go back through only have bollards on one side and that means a starboard tie up.  We adapted without incident and were reminded that locking down is smoother than locking up because the chamber is draining and there are no whirlpools created like when the chamber is filling. 

Friday ended at Blue Springs Marina where we stayed over night,  Nice place, but hard to find off the channel.  We had a spot right in the "front row" - all by ourselves - for the evening.   The day had warmed up.  We grilled and had dinner on the bridge before the sun set and the temperature went back down into the mid-20's.

We had a bit of a surprise on Saturday morning.  Turns out the marina location is very close to the Central Time Zone and our clocks all corrected to CST.  That made us an hour late leaving, but we didn't know it until the clocks started shifting back to EST.  It took a phone call to figure out what was happening.  Now we needed to make up time and that resulted in a bit of adventure.

The south end of Ft Loudon Lake has several short cuts that trim off places where the river literally doubles back on itself.  One of those is about 11 miles upstream from Watts Bar Dam.  It is well marked on the chart plotter and in the chart book as well - if you get the book out to check it.  Well it would cut off about 5 miles and that would be a big help.  As we approached the inlet, Regina says "this is just like when we used go off trail skiing" and little did we know that we were about to go into the woods.  At first, the cut thru looked pretty good.  Not huge but water depth was fine.  Then we turned into the final section and the channel width went down to less than 30' and the water depth was suddenly reading 2.3'!!  I NEED no less than 3.0' and here we are with no way out.  Somehow we get through.  My depth finder must have some fluff in the numbers because we didn't even stir up any mud.  Won't be doing that again anytime soon!!

Watts Bar had the lock ready for us about 10 minutes after we got there.  Down we go and when we exit we are back to Chickamauga Lake with 59 miles to go to our marina.  This part of the river is virtually undeveloped and we go almost 30 miles before seeing anything other than fisherman and wildlife.  There is a large bird sanctuary in that area and along the river were hundreds of egrets as well as other sea birds.

It was great to come back into our marina near the dam.  We were hailed on the radio by another couple on our dock who were out for a little ride.  By 4:30, the boat was back in it's slip and it was time to find a location to go watch the Vols play Kentucky.  Seemed like an eternity since our last win, but that game ended well as did our first experience with the Navy.  Go Big Orange - Blue Ayes is back home.

GA and SC

I was told the other day that I was a month behind. "Why?  What do you mean?"  I had to ask. The answer was that I was a month behind writing about our boating adventures. When I started writing this little blog, it was just to document the trip from Louisiana. It never occurred to me that anyone would actually want to read this so I am quite amazed and humbled to find that this created a following. That being the case, time to catch up.

We've been to all of Tennessee's home games so far, right in the middle of the Vol Navy, and have have a great time.  It never ceases to amaze how friendly boat people are. Each weekend new people become our neighbors and new acquaintances.  Everyone has new stories and tips. Different places to visit. Who would have ever imagined.

Our daughter came up from Houston to go to the Georgia game. It was great to get to spend some time with her. She had not seen the boat and I think she had fun on the river. The first weekend of October was beautiful. Blue skies and warm weather.  Marine-Max of Chattanooga sponsored a trip up the river for the game and when we arrived the Navy numbers had grown dramatically. As we motored in looking for spot to tie up, our dock neighbors from Erwin were yelling at us from their boat. We got to catch up with them and others we hadn't seen since moving north in August.

The last two weeks have been heart-breakers and heart-stoppers.  The Vols were so close to beating Georgia it stunned the crowd and everyone just sat staring in disappointment. The exact opposite happened at the next game as UT won over South Carolina as time expired.  This time no one left the stadium because of the celebration.  The broken panorama is sort of an indication of how the place was shaking.  It is beginning to seem as though, just maybe, the Vols are starting to turn things around.

For both weekends we have had lots of old friends, frat brothers and even a visit by my Mom (96 years young) who drove in to see her granddaughter. You never know where you will be until arriving at the dock area and sometimes getting to and from the boat isn't easy. Some of our friends who came at the Georgia game had to crawl across ten boats to get to ours. At least no one from our group went into the water which did not apply to the Dawg fan who managed to fall backwards off our neighbor's swim platform loosing his hat and one shoe!!  Watching those float down the river was more than just a little humorous.

Our only problem lately arose when we returned after an especially long Georgia game day to find our batteries had discharged to the point the generator would not start.  Jump starting a boat is something I had never thought much about until that night. Again people came from so many places to help. I learned about starter packs and how to use jumper cables from bow thruster batteries. It took a while, but we got it cracked up and all was well after that.  Guess I won't be shutting down the generator again when leaving for the game!!

As the weather begins to get colder, it's time to start figuring out how to keep things warm. It was 48 degrees outside when we got up Sunday morning.  The inside temperature was 61. Certainly makes you want to stay under  the covers, but we found that the boat warms up pretty quickly with the heaters on, so now it's just a matter of learning how to set them. The morning was beautiful with fog on the water and the sun shining brightly. The river was close to being as smooth as glass and the ride back to our temporary marina was nice and relaxing. Can't wait to get back for the next game - only two home games remain until it will be time to make the trip back to Chattanooga.

