Before I continue with the account of our travels once we reached Barkley Lake, I must say that we are way behind in keeping up to date with the postings in this Blog. There several excuses for this. The first is probably laziness, the second is very limited internet access in many of the areas we traveled though, the third and best excuse is that one of the most rewarding experiences of traveling the great loop is the social interaction with other loopers and boaters traveling the same waters. Generally after spending a day on the water, most of us take care of any maintenance issues of which there usually are some. Then it is time for docktails, which is bring your own cocktails and treats and gather somewhere on the dock to share the experiences of the day. When it comes to deciding between the blog and docktails you can imagine which one wins. After throwing out those excuses, both Connie and myself have taken lots of notes and pictures and will get caught up at some point..
We arrived at Green Turtle Bay Marina in Grand River, Kentucky on September 21st. We had planned a four day stay that turned into nine days. We had to have a new stern thruster motor shipped in from California and have the boat pulled out of the water to replace it. We also had the replace the shaft packing which had been installed incorrectly by the last owner.
 |
| Sadie Too being pulled Green Turtle Bay |
If you are going to be stuck somewhere, Green Turtle Bay is not a bad place to be stuck. It is a multi use resort with lots to do onsite. Connie enjoyed the Spa, there was open space where Sadie could run and golf carts to rent and go to town. One night several Loopers got together and went to dinner at Patty's Restaurant in Grand Rivers. They are famous for their 2 inch thick pork chops and 6 inch high meringue pies.
 |
| Loopers at Patty's Restaurant Grand River, KY |
On the morning of September 30th we departed Green Turtle Bay. We proceeded up Barkley Lake a few miles to Barkley Canal that connects Barkley lake with Kentucky Lake which is a reservoir on the Tennessee River. Kentucky Lake is a very large body of water which is 185 miles long, with the southern end being Pickwick Landing Lock and Dam. Kentucky Lake is very wide at the lower end
 |
| Lower Kentucky Lake |
and has many shallow areas away from the channel, which is close to the middle of the lake. It was very hazy that day so we saw very little of the shore.
We spent the first night on Kentucky Lake anchored in Clay Bay. It provided welcome protection from the winds blowing on the Lake. As I was taking Sadie ashore to do her business, I noticed that she was watching the shoreline very closely. As we came near to shore I saw that she was watching a coyote waiting for us on shore. We decided to go ashore on the opposite side of the bay.
 |
| Danville-Faxon Ferry on Kentucky lake |
At the abandoned Old Louisville and Nashville Railroad Bridge rather nice vacation homes have been built along the old railroad grade approaching the bridge.
 |
| Old Louisville and Nashville Railroad Bridge |
 |
| Old Dock South of Old Railroad Bridge |
We spent our second night on Kentucky Lake at Cuba Landing Marina. This marina had nothing fancy but was very nice, and we were the only boat on the transient dock. This marina is in the middle of nowhere and nothing really to do but they had lots of mowed grass area for Sadie to run and play.
 |
| Sadie Too at Cuba Landing Marina |
At Lady Finger Bluff the terrain begins to turn more to foothills with lots of rock bluffs and outcroppings. At this point the lake begins to look more like the Tennessee River than Kentucky Lake.
 |
| Lady Finger Bluff |
Our third and last night on Kentucky Lake was spent at Clifton Marina where we once again ran into several familiar faces of other loopers we had spent time with previously. Clifton was a small no frills, electric only marina. There was a town there but it was a fairly long walk and we were told that there was nothing there.
 |
| Sea to See, Patriot, and Sadie Too at Clifton Marina |
The next day, October 4th, we traveled along with Patriot to Grand Harbor Marina, via the Pickwick Landing Lock and Dam. We had over a three hour wait at the lock which would lift us up into Pickwick Lake which is another large lake formed as part of the Tennessee Valley Authority. Grand Harbor Marina is on Pickwick Lake at the point where the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway begins. We will be heading south on the Tenn-Tom later this month.
 |
| Sadie Too Rafted off of Patriot in Pickwick Lock |
There were 5 boats passing through the Pickwick Lock and the lockmaster would only allow us to use the two bollards at the front of the lock and the two at the rear of the lock. This required us to raft off of Patriot. Due to the three hour delay at the lock it was a hard run to make it to Grand Harbor before dark, but we made it at dusk.
No comments:
Post a Comment