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OK EVERYONE SOME PRETTY SCARY THINGS HAPPENED! THINGS NOT TO DO!

Number 1.
Never ever, ever, drive into the weeds even if it is  20 Ft deep

Number 2.
Always leave at least 5 Ft of wiggle room for your depth.

WARNING: SOME THINGS MIGHT BE A LITTLE EXAGGERATED!

 

So imagine you are motoring on down the Ten Toms and it is time to anchor. We start going to narrow path with some splotches of seaweed grossness stuff, ‘xcept it isn’t seaweed because it is growing in the river. Anyway, it is long and green and it kinda looked like green mermaid hair from the stories. We kept on going in not realizing we were slowing down. SUDDENLY, BAM, we stopped dead in our tracks. I looked around stunned by the loss of movement and went to ask Dad what happened. And when he said we were stuck, I saw a tow coming! Don’t you worry though because we didn’t get stuck in the channel, a barge wouldn’t be able to get unstuck very easily. So imagine us, practically in the middle of nowhere on our boat with white smoke puffing out of the starboard (right) engine. It wasn’t just a couple of puffs every so often, no, it was huge puffs with oil coming out in slugs. So you are probably thinking right now, are you still there, no way! We got out, thanks to Mom’s idea of using the anchor! WHAT A LONG DAY, IT COULDN’T GET ANY WORSE!

WELLLLLLLLLLL, I was wrong! It did get worse, way worse!
Mississippi has a curse with us I am telling you. SPOILER ALERT: Thank gosh we made it out of Mississippi! Anyway, we are going along our destination, a marina, that just closed down, what luck. So we are going to go stop at a little anchorage in a cute town and walk around then get back on the water. So as we approached there, I was writing a letter and going on like so until, “CREEEEEEEEEEESHUCCCCHHHHHHH” and a jolt. Well, you can imagine how I felt then. I got my life jacket and shoes on in a hurry and ran out on the deck.
“What in the world was that?” I asked, somewhat terrified.
My answer was we are on the ground and we might need a tow boat. OH NO! I thought, this can’t be good. We tried and tried with all of our strategies! We didn’t budge. We decided it would be best to call a tow. Fortunately the wait was only an hour. So we decided to eat lunch, don’t worry our luck was with us. We ate a good and successful lunch. The tow boat came, I was inside with Willie, I heard some occasional shouting but everything turned out okay!

Wish us better luck, until next time,
the one and only
Lucy

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Overview

Hello again,
Now that we are almost all the way down the rivers and on our way to the ocean I thought it would be nice to do a lil overview on my experiences so far. First of all, it has been an incredible journey and I wouldn’t trade this for anything. However, it’s been challenging. Personally leaving is always the worst. And like most trips this one was not too fun. I met some amazing people this summer and saying goodbye to them was definitely hard. We spent 3 years in our past house and some people we met I know I will stay in touch with forever and ever. Another big change was the house. With a few weeks of school left, the one and a half hour commute was not too fun. All of my teachers were very supportive and I am so lucky to have had them. This past summer was spent with lots of family and friends. Couldn’t have asked for anything better. To all of my friends who are reading this, I am so lucky to have met you and I can’t wait to see you at high school or whenever our paths may cross again. I’m only me because of you guys. Can’t thank you enough. To all of my famILY, I love you guys so so so much and without the constant reassurance, laughter, and love I don’t know where I would be right now.
Now onto the rivers. Oh man so much has happened. However, I think we have done a relatively nice job at keeping this blog updated. We have met so many incredibly nice people and I’ve been to so many different and new places. All of this being spent with some of my favorite people ever. I have had so much fun and have learned so much about locks, Asian carp, stray cats, mashing of rice and lentils, and YMCA showers. I am looking forward to the deep blue sea and all of the adventures that follow. Can’t wait to update you from salted water.

