Oct 27 - Columbus Marina

The last of two marinas before the Gulf which is now 335 miles south. We made use of the courtesy car for  a Chinese Dinner out in the town of Columbus. Columbus is the home town of Tennessee Williams, the great American Writer.

Oct 26 - Dewayne Park Anchorage

One lock today and then into the Dewayne Park Lockage. A good spot  for a short trip tomorrow  to the Columbus Marina for a couple of days

Oct 24 - Canal Cut Anchorage

Another fun anchorage up a small creek. We are finding that these small creeks need a stern anchor since there is not enough room to swing if the wind changes.

Three locks today as we make progress south.

Oct 22- Fulton Anchorage

First thing in the morning we took the Jamie Whitten Lock down 84 feet to continue on the Tennessee.

Fulton Anchorage was nice, with a shore dock to the park area to walk the trails.

Oct 21 - Cotton Springs

We ran down the Tennessee to Bay Springs Lake and stopped in the Cotton Springs anchorage for the night. This anchorage is right beside the Jamie Whitten Lock which will be our first of 12 down bound locks before the Gulf

Still seeing Bald Eagles, Egrets and Herons as we travel. This section of  the rivers is highly controlled and there are a number of inflow weirs to control the current when high water is present.

And a good picture of  our friends dog Sam, who Joy adores.

Oct 20 - Grand Harbour Marina

Today was a marina stop to fuel up, pump out and make use of the Marinas courtesy car for a run to town for groceries and supplies (read wine and liquor)

Oct 19 - Dry Creek Bay

Our last lock up is the Pickwick Lake Lock and Dam with a 55 foot lift. After this lock we will be locking down again to the Gulf. The lock has a Facebook page and posts pictures of the boats as they lock up.

Serenity II has moved to the Grand Harbour Marina a day ahead of us, so we took the nice quiet anchorage on Pickwick Lake called Dry Creek Bay. We were the only boat in the bay for the night.

Oct 18 - Wolf Island

The Tennessee River is pretty, but ongoing. We continue to see houses on  stilts, and one unfortunate house that was built to close to an embankment that has been eroded.

Oct 17 - Swallow Bluff Island

This was a very nice  anchorage and a nice spot to go ashore for some walking exercise.

The journey down the Tennessee is showing us some changes in the landscape. We are still seeing houses and cottages on stilts and now covers for RV's

Oct 15 - Lick Creek

Despite our lost anchor and some of the sketchy access to the anchorages, we certainly are getting braver sticking our boat into narrow, shallow  creeks. Lick Creek is only two boat widths going in and then opens to a small bay at only 9 feet depth. We are now using a trip line on our anchor to avoid any other losses. However the trip line is a blessing and a curse. Here overnight we swung 360 degrees overnight and of course the ball got snagged under Serenity II. David was brave enough to take the hookah line and go under to cut the line. This of course was in water with zero visibility so he had to find and cut the line by feel only. 

 

Oct 14 - Crooked Creek

 Following the Rendezvous we met up with Serenity II again and travelled to Crooked Creek for the night.

The weather is remaining pleasant and anchoring out is still our favorite option.

When they flooded the Tennessee to form the lake they did not remove some of the old piers, and this one was a grain depot.

Oct 9-13 - Paris Landing State Park - AGLCA Rendezvous

Our earlier departure for the Rendezvous saw a misty morning. The cool air with the warm water provided a nice smoky view of the bay. 

It was a nice run down the lake to the Paris Landing State Park Marina for the Rendezvous. Our first day in the marina was Canadian Thanksgiving, so a group of us Canadians put on a potluck to share with our American boaters.The park also had a bird rescue center and we saw  a Great Horned Owl, Barred owl, Red Tail Hawk, Barn Owl and a Kestrel.

The Rendezvous was a great success where we attended all the routing seminars from Paris Landing all the way to Norfolk Virginia. Met lots of of loopers, some in progress, some already completed and those just in the planning stages.