M/V ILLUSIONS                    TX TO TN CRUISE 2004



TX TO TN CRUISE
Trip 6
Chattanooga, TN to Iuka, MS
October 19 - 29, 2004

Travel to Chattanooga, TN, Tuesday, October 19, 2004

     We flew back to Huntsville, AL, where that flight originated; and my sister, Martha Ann, from Birmingham, AL, picked us up.  In her car we drove to Chattanooga and had dinner there at Carrabba's.  Then we drove to the boat and spent the night at Chattanooga Yacht Club.  My other sister, Judy, who lived in Dalton, GA, canceled at the last minute due to illness.  We had planned to go together to Asheville, NC and see the Fall colors and maybe see some waterfalls.

Side Trip to Asheville, NC, Wednesday, October 20, 2004

     We drove to Asheville along US 64, generally easterly from Chattanooga.  Along the way we passed through Highlands, NC, a quaint, prosperous-looking community at elevation 4,118.  Also we went through Cashiers, NC and Brevard, NC - both names are found in internet searches for North Carolina waterfalls.  We saw some very nice waterfalls - the first ones were not even known in advance.  We simply pulled off the road after seeing a photographer and his girlfriend setting up his tripod along the side of the road.

     First we passed the Ocoee River and its dams.  We had been there before, in 1998, for whitewater rafting.  The water and the rocks were very interesting to me; also, the rafting center, set up for the 1996 Olympics, was open and we got to go in and see it.  The water level was low; whitewater rafting season was probably over.  It was Wednesday, also, during the day.  The way the TVA works the water there is to use it to create electricity when it is not being used for recreation.  

Inland Cruising - Martha Ann and David at Ocoee Dam No. 1  Inland Cruising - Ocoee Dam No. 1, on the Ocoee River in TN  

     I believe that the following picture (Photo 03) was made in the same spot I took a photo of Angela in 1998 (shown next to it).  Compare the large rock in the two photos.  The high-level flume in the background carries the water around the whitewater rafting area to a generating station downstream.

 Inland Cruising - The bank in that area is where Angela sat for a photo in 1998, Ocoee River    Inland Cruising - On the Ocoee River   Inland Cruising - It's hard to believe that's where we went rafting in 1998, with much more water, of course; Ocoee Dam No. 2

     After we passed the Olympic Whitewater Rafting Center and went into North Carolina, the leaves became prettier and the elevation increased.  We started seeing waterfalls, and that part of the state had numerous falls to see.  See North Carolina Waterfalls for more information.

  Inland Cruising - The colors in the leaves started to get very pretty  Inland Cruising - The first waterfall we saw on our way to Asheville, NC  

Inland Cruising - Some waterfalls were along the highway; others were inaccessible  Inland Cruising - One article I read said "... all streams in western NC had waterfalls"  Inland Cruising - This waterfall was very attractive  Inland Cruising - This waterfall was named Bridal Veil Falls  

     Bridal Veil Falls was located right on US Highway 64, 2.5 miles east of Highlands, NC. The write-up I saw about it said you could drive under it.  There was a side strip of asphalt there, but it was blocked by a giant rock.  A person we were talking to about the falls said it was so big there might be a car under it.  Anyway, apparently the fallen rock was a recent event; and driving under the falls was not an option.  That waterfall drops 120 feet onto the pavement off to the side of the highway.  Toxaway Falls drops 125 feet.

Inland Cruising - This beautiful red-leafed tree was in the area east of Highlands, NC  Inland Cruising - Unusual appearance of the mountains in the background; Lake Toxaway, NC  Inland Cruising - Toxaway Falls, east of Cashiers, NC, between Sapphire and Rosman, NC 

Inland Cruising - The French Broad River, near Rosman, NC      I found a couple of books at the Knoxville airport.  One was on the Tennessee River, and the other was on the French Broad River.  The Tennessee is formed in Knoxville by the merger of the Holston River and the French Broad River.  We took our boat up the French Broad River, and years ago it was navigable, for shallow draft vessels, all the way up to Dandridge, TN, above the dam site for Douglas Dam.  Anyway, in reading about the French Broad, I learned that it originated in North Carolina, south of Asheville, and runs through the Biltmore Estate and through downtown Asheville.  The photo below shows the French Broad not too far below its origin, near Rosman, NC.  Compare that picture to the French Broad just below Douglas Dam.

