Day 124 & 125: Short Cruise to Guntersville & Onto Decatur

Day 124: November 19:  David and Sandra will be leaving this morning; they have a long travel day to Decatur where they will leave the boat for the week, rent a car and drive home to Loxley, AL for Thanksgiving. We, on the other hand have a much shorter trip today, planning on stopping at Guntersville City Harbor where John has medications waiting to be picked up at a CVS so we were in no hurry to leave Goose Pond. 

I didn't sleep as well as usual, waking up a few times thinking about Zendeavor leaving early. As if it were possible, I didn't want to oversleep and miss the send off. It's the same way I get when I have an early morning flight; I never sleep well, thinking I should just stay awake all night. Ridiculous thoughts as not once have I ever failed to wake up in time for a flight or another early morning event.

It was pretty cold this morning so I waited inside the boat until David and Sandra were ready to leave. I wish Mother Nature would make up her mind; but as one of the Lock-masters said recently, it can be winter in the morning in Tennessee and summer by the afternoon. We have definitely been experiencing the rapid shifts in temperatures; bitter and frosty in the morning and warm as toast as soon as the sun gets high enough in the sky. 

David and Sandra knocked on the door around 7:00 a.m. and invited us to their house for the holiday. We so appreciated their kind offer but who knows what we will decide. Our plans right now are to continue making our way downriver to the junction of the Tennessee River and Tenn-Tom Waterway where we will turn south into Yellow Creek at the Mississippi and Tennessee state borders. John is looking forward to meeting up with (Phil) Goldstein his roommate from his time at the FBI academy in 2000; Phil lives in Tupelo, MS.

Soon it was time to say hasta luego (see you later, not goodbye) and we helped them shove off. What a strange feeling watching our traveling buddies get UW without us. Sadness washed over me; after all we have been with them for 2 1/2 months. Most of the time just the two of us with no other Loopers or even boats around at a remote anchorage or free wall. Fishing and bingo and dominoes after dinner. Lots of laughs and of course help when you needed it. Suddenly it became very quiet. 

It turned out to be a gorgeous summer like day. Since we don't have far to travel, we decided to wait to use the courtesy car again to chase after some propane. We have two 20 pound tanks for the stove and one 8 pound tank we use for the grill. One of the 20 pounders recently ran out and the 8 pounder was getting low so it would be great if we could get them filled up while we have access to a vehicle. Another transient was using the car to go to church; they returned around 11:00 and John packed up and headed to a Tractor Supply store where he found propane was available. 

I waited and waited for a couple of hours wondering what was taking so long. The store was only about 6 miles away; did he get lost? Finally I saw the van approaching the parking lot and John sauntered back down the dock tanks in hand. As it turns out, getting the propane was not as easy as it should have been. The employee at the Tractor Supply store was not comfortable filling the 8 pounder as she had never seen one before. John showed her the nozzle was the same as any tank; the tank was just smaller. She became so uneasy that John decided to leave and not push the issue. 

Back in the car, John searched for "propane near me", finding a place only a few miles away. Off he went only to discover the establishment did not take credit cards, only cash. Seeing that his wallet was empty (as usual LOL), John told the man at the store he would be back; he then drove to a nearby ATM to get some cash. When he returned, he found the man waiting for him. The tanks were filled with no problem. With 2 full tanks now onboard we should be good for the rest of the trip. What an ordeal! 

Time to get UW about 1:30 and slowly proceeded out through the narrow, shallow channel that flows from the river into the marina. It looks so low, like a marsh almost. Folks here really need some rain.

It was a beautiful cruise to Guntersville; the river remained flat and the temperatures remained warm for the short 18 mile trip. Although we have been this way before I still enjoyed the sights. I loved a particular stretch along the river where boathouse after boathouse line the banks. I have no doubt this is called boathouse row; the first thing that comes to mind. If it isn't, it should be!

We pulled into the city harbor at around 4:00 and tied up at the free floating dock. Unlike the last time we were here, the place was desolate, both the dock and the parking lot. No matter how hard I searched, our buddy boat was nowhere to be seen! 

John and I walked the 3 mile roundtrip to CVS to pick up his medication. This area of Guntersville is on an extremely busy main road that leads to a highway bridge. Traffic is heavy and noisy. There isn't much to see except if you take the side road in the "artsy" district where all the shops are. We did note there were 4 churches within a block of each other; Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist and Catholic. Here are a couple of them; they certainly look alike but are different in many ways. 

It was dusk by the time we returned to Slàinte Mhath. She sure looked lonely and deserted at the empty dock. Dinner was meatloaf, rice and of course my favorite, lots of vegetables. 

Day 125: November 20: We got UW just after 7:30 a.m. I told John a barge had gone through, heading in the downriver as we would be. How long before we catch up to it? 

We exited the harbor and turned to port passing under the bridge just outside the harbor. It was a bit overcast so we kept the vinyl closed for the time being. A couple of miles before we reached the Guntersville Lock we heard the Emily Davis call the Lock-master looking for a down-bound. There is usually not much barge traffic along this stretch of the river; just our luck here was one that would be locking through, resulting in us having to wait for quite awhile. 

John contacted the Lock-master to alert him we would also be traveling downriver, noting we could see the Emily Davis and would be standing by on channel 13. Knowing we would be waiting, the Lock-master would refill the chamber once the barge exited. 

We pulled over outside the channel to wait. Soon another vessel was making its way toward us. We noticed it was the same on that had tied up near Zendeavor at Goose Pond on Saturday. Anastasia, an older Carver, looking very much like Zendeavor which is an Hatteras.  She only stayed one night and left on Sunday shortly after David and Sandra and here she was again. She passed us by and idled closer to the lock entrance.

Waiting patiently for the Guntersville Lock

By the time the barge exited the chamber about an hour had passed; the horn blew indicating the lock was ready for us. Anastasia very slowly made her way into the lock; we wondered if the captain was familiar with locking or just a bit too cautious; either way we locked through together, dropping us onto Wheeler Lake. 

We slowed down as we passed by Painted Bluff for the second time. Looking through binoculars I tried to see if I could find one of the 600 year old drawings that are on the cliff to no avail. How was it possible for anyone to have drawn anything on the walls of this giant rock, never mind over 80 of them? 

We finally caught up to the Emily Davis and watched as Anastasia overtook her up ahead. Once we got closer John tried 3 or 4 times to the barge's captain to alert him we would be passing, but received no answer. Thankfully we were in a long straightaway; a perfect spot for passing so despite not getting a response from the barge we made our way passing on two whistles. We were traveling at about 8 or 9 knots and the barge was going about 6 so passing didn't take very long. Soon it was falling farther and farther behind us. 

As we continued along the river the wind kicked up a bit; believe it or not we had whitecaps. 

We approached the Decatur Railroad Bridge which is a lift bridge. We saw that a train was on the bridge and a tug and Anastasia were about 1 mile ahead of us waiting for the lift. We heard Anastasia call the bridge tender but did not hear the response. With a train crossing we figured we would arrive at the bridge in good time and would be able to pass at the same time as the tug and Anastasia. John called the bridge tender to notify him we were in sight, asking if the bridge would remain open until we arrived. He said of course, just keep coming. 

We pulled into the boat ramp and free wall in Decatur early; about 3:00. The place is barren; we only saw one fishing boat come in all afternoon and evening. Where did everyone go? The last time we were here boat after boat passed, in and out of the river nonstop! Today no one is in sight. It will be a quiet night.