Great Loop Overall Statistics to date:
Statute Miles: 4582.3
Average Miles/Day: 49.3
Total Hours Underway: 616.9
Average speed (mph): 7.5
States Transited: 18
Total Days: 195
Travel Days: 93
Locks: 59
Fuel Purchased: 1102.5
Miles / Gallon: 3.5
Nights at Extra Days
Marinas: 52 94
Anchor: 27 6
City dock: 6 1
Free Wall: 9 4
Mooring: 0 0
Travel Day 88 Leaving Florence
A call to the Wilson Lock and Dam lockmaster the day before indicated that they would begin locking through downbound (we are upbound) commercial traffic at 0700 the next morning. We either had to be there prior to 0700 or prepare for a very lengthy wait. We buddied up with one other boat that was going in the same direction and chose the former. We pulled out of the marina in full darkness at 0545 in order to get to the lock in time. We had to pass a barge in the narrow approach channel in the dark. We locked through just prior to 0700 with a lift of 96 feet! Exiting the lock revealed a wide expanse of Lake Wilson. Rain squalls passed by all morning making visibility difficult, but there was no traffic on the lake. Joe Wheeler lock was next, after two hours, and we went straight through without delay. By late morning, the zero foul current near the lock exits was gone for the second time and we had our speed reduced by 1/2 to 3/4 knot as we made our way to Decatur. Got into the city harbor just as a "wild game cook-off" was starting at the adjacent park.
Travel Day 89 Leaving Decatur
A normally closed railroad bridge just around the corner from the free dock delayed our departure by 30 minutes due to an EXTREMELY long train. Finally got moving into the 1 knot current around 0700. By mid-day the foul current was 1-1/2 to 2 knots against us. The USCAE lock queue report showed no traffic at Guntersville Lock when we were an hour away, so this looked good. Rain on and off all day - radar on, radar off, radar on....... We got into the Guntersville city harbor free dock at around 1500 and tied up on the inner leg of the "L" shaped dock. The long leg of the dock had mostly 9-10ft of water but shoaled up to 5ft on the short inner leg.
Travel Day 90 Leaving Guntersville
We manually pulled the boat over to the 10ft deep water on the city dock to keep from stirring up the mud and grass that had blown in overnight with the thunderstorms. We left just before 0700 in zero wind and glassy water. The clouds appeared to be clearing from the southwest. Foul current climbed from 1/2 knot to almost 2 knots over the course of the day. Flood warnings issued from all the rain on many of the feeder creeks into the Tennessee River. Anchored in 2 knots of current at a known Battery Hill north anchorage by 1530. Calm all night.
Travel Day 91 Leaving Bridgeport/Battery Hill
Calm night. Boat stayed put due to the strong current. Woke to patchy fog, but navigable. Pushed through strong current up to the Nickajack lock. Lock had a mechanical problem when we arrived, so we dropped an anchor in the adjacent anchor area for 45 minutes until we got the signal to go in. Smooth 15 minute, 40ft rise to Nickajack Lake where it would be 33 nautical miles to Chattanooga. 1/2 knot of foul current immediately out of the lock. Anticipate slow going further up river as event rains flooded creeks flowing down river. Since we would be turning around after Chattanooga, this should be our last day of foul current for the rest of the loop.
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Great Loop Travel Days (GLTD):
088: Decatur AL from Florence AL
089: Guntersville AL from Decatur AL
090: Bridgeport AL from Guntersville AL
091: Chattanooga TN from Bridgeport AL
Map of our Overall Great Loop travel:
GLTD088 Decatur AL (from Florence AL): We left in the dark at 5:45 am with 1 other looper boat. Ray saw a tow in the upbound channel that we would have to pass. I strobed the spotlight, as necessary, at the bridge that crosses the entrance canal for Wilson Lock, looking for the abutments in the blackness.
Why were we leaving in the dark?
Background: Recently (Aug 31, 2021), a 600-foot floating containment boom wall sank on the upstream side, forcing the Tennessee Valley Authority to close the lock to traffic.
Workaround: By Sept 2, the Corps of Engineers had a workaround in place, which restricts commercial traffic to daylight lockage. Recreational vessels were “encouraged” to lock through before daylight to avoid waits.
🔺 Great Loop Milestone: Tallest Lock on our Great Loop: Wilson Dam Lock, 120 feet.
At 120 feet tall, Wilson Dam Lock is the tallest single lift lock east of the Rocky Mountains. While some locks lift or lower boat in stages, Wilson Lock lifts or lowers boat and barges as much as 100 feet in a single operation.
