Shake it Down - Part 2

Day 6:  Grand Harbor Marina and ResortThis morning we said goodbye to our buddy boat as our paths and schedules diverged.  We spent the rest of the day doing laundry and cleaning the boat inside and out as we prepared for our first guests, Capel’s brother Austin and his wife Connie.  They will be cruising with us for the next week until we reach our final destination, Harrison Bay State Park Marina.  They dropped their car at Harrison Bay and hired The Happy Hippie to drive them to Grand Harbor.  We did something similar last year when we moved the boat from Orange Beach to Demopolis.  We dropped our car at Kingfisher Bay and hired Dusty to drive us, the training captains, and our gear for four hours to Orange Beach.  Three hours into the drive Dusty had a flat tire and no spare.   We limped along until we reached a Love’s truck stop near I-10.  After about 30 minutes we were able to hail a Lyft driver to take us the rest of the way.  Austin and Connie had a much less eventful trip in Happy Hippie’s Tesla, only stopping once to recharge.

We spent two nights at Grand Harbor in a coveted covered slip just across from the fuel dock.  Most transient slips are uncovered.  This was a large and popular marina and the local boaters ignored the no wake signs which led to a rocky couple of days. Grand Harbor is a marina resort and the facilities are very nice. We used the courtesy mini-van to make a 15 mile trip to Savannah, TN for provisioning.  Once again, the car’s A/C did not work and the trip was sweltering, even with the windows down. So far the courtesy cars have been real junkers, but the price has been right. Most marinas just ask that you put some gas in the car when you return it.  Provisioning will take getting used to.  We are accustomed to three Publix stores, a Kroger, a Costco, a Whole Foods, and a Trader Joe’s less than five minutes from our house.  We can find any product we want and can go ‘to the store’ any time we want.  Shopping for supplies will not be this convenient when we travel on the Great Loop.

Day 7:  Grand Harbor to Joe Wheeler State Park Marina and Lodge

We officially made it to the Tennessee River today after an early start to beat the heat.  We passed through two locks (Wilson and Wheeler) along the way.  We had a unique experience at Wilson Lock because we had to tie up and wait on a tow and then rode up the lock with it.  The first mate was glad to have extra help and company from the crew during locking and docking.  Joe Wheeler was our first state park marina and it was very nice.  The grounds and pool were clean, but there was no courtesy car.  That was OK because the closest grocery store was 30 miles away. After settling in, we took advantage of the pool to cool down.  Later that evening there were a couple of rain showers which made for a spectacular sunset.

Dolphins to tie up barges and boats

Tie up to a dolphin before entering Wilson lock

Snagging the bollard at Wilson Lock

Closing the doors at Wilson Lock

Riding with a tow in Wilson Lock

Sunset at Joe Wheeler State Park

Day 8:  Joe Wheeler to Ditto Marina

Our destination today is Ditto Marina in Huntsville, AL.  On the way we wanted to stop in Decatur, AL for lunch.  Calls to a couple of marinas revealed there was nowhere to tie up and safely get to town.  We eventually tied up at Riverwalk Marina, which sits in the middle of the river on an island between two bridges.  The marina and their restaurant, Hard Dock Cafe, were officially closed.  Our plan was to tie up and then use Uber to go to lunch, however we did not have much luck getting one to pick us up in a small town.  We thought we were stuck until the dockmaster, Steve Connor, drove up and offered us a ride to Big Bob Gibson’s BBQ restaurant for award winning BBQ.  Getting a lift from a friendly dockmaster or other boaters isn’t that unusual.  Steve was different.  He dropped us off and then came to pick us back up…on his day off.  And then he gave us a tour of Decatur.  It was a lot more than we expected.  We learned that Decatur is the home of Meow Mix and the first wave pool.  Steve shared a local rumor that Jesse James robbed the local bank back in the day. A Google search proved this to be false, but it made for interesting conversation.  Because of his generosity and knowledge of the town we refer to Steve as the Mayor of Decatur!