Asheville, NC to Chattanooga, TN, Thursday, October 21, 2004

     On Thursday we planned to get on the Blue Ridge Parkway, but we went into Asheville to see a few things first.  One was the Grove Park Inn, a famous old hotel with a great view of Asheville and valley north of downtown.  We had often taken visitors to my mother's house in Knoxville, TN up to Asheville to see the Biltmore Estate, and we usually tried to eat dinner at the Grove Park Inn. Also, we took a few photos from the side of GPI, and then I found an unconventional way down off that particular mountain.  I spied a street called Beaverdam Road on the city map, and it appeared to lead to the Blue Ridge Parkway at the northeast end of Asheville.  That street wound its way up and up and up, and the pavement changed from a two lane blacktop road to a gravel road.  Houses disappeared, but the trees were pretty, so we went on.  Then we saw an occasional house, and beautiful trees; and then we got to the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Inland Cruising - The main entrance to the Grove Park Inn, Asheville, NC  Inland Cruising - View of the grounds below Grove Park Inn, Asheville, NC  Inland Cruising - The Grove Park Inn had a Car Museum; Martha Ann modeled the old taxi 

Inland Cruising - We got on Beaverdam Road and headed uphill and northeast to get out of Asheville  Inland Cruising - The trees and leaves got prettier as we went uphill  Inland Cruising - Beaverdam Road changed to gravel, and we saw an occasional house

Inland Cruising - The hillside was isolated, natural, and covered in colored leaves  Inland Cruising - That view is what we were searching for; it was beautiful  Inland Cruising - We arrived at the Blue Ridge Parkway  

     As we neared the southwest side of Asheville, nearly out of town, we crossed the Biltmore Estate and the French Broad River.  We stopped to take a couple of photographs.  The French Broad is joined by a few other streams as it moves north through the west side of Asheville - the Swannanoa River is one, and it runs to the west along the southern edge of Asheville (the Big Pigeon River is another).

Inland Cruising - Martha Ann took this shot of Angela and me on the Blue Ridge Parkway  Inland Cruising - The high bridge overlooked a dirt track on the Biltmore Estate near the French Broad River  Inland Cruising - Looking downstream on the French Broad River; Biltmore was on the right, a park was on the left  

     We drove west on the Blue Ridge Parkway, stopping several times to take pictures.  I had not realized the Parkway was built along a ridge, so we could often see down into the valley on both sides of the road.  Also, any grade changes in the roadway were gradual, so it seemed we were on a flat surface instead of going up and down all the time.

Inland Cruising - Pretty colors at a roadside stop on the Blue Ridge Parkway west of Asheville, NC  Inland Cruising - Some other tourists took our family picture  Inland Cruising - Nice trees and pretty leaves, Blue Ridge Parkway  

     At Hwy 276 we turned left and dropped and dropped in elevation.  Any stream that ran beside that road had lots of waterfalls on it.  We saw some that were named and some that were not named.  All were attractive.  The first one shown here with Angela was unnamed, as far as I know.  The second was named Sliding Rock Falls.  It was an attended swimming area in the summer, 60 feet of slide with a 7-foot deep pool at the end.  A little further south was Looking Glass Falls. See the website for some other photos.  Looking Glass Falls was very pretty and also dropped 60 vertical feet.

Inland Cruising - Pretty Angela in front of pretty unnamed waterfall  Inland Cruising - Sliding Rock Falls  Inland Cruising - Looking Glass Falls

     We stopped in Highlands for some coffee, etc, and then we drove on to Chattanooga.  We stopped a few miles outside (west) of Highlands to see Dry Falls.  It was too dark to photograph, but this website has a good photo of the falls, which are 80 feet high and not at all dry.  We got into Chattanooga late and fell into bed without dinner.  I had driven about 700 miles in 2.5 days, and I was tired but pleased with what we had been able to see.

Lay Day in Chattanooga, TN, Friday, October 22, 2004

     Before Martha Ann left for Birmingham, we took her car for groceries to restock the boat.  Also, a mechanic came by to check on the water pump.  The manufacturer of our boat was replacing the potable water pumps, as we had had nothing but trouble with them since we bought the boat.  The trouble may have been in the timers, I'm not sure; Groco pumps were not cheap but did not perform satisfactorily for us.  The new pumps were less expensive but did perform better.  I was able to take a shower without the pump stopping, and Angela could wash dishes without losing her source of rinse water in the process.

     We settled up with the Harbor Master, Vincent, who was a gracious host, at Chattanooga Yacht Club, and turned in our gate pass.  I had repaired the salon screens in Houston and had them shipped to us (they were damaged by a break-in at the boat before we bought it), and I tried to install them.  I got one in, but the other was blocked by extra sealant put in the channel by mistake when the windows were being recaulked.  

