New fangle Bobber

This is probably not going to impress some of you as much as me, but this is the neatest thing I have seen in a long time.  Gale introduced these bobbers to us and they are fantastic.

They make casting in tight places much easier or if you want to use a bobber when fishing in deep water.  What a simple & ingenious solution.

You can buy the pieces needed at WalMart or any sporting goods store.

(I think Bob would have given a much better demonstration and I would have been a better camera person, but Bob was being "camera shy" tonight.)

Pickwick Lake - Marinas

So the weekend through Monday was spent at Waterfall Cove, but Tuesday found us in need of supplies, so Heron and Blue Heron headed for Aqua Yacht Harbor Marina with plans to head on down the Yellow River to Tenn Tom Bigby Waterway Wednesday morning.  http://www.aquayachtharbor.com/  At the marina, Maureen, Bob & I went for groceries in the courtesy car to Savannah, TN about 20 miles away. Gale stayed behind to relax & rest after a restless night.  He is being treated for skin cancer and has reached a very painful point in the healing process. The prognosis is very good, but these next couple of weeks will be very painful.

Since we are only about 450 miles from hurricane territory, leaving here on Wed. Aug. 24th would put us in Mobile far too early to avoid the threat of hurricanes.  The thought of dealing with hurricanes became a reality to Bob (or perhaps he finally listened to me) late Tuesday evening, so after discussion with Gale & Maureen, it was decided that Bob & I would hang out at Pickwick Lake for 1 month before heading on down to the gulf.  Gale & Maureen were anxious to get going but the skin cancer treatments were wearing Gale out, so they will stick around at least until he is feeling better.  They have been at Aqua Yacht Harbor this week, but Bob & I liked Grand Harbor slightly better, so we have been here since Wed. The nightly slip rental is $25.00 or $1.00 per foot of boat length, but the monthly rate is $10.00 per foot per night.  $250.00 per month is very reasonable. The two marinas are only about 2 miles from each other. Beautiful swimming pool, air conditioned captain's room with livingroom atmosphere, fitness room with TV's, courtesy car, very nice clean shower close by, lots of space to walk Wicket and super friendly folks make for a comfortable home for us.  http://www.gograndharbor.com/

Pickwick Lake - Waterfall Cove on the weekend

The Waterfall Cove gets very busy with partiers on the weekends.

And some people get plastered early in the day.  Funny!

Dude & his air guitar...

It has been decided that for the next week or so, we will be hanging around Pickwick Lake. We may motor down to Big Springs for a day or two but then come back up to Pickwick Lake, where we can hold up during hurricane season.  There is much to see & do at Pickwick Lake so I won't go nuts.  I have found that I have a "condition".   I need something physical to do for a few hours a day.  So I like to have accessibility to walk the dog, row the dinghy, fish, or swim.  Shopping in a courtesy car is good, too.  But I have found that my attention span on this little boat in a secluded cove is limited to about 2 days. After 2 days, I get restless. Another option while is Joe Wheeler State Park. It is about 15 miles up river towards Florence, AL. It is like a state resort with marina, pool, lodge, restaurant, walking trails, laundry, and showers all for $150.00 for the whole month.  That is a bargain. 

Pickwick Lake - Bob's big catch

This one didn't put up much of a fight.

Pickwick Lake - Wicket at the waterfall

Not only didn't the laptop battery last long enough to post the video, but I, also, was without a strong internet connection.  Hoping this works tonight.

And Happy Birthday to Taylor, My wonderful Son!

This video had to be posted into three parts.

Part 1

 

Part 2

Part 3

Wed. afternoon we caught up to long time friends Gale & Maureen Goranson.  They have been living on their luxury catamaran since they retired May 2009.  The plan for two years has been for us to catch up with them.  It is soooo much fun to have met that goal.  We will caravan together as we travel down the Tenn-Tom and out into the gulf.  They have made the trip before so that will be helpful to us.

We met up with Gale & Maureen in this cove on the west side of Pickwick Lake.  We spent the night anchored here.  What a view to wake up to in the morning.  They invited us over for delicious supper and great conversation.  Looking forward to more of that on the trip.

We had to make another run for groceries, so we left Gale & Maureen at Waterfall Cove, while we went to Aqua Yacht Marine.  There we were able to use the courtesy car and get stocked up.  We will join up with Gale & Maureen on "Blue Heron" tomorrow.  We are hoping Gale was successful fishing today as he planned to have a fish fry tomorrow night!  I'll let you know how that goes.

