This is the very last anchorage on the Little Tennessee. There's a dam about a mile up river but it has no locks. There's no where to go other than back.
We enjoyed the Fort's anchorage and will probably return in a couple of days. We still need to explore the fort itself. There's also a museum somewhere 'round here.
Dawn #1
Just a quick hour long trip to get here. The leaves are starting to change, and we're enjoying some nifty mountain vistas.
We are very near a motorcycling destination call The Tail of the Dragon. As a result we hear some bikes as they travel up and down the road. Apparently it's a windy, twisty piece of pavement that calls the Harley owners and lures them to their deaths. Well, not all of them, but statistically in 2018 there were 83 crashes, 62 of them involving motorcycles, and 3 of the cyclists died. So, be careful out there!
Dawn #2. We had massive fogs in the morning of late so I was thrilled to get some good AM pics.
The plan is to stay here a couple of nights, then find a nearby marina to take on water and pump out. And continue our lazy anchoring week.
The Joe Wheeler event, known as Looper Palooza, happens Oct 18 - 21. Normally, we'd plan around it, to be ahead or behind the pack. This time we really don't care. Been so long since we had to share a lock with anyone, we think it would be a refreshing change.
The Fort has lots of picnic areas. You can see inQuest through the trees.
Sleeping pugs on the tender ride to the final dam.
inQuest at anchor. The Smokies are in the distance on the left.
This is largely about the mountains in the distance.
Around the 3 minute mark you'll see an old railroad bridge
We weren't overwhelmed with Power Line Cove. Our plan had been do stay there a couple of days. It was quite secluded and quiet, so that was awesome. But there wasn't a really dinghy dock as so much a wall made from rocks and kept in place with heavy-duty fencing. It made getting geriatric pugs off the boat a little challenging.
So we moved on. Russ wanted to get a bit of view of the Smokies. This new anchorage does that. It's biggest issue is it's exposed, but we aren't expecting any really weather problems. It should be dandy for a few days.
There is a tourist attraction nearby, Fort Loudoun, but the Apres Sail folks want to see it and we're not in any hurry. We'll wait for them, then take a tour.
We tendered to a restaurant. Here's the view from their deck.
Common sight here on the Tennessee. Farm silos, now just boat hazards.
After having dinner with the crew of Après Sail they decided to go onto Knoxville for a couple of days, then explore the Little Tennessee River and it's lake, Tellico. Meanwhile, we plan on hanging out on Tellico Lake for a couple of weeks. We'll all meet again in a few days.
The entire lake is about 30 miles long, then there's another dam that has no lock, so there is no going beyond that point. This particular place, Power Line Cove, was recommended to us by folks of the FLYC, as they do group outtings to it. It's well protected and has a couple of places to dock to walk a dog. Our hopes are high.
We had a small hitch in bringing up the anchor first thing in the morning. While we had no weather, no wind, and no currents to speak of. Yet something was on our bridles. It took some backing up and bucking to free the lines and chain. Eventually, it worked out just fine. But very weird.
We dinghy-ed the dog to shore. This is looking back at inQuest. Nope, we couldn't see it either.
The journey today was just a little over an hour. Another later start since we woke in a thick pea soup. But once it burned off, the sun was warm and the sky was blue.
Note: Après is French for after. Michael and Kathleen used to do the sailboat thing. This was the first power boat they owned, from what I understand, thus the name -- After Sail.
Having just been at this marina a week ago or so we decided to just anchor out. However, looper friends, Michael and Kathleen of Apres Sail, were coming to the marina. With a quick tender ride we joined them for dinner at Calhoun's.
We spent an extra day at the FLYC, or Fort Loudoun Yacht Club. Originally we were told we could only stay Friday night since there was "haps" on Saturday. The haps was the Gator Hater party they have whenever the Tennessee Vols play the Florida Gaters. But they invited us to join them, so we did.
Note to loopers: The FLYC has reciprocity with other yacht clubs, including MTOA. Fuel here was the cheapest we've had in a while as a result.
Seriously out-classed by the locals. The farthest yacht is 120'.