Chattanooga to Guild, TN, Saturday, October 23, 2004

     We left the Chattanooga Yacht Club about 10:30am under overcast skies.  The generator ran for a while, and then I shut it off.  From that moment on it never ran very long again, on that trip.  It seemed to be an overheating problem.  We abandoned any thoughts of anchoring.

photo34.jpg (50402 bytes)     We were delayed at the Lock for over 2 hours.  The upper 3 locks on the Tennessee River were so small that only one barge at a time could be moved up or down.  Inland Cruising - Looking back at Chickamauga Lock and Dam, Chattanooga, TNThe towboat was moving four barges, but each one took an hour or more.  We eventually got through and went past the tow as he was making up his 4-barge string to go on downriver.Inland Cruising - Each barge was moved from the lock to the dolphins, where it was lashed together into a 4-barge string
 
  We took a few photographs of the scene in downtown Chattanooga.  There was a lot of construction going on there - perhaps a new convention center alongside the Tennessee Aquarium.



Inland Cruising - On the LDB, atop high rock walls, older buildings sat next to new construction, Chattanooga, TN  Inland Cruising - The Tennessee Aquarium was just to the left of that new building on the bank of the river  Inland Cruising - The Downtown City Marina in Chattanooga, TN
 Inland Cruising - Unfortunately, the haze was overpowering on that overcast day Inland Cruising - That cluster of buildings used to be a boys school, RDB  Inland Cruising - The buildings were very attractive 

     We had hoped to see bright colors along the Grand Canyon of the Tennessee River, just below Chattanooga on Nickajack Lake.  But, the peak of the colors was later that year, and the haze reduced visibility and made photos less attractive.

Inland Cruising - The Grand Canyon of the Tennessee was hard to see due to the haze  Inland Cruising - See the houses way up on the hills  Inland Cruising - The SOUTHERN BELLE, Port of Chattanooga, was making good time going downstream on the Tennessee River  

     We did pass the discharge site and generating plant for the TVA Raccoon Mountain Pumped-Storage Reservoir, which is a clever idea and an impressive site on the river.  See the website for details on the facility.  We stopped for the night above the dam at Nickajack Marina, formerly called Hales Bar Marina.  There used to be a dam there called Hales Bar Dam.  The power house was still standing and can be seen at the left side of the photograph.  The transient dock was parallel to the river and subject to surge and wakes from river traffic, whereas the tenant slips were behind the transients and had ties on both sides of the boats.  The old lock for Hales Bar Dam was across the river and was being used by a coal company.

Inland Cruising - TVA's Raccoon Mountain Pumped Storage Reservoir, LDB  Inland Cruising - Some Fall colors in the Grand Canyon of the Tennessee River  Inland Cruising - Nickajack Marina, formerly Hales Bar Marina  Inland Cruising - The old lock for Hales Bar Dam was across the river from the marina and power house 

Guild, TN to Guntersville, AL, Sunday, October 24, 2004

     We left the marina and went about 6 miles downstream to Nickajack Dam.  With no real delay we dropped 41 feet and exited the lock into Lake Guntersville.  We took the narrow and shallow channel up to Goose Pond Colony Marina and visited with Tony, the Harbormaster there.  They were having a Music and Fall Colors Festival there over the last two weekends in October.  We saw some attractive homes on Lake Guntersville. 

Inland Cruising - Leaving Nickajack Lock  Inland Cruising - The Tennessee River below Nickajack Dam  Inland Cruising - Entering the side channel to Goose Pond Colony Marina  Inland Cruising - The marina was near Scottsboro, AL on the RDB of the Tennessee River 

Inland Cruising - An overall view of Goose Pond Colony Marina  Inland Cruising - Pretty home on Lake Guntersville, RDB  Inland Cruising - Pretty leaves and very nice home on Lake Guntersville  Inland Cruising - Pretty scenery on Lake Guntersville, LDB 

Inland Cruising - Lake Guntersville Yacht Club     About 4pm we pulled into Lake Guntersville Yacht Club and filled up with fuel.  We had been waiting for diesel fuel prices to go down, but they had gone up instead.  The yacht club had diesel prices lower than anywhere else we had contacted, so we bought 633 gallons there at $1.50 per gallon.  The people there were very friendly, and we grilled some chicken on one of their three gas grills down on the dock.





Guntersville to Rogersville, AL, Monday, October 25, 2004

      We left Lake Guntersville Yacht Club about 9:30am; we did not have to travel far to the next marina.  After going through the lock at Guntersville Dam, we encountered some beautiful rocky banks along the river.  Painted Bluff is one we are sure to stop and look at every time we pass by it because it is so impressive.  The weather was warm, almost 90 degrees, but the humidity was 44%.  We passed Ditto Landing Marina and the Decatur, AL Marina; we had spent a night at each of those marinas.

