11 November, 2019. Thanks for your service to all veterans. Tennessee River

2 Tows, lots of tall house on sticks/pillars.  7.1 engine hours 39.4 sm

Swallow Bluff Island--dickey towhead anchorage to Pickwick Lake state park marina.

41 degrees at 0500 with a partly cloudy sky and calm wind. 49 degrees at the helm. Quick coffee with a banana and prepared to get underway and continue south with the intentions of beating the rain and wind and cold.  We weighted anchor at 0630 and backtracked one mile to the river channel then turned back up stream into the current for final push to Pickwick Lake Lock & Dam

Pretty quiet day on the river, little traffic except one jerk in a 45-50 +foot cruiser in a hurry.  No call on radio overtaking, passed close aboard port side and only slowed down enough to make the wake even bigger.  Tossed ourselves and stuff all around--I even slowed and turned into the wake.  No wave, no hello, “Passion” the name of the vessel just accelerated and was soon out of sight.  Or so we thought.  About 4 hours later as we were approaching the lock, guess who we see.  Passion waiting--haha, we all waited together an hour for lock entry.

All along the river there are areas were there are some of the tallest houses on sticks/pylons I have ever seen. Evidently to get above the flood plain. Some almost three stories tall; not for me.  Having to lug groceries and stuff up all those stairs--nope.  There were a few homes build near the edge, too close and portions ripped off due to erosion of the bluff.  One home was in pieces scattered down the side of a bluff from the top down to the water.

New build

Arriving at Pickwick Lake Lock & Dam  ((Pickwick) we had to wait about an hour.  There was a down lock tow/barge just entering the lock from the lake side.  AIS gave me a heads up; tow was about 2 miles from lock so pretty much expected a wait.  We entered the lock at 1300 with three other recreational vessels--include the jerk captaining Passion.  Our first lock up and we exited at 1330.  About a 40 foot lift.  Rain had been spotty for the last two hours, picked up a bit more steady as we motored out of the lock.    We only had about 3 miles to go to the state park marina.

That is Passion starboard bow

Arrived at Pickwick Lake state park marina (state park) and entered a transit slip at 1330. No other transits here so we had our pick. Secured Serenity and shut down the diesel.  Connected shore power and plugged up my heat lamp with 100W bulb and put in engine bay shining at fresh water tank and water pump.  Also have the little electric heater in galley going to keep the fresh water lines to galley sink and head sink from freezing.  Lake water temp 61 degrees. (map) Total hours on the meter 1146.6.  We have traveled 396 SM since we left Cedar Creek Marina in Mt. Juliet, TN.

Normal cruise no current 1850 RPM---7 MPH.    Departing GTB 8 Nov we made 4.5-6 mph through barkley canal, then to maintain 7 mph in Kentucky lake/Tennessee river required increasing RPM.  The last 20 miles to  Pickwick Lock I was at 2500 RPM and decreasing to 6.5-6.3 MPH. The last 5 miles to the lock only making 5 MPG SOG.   Yesterday, TVA reported three turbines on line at 1200--when we finally saw the dam---there must have been 5-6 spillways wide open and lots of water spilling over.  The current the last 5 miles was impressive.  We had to wait one hour at the lock for a down lock tow to enter/clear. Surprisingly, three vessels were holding near the mooring buoys and it took very little forward/idle to maintain position.  Yet 100 yards port or starboard you could visibly see the current.

Only a few miles upcoming on Pickwick Lake then we enter the TENN-TOM waterway and southward to Mobile Al.  We are staying here for a few days to keep heat on the boat during the abnormal well below temperatures.  We are also going to tour Shiloh battle field which is only a few miles away.  Boat and crew doing well.