Green Turtle Bay Marina, where we landed after our harrowing ride on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, has a wonderful reputation among “Loopers”, but we weren’t overly impressed. It’s fine, and certainly a welcome respite from the mayhem of the rivers immediately preceding it, but we didn’t find it to be anything special. And Grand Rivers is sort of a nothing town, dry to boot, (yes, we’re back in the Bible Belt!) and somewhat limited shopping. All this is by way of saying that we were certainly happy to be there, but might seek out one of the other options if we were doing this trip another time.
One of the good things about this marina is that, since it’s the first real marina for a while (most people take longer to do the Miss. and Ohio than we did…), people tend to pause there and regroup. We caught up with several friends we’d not seen in a while during our two days there. One of those was our friend Skip, singlehanding on Popeye, a really cute, 30’ tug. Here’s Popeye on the Tennessee River:
We’d first met Skip in June in Waterford, where he rafted to us at the free dock there. He left there before we did, and then took a different route, so we haven’t seen him since then. It was great to catch up with him, and we traveled together for a while when we left Green Turtle.
Back in Grand Rivers, the big thing to do is to go to Patti’s Restaurant for dinner, where they’re famous for their 2” thick pork chops! Well, we did, and the chops were, indeed, delicious, even though neither Roy nor I had the 2” one. They don’t cook the pork to death, the way most restaurants do, and it really was delicious. Then there was their “mile high meringue pie” for dessert…you can see that we certainly don’t starve to death! I was able to bring half my chop home and have it for dinner another night, so that was certainly a good thing!
When we left Green Turtle, Skip traveled with us, and we had an easy day with no locks to our first marina. What a contrast traveling on this river from what we’d just experienced! We saw maybe one barge, and very little other boat traffic, and the water was clean, free of debris, and we just sort of chugged along and enjoyed the scenery. Which is beautiful! This is what boating is all about!
We were to find that marinas along the Tennessee river aren’t what we’ve become used to on the East Coast, or even in Canada – they’re often associated with a State Park, and are fairly rustic, with little or no dock help. Sometimes they don’t even monitor the marine radio, but that’s less frequent. When you contact them they’ll give you general directions as to where to dock, but the specifics are left pretty much up to you, as well as getting the boat secured. For example, they’ll tell you that you come into the marina (you’re calling them as you enter the channel to the marina, since, without brakes, and with difficulty standing “still” in a boat, you want as much information as possible before you’re actually there) and pass a dock with a lot of houseboats on it, and then turn left past that dock and you’ll see the fuel dock. To the right of the fuel dock you’ll see a long face dock, and that’s where you can put your boat. So you tippy-toe into the marina looking for the landmarks which may or may not be quite as and where described, and figure out where the face dock is, and then see what kind of room there is, and where on the face dock you’d like to put your boat, and then you pull up to it, the first mate slings a line over a cleat, and then you can take your time finishing up securing the boat. What I will say about all these marinas is that they’re pretty cheap (never more, and usually less that $1/foot) and the staff is tremendously friendly.
We got ourselves tied up at the marina in Paris Landing State Park, and then were around to help Popeye get secured. Skip has a bit of a disadvantage, in that he doesn’t have a first mate, and so needs some dock help! We were glad to be able to lend a hand.
The setting of the marina is absolutely beautiful – you walk off the dock right into the woods, and there are picnic tables and benches and places to walk. So although it’s a bit rustic, it has its own beauty, and I was happy to be there.
We’d planned short, easy runs for these days on the Tennessee, and I was glad we did. The river is so beautiful, and the weather was perfect, and it was nice to just lope along and not have to push at all. Although we were officially traveling with Popeye, he only has a small engine in his boat, and goes quite slowly, so we tended to get to the marina ahead of him. At our next marina we had help tying to the dock, and then we borrowed the courtesy car to do some grocery shopping. We got directions to the new Walmart (pretty much the only place there was to shop!), and off we went. And went, and went, and went…We thought surely we’d taken a wrong turn, as we’d driven almost thirty miles and were in the middle of nowhere! All of a sudden, we saw it..up on a hill, there was the Walmart! I really don’t like the store, but I was sure glad to see it!