NOTE: Wilson lock is on the Chattanooga side trip, not on the “primary” Great Loop route. I think the tallest lock on the Great Loop route is Jamie Whitten Lock (on the Tennessee-Tombigby Waterway), at 84 feet.
⏱ Lock Delay: 1hr. That’s pretty good for a 100-ft lift – with interim procedures in place! The lock operator had the chamber readied within 10 minutes of our arrival, and after both boats were lashed to the floating bollards, the lift only took about 35 minutes.
Wow!
This is now the fastest, quietest, calmest lockage we have been through on our loop.
See video: https://vimeo.com/630134324
As we exited the lock, we saw several down-bound tows also waiting. We were raised 96 feet all in one lock.
NOW, Ray could have his coffee!
Our lock buddy boat, mv M2W, hailed us 8 miles out from our 2nd lock that day, Joe Wheeler (48 ft).
Since a storm cell was forecast to pass over the lock right as we got there, both boats decided to throttle back to hopefully arrive after the storm had passed over.
⏱ Lock Delay:~30 min. While there was no delay in lock activity, we label it a "delay" since --albeit necessary-- this was time we were NOT actually moving forward.
After exiting the lock, foul current against us was up to 3/4 kts.
At noon, another rain band headed our way. We saw average winds of 26 mph with gusts to 36, and we took some spray over the bow (which seemed really wierd on inland rivers).
💲 Free Dock:Just before arriving to Ingalls Harbor, the free dock in Decatur AL, skies cleared long enough for us to get secured to the nice facility.
Since it was still raining, we took an Uber 1.7 miles to Cross-Eyed Owl Brewing Company, in a nice, “urban warehouse” area of town
From the brewery, we walked a couple of blocks for dinner at The RailYard, c.1924, one of Alabama's “most adorable small-town restaurants.” We enjoyed our meal, especially the Kentucky Derby Pie with a scoop of bourbon ice cream. 😊
We took another Uber back to the boat and enjoyed a quiet night in the harbor.
GLTD089 Guntersville AL (from Decatur AL): We did not set a clock but awoke around daybreak anyway. We dropped our lines and headed out around 6:45 am CT.
⏱ Bridge Delay: ~30 min. When we called the Southern Railway Bridge for an opening, the bridge tender indicated he had a train coming and would open as soon as it passed. Ray, said, "This must be the longest train I've ever seen." I thought, alternatively, it may just be the slowest; it was practically crawling.
Once we were moving again, we had about 1 kt of foul current.
There were silver-lined clouds at sunrise. It's nice to have a little break in the rain after a few days, but it wasn't done with us just yet.
By 9:00 am, foul current had increased to 1.5 kts.
As the river narrowed, current increased; by noon, we had 2 kts foul current. Wow! 😮 Again, this matters a lot for a boat that only travels at 7 knots.
We saw another flock of white pelicans.
During breaks in the rain, scenery was pretty. This is Painted Bluff where the Tennessee River makes a turn to the South.
History: More than 80 images dating back 600 years have been in danger from weather, graffiti, rock climbing and vandalism at the site near Guntersville owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority. The images, which include fish, snakes, animals and anthropomorphic human figures, are examples of rock art that were important parts of prehistoric religion.
The rock art at Painted Bluff was made by ancestors of the Southeastern tribes that once lived in the Tennessee Valley. The descendants of these people are known as the Cherokees, Chickasaw, Muscogee, Alabama, Coushatta, Quassarte, and Creek tribes.
This site has enhanced photos of the pictographs.
⏱ Lock Delay: ~35 min. Guntersville Lock (40-ft lift). Despite Ray having called 15 min ahead of our arrival requesting to lock through, we still had to wait 15 minutes, upon arrival, to get the chamber set up.
💲 Free Dock:By mid-afternoon, we were docked at Guntersville City Harbor.
We freshened up and planned to Uber to Main Channel Brewing 2.4 miles away, but we could not get an Uber. So, we skipped the brewery and walked right to downtown (in the rain) for dinner.
Not to Miss: Food: Old Town Stock House is a bit pricey, but we had plenty of food when we shared the Pompano dinner entrée with awesome crispy Brussels sprouts & other veggies. The building was built in 1901. The restaurant is upstairs, which was originally used as the storage room for the old Rexall Drugstore (that was downstairs). For a view of the river, I recommend sitting at the bar -- or one of the nearby tables with windows.
The address is on a downtown street, but the main entrance is around back (uphill) so no need to climb stairs.
GLTD090 Bridgeport AL (from Guntersville AL): We woke for an early departure. We walked the boat along the dock for a couple of hundred feet to get out of the grass that blew in during storms and flash floods last night. We departed at 6:45 am. It's another cloudy day; the river is like glass, scattered with grass.