Fog blanketed the river this morning. We suspect this will be a thing for a couple of weeks given the air is cooler and the water remains warm. Besides, it was going to be a short day. By 9:30 in the morning it was lifted enough that we could travel. We can travel in the fog, but since it was dreary and rainy when we came up I really wanted to see the river with sunny, blue skies on our way down.
No issues. A little debris to dodge here and there. It took 2 tries to set the anchor, but it's solid. Nothing left to do but watch the sunset.
The city limits are fairly large. We traveled about 2 hours and are still in Knoxville. But we fueled up and are docked in the Fort Loudoun Yacht Club.
Downtown Knoxville was quite nice. Largely supportive of the school, Tennessee University, as we explored the area we found all sort of orange clothing, backpacks, masks, hats, all bearing the "T" or "Vols" insignia. And we got around quite a bit, both by feet and by the free mass transit trolleys that run about the place. Cute downtown, lots of restaurants, and handy shopping.
Foggy start to the day. You can see some dew-ladened spider webs, which made them look so pretty.
Today we waited for the morning fog to lift. Temps dipped into the low 40s for the first time this season. Won't be the last. Made for a nippy ride. Once the sun came out the pilot house warmed up nicely.
We didn't need fuel necessarily, but the prices at this yacht club were really good, and we got a discount being members of another yacht club. Reciprocity! We love that. From here for a long while it's all downhill, so we should get far on these full tanks.
Dawn in Knoxville
Parts of the river walk are quite lovely.
I don't often take pics of some homes but this one struck us as really odd. Can you see the castle like structure, which is separate from the home? We're thinking fancy kids house?
First we get fuel, then dock.
Note the HUGE boat to the right as we get fuel.
The thing was nearly 100 feet.
WHAT'S THAT LOOK LIKE TO YOU??!!! We stopped to do a MOB... Turns out it was a dummy. Painted on its chest were the words "Do No Move!" (Clearly someone elses MOB task)
Just one day off the autumnal equinox we've reached our last major destination, Knoxville. We plan on being here a couple of nights, then toodle our way back out of the Fort Loudoun Lake and onto Tellico Lake. We hope to take our time, letting the shortening days turn the leaves for us. We'll enjoy the cooler weather, too.
When we woke this morning it was 69 degrees and overcast. Once underway the front came rushing by, kicking up winds around 30 mph, and dropping temps into the mid-50s. It rained constantly, and the temps remained cool after the front had gone.
The Riverwalk, near our boat. Btw, these swings were huge on all the rivers. Saw them everywhere we went.
Lots of massive houses and estates lined this section of the river. While green it was more disappointing, view-wise.
Got docked, took a nap, walked a dog, then went to a Mediterranean place for falafels, called Yassin's. Knoxville is a college town, so we expected the place to be excellent. And it was.
After leaving the marina the weather turns dark.
You can see the cold front come in and the winds come up.
Back in 2016, I started a book series. Two novels of series exist, and you can find them on Amazon under "Jax Daniels", my pen name. Due to life, I have only written the 2 books, but a third is now underway.
The first, The Dead Man's Deal, has recently gotten some interest. A promoter is putting together a "story bundles" -- 10 books that have the same kind of themes -- and my book got included.
This bundle's theme is "cozy fantasy," meaning nothing horror-y or gory, and when the story ends you feel good rather than traumatized or afraid-to-turn-out-the-lights.
If this is up your alley, I'd love for you to check out the bundle. It's tied to a charity -- when I know which one I'll let you know. Moreover, anything I make from the bundle will be donated as well. That will be to a charity of my choosing, either one for breast cancer (as I am a survivor) or multiple myeloma, (as my father suffers from it). Maybe both!
Anyway, if that sounds interesting, the bundle will comes out Oct 20, 2021, in about a month. If you are interested reply here and I'll keep you informed.
(If you want a sneak peak at the book you can go to the website WinkiWitherspoon.com or flip through the first few pages on Amazon.)
We also need water. But the only water at Terrace View was on their fuel dock and, well, it was icky. So we only stayed the one night and headed out to Fort Loudoun Marina, just above the lock.
