10/21/18: Sunday – The wake-up alarm went off at 6:30. It was quite a breezy night, and cold. I never even pulled off my extra blankie in the middle of the night like I usually do. At one point, Kenny got up to see what kind of scallywag pirate might have boarded the boat in the dark – but alas, no pirate brawl ensued. It was just a giant wind gust that rocked us and thumped us against the dock. It was still pretty windy this morning and quite brisk out there. Our reason for hopping out at sunrise and casting off by 7:00 was to try to be the first boat to arrive at a FREE dock, located 45 miles up river- about half way between here at Chattanooga. Since we couldn’t make a reservation, we want to make sure we’d get a spot. But dang it was cold outside, and breezy. 38 degrees and 10 mph wind in the face, plus our own 10mph speed. Brrrrrr! This was the lily pad channel going out of Goosepond. Notice there is no sunshine coming over the trees to the water yet! We were in Central Time Zone here, with first light at 6:30 and sunrise was at 6:55.
This is looking back at the marina. It was a nice clear crisp brisk day!
Since there was wind, there was a small blessing in that the fog could not develop on the river. Here is a shot out the side window, showing the river steaming. Yes- the water was definitely warmer than the air! And it was windy and wavey, but not uncomfortable at all since we were inside! 👍
Looking out the front – this is why we stayed inside today. No driving from the fly bridge! White cap wind in the face at 40 degrees calls for winter stocking hats, face masks, and gloves. None of which we were equipped with!
Today’s lock was Nickajack Lock, which would raise us up about 40 feet on our way to the next lake along the Tennessee River. This was the last lock on our way to Chattanooga. Every time we get close to a lock going up river, we lose more speed and go slower and slower. Even though the locks & dams hold water back and create lakes, there is still natural elevation changes that actually do make this waterway a river.
This was Kennedy’s second and final lock. I’m thankful the sun was out, even though it was cold. We didn’t have to wait even a minute to get into the lock chamber, and we were in there all by ourselves. We again took the forward port side pin.
There was quite a bit of turbulence beind the boat, which somehow kept forcing the bow into the wall. Muscles Mulligan came forward to help me keep Island Girl away from the wall, since he had an apprentice handling his stern line.
It was a total of about 15 minutes from the time we entered the lock to the time we were exiting the lock! WOW! This one gets the Speedy Gonzales award! Just beyond our exit point on the RDB (Right Decending Bank, which was on our left/port side), was our destination. There are two really nice docks at Shellmound Park. I had read that the one closest to us coming up-river has the most depth at the very end. As we were approaching coming up river, there was Bayliner headed in coming down river. We headed to the T-end on the dock closest to us. They went to the other dock. Whew! We got the spot we wanted. Before long, there were three houseboats that rafted together on the other T-end, and another Bayliner that pulled in to the other dock. We found out that they all know each other and had been up in Chattanooga together for an annual trip. They were very fun, and kidnapped Kenny for awhile. Of course, there were two Bayliners (3288 & 3888) over there, so he was right at home with his peeps.
Meanwhile, Kennedy & I went for a walk around the park. There was a large RV park here, and they had some great decorations for Halloween to liven up the place. I’m always drawn to pirates, and this blow up was really good. The little guy on top actually rotated around to keep an eye-spy on all their surroundings.
And it was an RV park, so of course the goblins brought their own inflatable RV!
Who needs a watch dog when you have a fire breathing dragon protecting your trailer?! It was a beautiful evening, and the park was very nice. We enjoyed the fun decorations and light-hearted October spirit they all displayed.
I spied our Girl. Look at that beautiful setting! Tennessee is such a pretty place! The trees look green, but I swear we could see them turning autumn colors as we watched them.
Here is the gang of boats. We had Velsignet join us at our dock. They are loopers that we just met yesterday. While Kenny was away with the party crowd, they invited Kennedy & me aboard. We enjoyed a couple of hours of chatter, telling stories, laughing, and just having fun like loopers do! This was classic looper hospitality, which I’m so glad Kennedy got to experience.
We looked at the weather for tonight and tomorrow. WHAT?! FROST?! Holy frozen fog frost, batman! I told you that I did not bring an ice scraper. Get out the extra blankies! This is a free dock with no power, so no heaters will be running in the boat tonight.
We watched the moon come up over this hills, and the sun cast shadows as it lazily said good night. What a great day! We started the generator and cooked up some spaghetti to warm our bellies and ran the heaters for awhile.
Tomorrow will be our final leg in the journey to Chattanooga. So far, the Tennessee River has been beautiful, but we’ve been told that the best is yet to come.