The sun was shining again by afternoon.
🟠 Life Afloat: I steamed potatoes in the Instant Pot (while we were generating power with the engine).
By mid-afternoon, as we neared our anchorage for the night, foul current was still over 2 kts.
⚓Anchored. As we rounded the point to go downriver to anchor at Battery Hill, we briefly passed through Tennessee again before anchoring in Alabama.
The temperature was 87 degrees! In October! 😮 Ray made an awesome dinner of steak & potatoes before we turned in early.
GLTD091 Chattanooga TN (from Bridgeport AL): Ray hauled up a clean anchor off the bottom of the river early, and we started cruising again against the 2 kts of foul current. It was a misty morning.
⏱ Lock Delay:~65 min: When we arrived at Nickajack Lock (40ft lift), the operator advised they were working a mechanical issue & guessing it may take an hour to resolve. We anchored between the lock & the adjacent boat ramp to wait for the repairs.
After 35 minutes, the lock operator called us on VHF 14 advising the mechanical issue was resolved and that draining water to lower the chamber would take about 10 minutes. Exactly as estimated, 10 minutes later we got the green light and horn signal to enter the chamber. This was another surprisingly smooth, quiet, fast ride up, which took only 15-20 minutes.
We were both anticipating how bad the foul current would be by the time we get to Chattanooga, since Ray heard from another looper yesterday, that current was 2-4mph (or as much as 2-3 kts). Ray's research indicated all the creeks were at flood stage, which we anticipated would increase current in the main river as the runoff flows down.
After exiting the lock, we already had 1/2 kt foul current. Within a few minutes we passed Historic Hales Bar Dam Powerhouse, originally built in 1913 and the first dam on the main stem of the Tennessee River. (It was replaced by TVA’s Nickajack Dam). The dam itself was to measure almost one-half mile long and sixty-three feet high.
This photo shows both the old dam (right), and the mountainside source for Signal Mountain Cement Company (background).
In the early 1900’s, the need for cement in the South was more than twice what the production was. Constructions of Signal Mountain Cement Co. started in 1922. Limestone and clay needed were found on the plant site. Coal, [38 percent of the cost of cement], was found on [nearby] Signal and Raccoon mountains. When production began at the plant in 1923, it was the most modern of cement plants.
Just after passing Hales Bar, we were in the beautiful Tennessee River Gorge, the fourth largest river canyon east of the Mississippi. Ref: https://tennesseerivervalleygeotourism.org/entries/tennessee-river-gorge/4c61b9e5-df7d-4549-82ff-6e342ece478a
Within the hour, the sun was finally shining!
When the sun shined, we could see brief pops of color on the mountain.
We enjoyed a peaceful cruise …
… through the glassy water.
These ducks seemed blind to their differences. 😊
The most current we saw working against us was 2.8 kts, but occasionally spiked to 3.5 on narrow sections of the river. We would be happy to finally get to Chattanooga.
As I was on the bow, looking for photo ops, I was surprised by this small plane flying by low on the river! Click below for a video of the low pass!
Just before arriving in Chattanooga, we re-entered Eastern time zone. We gained an hour back. (We would be tired before “cruiser’s midnight” that night. 😊)
On the way to Erwin Marine Sales-Riverfront Marina, we passed by one of the local duck boat tours.
Upon docking, Ray commented that he hoped we had seen the last of foul current for this great loop since we would be turning around here and heading downstream for the remainder of the trip. 🤞
After getting SCOUT secured, we headed uptown for dinner at the closest of NINE breweries within walking distance. We would have our work cut out for us to visit as many of these as we could!
We walked along the Tennessee Riverwalk, passing by the impressive Passage Waterwalk.
The Passage is a pedestrian link between downtown Chattanooga and the Tennessee River and marks the beginning of the Trail of Tears. The Trail of Tears refers to the journey which forced the removal of the Cherokee tribes from Ross' s Landing in Chattanooga to Oklahoma.
(1) Big River Grill Downtown is mostly a restaurant, with an onsite brewery. Ray had pizza, and I had a bun-less avocado chicken sandwich. I liked the options for Gluten Free sides!
Not to Miss: Entertainment: As our Big River Grill server suggested, we strolled across the pedestrian bridge where several different musicians were set up along the bridge for the evening. We sat for a while, listening to Matt Hicks, an excellent singer/guitarist.
SCOUT was docked right beneath the pedestrian bridge.
The next morning, we gave SCOUT a good boat cleaning -- inside & out. In the afternoon, we explored another area of Chattanooga and visited 5 more breweries.