I’d asked Skip if he wanted us to get him anything, so while Roy checked out the hardware and automotive sections and got his hair cut, I got Skip’s few things and all our groceries. I must say that it was a well-stocked store, and I was able to get what I wanted and needed for the boat. Roy got his haircut, and we were off for the long trek back to Mer Sea!
The next morning there was low-lying fog just on the river surface, which made for a beautiful scene without any danger. It was another cloudless, sunny day, and the fog burned off quickly to make way for perfect traveling. We were having easy days with gorgeous scenery – the trees are just on the verge of changing to their fall splendor, and you can see the hint of what is to come on some of the younger trees. There are cormorants, lots of great blue herons, kingfishers, and lots of land birds, which I mostly hear, but don’t see. It’s beautiful, lush forest along the river. Every once in a while, several times a day, a butterfly crosses paths with Mer Sea, usually what I suspect is a monarch. It’s mind-boggling to see these guys, with their non-direct flight pattern, and apparent fragility, flying alone out here across the river. I yell at them to take a break and light on Mer Sea, but none has so far. Oh well, it’s quite incredible!
The next marina was unique in a couple of respects: it had very little maneuvering room, as it was constructed in a kind of rectangle with slips and docks all around, and there was a restaurant/bar with an outdoor seating area tucked right into the area with the slips. Again, the manager was very friendly, and helped us get tucked in. Later that evening, the manager let us know that they were going to be having karaoke on the outdoor deck part, about twenty feet from our boat, but we didn’t get that this was really going to be a problem.
Well, karaoke is one thing, and not my favorite, but you add a lot of beer and no talent to the mix, and I mean NO talent, and it’s not a good thing. Then you add more beer, and NO talent, am I making my point?...It was bad! Somehow I finally managed to get to sleep, and Roy refrained from cutting the wires to the speakers, but it wasn’t our best marina experience!
The next morning was foggy. We’d wanted to get an early start, which is what we always like to do, but it was really thick. We were all ready to go, and just sat around with all the other boats waiting…instead of getting off at 7:30, we finally were able to get away at 9:45. We had one lock to get through that day, as well, which can take some time, so were especially irritated about the late start. Because of the lock, we agreed to stay with Popeye for the trip so that we could lock through together – so this meant that we traveled a couple of knots more slowly than our usual speed.
It was another gorgeous day at least, so we just moseyed along with Popeye at a very conservative speed, and enjoyed the view. We had a couple of the boats that had been at the marina with us pass us early on, but we just kept on truckin’. I called our intended marina and let them know that we might be late, depending on the lock’s status when we arrived, and how long it took us to lock through, and they gave us a contingency plan for if we’d be arriving after they went home.
As we’re finally closing in on the lock, we had a couple of more boats come from behind to join us, and we called the lock to find out what the status was. Well, they were in the process of locking through a barge, but they thought they’d be done in about a half hour, and then they’d take the pleasure craft that were waiting. When we got a little closer to the lock we saw all the boats who’d passed us that morning still waiting to go through! It had been a good day to go slowly, that’s for sure! There’s not much more aggravating than sitting at a lock waiting to go through, and to do it for hours…
When the lock was finally ready for us, instead of giving clear instruction about how and in what order they wanted us to enter the lock (we were about 12 boats of all sizes), and where they wanted us to tie, they just sort of let us proceed willy-nilly. This is not a good thing in an enclosed space when some people don’t really know what they are doing. It was utter chaos! The lockmaster was standing up about 50’ at the top of the lock trying to shout some instructions down to the boats roaming around in the chamber looking for someplace to tie. The available places aren’t well marked, so it’s hard to tell where your choices are until you’re upon them, and if there’s a place that you thought was going to work, and then you get there and find out that it’s not, it’s hard to at that point find another place. So here we have all these boats milling around in the lock, the lockmaster shouting down at them, and we’re hanging back to see what might be left when the dust settles!