After a wet dog walk and some lattes we headed out. It rained throughout the day sometimes drizzly, other times steady. Despite the weather the views continue to get better, from massive expanses in the lakes to narrow channels weaving between brush-covered rock walls.
We ate at Calhoun's here at the marina. These ducks were begging for food. Look close and you'll see fish doing the same.
As we traveled Russ called the marina. Many times. Future boaters note: There's this weird behavior with river marinas that they do not answer their phones. And if you can get a hold of them they'll give you instructions like, "Go to the fuel dock to get instructions." We have heard that a number of times.
This marina was no different. Russ called, left messages. Apparently they did call him back but we were in the lock at the time.
This is the last lock up for the season. It's also the last new lock. From now on we know all the lock from here to Longboat Key.
We hailed the lock on 13. We hailed the lock on 16. Finally we called the lock on our cell and got a response. As we were locking through someone else hailed on 16 -- he answered them right away! Such is our boating experience. The lock was another small chamber but a 72 foot lift! It was impressive.
This is from yesterdays lock, Watt's Bar. 48 feet high.
You can see the water bubbling as the lock fills.
Even if FF time, it took a while.
Docking was a bit of an adventure. We had to get instructions from the guy at the fuel dock (rolling my eyes). T5 was our slip number (T for "transient"). The way the marina is laid out it took a bit of wiggling, twisting, and maneuvering down a long fairway to get to the slips. They were, however, unmarked. One on the far side read A3, which make me think we were in the wrong spot. We started to back out when a local chatted with Russ, explaining, no, that was correct. We got docked with about 3 feet under the keel.
From Fort Loudoun Lock (which is a little bumpy) to
our slip in the marina.
We'll be here a couple of nights. Lots of laundry to do after our guest left.
...and I will get ready for a special announcement.
I got to say, one of the weirdest things about the rivers is getting packages. On the loop (or anywhere on the east coast) this isn't even a thought. If you need something you'd just look ahead a couple of days and pick a marina, then have Amazon ship there. True, Covid has impacted Amazon's ability to do reliable 2 or 3 day deliveries, but on the rivers there are many, many marinas that just won't let you ship stuff to them. This marina, Terrace View, wasn't on our "boy, we want to go there" list, but they did accept packages.
Additionally, after nearly 10 days of anchorages or walls, we seriously needed to pump out.
The dinghy dock at Grasshopper. Russ is in the tender, waiting for me.
We raised the anchor around 8:30 am. Grasshopper was another great anchorage; quiet neighbors, lots of water, easy in and out. Rainy day, all day, so it was nice being inside.
Watts Bar Lock is the only lock we did, which raised us another 59 feet. We happened to set up for a port side tie (so all the fenders were on the left side of the boat) which turned out to be a great call. There were 3 floating bollards on the port side, and only 1 on the starboard side, and it was right up front, which can be a little turbulent when the chamber fills. I noted it on our Quimby's guide for when we come back down.
Dreary day on the water.
We hailed the lock early, but at about a mile out the lockmaster realized he was prepping the chamber the wrong way. (I heard Russ tell him we were headed UP at least 3 times). So we had a small delay while he flipped it for us.
Watt Bar Lake is the most beautiful we've seen thus far. Lots of little islands and bays. We are jamming our way up to Knoxville, but we'll putter down and take advantage of this pretty anchorages. And watch the fall colors descend on the hills.
Our guest left us in the late morning, late enough that we didn't want to put in a long day. We started engines around 11:30 and traveled to another anchorage, about 2 hours away.
We stayed in Booker Washington Park for 3 days, and cannot recommend the place enough. Very protected, convenient dinghy dock, nice (and clean) public bathrooms, and friendly people. Right there on the dinghy dock is a bait shop, which made it handy for Jesse to do some fishing.
After threats for rain for days, it finally happened. We traveled and set the anchor in rain.
We don't mind. We like the sound of it on our roof.
inQuest on the little bay at BTW Park.
Pretty sunrise.
Roiling skies. Got no rain, though.
We spied deer on the bank one morning.