Pickwick Lake - Fred Myers

Monday evening we met up with Fred Myers who has been following our blog.  Fred has written and published several cruising guides.  We are currently reading "Tenn-Tom Nitty-Gritty" as it will provide much needed advice and other useful interesting information for the next leg of our journey. Boy, what interesting stories he can tell and he has a wealth of information from years of boating.  Thank you, Fred, for the wonderful conversation & introducing us to the Rib Cage.   YUMMMY!!!

Below is a video of the ducklings & the fish swimming around our boat at Grand Harbor.

About 1:00 this afternoon we motored out into Pickwick Lake proper and motored down the west shoreline.  We ducked into this cove at mile marker 218.7 and found a waterfall at the end of the cove.

A look from afar.

Bob is about as close as he could get.  The rocks were very slippery.

The waterfall falling over the rock.

I have video of the waterfall.  I will try to post if the laptop battery holds out long enough.  The area was like an amusement park for Wicket.  She loved climbing the rocks.  (not so fond of the swimming part, however)



Pickwick Lake - Shiloh National Military Park

Park Ranger gives a talk about the Civil War Drummer...

The duties & responsibilities of the drummer are more important than I had ever known.  Very interesting.

http://www.wildcatband.com/ropedrums.html

Just a very brief look at the many interesting spots in the park. (above)

The courtesy car from Grand Harbor Marina.  It only had 700 miles on it.

Sweet ride.

Bob, Civil War Soldier

One of many gar swimming off the front of our boat while docked at Grand Harbor Marina.  This one was huge.

Pickwick Lake Tennessee/Mississippi

This tractor skeleton was on the island where we anchored on Sat. Aug. 13th.  Some of the parts had IH stamped on them.  It would be a great project for anyone looking for a tractor to ride in the "Great Iowa Tractor Ride".

Here is the tractor on the island.  I would imagine it would have quite the story to tell.



I'm not sure why I took this, but it is typical of what we've been looking at along the bank of the Tennessee River.

One of many grand houses at Pickwick Lake. It is high on a bluff above the shore so there is an elevator down to the water/dock. You can see it cutting through the trees near the bottom of the photo.

This vid is our arrival to Pickwick Lake.

Sunday night & Monday night we are living in the lap of luxury.  Grand Harbor Bay Marina.  When we arrived there must have been 4 employees meeting us at the dock & directing us into a slip.  Once we were secured to the dock, the marina manager said, "Welcome home, Captain".  That was so nice to hear and everybody is really helpful & very nice.  We took the courtesy car for pizza Sunday evening.  The little minivan was wonderful. It only had 700 miles on it and still had that "new car" smell.

http://www.gograndharbor.com/

Today it is about 85 degrees, mostly sunny and very low humidity.  We plan on taking the courtesy car today to the Shiloh National Military Park which is only about 10 miles north of the marina. 

http://www.nps.gov/shil/index.htm

Tennessee River near Saltillo, TN

 Guard Goats guarding this privately owned island.

We anchored near this island on Friday night Aug. 12th.  We left for Diamond Island south of Savannah, TN about 8:00a.m.  The weather is a little cooler around 89 degrees and less humidity. 

As we motored toward Savannah on Sat. there were lots of boaters, skiiers, fisherman all up & down the river.  There were also, nice houses on both sides of the river most of the way to Diamond Island.  As we turned the bend south of Saltillo, TN, we came upon this guy paddling in a boat.  Bob called over to see if he needed gas.  He nodded yes.  So Bob cuts our motor & dinghy's over to him.  All this time we have only seen one guy on this little boat.  So it was a surprise to Bob as he was near the boat to see a hand raised above the side of the boat.  WOW... there was a skinny guy passed out in the front of the boat.  Well, Bob proceeded to put the gas in and quickly headed back to "Heron".  Seems that they needed to mix oil with the fuel, but Bob felt that he did what he could.   Turns out they were both hung over or something but the skinny guy was in really bad shape.  As we headed up river, I watched through the binoculars as they drifted down river.  The skinny guy had asked Bob how much further to Hwy. 64?  Well, Hwy 64 was about 10 miles upstream, so they must have drifted under the highway bridge about 2 hours earlier.

Some how the skinny guy must have gotten some oil into the gas tank because just before I could hardly see them with the binoculars, I could see that they were motoring to the other shore where there was a boat ramp.  I have no idea what became of them.

But tomorrow it is Pickwick Lake, TN.  Yahhoooo! We are less than 10 miles from the lock & dam tonight.  We will tackle that lock tomorrow.