Trip up the river, Vol Navy & Boomsday

The last two months have been spent learning our way around the Chattanooga area. We've gone downtown several times, anchored out a lot and even got invited to a really cool yacht club party. All along I've been working to get ready for our next big trip and we have just made it back home from that trip - mostly successfully.

Last Wednesday afternoon we left Chattanooga to head up river to Knoxville. It's football time in Tennessee and joining the Vol Navy has been a goal for a long time so off we went. Day one got us just on the other side of Watts Bar Dam as the sun was setting.  Beautiful day and very scenic ride. Chickamauga Lake has many very nice homes all along until about the point where the Hiwassee River enters the lake. From there on to the dam, it is basically wild, undeveloped land. The river narrows and was much like the narrows south of Chattanooga.  The lock at Watts Bar is the smallest we had seen, narrow with bollards on one side only. Just above the dam is a nice little state park with a well sheltered cove where we anchored and grilled dinner.

Thursday morning our goal was to start about 8 AM and have a slow cruise up to Ft Loudon Dam for dinner at Calhoun's. The trip upstream was very comfortable with another nice sunny day.  The lake is wide and again lined with many beautiful homes. One of the wildest things we saw along this stretch of river was a home with a giant Power "T" cut into the grass. His boathouse had an orange and white checkerboard roof housing an orange hulled boat!!  We had to wait to get through the lock, but still arrived with a little time to chill before an early dinner provided by a surprise visit from a mechanical engineer buddy who was there visiting his Mom. Thanks Steve, the ribs were fabulous as usual and the company was very enjoyable!

Friday morning did not start as planned. Fog caused a two hour delay so we did not leave until 10 AM.  After one slight disorientation leaving the marina, we got into the channel and off toward Choto marina which will be the boat's home for the next three months. Now I have water skied on Ft Loudon many years ago, but oh how it has changed!  As we head on north, the homes (read mansions) that we passed were unbelievable both in number and size. It took an hour to reach Choto where we stopped to find our slip and be sure all was in order. More on that later. We continued on for the next three hours enjoying the views as we got closer and closer to the Navy.

As we rounded the bend at Alcoa Highway, it all began to come into perspective. There was the Ag Campus, the Vet school, then the top of Thompson Boling, Neyland Stadium and the Navy docks. Dozens of boats were already there. We're rookies, first timers, where do we go?  I passed the Lady Vols boathouse trying to figure out where the limits of the UT control ended. Not sure, so we cruised on toward Calhoun's on the river where we worked ourselves into an empty spot. My frat brother Alan was there yelling at us from the deck and saved the day by being our dock hand. No one was around so he came and caught lines, helped us get into position, tie fenders and drop anchor. He also brought ice and liquor!!  

Saturday was game day. We had our first boat-gating event with about 30 people on board. I'm still not sure how they all fit. Friends, frat brothers, a co-worker, my dentist, our godson and some students all joined in. It was a blast!  The new Butch Jones' Vols took the field and won the game 45-0 over Austin Peay.  The entire second team played the entire second half and everyone in orange enjoyed the day. 

Sunday we waited all day for Boomsday. Biggest fireworks show in the south. First time we had ever seen it. Huge crowds come and enjoy food, music, all sorts of booths and interesting sights for the whole day. Fireworks synchronized to music on a local station began at 9:30. The show did not disappoint, but the black mess on all the boats did. Apparently the wind blew in the opposite of normal direction and we all spent the next hours trying to clean up.

Monday arrives way too soon (and early). We have to get out of the raft up and go south to Choto. It's a three hour trip and the boat is still dirty, slip must be set up and we don't want Casey and Megan waiting on us forever. The departure was easier than expected. Folks were mostly up as promised or did so quickly after banging on their doors. No rain even though it was threatening. Made it to the marina and headed for our new slip which turned out to be about 4" too low. So after tearing off my anchor light, we move into one that fits and begin tying, washing and packing. Needless to say, I was not happy, happy, happy. Our friends meet us soon after we let them know all is set. Off we went to get our car in Chattanooga.

The first chapter of this adventure is finished.   Can't wait to it all again!!

Riverbend Survivor

We've been going to the Riverbend music festival in Chattanooga for the last several years and this was to be no exception. The trip had been planned for months to go with some friends we have known for nearly 30 years. This was done way before we knew that we had the boat or when we could actually get it moved. Since the big trip was completed and the boat was there, we figured we would just go stay on it and try for a spot on the wall at the festival.

I got on a waiting list and hoped for a call, but no luck. The boat was our hotel and we just drove in the first two days we were there. That was all good since we could walk around to the various stages and see different performers as well as the main stage. Wednesday was Dirks Bentley and Thursday was Lynyrd Skynyrd. It was great fun! Sadly, our friends had an emergency and had to leave early Friday morning. 