I call this one "Lone Heron." Blue Herons are quite solitary. They do not flock or gaggle or group. Even if there is another nearby, they are not "together". But... they are everywhere. From Canada to Florida, from the Altantic to the Mississippi, just look around, and you'll see a Blue Heron. PS. Not the prettiest sounding bird by any means.
Jesse will be leaving us Saturday, flying out of Chattanooga. As a result, we don't want to travel too far so we can keep the Uber ride back simple.
But we did got through another lock. This one was a might confusing. It's very small, only 360 feet long and 60 feet wide, so most tows need to break down to get through. Which is why they are building a BIG chamber. All the construction, however, made navigating into and through the lock a bit of a challenge.
Chattanooga is the starting point for the Trail of Tears. This fountain marks the very start. The running waters are the tears. It's also a water fountain for kids and families. And Jesse, in this case.
Once on the other side we chose to anchor near the Booker T. Washington Park. It's sheltered and has a very handy dinghy dock. We think we'll stay here a couple of nights. It is quite peaceful. Besides, remnants of Nicola are headed this way.
While a short day we changed our recording rate from 1 frame
every 5 seconds to 1 frame every second.
As a result, this is the whole day, in 4 minutes.
The above video is interesting around 1:45 where we approach the lock. We were instructed to wait by the railroad bridge and he'd blow the horn when we could come in. Due to the construction it wasn't at all clear where the lock even was let alone how to get into it. I kept asking myself, "How do tows do this?"
We didn't try to get a crazy early start today. The next section of the Tennessee was called "The Gorge" and said to be very beautiful. So we wanted to see it, which would have been tough in the fog that started the day. Russ went for a run and we waited a couple of hours, having coffees and breakfast, before we headed out.
Gray misty, foggy morning
There were a couple of small tows we encountered. The only water "hazard" was The Suck. The Tennessee narrows considerably and deepens. We lost nearly a knot in the area and tracked over 125 feet of depth (by the time I got my camera out to shoot our reader is went up to 108). Historically, before this was Nickajack Lake, it was a serious problem. It caused a whirl that spun your boat, then sucked you into the rocks. This characteristic of the river was remarked on by Johnny Cash. For your listening enjoyment:
Otherwise the focus of the day was on the Gorge. The hills soared into mountains with chiseled rock faces towering high above us. Lots of pics and movies to share.
Lots of vistas
While over "The Suck". It was 125, but I couldn't take the picture fast enough.
At Chattanooga. This bluff used to hold the foundry.
At the last minute we changed our plans to meet some looper friends in Chattanooga. As a result, we decided to put in a longer day today, and finish the trip there tomorrow.
The anchor came up easy and we headed out early, right after coffees. While the lock was only 54 miles away (and we planned on anchoring right next to it or just above it) there was a decent current against us that grow in strength the closer we got to the lock. Additionally, we lost an hour once we crossed into the Eastern time zone. So the 6 hour day turned into an 8 hour one.
The distant sun
Only one lock. Nickajack. I love saying that! The lockmaster was very happy to get the lock ready. I got the feeling it was a slow day, and he was thrilled to lock someone through. Jesse did the line handling under Russ's supervision there. Next lock I'm gonna let "the boys" handle it and go take a nap.
Bringing up the anchor, sun and fog. I love the reflection in this shot.
Luckily the lock went smoothly and we docked on a free dock in the campground. We barely fit on the thing, which is about 40 feet long. We got 4 lines on just 2 cleats. Good there's not weather expected.
Two stops today. We liked the anchorage we were at but we were compelled to check out the free dock in Guntersville.
The trip took around 45 minutes. We docked without issue, piled into the tender, then we all headed to a famous oyster house, Wintzell's. Jesse got the red fish while Russ and I shared a variety of oysters (raw, char-grilled, and Rockefeller) and fish tacos. All quite wonderful.
Misty mornin' sun
But the town dock wasn't all that exciting. It's right next to a busy road so it felt (and sounded) more like a truck stop. So, after some naps, we headed up river about another 45 minutes and got on the hook.
Much quieter, and a nicer view. Given there was no water or power at the dock, this was a way better choice.
inQuest at Guntersville. Jesse is on the bow, Russ on the pier.