“Our lives changed like the weather but a legend never dies.” -Jimmy Buffett, Last Mango in Paris

Cya when I see ya,
Heidi

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Making the best out of a cold, grey day

A post by Mark

Note: I wrote this a few days ago – just got a good enough cell signal to import the pics. On to the post…

Today was a great day (still is)! 
24 hours ago, it didn’t look so promising – making today all that much better… Here’s the story 

Yesterday, we made the 30-mile journey up the Cumberland River – from the junction of the Cumberland and Ohio rivers to the Green Turtle Bay marina just past the Barkley Dam in KY. It’s a really pretty ride – narrow, curvy, and scenic. According to the guidebooks, the 30 mile trip ‘should’ take a little less than 5 hours. This is important – as we were trying to get to the Marina (a luxury for us these days) before the weather turned. The day before, it was absolutely gorgeous – in the 70’s and sunny. Yesterday morning, the temperature started to drop – and the forecast was to get really cold and rainy around 2:00. Knowing this, we left at sunrise (about 7:15) – so, we felt like we were in pretty good shape to be at the marina – maybe even have the laundry done and a nice hot shower – before the weather turned nasty.

Well – we were wrong. Instead of the typical 1-2 knots of current in the river, we faced 3-4 knots coming right at us. Apparently, the dams started releasing more water to drop the lakes to their winter levels. In the winter, the lakes and rivers are drained a few feet lower than the summer levels so they can accept the increased water from the spring thaw. This additional water flow from the dams created the extra current which added an additional 1 1/2 to 2 hours to our journey.

Fast forward a few hours, we’re in a string of 4 PCs (pleasure crafts – as they are known by the tow captains and lockmasters). We’re spread over ~ a mile or two – or 20 – 30 min of running time. We’re 3rd in the line – so we figure we’re in a great spot to get through the lock quickly, as they generally group PCs together – and we’re close enough that they’ll wait for us. It’s still looking good to get into the marina before the rain. 

Again – we were wrong. The boat behind us slowed down – turns out they had an engine issue and was running on one engine. Because of that gap, the lockmaster decided to lock-through the two boats in front of us first – meaning our boat and the boat behind us had to wait about 45 min to an hour to get through next. Normally – not a big deal, as an hour wait for a lock is pretty good. However, this meant that we were waiting outside the lock at 2:00 – and, unfortunately for us, the forecasters were very accurate on the timing of the rain. The cold front arrived at 2:00 on the dot – and along with it, a significant drop in temperature, kicked-up wind, and cold, hard rain. So, we pulled into the marina around 3:30 in a downpour and 40 degree weather. Burr… 

We eventually dried out, warmed up, got greatly appreciated showers and clean clothes. 

Next, the conversation shift to ‘what to do tomorrow ‘. We have 3 options- 1) take a ‘day off’ and enjoy the marina, the mediocre wifi, the electricity (and thus,the heater), and take a walk into town. 2) Head out for a short day on the water (about an hour or so) and stop in the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area to go for a hike, or 3)  power through and keep making progress towards warmer weather. 

By the end of the evening, we’re still undecided (although #3 was looking less and less likely). 

This morning, we woke up to really cold weather – so cold that there was ice on the docks. Hmmm – is leaving this morning really such a good idea? Should we just stay put, keep our heater plugged-in, and walk around the town? Around 8 AM, Julie and I decide to borrow the marina’s courtesy car and head into town to get a few groceries and see what there could be to do if we stay put. Grand Rivers KY is a cute little town. It would be fun to walk around – but probably for an hour or two. Thinking that we’d be ‘done’ by noon or so, we decided to stick with ‘plan A’ and to head to the Land Between the Lakes.

Around noon, we pulled into Pisgah Bay and anchored just off the shore by a boat ramp. After an easy dinghy ride to a dock, we hopped out and went for a 4 or 5 mile hike through really pretty, hilly, truly ‘woodsy’ terrain. It was great – here’s some photographic proof!

 


A walk in the woods

The crew by an old navigation buoy

Julie and Mark having fun 

 
We even found a playground with a swingset
Willie had a great day too. He really liked being in the woods for a long walk. To top it all off – Willie saw his fist deer (and his 2nd through 5th). He was intrigued – I think he made a connection with other skittish 4-legged creatures. Watching him watch the deer was really funny. I wish we had pictures – but it was too fun to watch him to look away get the camera.  

He was exhausted after all the excitement. 
 
We ended the day with some hot soup and warm bread, listened to a few chapters of Tom Sawyer, and a great night sleep (wearing just about all the cold weather clothes we have – as the temperature dropped even further last night). Good thing we brought our sleeping bags, hats, etc.

All in all – a great day – and one that very easily could have been a dull, cold, dreary one had we stayed put.
Glad we made the right call!