We finally entered the lock and found a place to tie up, and then Popeye came in and rafted to us! WHEW!! We locked through without incident. When we emerged on the other side we called the marina, and they said they’d wait for us, as they had several boats from our lockage expected that night. Roy and I scooted ahead of Skip, so that at least we would be there and get the inside info. Before the marina staff went home.
This was a really nice marina! It was extremely well-run, with a knowledgeable and helpful staff, clean facilities, and plenty of amenities, all in a great setting at the junction of the Tennessee River and the Tenn-Tom Waterway (the first 200 some miles of which is a canal). We’ll be taking the Tenn-Tom when we head south after Chattanooga. Skip pulled into the marina not that long after us, and we got him tied up and had a beer together before retiring for the evening.
The next day we got the courtesy car with Skip to do some shopping and to scope out a place for later to go to dinner together. We got our shopping done right after lunch, and made a choice of restaurant for dinner that night. It turned out to be a great restaurant for ribs! “The Rib Shack” does “Memphis-style dry ribs” and they are great!! We all had a delicious dinner!
The next day we parted company from Skip, as he was headed down the Tenn-Tom, and we are continuing to Chattanooga. We headed on to Florence, AL, where we were to stay at the Florence Harbor Marina. Based on the cruising guide, Florence might be a reasonable town, and one that we could access on foot. As soon as we got ourselves secured in the marina, I set out to “find the town.” This might not seem like much of a project, but we were down in the river bed, and there was a large, busy highway at the top of the bank, and I couldn’t see anything that might look like a town from there!
I’d checked the map, and knew that I at least had to go up to get to town, so I started looking for a road or walkway to take me there. I followed the long parking lot and driveway out of the park, where the marina was, and then the access roads to the big highway. This didn’t make for very friendly walking, and it was HOT, but I pressed on.
When I got up to the main highway, I saw a Walgreen’s in the distance, and thought that surely was a good sign. They might even have some sort of a frozen treat I could buy, and I could ask them how to get to the downtown area if it wasn’t already evident from there. I hiked up to the Walgreen’s and stepped inside: ah, relief! Air conditioning! I headed for their coolers, and, sure enough, found an ice cream treat to buy. As I was checking out, I asked the young girl (sorry, but that’s really what she was!) which way to go to get to some stores, and she really didn’t have a clue. She asked me what kind of stores I was looking for, and I told her that I just wanted somewhere to walk that wasn’t all highway. She pointed me in a vague direction, and suggested that I might want to go in somewhere else and ask the same question.
I left the store without much hope that I’d find downtown Florence. However, while in the process of thoroughly enjoyed my ice cream bar, lo and behold, I stumbled onto the main street! Charming! Lots of little shops and restaurants and cafes, brick pavers, and even a bookstore! I went into the bookstore and browsed for a while, bought a couple of books and a newspaper for Roy, and then asked the check out guy the best way back to the harbor. Turns out that I really hadn’t strayed very far, after all, and was able to take a slightly less treacherous route back to the boat without really going much out of my way. Too bad it was such a hike, because it would have been fun to go back with Roy and maybe have dinner, but I was DONE at that point!
We had reservations the next day at a little marina, and after another truly perfect day on the water, when we got there and called them, they gave us only a very general idea of where the transient dock was – well, the docks weren’t what she’d said we’d find, and they were too short to properly accommodate Mer Sea, and we were just figuring that out (on our own, no dock staff) when a friendly boater came up to us, helped us with our lines, and gave us an index card with her name and phone numbers on it, and said we should call if we’d like to borrow her car to do some grocery shopping! Talk about friendly! Unfortunately, we decided that we couldn’t stay at that marina, because we just couldn’t make Mer Sea secure in the space allotted, so we left to find another marina.
I scoured the cruising guide, and the next reasonable-sounding marina was a couple of hours away. I called and spoke to them, and they said to come on and tie up at the fuel dock, and they’d get us situated. Well, this one turned out to be not much better than the other, but we were there, and we got ourselves into a slip, and it was only $17 for the night, so I guess we couldn’t complain. We did have power, which is the big requirement right now.
