We had a wonderful stay at Terrace View Marina in Spring City Tennessee with several days of very hot and excellent pool weather of which I took full advantage. While in Terrace View we met some new friends, Mark and Debbie on Meant to Be, a beautiful Aspen power catamaran. They are from Florida as well and not too far from our home. Mark told us they had been docked at Ft Loudon Marina next to THIS is what twice while we were in California, once while they were going up river to the Tennessee River headwaters, and then again a few days later as they traveled back down river and was wondering if we were ever going to cross paths. Well, we have, a couple of times so far.
We left Terrace View Marina pretty early, before 7 AM, as the next lock was a little ways away. Not seeing any barge traffic on AIS or on the Marine Traffic app right then we wanted to get through the lock before any barges showed up and held us up for hours. As it turns out we were ultimately held up anyway. When we got within 15 minutes of the Watts Bar Lock, Michael called them to make sure there was no unseen barge traffic and to let them know to get the lock ready for a down bound pleasure boat when the Lockmaster notified him of maintenance going on in the lock which had it shut down. WHAT! So we pulled over to the side of the river and dropped anchor and waited…for 5 1/2 hours.
There is really nothing on the Army Corp of Engineers or the Tennessee Valley Authority websites that gives a real good idea of what is going on, where, and when in the locks that boaters can use to plan trips. We had no idea this was happening and we were caught off guard. But we now know better and we call the locks the night before we travel to verify there is no maintenance scheduled. Barges are still the hitch in the travel plan though.
From Terrace View we were able to enjoy a night on anchorage in Birchwood Tennessee at Grasshopper Creek. It was so nice to be able to anchor again. The weather was just cool enough at night to be able to do that and not have to run the generator and ACs all night. From there we headed toward our next stop, Island Cove Marina in Harrison, Tennessee. The trip was uneventful but there were still a few unexpected sights along the way.
We finally got into Island Cove Marina on the afternoon on Friday August 23, 2024. We were at the end of a dock where we had a direct view of everyone coming in and going out of the marina as well as all the traffic along the river; and there was A LOT of traffic that weekend. On Saturday my stepmom Mary joined us from Big Canoe Georgia and we went out for a little ride and to drop anchor in the cove at Booker T. Washington Park for a bbq lunch. Well, the traffic was horrific and we got waked by all the boats that feel as though they have to go out and go as fast as they can without regard to anyone else on the water. One waking, by a jerk on a center console, (I really don’t like those arrogant assh**es), was so bad that Mary was almost thrown out of her seat and everything was tossed around downstairs making quite a mess. Being waked is getting hit by the wake of a passing boat, especially rough from a boat coming up from behind. This is exactly why we are always stopped out of the way of weekend idiots on weekends.
Anyways, we got to the park and turned in and saw a lot of boats already in the cove, there were about a dozen rafted together right in the middle of the cove and more boats kept coming to join in the long raft line throughout the afternoon.
Even with all the other boats we still had a great afternoon of grilling hamburgers and just enjoying the floating on the boat and catching up with Mary.
We even played several rounds of Stacking Chairs, which after several tries, managed to get all 18 chairs stacked.
Mary left us on Sunday morning and we stayed one more night before heading out on Monday morning, again early and this time after talking to the Lockmaster to determine there is no scheduled maintenance. We got through the Chickamauga Lock without any delay. This lock is currently under construction of a new larger and wider chamber and the existing chamber is looking a little rough with all kinds of cracks and leaks through the side walls.
From there we continued on through downtown Chattanooga and back to Hales Bar Marina which is pretty much a dump especially given that they are charging $1.67 a foot, which is quite high for this area, especially for the condition of the marina. But, they are the only marina within 50 miles each way from marinas up and down river and before another lock. So there we stayed again for this trip downriver.
Along the way we caught up again with Mark and Debbie on Meant to Be who were also traveling downriver. They were passing on Hales Bar and going to an anchorage just before Nickajack, the next lock. It was just too hot for us to anchor out that night as we were starting another week of very hot weather, so Hales Bar Marina it was for us. Like us they too were headed to Goose Creek Colony Resort and Marina the next day so we planned to go through the lock at the same time the next morning and travel together. The lock was notified of the two of us traveling together and the lock was open and waiting for us when we got there, which was nice.
We finally got to Goose Pond Colony Marina in Scottsboro Alabama after a very hot 8 hour ride. This is a very nice marina and has a really good seafood and steak restaurant with all fresh and locally source meat, seafood and vegetables. It was delicious and the time spent with Mark and Debbie was great too. Mark’s personality and way of thinking about things, especially boating travel and maintenance, is exactly like Michael’s and Debbie is very similar to my personality. As it turns out we will be traveling together for a little while longer as we all head to the same places, being that there really are not a whole lot of options on this part of river, as we all make our way downriver and back to Florida for the winter.
The weather is supposed to be settling down again after this week, so we will be looking for more opportunities to anchor along the way. Right now Michael is trying to find us a marina to park the boat for at least a couple of weeks to a month as we take another trip to California the first part of November for his mother’s 90th birthday party but it looks like that may be a challenge. The marinas we have contacted are not allowing stays over a day or two due to the number of Loopers that will be traveling down the Tennessee-Tom Bigbee River at that time of the year getting into the Gulf of Mexico for the winter to continue on their Looper journey. So we will have to see how that all shakes out.
Welp, that’s it for now. We are getting the marina loaner car and taking a trip to Walmart for some reprovisioning with Mark and Debbie. I never thought that a trip to Walmart would be such a highlight of an adventure in my lifetime, but that’s our life right now.
Oh wait! That’s not all. We made the trek to Walmart but, as was recommended by the marina staff, we made a pit stop at Payne’s Sandwich Shop and Soda Fountain where the ice cream was highly recommended. And it was exceptional and amazingly reasonable at $7.00 for the biggest banana split I have ever seen which Michael and I shared and it was OMG delicious.
Payne’s was started in Scottsboro Alabama in 1869 as a pharmacy by druggist William Henry Payne who created and bottled his own prescriptions for the local townspeople. Payne’s has been in continuous business since then morphing into the current day establishment which highlights a 20 foot-long fountain counter that was added in the 1930’s. Today the menu consists of ice cream, shakes, malts, sundaes, and banana splits as well as sandwiches and salads of all kinds. They also had a really cool t-shirt that I just had to get…like I need more t-shirts.
Okay, now that’s all. Check back in a little while to see where and what THIS is what is up to. Love to all, Gina and Mike.