Tennessee River - Pizza on the grill

 These are fantastic! The crust is a flour tortilla, pizza sauce and pepperoni, mushrooms and of course, mozzarlla cheese.  Excellent!  Thanks, Stu from Green Turtle Bay for the idea. We love them.

The above pick shows the pizzas as Bob is putting them together on the grill.

Here is mine all cooked.  What a yummy thin, crisp crust.

Out of Kentucky Lakes

For all practical purposes, once past Cuba Landing, you are no longer in Kentucky Lake.  So this morning we left Cuba Landing.  The river narrows to at least half of what we have been used to.  We will motor down to the Marsh Creek area, which is east of Decaturville, TN today and then on to Clifton, TN Thursday night.
I can't get over the fact that I am sitting here in the middle of a river in the middle of no where and posting this stuff on the internet.  Honestly, there is hardly a town within 40 miles.  We are, also, streaming radio as we can't get a station tuned in on the radio.  Amazing. Nashville is almost 95 miles east and Memphis is about 130 miles to the west.

Tennessee - Pebble Isle Marina

Bob's next project.

He thought this was soooo cool.

Flying with the head sail

Heading from Paris Landing Marina to Pebble Isle, the wind came up at our backs so Bob hoisted the head sail.  Boy, was Susie whoopin' and a hollerin'.  Our speed went from 4.5 to as high as 7.3.  Okay, so the front moved on through & it only lasted about an hour.  This was the first time we had a sail up since Lake Pepin, WI.  FUN!

It sounds like I said, 9mph, but I meant 4.5mph.  Our top speed was 7.3 on this particular afternoon.

And it looks like Bob doesn't have any pants on.  He is wearing shorts but he has lost 22 lbs. and he can't keep them up around his waist.  We don't have a scale on the boat, but when we get to a WalMart or Target we borrow one in the bath department.  Susie's weight?  Nevermind!

Monday Aug. 8th, we stayed at the Pebble Isle Marina near New Johnsonville, TN. They had a nice courtesy minivan that we took to WalMart.  Pretty uneventful evening.  Not the best internet service, so I wasn't able to post until this afternoon while in the middle of the river. 

Sleeping aboard the PS25 "Heron"

Part 1 - V Berth

Part 2 - V Berth

Here is a video showing the v berth, it's measurements and the improvements Bob made to accommodate the two of us.  I had to break the video into two parts because it was too big to upload as one vid.

From my understanding there were more cupboards back here in the v berth area, but Bob took them out.  Now that we are in warmer weather & don't plan to be in cold temps again, we packed up most of our cold weather clothes & got them off the boat.  You can store lots of tanktops & shorts in the same space as one pair of blue jeans or a sweatshirt. 

Sleeping out on in the cockpit

When the temps are in the 100's, humidity is 90 or better and there is no wind, we sleep out in the cockpit.  One of us sleeps on the cushions from the benches around the table and the other sleeps on the "Sport-a-Seats. http://www.sportaseat.com/ We have 2 twin size flat sheets and our bed pillows & it's rather comfortable.  We put a huge mosquito net up when/if bugs are bad.  Next time we put up the mosquito net, I'll get a photo & post it.

Kentucky Lake - Spiders

Look what Bob came back with from the Marina.  I will give it a month or so & then I'll report on how well it worked.  At this point, I can report that it stinks almost as bad as "Stink" bait.  The stink didn't last too long so I think I'll put up with the smell if it gets rid of the spiders.

Spiders

My latest challenge is spiders.  I have not had a real problem with spiders in the past. I lived on a farm for 24 years and we had big barn spiders with armor looking backs & heads and we had the huge black & yellow garden spiders stretched across the fences, bushes, weeds, etc. and there were the usual spiders here & there in the house nothing squishing them in the kleenex didn't take care of.  They just didn't seem to bother me much.  Must have been because they didn't invade my space often.  I recognized that the barn was their house, the yard was their house, etc.  I think I am having a problem now because, I am trying to live in their house and now we are at war. 

How can a huge hairy spider whose legs span a good inch & a half get into this dinghy?  How can those huge spiders get nearly to the top of the mast? The ones on the mast are so big, I can easily see them from 25' below  How are they getting into the vberth, way down below deck and where our bed is... btw. ICK!

Bob keeps telling me in a sing song tone of voice "Remember Susan, spiders are our friends. They eat bugs."  WHAT?  I will take the bugs over spiders, anyday.  Where is the animal that is suppose to eat the spiders?  Obviously, they are asleep on the job.