💲 Free Ride: We walked about 4 blocks to hop on the free downtown shuttle to the southside of town. Electric buses run daily between the south and north ends of town, with stops at every block in between.
(2) Heaven & Ale (in left photo below) offered what Ray called a "man's porter" – nothing in it that is not a porter.
(3) The Terminal Brewhouse is in a c.1909 building that was built shortly after the opening of nearby Terminal [Railroad] Station (the Chattanooga Choo Choo site that is now a hotel). We enjoyed pot roast nachos (in the right photo above) on the upstairs patio.
(4) Five Wits Brewing Company had a comfortable venue (left photo below) with a large beer selection.
(5) Chattanooga Brewing (right photo above): In 1890 the finest German-style beer in the nation flowed from the taps of the Chattanooga Brewing Company. It grew to a six-story brewhouse that occupied an entire block of Broad Street, producing over 150,000 barrels a year, until Prohibition forced the brewery closure.
(6) Naked River Brewing & BBQ: Ray was surprised he liked the Moon Pie Stout here – made with real Moon Pies! It was still mostly a stout. This foundry building is believed to be one of the oldest buildings in Chattanooga, built around 1875 by the Wasson Car Works, a manufacturing company that built railway cars in Chattanooga from 1873-1885. Ref: https://www.nakedriverbrewing.com/the-brewery
Not to Miss: Sunset Drinks: Whiskey Thief, on the top floor of The Edwin Hotel. Though pricey & busy (on the weekend, when we were there), the balcony view is awesome …
…and sunset from the bar was priceless.
Not to Miss: Food: City Cafe Diner/Downtown was also busy (for Sunday lunch, when we were there), but worth the 20-minute wait. There was a wide selection on the menu, and the food was good and plentiful!
We finally met the fellow Great Harbour owners of mv Spirit, on land! We had met online, and “across the bow” when they anchored temporarily to visit with us in Florida. We had assumed we would “run into each other” on the loop, but amazingly, it has taken 6 months to catch them!
They were one of the boats represented at Docktails the night they arrived, along with Chattanooga Harbor Hosts: InQuest, Apres Sail, Das Boat, Spirit, SCOUT, & SeeYa.
Ray and I had a full day planned again the next day, so we turned in early after docktails.
The next morning, mv Spirit joined us for a morning walk to Rembrandt's Coffee House before a stroll through Bluff View Art District Sculpture Garden.
We had to walk to the next bridge down from our boats, to get a different view of the sculpture garden and the river.
Not to Miss: Attraction: Tennessee Aquarium, the 5th best aquarium in the US (according to USA TODAY’s 10 Best Reader’s Choice poll).
There are 2 aquarium buildings – Ocean Journey and River Journey. I think they each had four-stories of exhibits and aquarium tanks.
Ray got into the shark tank to experience the thrill (left photo below). I can’t help but wonder if he’s pretending to be afraid of a shark, or really frightened by me. 😊
Having been stung by a jellyfish one time in the past, as its tentacles got wrapped around my leg after water skiing, I think there were way too many jelly fish exhibits – although they were well-done (right photo above).
One unique feature at this aquarium is the many child-sized alcoves and tunnels for getting a wider view within the aquarium. This one was at the very bottom of a multi-story tank and was a larger version for adults and families.
Ray used a little trickery with his shot of this gator (it was actually a ‘baby’ -- only a couple of feet long). 😊
After touring both aquarium buildings – Ocean Journey and River Journey, we walked 1.5 miles to visit 2 more breweries.
(6) WanderLinger Brewing has a unique feature – an art gallery for local artists. The venue also serves as a music venue. They had some good beer selections and some comfy couch-and-chair seating.
(7) Hutton & Smith Brewing: We walked to this brewery using some very confusing Google map information and ended up on a small downtown street. It was a nice cozy brewery, and the brewmaster was great to talk to about the beers. We took an Uber back to the boat from here after a very long day of walking and visiting the aquarium.
We had the driver drop us off at Pucketts Grocery & Restaurant, near the marina, for dinner with mv Spirit. We enjoyed half-priced appetizers during happy hour. Then, unexpectedly, we heard a live local country music duo.
Exercise: Today, we got plenty of exercise! We walked 4.5 miles, plus all of the walking around the two 4-story aquarium buildings!
Not to Miss: Side Trip: Chattanooga. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Chattanooga. Although the downtown seems spread out over a wide area, we felt safe walking wherever we went. And the free shuttle is very handy – for those days when you just don’t feel like walking (any more). 😊
What’s next? We will turn SCOUT around and head back down the Tennessee River -- with current! 😊 -- to complete our Chattanooga side trip. Just how favorable will the current be?
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