At this point, Regina and I decided to just go down to the Chattanooga Riverfront and anchor. This will be the first time we have seen the concert from the water side. Our slip neighbor "Doc" had already gone down and had a front row spot. The plan was to raft up with him so off we went on our first solo trip. Lock down thru Chickamauga was no problem although I must admit the perspective of locking down is way different than going up.  Doc was there with another boat so we rafted up on his port side, set the anchor and settled in to enjoy what he described as AMATEUR HOUR!!  This was Friday so the weekend was beginning. Today turns out to be relatively calm compared to what would happen on Saturday. 

Saturday was the final day and includes an amazing fireworks show. Everybody comes for that. We spend the afternoon fending off various boats that try to ram into us and struggling with a couple of others who actually hook the anchor rode of the boat we are rafted with. Thinking this couldn't get much worse, some guy in a boat in front of us decides to take a swim in the 3 knot current. We try to throw him a life ring, but he's gone too quick and he ends up about a half mile down river before he finally gets picked up.  

The crowd continues to arrive and attempt to deal with the flow and set things supposed to be anchors??  Now here we're talking buckets filled with concrete, CMU blocks, and all sorts of tiny little hooks usually tied on with something like ski rope. Most of these will not set, so its back and forth trying to hook. And then when these "anchors" let go, seeing how many others could be knocked off of theirs as they float downstream. This continues for hours, but finally is over before the fireworks begin. When the fireworks show is over, the freak show begins again. People are going in every direction, running into one another and getting tangled up. We just stay put and hope they will all miss us!!

Its now Sunday and time to head back to the marina. We wait until about noon and then head upstream for the lock. About the time we start, so do about 10 other boats!  This is getting interesting.  We all have to wait at the lock for a tug/barge to get thru and when we finally get in, there are 15 boats in the lock!!  Crazy maneuvering is required to get everyone in, but somehow it works. Up we go, one at a time we get unhooked and out the top side. From here is just a quick trip to the marina and by 3 Blue Ayes is back in her slip.  We survived!!!

The final two

On Wednesday June 5, we left Bay Hill just before 10 after a bit of a late night and thinking we had an easy day ahead of us. The plan was for 70 miles and one lock so we should be there early afternoon in time to relax and take care of a couple of minor issues with the boat. We only had to run about 62 miles, hit the lock and then 8 miles to the marina. Easy..........well not so fast

The run to the lock was easy enough. We had learned to call ahead on the cell phone to let the lock master know we were on the way. So when I called Guntersville lock and he said 2 1/2 hours before we could go up - well that just screwed the pooch. Not only were we not going to get there early, it was looking like we couldn't get to Alred Marina before they closed. We had a tug/barge in front of us and this guy was having issues.

The current from the lock/dam was running strong and I'm not saying that I'm any kind of expert boat captain, but it's not my real job either. So we sit and watch this tug driver first get stuck on the bank and then not be able to get his barges in the lock. This was the first time we had seen how the tug puts barges in the lock and then goes up after them. That's all cool, but they won't let us go up with the tug so we end up anchored waiting 3 1/2 hours to lock up.

Tom and I have the same boat insurance agent and he owns Alred Marina. That makes me think its a good place to stop and it is a nice place. Jon's brother stays late and meets us after closing time, we get a car and nice spot to dock, but the fuel prices just went back to Katrina days!!!  After a great seafood dinner in town, we get back to the boat and crash for the night.

I'm certain it must be 3AM when I hear my engines start up and all kinds of other noises outside.  After finding my glasses and phone, I determine it is 6 AM and Tom is up and has us moving. What in the world is going on??? Takes me a few to get it together and get outside. We're idling down the channel and Tom is reminding me that we loose an hour today between Central and Eastern time zones.

My math on our last day's run is wrong because I transposed numbers in the river mile location for Chickamauga. Instead of 60, we are 104 miles from destination.   Good thing we are moving.  Today I decide to call the locks way earlier than we had been. There are only two head us us - Nickajack and Chickamauga.  Nickajack tells us they have just locked down a boat and the lock is ready for us.  No delay. Zip right through.

Now the lock master did tell me he had just locked up two tug/barges. So we were looking, trying to figure if they could hold us up ahead. We caught the first one in a narrow part of the channel where the current is raging. This is crazy, but we take him on the inside and get away from the prop mess behind him. I catch the second one just before Chattanooga in Moccasin Bend. We get around, but have to stop at Ross's Landing for some fuel to be able to get to Chickamauga.

The final few miles are a breeze. The lock is waiting on us and the marina is right past the dam. We arrive and meet all the Erwin folks who have helped us so much. Found our slip and set it up. Toasted the trip and went to dinner. We're here, finally here, our first adventure is over. Now what's next?