Inland Cruising - High rocky banks, Tennessee River, RDB  Inland Cruising - RDB, Wilson Lake, just upstream of Painted Bluff  Inland Cruising - Painted Bluff, RDB, Wilson Lake  Inland Cruising - We stopped to take some pictures of Painted Bluff on the Tennessee River  

Inland Cruising - RDB, Wilson Lake, downstream of Painted Bluff  Inland Cruising - Wilson Lake, Tennessee River - beautiful cruising!  Inland Cruising - Unusual rock formations and colorful leaves, Wilson Lake, RDB  Inland Cruising - The entrance to Ditto Landing Marina, Huntsville, AL, RDB  

Inland Cruising - Decatur Marina, RDB  We spent the night at Joe Wheeler State Park in Rogersville, AL; but we ate on board rather than eating at the restaurant there.  There were quite a few Great Loopers there in trawlers; they were headed downstream and seem to mostly know each other.  Diesel was $2.19 per gallon; I was sure at the time that was the highest price for diesel anywhere on the Tennessee River.





Rogersville, AL, to Iuka, MS, Tuesday, October 26, 2004

     We saw a few of the Great Loopers head for the dam, so we fell in with them and stayed with them through the next two locks.  One of the boats was a 1987 Carver, 42', that was in excellent condition.  That model was later modified slightly and called the Carver 440, which was our boat back in Houston, for sale at the time.  I really admired it.  The owner said he kept it at Aqua Yacht Harbor Marina, Iuka, MS, which is where we were going to leave our boat for the winter.  M/V MOONCHASER was going to stop for a night or two at the Florence, AL marina, along with M/V JOYUSS and the others; and their diesel price was supposed to be better than the price in Iuka, MS.  So we went through Wheeler and Wilson Locks, turned right into Florence Marina, and tied up at the fuel dock.  The attendant said he was sorry but he had no diesel to sell, so we untied and continued our trip to Iuka, MS.  (M/V JOYUSS was ahead of us in the 93' high Wilson Lock.)  When we got to Aqua Yacht Harbor, we filled up the forward tank, and we were dismayed to find the diesel there was $2.279 per gallon, which may have been the highest price on the Tennessee River.  We spent the night at the fuel dock so we could use our satellite television.

Inland Cruising - M/V MOONCHASER, Tupelo, MS  Inland Cruising - Looking back at Wheeler Lock and Dam  Inland Cruising - We had a delay of about an hour in the rain at Wilson Lock and Dam  Inland Cruising - M/V JOYUSS also had a slip at Aqua Yacht Harbor in Iuka, MS  

Inland Cruising - Looking back at the 93' lift Wilson Lock, and the auxilliary lock off to the left  Inland Cruising - Florence, AL Marina  

Lay Days at Iuka, MS, Wednesday and Thursday, October 27 and 28, 2004

     We moved the boat to our winter slip at "G" Shed, Slip 66; and we met with Tom Snyder to arrange for repairs to be made.  The generator did not work, so that was the first thing that needed their attention.  Tom had David fix us up with a tv cable so we could use the marina's cable tv.  We were interested in the election coverage especially.  On Thursday we borrowed the marina's van and drove to see the Shiloh Battlefield about 20 miles away.  It was an amazing experience; over 80,000 people were fighting for two days during April, 1862 and over 23,000 of those died.

Inland Cruising - David outside the Visitors Center at the Shiloh National Military Park, Shiloh, TN   Inland Cruising - Angela at the site of the "sunken road", where most of the first day's fighting took place  Inland Cruising - The park was much larger than I expected, and it was well maintained and attractive  Inland Cruising - Monuments like this were all over the place, and artillery pieces, too  

Fly to Houston, Friday, October 29, 2004

     On Friday Mr. Kelly Beyer drove us to Muscle Shoals, AL to catch a flight home.  Our boat was settled for the winter, and we finished the last traveling we planned to do on the boat for 2004.

Statistics for the trip:

Running Hours:  23
Miles:  270
Generator Hours:  2
Fuel Used:  824 gallons
Fuel Costs:  $1,391
Running Days:  4
Lay Days:  5
Travel Days:  2
Total Days  11.7 
Average Speed:  11.7 mph
Average Fuel:  N/A
Average Fuel Cost:  N/A
Average Miles Per Running Day:  67.5
Average Running Hours Per Running Day:  5.75
Locks  5

Statistics for Trips 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6

Running Hours:  188
Miles:  2,235
Generator Hours:  450
Fuel Used:  4,011 gallons
Fuel Costs:  $5,798
Running Days:  38
Lay Days:  21
Travel Days:  11
Total Days  70
Average Speed:  11.9 mph
Average Fuel:  1.79 gallons per mile
Average Fuel Cost:  $ 1.44 per gallon
Average Miles Per Running Day:  59
Average Running Hours Per Running Day:  4.9
Locks  31
Generator Hours per Engine Hour = 2.4