Riverwalk Marina and Hard Dock Cafe

Big awards for Big Bob Gibson's BBQ

Mayor of Decatur

Home of Meow Mix

Day 9:  Ditto Marina to Goose Pond Marina

It was an easy cruise on the river to Lake Guntersville and Goose Pond Marina.  It’s not been as hot this week making the trip more pleasant.  We passed through Guntersville Lock to get to the lake.  Guntersville Lake looked much different than the other lakes.  It was developed as a recreational and fishing lake and was more shallow and filled with grasses than the others. On the other side of the lock, on the port side, was the bat cave.  At sunset, hundreds if not thousands of bats fly out of the cave.  It’s quite a spectacle for boaters.  Unfortunately, we arrived too early to experience the flurry of the bats.  Since we arrived at our destination earlier in the day than usual, we decided to anchor, eat lunch, and go for a swim before heading into the marina for the night.  The dockmaster told us about a spot to swim near the marina but warned that there was a narrow and shallow channel to pass before getting to deeper water suitable for swimming.  The captain had white knuckles and the rest of the crew held their breath when the depth finder showed only 1.5 ft below the keel as we passed through the channel.  But we made it through without grounding the boat, dropped the anchor, and enjoyed swimming in refreshing waters for the rest of the afternoon.  When we reached the dock, we were attended by three dock hands to help us dock, refuel, and pump out.  Most marinas have dock hands to help with these activities.  One piece of advice other boaters gave us was to make sure we had plenty of ‘fives’ on board to tip dock hands and plenty of quarters to do laundry.  That advice has come in handy many times on this trip.  Later that night, we enjoyed dinner at The Docks restaurant near the marina while watching the sunset.  After dark, while some of the crew went to Walmart for a beer run, the rest watched a fisherman walk the docks with a bow to go bow-fishing.  It’s a little unnerving to see someone walk around your boat with a bow and arrow until you realize they were just fishing.

Painted Cliffs

Lake Guntersville Bat Cave

Looking out for shallow water

Enjoying a swim on a hot day

Sunset at The Docks after dinner

Day 10: Goose Pond Marina to Shellmound anchorage

In this part of the river we started seeing more hills and bird life, especially osprey. We felt lucky to see more bald eagles and a rare large golden eagle. We anchored out for the night just upriver of Nickajack Lock and Dam at Shellmound Recreation Area. We swam in the afternoon and enjoyed the wide vista of the lock and dam and the trains that wrapped around the hills for the rest of the day. The trains passed by at least once an hour night and day, going both directions. We were at least a mile away so the noise didn’t disturb the peaceful ambience of the lake.

Hills of Tennessee River

Bridge under repair on Tennessee River

Random floating stage on Tennessee River

Leaving Nickajack Lock

Sunset at Nickajack Lake

Looking at Nickajack Lock and Dam after sunset

Day 11:  Nickajack Lake to Chattanooga

Most are familiar with spectacular sunsets, but if you’re up early enough you can also catch spectacular sunrises which we saw on Nickajack Lake. Today’s journey took us by some of the prettiest scenery on the trip and by familiar sites like Lookout Mountain. It was a short trip to Erwin Riverfront Marina in Chattanooga. When staying at marinas we typically call ahead the day before to arrange a transient slip for the night. Some marinas prefer that you use a reservation app called Dockwa to book your stay. Erwin preferred Dockwa. What this marina lacked in amenities (no bathroom, showers, wi-fi, laundry, car) it made up for in location. We docked between two bridges and directly below the Tennessee Aquarium. This was convenient because we planned to tour the aquarium that afternoon. After the tour, we walked to Scottie’s overlooking the river and had a nice meal. By the time we finished dinner, the sun was down and it was a cool walk back to the boat.

Sunrise on Nickajack Lake

See Rock City

Lookout Mountain

Tennessee River

Fish eye of the flybridge

Random net on Tennessee River

Day 12: Chattanooga to Harrison Bay State Park Marina

Everyone slept in before we set out on the last leg of our trip. We ate breakfast on the boat and watched the locals fish, jog, bike, and practice team rowing. The Chickamauga lock was the smallest lock we passed through and had the most tortuous path to enter. Chickamauga Lake was vast and beautiful. We pulled up to Amigos at Island Cove Marina for lunch. Afterwards we anchored nearby to go for one more swim before heading into Harrison Bay Marina. There was another gorgeous sunset which was a perfect ending to our awesome trip.

Lake Chickamauga

Sunset over Harrison Bay

Trip Summary

Our shakedown cruise was a success. We traveled 498 miles at an average speed of 8.5 mph. We passed through 15 locks, under one movable bridge, and anchored out two nights. We gained more experience, honed our skills and feel better prepared to embark on the year-long, 6000 mile Great Loop. The hard work repairing, preparing, and upgrading the boat paid off. The trip wasn’t without challenges and mishaps, but fortunately they were minor and we learned from them. We appreciate all the people we met and the help we had along the way and hope we 'paid it back and forward'. We especially appreciate our guests Austin and Connie. They were the best crew!  It's been our privilege to experience this part of America the Beautiful.  We can't wait to see the rest of it!

Shakedown Cruise Log from Nebo