I am not winning the spider war, but I have not given up. Stay tuned.

Kentucky Lake - Heading to the West side.

Sorry, but these last few posts are not in chronological order.  I got messed up when we went for several days without a good internet connection.

Packed up after staying 2 nights in the Hillman Ferry Campground bay and headed to the west side of Kentucky Lake to The Moors Resort.  We just pulled up to The Moors for a little break & we bought a few groceries and then we anchored out on the east side of the lake at Duncan Bay.

Still haven't caught any fish.

Kentucky Lake - Hillman Ferry Campground

We drove our pickup truck down to Kentucky Lake last Oct. and stayed at this campground.  At that time we talked about the days we would be anchored out off the shore in this bay staying in our sailboat.  So here we are living the dream.

Kentucky Lake - Bob to the rescue

We saw this boat sailing down the lake as we motored to Kenlake Marina.

We were anchored out in Ginger Bay and had taken Wicket to shore for a walk.  As we looked around we thought it appeared that no one had driven down to this area all year.  We were sure it was a very remote area.  By about 5:00p.m.

 two young fellas came driving onto this point to do some fishin', but the driver was distracted by our boat and dropped the front right tire into a steep ravine.  After watching them struggle for a while, Bob went over in the dinghy to offer assistance or the use of his cell phone.  After putting their weight on the rear left bumper produced no results, they called for help with Bob's phone.  Bob came up with an idea to try getting it out with a log and their weight and so they did get it out of the ravine, but the front bumper was crunched.  I could hear the driver say, after they got it out of the ravine, "Bob, you are the MAN!"  Eric and Ryan both shook Bob's hand and called their friend to say they were fine & no longer needed help.
BTW... Bob tells me now, that this was a father & son team.

Below is the video I shot of the jeep fiasco.

Tennessee - on both sides of the river

We are officially in Tennessee, no matter which side of the lake we pull up to.  We are staying at Paris Landing Marina tonight and will head out in the a.m. We had rain all morning which brought a welcome relief to the hot 95 degree temps.  Took off from Ginger Bay at 8:00a.m. and arrived at Paris Landing Marina about 12:30.  They have a nice laundry here, so we'll get some clothes cleaned. 

I will work on getting the video on here this afternoon, so check back later.

Kentucky Lake - Kenlake Marina

The map above shows where we are Thursday Aug. 4th.  We will stay at the Kenlake Marina.

(Red dot where red arrow is pointing.)

After anchoring out 2 nights just south of Green Turtle Bay, Sat. and Sunday nights, we were able to pick up our mail Monday morning at Green Turtle Bay Marina.  Once we got the mail, we headed back over to Kentucky Lake through the canal.  Monday and Tuesday evening we anchored out in the bay by the Hillman Ferry National Forest Campground.  Wed. morning we pulled anchor & headed to the west side of the lake to The Moors.  We only stayed here long enough to buy some pop (soda) and had some yummy nachos at the restaurant while we enjoyed their air conditioning.  The temp was 102 degrees but the heat index put it at 114.  The water temp here is 86 degrees.  So we eat the nachos and then headed back to the east side of the lake to anchor at Duncan Bay.  Boy, was that ever quiet.  Now here we are at Kenlake Marina where it is only .75 cents per foot for a slip. Most places it is at least $1.00 per ft. & sometimes $1.25. It had been Hannibal, MO since we had pizza, so we hit the cafe just before closing at 2:00p.m. & ordered a pizza. YUMMMM! We will use the courtesy car to go to town for groceries in Aurora, KY this afternoon. 

Relaxing under the fan.

Bob took two photos of Susie in the dinghy fishing, but they were both out of focus.  So I have been fishing since arriving at Kentucky Lake but no luck, so far.  I'll try again this evening from the dock at the marina.  I saw a 6 year old catch a 5 lb. catfish from the dock at "The Moors" yesterday.  He was just fooling around so when he reeled in that big fish he was elated.  Moral of the story... I need to do more fooling around while I'm fishing?

Kentucky Lake - Hillman - Ferry Campground

Just have some random shots today.

For anyone wondering how Wicket is adjusting... 

A picture is worth a thousand words.

A huge houseboat going out for a Sunday afternoon on Lake Barkley.  I'm sure it has more square feet than our townhouse.

Wicket cools off as we motor along.

Waffles on the grill Tuesday a.m.  Delicious.

Cooling off at anchor in Kentucky Lake..