Stats for Sunday, October 28, 2018

Origin:  Green Turtle Bay

Destination:  Pebble Isle Marina

Distance:  73.1 miles

Speed:  9.1 mph

Time on the Move:  8 hours and 2 minutes

We left GTB bright and early hoping we could get to our destination early enough to enjoy the warm, sunny afternoon that was forecasted. We were treated to calm pastel skies at sunrise.
Turning out of GTB we got to turn west this time and head thru the canal to Kentucky Lake. Shortly after we reached the large body of water that is Kentucky Lake, we realized that it was actually pretty choppy out. The weather was calling for partly sunny skies and 15-20 mph winds out of the north northwest. However it appeared that the wind and waves were coming from the south which meant they had a long narrow lake to pick up some steam. We saw 1-2 footers for the first 3 hours of the day, but they were coming right at the bow, so we didn’t feel them that much. The forecast later in the day called for them to start coming out of the north, so we hoped that when that change happened, they wouldn’t hit us on our beam for too long or the ride would be quite uncomfortable—something we have not had to even think about for weeks!!  Luckily, the waves didn’t come at our side for long and when they did they were pretty unorganized, so it didn’t roll the boat too much.

 

We enjoyed the changing leaves and pretty shorelines. We saw several bass fishing boats (who were bouncing around quite a bit—Hayley actually said she’d pay $10 to ride in one it looked so fun!!) and several tows pushing barges. At one point, the most excitable tow captain we have met so far told Mike to “get right up on them red bouys, right up on em.” He said he was “coming hard at us, but he would knock it down if he needed to,” and not “to worry because he wouldn’t hit us.” Of course, that doesn’t actually make you feel any better—I would have rather had him say he’d just pass us on the 1s, but I get the feeling he was pushing hard against the waves and wind to get where he needed to be, and maybe that had him a little flustered. Luckily Mike had the Lions game and Sirius XM fantasy football radio to listen to the keep him occupied.

The history of Kentucky lake is pretty interesting. It used to just be an area through which the (narrow) Tennessee River flowed. However, in the early 1940s the Tennessee River Authority decided to build a dam which they knew would flood the entire area surrounding the river. And by flood I mean permanently raise the water levels by 55 feet and completely destroy entire towns. Throughout the area, our charts showed plenty of submerged roads, buildings, and bridges that were plunged underwater for good when the dam opened in 1944. Some signs of the old town still remain, sticking out of what is now Kentucky Lake. History is so interesting, especially when you get to see it in real life!!  The fact that this area was completely erased, along with all the civil war history along the river, is fascinating.

While we were underway, Mike worked on a little electrical issue we’ve been having lately.  One of the power panels has been tripping, and we couldn’t figure out the cause.  So we would flip it back on and it would work for a short amount of time before it tripped again.  After a short time knowing something was wrong, Mike looked into the situation further and found that the connection where the cord goes into the boat was actually frying.  Thank goodness he caught the problem before it melted more or caused a fire.  He plans on replacing one end of the cord and it looks like he’ll have to replace the receptacle on the boat, as well, before we can have heat or air through this power cord.  It’s always something on the boat.  However, usually the “something” doesn’t look quite so much like it will cause a fire.

We got to our destination around 4:00 in the afternoon and we were anxious to get off the boat and burn some energy. After we tied up, the Zeefs tied up right next to us and we got everyone moving as fast as we could to take advantage of the warm weather and daylight. We were less than a mile from Johnsonville state park with lots of history and walking trails, so off we went.

The kids found some replicas of Civil War era barracks to play in and we read about the horse corrals and railroad transfer station that used to occupy the land here.

We also found two vines strong enough that everyone could swing from them and two armadillos. That’s right—real live armadillos!! Hayley walked off the trail at one point and came running back screaming about some creature she had seen. Mike asked if it was a coyote (obviously he didn’t really see it) and Hayley responded she thought it was an armadillo. We had just about gotten over that big surprise when I looked towards the end of a long concrete wall and saw an actual armadillo walking towards us, out of the brush. Poor guy had no idea what he was walking into. Once everyone got a chance to see him we let the kids go after him, and we were amazed at how fast those buggers can actually run!! It also sealed the deal that Hayley must have seen an armadillo, so the mystery was solved.

We walked back to the boat for some grilled cheese and tomato soup and family game night. After a late night playing with the Zeefs the night before, we went to bed early to get ready for another long day.

Thanks for reading!!