Continuing Great Loop - A few Pics

[wahoo33417]

Several members here have patiently answered questions as I have continued to travel the Great Loop, sections at a time. I recently did a 'Heartland' section, trailering to Nashville, going up to Paducah, then down the Tenn-Tom some before back-tracking to pull out in Mussel Shoals, AL.

Took me a while to figure out how to post pictures again (Imgur works well), but a few follow - I hope.

Pickwick State Park Marina, TN:

Headed South on the Tennessee River In AL:

Entering the Tenn-Tom Waterway in MS:

Rob

 

[Halfhitch]

Rob, This is the first I knew of your trip. Where did you start? Do you plan to eventually complete the Loop?

 

[magicalbill]

Great boating area around Pickwick & the Tom Entrance. The couple times I was there I stayed at Aqua Yacht Harbor.

Your Journey looks good..Still gonna do the Lakes like we talked about?

 

[wahoo33417]

Halfhitch & Magical: Yup, I hope to complete in the not=to=distant future. With retirement around the corner, I hope to make more progress!

Bill, work got in the way last summer, so I delayed and did some of the 'Heartland' section in October. It was beautiful.

I'll try to post an image of what I've done so far. Yellow indicates routes completed. The dark line represents Loop routes, many with options, still to go. I intend to do Lake Erie this summer. That trip will play a role in determining what the retirement boat will be!

 

[wahoo33417]

Sorry for the large size to the image. Still don't have picture posting down yet, but I think I'm just about there. Next size down ought to do it - next time!

Rob

 

[Fishtales]

That looks like a great adventure. Keep the posts coming!

 

[SmokyMtnGrady]

This is awesome! I would love to do this as well. Keep it up! I have read on THT guys doing it with pontoon boats. So, why not a journey or in my case Seafarer?

 

[Halfhitch]

Holy Mackinac Wahoo, you have done a ton of the loop! You have a trailer boat so how do you get your rig and trailer up to your finish point of a segment?

 

[wahoo33417]

I don't own a truck or trailer. I was introduced to a small-time boat hauler from my Grady dealer. They use him whenever they need just one boat picked up from the factory. That's all he does is trailer boats long distances. For example, he dropped my boat off at a ramp in Chicago and I said meet me at a particular marina in St. Louis in two weeks. He has always been there to pick me up - so far!

And I am not a hearty soul. Although I'm prepared to overnight in the cabin, I rarely do. I do a lot of trip planning such that I can stop at little hotels with slips or something like that. I'll take the mom-and-pop places over a mega-marina when I can.

You can do this trip in a center console. At least in the areas I've covered so far, there has always been a hotel or BnB option. if I wanted it. For the areas I've covered, I have spreadsheets with all the options listed.

I've done this annually for eight years now so I'm pretty well hooked. Around every bend is something I've never seen before. And stretches of water look like new states I've never visited even though I've been on the nearby interstate many times.

Rob

 

[glacierbaze]

I see that you have not done the Gulf coast, yet. Have you read Peter Jenkins' book, Along the Coast of America? Not a Looper book, but a very entertaining account of a non-boater who bought a Grady White, and really got into the details of a slow trip from the Keys to Brownsville, Texas.
He is the same author who did Walk Across China, and Walk Across America.

 

[wahoo33417]

I see that you have not done the Gulf coast, yet. Have you read Peter Jenkins' book, Along the Coast of America? Not a Looper book, but a very entertaining account of a non-boater who bought a Grady White, and really got into the details of a slow trip from the Keys to Brownsville, Texas.
He is the same author who did Walk Across China, and Walk Across America.

Yup, sure did read that book. One of my inspirations. I haven't told my wife yet - who thinks I'll be done some day - but tracing his journey sounds like a great trip...

Rob

 

[wahoo33417]

More Pics Added at End, Re: Continuing Great Loop

Will attempt to add a few more pics of the Nashville to Muscle Shoals trip.


Tropical Storm Nate came up just as I was entering the Land Between the Lakes, two days out of Nashville.

Waited out a day of steady, hard rain under covered dockage at Moor's Marina on Kentucky Lake. In this photo, iPad is used with an AIS app to ID and hail the barges encountered (very useful!) and the iPhone runs a weather radar app.

Next day, rains let up but had to wait out a heavy morning fog.

Finally, after hours of waiting, fog let up enough to continue running south.

Spent a couple of days at a bed n' breakfast near Clifton Marina, a popular stay for Loopers.

A cold front came through while in Clifton. To a South Florida boy, running in 50 degrees is darn cold. (Dang, can't fix distortion!)

And finally, Pickwick Lock rose the boat up 55'. Even this far south, the Tennessee River flows north towards its connection to the Mississippi via the Ohio River.

 

[Halfhitch]

Did the lock lift 55 feet in one lift or were there several steps to accomplish the 55 feet? Thats a hell of a lift!

 

[magicalbill]

All in one step, Halfhitch.

I've locked thru Pickwick Lock myself. It's a real smooth process with floating bollards built into an indentation in the chamber wall. You can see the indentation in Wahoo's pic on the left side. You position the boat so the bollard is amidships, wrap a line around it, fendering fore & aft and up or down you'll go.

Some of those locks on the TVA have a higher lift than Pickwick. I recall Nickajack is 73 feet or so. Those lockmasters are pro's. They'll get you thru in good shape as long as instructions are followed.

Wahoo:

Great job on posting the pics and entertaining us. Glad your having fun.

 

[wahoo33417]

Magical's got it. Those floating bollards are a godsend when locking through solo.

Rob

 

[Halfhitch]

So to pass through a lock like that takes a tremendous amount of water. Do you have to wait till you have a sizeable group to lock through or is it on demand for a single craft regardless of size?

 

[magicalbill]

On demand. Contact them on VHF 13/16 when you approach and they'll open for you. The hours of operation vary with different locks. The lockmaster may require you to wait if he knows another vessel is close behind you and is locking thru as well. Just station keep outside the entrance doors staying in visual contact of the "Stoplight" mounted on the top of the structure. Be aware there are sometimes eddys & currents from the increased water flow around the lock. When it turns green, idle in and tie up to either the port or starboard chamber wall according to the lockmasters instructions. If there is no light, the lockmaster will give you the "go-ahead" via VHF or loudspeaker.

If 10 boats can fit in the chamber, he'll lock 10 thru at once but if it's just you, he will put you thru as well. Sometimes you'll have to wait for commercial traffic (barges/tows.) They have priority over pleasure craft. The discretion of the lockmaster prevails here.