Day 2 & 3

Hola!  Awoke yesterday morning to pouring down rain.  Didn’t take off until 11:00 from Dry Fork Anchorage.  We were bucking a decent current, and sucking down the fuel, so only made about 32 miles.  [We are trying to anchor as much as possible as we love anchoring and the serenity of it.  Also of huge importance, you can save lots of $ if you anchor versus paying for a marina.  Marinas may be a necessary evil if you need to get fuel; pump out; do laundry; provision; have somebody else cook you a meal; get fresh water (our water maker is currently pickled while we are sailing in fresh water); etc.  Otherwise, there is nothing like dropping the hook in a lovely creek or bay with nothing else around you.  That said, there are some marinas that are absolutely bitchin and run by great people.  Some areas also are within walking distance to must go places.]

We, again, buddy boated with Heartbeat against a decent current.

As we approached a funky looking bridge, Mike advised me it was the Danville bridge that was originally built during the Civil War.  It was blockaded and taken over by the Union Troops.  It was later rebuilt as a steel trestle bridge during the early 1930s.

Just past this was the Danville grain elevator, which was rebuilt of concrete and steel in 1914.  When the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) flooded the area in the early 1940s to make the Kentucky Dam, they left it intact.  There is approximately 40 feet underwater, but the structure remains.  It is super cool.

Other beautiful scenery along the river/lake:

We got into Pebble Isle Marina around 4:00.

Traveled 32.5 miles (bucking a 3 knot current), 5 hours, 14.3 gallons of diesel

Took a walk to the Johnsonville State Historic Park which had some interesting Civil War history.

Came back and hosted boat drinks on FF.  Were then blessed with a gorgeous sunset as we walked to the Blue Heron for dinner.

Awoke this morning to dense fog.  I hate boating in the fog.  Mike digs it on the ocean, but has a healthier fear in these shallow rivers.  We topped off our fuel tanks as the marina had a good price on diesel ($ 2.99).  The dock worker gave us some tips about shoals, etc. on the river, and advised us of a sailboat that ran aground last night around mile marker 114.  He was apparently the Boat US boat captain who went to the scene.  The sailboat reportedly went aground and sheared off its rudder and sunk.  The passengers of the boat and their two cats got off the boat ok, but the boat was totaled.  Such a horrible thing to hear.

We took off around 10:00 as the fog began to lift.  Super flat seas, and the sun came out to great us.  Had an absolutely amazing day on the water.  Buddy boated again with Heartbeat (which has been awesome) and decided to hit Double Island Anchorage at mile marker 149.  We were, again, bucking a good current, so only cruising at about 6.1 knots (as we were burning a shit-ton of diesel), so wanted to ensure we made it to anchorage by nightfall.  We are totally comfortable sailing the ocean at night, but these rivers are another story.  Got into Double Island around 5:45 in time for sunset.  Stunning day on the river.

A picture of the salvage effort of the 42 foot sailboat that was lost last night.  Brutal to see.

One of a number of logs we luckily avoided today:

Some gorgeous scenery:

Another cool bridge:

Saw a ton of homes on super tall stilts.  The river floods all the time, so if you are going to have a home on it, you either need to be on high ground, or build ridiculously high stilts for your house.  Our pictures of these didn’t turn out.  Will try to get more; they are a trip.

Arrived at Double Island 5:45 PM.

53 miles traveled today (same 3 knot adverse current), Average speed 6.3.knots, using 3.3 to 3.8 gallons diesel per hour.  24 gallons of diesel used (just under 2 miles per gallon–yuck!)  Total engine hours to date: 1834

anchored in about 20 feet of water with about 100′ of chain laid out.

Beautiful anchorage.  Kent and Heather had us over for spaghetti tonight.  Great company and wine.  Absolutely zero light out, so a kazillion stars (and bugs, if you turn on a light).  Truly beautiful.

Happy Friday Funday!

M&M