The rivers…they are kicking our asses mentally as well as financially. It’s been a while since my last post mainly because I have not been in a really civil place in my head. It seems that every move we make is the worst possible decision with these unrelenting storms which wield total havoc on the rivers. We have no river experience so we have been making incorrect decisions and have been traveling at the completely wrong times which, to that end, yes, we have taken another hit, this time to our NEW props, which mean we have to head to another maintenance marina for another pull out, put on the old props, and spend another huge chunk of money getting the new props repaired. Truth be told, I am just sick of it.

We were at the Eddy Creek Marina in Eddyville, Kentucky when a massive storm consisting of heavy rainfall, tornadoes, and large hail ran across the midwest. We were able to move our boat from an uncovered slip to a covered slip during a lull in the storm, which was a beauty of a storm. The rainfall was heavy and loud. We did not get hit by a tornado, but the marina which closed early that day, left the underground bunker door open in case those on their boats had to abandon ship and make a run for it. Luckily that did not happen. But, what we did not know is how the river and flood waters act. We waited 2 days before taking off again when we should have waited 6-7 days for the heavy crap runoff rain water to make it’s way down river.

We had to anchor in a little bay off the river for 4 nights waiting for the river to fall below flood stage. In fact, the marina we were going to had to close because the water was so high no one could get across to the docks so we couldn’t get in even if we were able to make our way to them. We did finally limp our way up the Cumberland River to the Clarksville Marina.

We took the Lottie boat out for a Mother’s Day cruise in the bay where we were anchored. It looks so deceivingly calm and peaceful compared to what is going on in the river just beyond those trees.

We are now in Clarksville, Tennessee and have been here for 6 days waiting for weather to clear, and are probably a little gun shy of travel further up the river. Our next journey well be tomorrow where we will go through a lock, anchor over night, then into the fix-it marina in Nashville. We will be coming back to this marina with Bruce and Diane on our way back down the Cumberland to the Tennessee River on our journey to Chattanooga and Knoxville. There are a few touristy things to do here which we are saving to do with them. We did however discover a really good Mexican restaurant within walking distance. I have never been a fan of Mexican food as, to me, it is only mushy tasteless brown beans, flavorless rice with another mildly flavored taco, burrito or other choice. But this place is actually the best Mexican food I have ever had anywhere, even in Mexico! Everything not only had flavor, each dish had it’s own distinct taste and flavor. In Clarksville, Tennessee no less, who’da thought! We will definitely be back here on our way through again.

Maintenance update: The new toilet has been ordered which will be installed when we are back at the Kentucky Dam Marina. The refrigerator has been lowered to floor level and vents have been cut into the cabinet it sits in. That has resulted in marginal temperature stabilizing. The water pump went out but luckily we had a spare onboard to that has been changed. Status of the props will be determined on Tuesday, May 21 when we are scheduled to be pulled out again. The spiders are out of control! but that is an ongoing battle in fresh water.

That’s it for this time. Peek back in a while for further updates. Love to all Gina and Mike