Bob and Bert, and trials!

Here we are solving one of our "trials" this week. We almost ran out of beer! Twice!

We are in Paris Landing State Park Marina tonight in TN (named for a steamboat and freight landing on the Tennessee River that started in 1884), and luckily we could walk to restock our beer supply. Bob Brown and Bert Stock, bicycling buds, arrived last Sunday when Rick and I had completely run out of beer and wine. We planned to restock at the town of Grand Rivers, KY, but how were we to know that most of Kentucky is dry? And on a Sunday, even the wet counties don't sell alcoholic beverages.

As soon as I learned this, I called Bob and Bert who were driving from Nashville Airport. Luckily I caught them just as they were entering KY, so they could turn back to TN to buy us beer (their store didn't sell wine). Only problem was, they didn't buy enough. How could we or they know that every KY county along our trip this week would be dry? Luckily, our supply JUST lasted until we made it here to TN!!

My last blog entry was Saturday morning, and when I finished it we "sped" down the final 8 miles of the Mississippi River and turned east up the Ohio River. This picture is trying to capture the difference between the two major rivers at their confluence- the Mississippi being swift and swirling and muddy, and the Ohio being clean and glassy and calm. Our 32 miles on the Ohio on Saturday were calm and pleasant, and much slower since we were going against a current.

This picture is the Cumberland River, which we traveled up for 32 miles on Sunday. It flows into the Ohio after we had cruised 59 miles on it total. The previous evening we anchored right on the Ohio below a low dam and a lock, but off to the side so it was nice and calm...until the next morning when they lowered the spillway and water churned by us and made us look like we were cruising at 10 mph. While it was calm after we first anchored, we kayaked over to the KY bank and I entered my 11th state on this adventure.

The next morning, we needed to wait about two hours for the lock since tugs/barges had first priority. However, when the operator called us to enter, he was letting us go in front of a tug/barges that had already been waiting there for quite a while. So, we were thankful for small favors. We were the only boat in the lock, and it was strange to look back over the gate at the guys sitting/waiting on the end of their lead barge while we got to lock through. We lifted 8 feet.

We then continued up the Ohio and then the Cumberland River. It was very pretty along this river, with banks of rocky cliffs and trees with their fall colors, as I hope you can see in this picture.

We eventually reached the huge Barkley Dam and lock, and again, we were the only boat in the chamber. This photo shows the tall gates closing, as it was about to lift us 57 feet into Barkley Lake!

And here's Rick doing his locking duty of roping the bollard and holding on as we ascended. Most locks use two ropes or ties, front and back of the boat, but this one needed only one. Note: The two locks on the Mississippi and the two on the Ohio required that we wear life preservers. Otherwise, Rick would not have been wearing one.

After we entered the vast and beautiful lake, which is about 75 miles long and which eventually becomes again the Cumberland River to Nashville, we quickly entered the Green Turtle Bay Marina for the night and to wait for Bob and Bert. The marina had a courtesy car which I used to drive 27 miles to the Paducah airport, where the guys had to drop off their one-way rental car. I also did most of our much-needed grocery shopping on the way. The four of us finally got to have dinner at a Cracker Barrel at about 10 pm!! It was a long day and we were anxious to get going southward the next morning.

And here they are driving southward!! Before we left we had to walk to the market to get the perishable grocery items I couldn't get the day before. Then, the first thing we did as we departed was to take a one-mile canal from Lake Barkley west to Kentucky Lake. It is the lake behind the dam on the Tennessee River, which is the one I need to take south for the Great Loop.

The Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers always had an unusually close course at this location, so when they formed Barkley Lake in the early 60s, they also decided to connect them. This created the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, 170,000 acres of park land with campgrounds, trails, and nature centers, and 300 miles of undeveloped shoreline with countless coves for boaters to anchor in...IF they can get in!!

On our first morning we traveled all of five miles before deciding to enter a cove to play and have lunch. Here's Bert kayaking (he went with Rick), and here's...

...Bob swimming. He swam to the shore and took a long walk. I swam too but ended up cleaning the boat hull and scraping off little clams that had built up on the metal trim tabs.

That evening and the next afternoon, we traveled down the lake only short distances because it was so much fun lolly gagging in scenic coves and swimming, kayaking, and hiking. Last evening we planned to do the same in yet another bay, but it was not to be....

Today, Bob had to work! As in Pepsi work. He's the only one here not retired, and duty called -- three times! In the morning he had a one-hour conference call, sitting on the flybridge while the others of us played. Then, he had to interview someone and that took a while. (Note: Bob is more than a biking buddy. He and I worked together at Carnation/Nestle for many years and remained good friends, industry colleagues, and biking buds after he moved over to Frito Lay/Pepsi in Dallas.)

Then, this afternoon he had a 90-min conference call. It came during his and my bike ride 15 miles into the town on Paris to buy wine. We could walk a mile to buy beer when we arrived, but wine was a ways away. On the return ride, it was time for his call so he pulled over to a road-side park and I continued on back to the boat.

While Bob and I did this errand, Bert and Rick completely washed the boat! It had gotten terribly messy from the swarms of midges that attacked us the previous two nights while anchored out. We were prisoners, afraid to open the doors since that's all it took for swarms to fly in. Then there were smashed and dead ones all over the exterior to clean off. When I returned from my wine run, Breaking Away was clean and shiny again!

Here's another picture that captures the relaxation we have during our slow cruising. Bert is doing his Sudoku puzzles (Bob does them too). Both Bert and Bob drove the boat a lot too.

But I was the one driving when we met our biggest adventure and "trial" in a long time on Breaking Away. I RAN HER AGROUND! The bay we were entering last evening was recommended in my guide book, so who knew it would be shallow in the very center of the entrance, immediately after being in 21 ft of water? It was so deep I did not notice the depth finder showing a rapid shallowing - 20 ft, 9 ft, 4 ft, 1 ft, "SCRAPE". Bob was watching it, but it all happened too fast to stop it. That feeling and sound when your boat runs aground is an agony difficult to describe.

We tried at first to pull it with the dinghy, but after I put on the mask and looked at the situation, I could see we were irreparably stuck in thick mud. So I called TowAssist, for which I have insurance and used once before in New Jersey when I went aground. He arrived in two hours, after dark, but he was able to pull us back off with a strong effort. We were REALLY stuck.

The insurance covered 100% of the $1440 charge, and my annual premium for unlimited assistance was only $125. As I mentioned the last time this happened, this insurance is a no-brainer.

After we tested the running gear (it made it through the ordeal unscathed!) and anchored in front of the cove entrance, I was bushed and we cooked our frozen pizzas instead of my making the beef stew (which we had tonight). It feels reassuring to be tied up in a marina after what happened last night. Especially when it costs only $25, and when shared four ways is only $6.25!! I'll sleep better tonight.