The next day we went through another lock and ended up at a wonderful marina where we fueled up (thereby getting 2 free nights, which is how long we’d planned to stay there). We were able to borrow their courtesy car and do some shopping for groceries and other things, and generally speaking had a fine time there. The only drawback was a really bad insect problem, especially after dark. We figured this out by unintentionally letting hordes of the little buggers in when we opened the screens to close the windows. Yikes!! Gnats, mosquitoes, you name it, they were literally swarming inside Mer Sea. We spent the next hour or so trying to squish as many as we could (many were so small that the best approach was to take a towel and wipe it or blot it on the ceiling where the little buggers liked to congregate. Yuck!) Well, we had a new rule: no opening any windows or doors at night if there were any lights on in the boat, and at any time keep exposure to a minimum! We were able to cut down on the numbers, but it was still pretty gros.
After two days we left Guntersville and headed to Scottsboro, AL. Only about 20 nautical miles up the river, but to a marina that had been extolled on the Looper’s website. Especially the restaurant. Boy, were they right! The food was excellent and plentiful. Roy and I each had a full dinner and food to take home for the next night. The view was wonderful, and it was a lovely evening.
We had fairly long runs for our next two days, and a lock each day, before landing at the marina near Chattanooga where we’d be for a while. It’s getting a little embarrassing to keep saying what perfect weather we’ve been having, but this was another gorgeous day on the river – sunny, cloudless, beautiful scenery, and very little traffic. We had a serendipitous arrival at the lock, as there was one other boat ahead of us whom we heard talking to the lockmaster on the radio, and we were able to speed up a bit and lock through with him.
We got ourselves situated in the lock, the doors closed, and the water started entering. All of a sudden the water was gushing in, with enormous turbulence, right under our boat! This caused our boat to swing around wildly, pulling away from the wall, (although fortunately not pulling the line off completely) thus allowing for much more swing than we had “fendered” for. The bow was bouncing off the rough concrete lock wall, well beyond where we’d placed the fenders. Fortunately, it was only the rub rail that made contact, but it’s pretty badly scratched as a result. Roy started the engine and tried to maneuver the boat back to a place where she would be in less danger, and was somewhat successful. We just did the best we could to minimize the damage, and waited for the lockage to be over. It did finally settle down, and we were able to leave the lock and get on with our day’s run. Whew! Just when you thought that you’d seen every kind of lock and had pretty well mastered them, something new happens to snap you out of complacency!
We had a peaceful night, and headed out early the next morning to Chattanooga. We’d be crossing from Central to Eastern time in the process, so lost an hour practically by just waking up! The river just gets more and more stunning between Nickajack and Chattanooga, with mountains rising all around and the river itself narrowing and winding through the valleys. The trees have a little more color every day, and it just keeps getting better. We did have some fog to contend with first thing that morning, but it gave us an opportunity to use our automatic fog horn, and it burned off in an hour or so. Revealing another perfect day…
Going through downtown Chattanooga was fun, and we look forward to stopping on our way back to head south. We scoped out the docking possibilities and saw the aquarium from the water. Looks like they’re doing a great job revitalizing the waterfront and making it boater friendly as well!
Our last lock on the Tennessee was blessedly mild, and we again were able to arrive just as the lock was opening to let a downbound boat out. When we got to the marina where we’d be leaving Mer Sea for the next 3 weeks or so, we were greeted by old friends from Burnt Store Marina, who have been here since July. What a fun and happy reunion! We had a great time catching up and also making some new friends at happy hour! This is a great marina, extremely well-run and lovingly tended. They insist on doing things “right” and will do all they can to make sure that you feel at home. We do. We’re happy to be here, and look forward to getting our mechanical issues taken care of while here. We also look forward to having some friends come see us and the boat while we’re here, and also to heading by land to Dawsonville and taking care of whatever we must there. When all that is accomplished, we’ll resume our trip and begin to head south. Stay tuned!