Tues Oct 31: Paducah to Green Turtle Bay Marina

Before we dealt with the day, we had to deal with the temps. 😨  Since the Loop is all about ‘chasing spring’, this was NOT on our bucket list. It’s a result of having to come through this area 1-2 months later then we had hoped/planned.  The lines were covered with frost, but it could have been worse.  There are still over 60 boats that haven’t transited off Lake MI yet, and it’s snowing where they are…

The saving grace was that the sun was out, and that really makes a difference, doesn’t it?! But the air was so cold, and the water warm that the river was shrouded in fog. This was spectacular, from a photography point of view, but a little unnerving from a safety point of view.

If you are having trouble seeing the tug in this picture - you are not alone.  None of us knew he was there until he blew his fog horn.

Since Rick was driving, and monitoring the AIS (which shows traffic), plus we were last in line - I was free to snap away!

Our fav little red tug, Hope & Dreams, took this pic of us.  I love it - it looks like we are cruising in the clouds!

We didn't have far to go before we hopped off the Ohio River and onto the Cumberland. The Cumberland River flows almost 690 miles through TN, but we were on it for a only about 33 miles. It was such a relief - smaller, more gentle and prettier than anything we’ve been on since we left Lake Michigan. 

Well, pretty turned out to be relative - at least the sun was shinning and the fog had burned off!

The main pack of boats was pretty far ahead of 4 of us; the little boats go more slowly and we aren't in any hurry.  Suddenly the boat ahead of us, Koop's Loop, started belching smoke and it quickly became clear he had a temperature problem and needed to shut down immediately.  The other 3 of us hung around, offering mechanical suggestions, and then we offered to tow them to the Federal Emergency Buoys 10 miles further on.  While I maneuvered the boat cautiously backward toward them, Rick attached a tow line and tried to teach Henry on Koop how to tie knots in a hurry.  We only had one shot at it before we drifted sideways into the barges lined up on the bank.  Unsurprisingly, it turned out to be hard to learn to tie a bowline knot in a hurry under pressure, so we weren’t able to tow them.  They ended up tying off to some barges on the shore. We waited until he had called TowBoat US (we all pay insurance to have them ready when we need to be towed in an emergency). We decided it was more dangerous to wait in the channel, so once Koop was settled, we continued on.  It was the right decision, but no one felt good about leaving them. 

Sometime later we got to the final lock on this part of the trip (and the only lock on the Cumberland) - the Barkley Lock; the lock master got us right in.  I must say that the mothers of these lock masters and tow boats did a good job teaching their sons manners!  Sometime you can't understand what they are saying, since it sounds like their mouths are full of marbles, but they are polite. This lock is one of the newest and biggest we will see - a 57' lift up to the Barkley Lake system.  It's the second largest we have been through on the loop; we will go through one bigger soon.

We had a goofy long-legged visitor in the lock:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With great relief we came out of the lock and almost directly into the approach to Green Turtle Bay Spa and Marina.  This marks the end of the really hard part of this year's cruising, and many of us will spend a few days here relaxing.  Whew....

Look - we got a little green turtle to keep us safe! 

This is a huge marina, full of Loopers, but also a major center of pleasure boating for the Barkley and Kentucky Lakes, and all their lovely river systems.  From here many people make the side trip to Nashville and beyond. I would love to visit my sister in Nashville, by boat, but we are horses headed for the barn.....

We caught up with many friends (the dock, once again, echoed with the sounds of 'Rick!', 'Hey, Rick'...). While keeping an eye out for Koop's Loop, we let anxiety fall away, and went for a walk. Feels good to be here - we have come a LONG ways this year..... and tomorrow is my bday!!