Oct 14
An extra night at Aqua Harbor Marina gave us time to regroup our thoughts about our next bit of travel. All along we had been saying we were going to take a side trip up to Chattanooga because it was the closest location on this side of the loop to our home in GA. Now that we’re at the intersection of the Tenn river and the Tenn-Tom the 260 mile trip upriver to Chattanooga just doesn’t look as appealing. It would be 7 long travel days going through 5 big locks to get there. Then a week’s trip home and repeat the trip back downstream and suddenly we’re into Nov. So, we’ve altered the schedule and will make a 3 day mini trip up the Tenn. and park the boat and head home.
Our buddy boat Cat and Dogs who we have been traveling with virtually since day one of our loop adventure is going to continue on. We will miss our time with Russ and Jax. Always helpful and cheerful and ready at the docks to grab our lines. So many wonderful dinners together. SOooo many craft beer samplings at every brew pub we could find. It was great having fellow loopers to recount the days adventures and misadventures, plan the next few days journey and compare notes on weather, wind and waves. We will sorely miss their companionship. We are hoping to catch up to them somewhere in Mobile or along the panhandle, but it will certainly feel odd traveling solo for a while.
Today we were hoping for a decently early start as we have reservations in Florence, AL. and about a 5 hour cruise. One of the pitfalls of the cooler weather that came through is it generates some heavy morning fog. We were stuck at the dock for several hours waiting for it to burn off.
Stuck in a fog bank
Visibility maybe was 100'
Same picture after the fog started lifting
Gave us time to cook up a hearty breakfast and then we finally got moving around 9:45. Sadly watched as our buddy boat turned to starboard and disappeared southbound behind a bank of trees as we headed eastward.
Cat and Dogs heading south
The trip up Pickwick Lake was wonderful. It’s a beautiful tree and cliff lined lake with clear water and very little development. Trees are just starting to get a touch of color although everyone says it’s been so dry this year they don’t expect a very colorful fall. Temperatures quickly climbed into the mid 70’s with plenty of sunshine and nary a breeze so the waters were very calm. Our trip today was tow/barge free other than a small one crossing our path as we exited the creek out of the marina and onto the lake. We were able to run a leisurely pace despite our late start and still arrived at the Florence marina by 3:30. Dinner on board – it’s Monday so the brewery and restaurant I had hoped to visit in Florence were both closed. We’ll have to time our return trip for later in the week to give them a try.
Journey for Oct. 14
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