We're on the Move

October 08, 2014

10/3 We arrived at the Panther Bay anchorage off Kentucky Lake at roughly 2 pm today. Karen and I set our hook and I dropped the dinghy in the water. We went to shore to take a walk around. Panther Bay in nestled in a Kentucky State Forest and it’s a beautiful spot. We’re here with a Looper boat De-De. Henry and Diane aboard De-De are from Virginia and they built their boat. In my opinion it’s about the perfect looper boat. Not too big to worry about finding anchorages, or hitting bottom and appears to be easy to handle. Not too small to be tripping over yourself or your partner either.

Anyhow after our walk Karen and I read for a while and I tried cleaning some of the ground in dirt off the side of Last Mango. The fenders really did some grinding while at Hoppies. I think I got one layer off and pulled the dinghy up on the davits. Karen was starting to make dinner (Shrimp Scampi and a salad). I finished with the dinghy and put the full enclosure on prepping for the cold weather to come. All the weather forecasts state that the wind is 5 to 15 knots and diminishing. However at 6:30 what we seen is rain squalls and winds to about 30. As this is happening Karen’s given me the look. She doesn’t care for this especially with darkness coming on. I don’t blame her I don’t care for it either. It’s now 7:10 and it is dark and still blowing, with what light is left I can see a clearing sky and hopefully a subsiding wind. It would be great to have a quiet and peaceful night in such a wonderful place. We’ll see.

Bass boats buzz around Kentucky Lake like Mosquitos

Sunrise over De-De anchored in No Name Island

10/4 Well last night was very interesting. The wind did calm down a bit but only after blowing Last Mango and De-De all over and making for a lumpy, bumpy night, at least until 11:00. We lived through it and it’s a new day. We’ll pay more attention to wind direction and open anchorages even though weather forecasts weren’t accurate. Took off at about 7 in the morning to a cool and somewhat foggy morning. The Mantus anchor was really buried and it took a bit of work to free it. What a great anchor! We motored to Birdsong Creek to anchor but found it far too shallow and we actually hit bottom. I’m starting to get accustom to hitting bottom. Karen not so much! We contacted Maury and Sandy

Last Mango and De-De anchored in Panther Bay.
The calm before the storm.

(The Texans) and they clued us onto another anchorage at mile marker 106.5. It was a good anchorage in 30 feet of water. Karen made homemade pizza for dinner. We swung around the actor all night without the noise like the night before. Karen was still a bit restless though.

10/5 Woke up to a cool morning. 43 degrees in the boat this morning, we need to get our asses south in a hurry. Waited for some fog to burn off and started motoring again. The Tennessee River is very scenic with very rural areas. Houses perched up high on bluffs looking like they are ready to fall off. We anchored at Double Island another deep anchorage. We laid out over 80 feet of chain because of depth and possible storms. Karen and I lowered the dinghy and went to visit Henry and Diane. Afterwards we went for a walk on the beach. Dinner consisted of must goes. A combination of leftover ham, chili, noodle and peas. It was pretty good or I was hungry. A much needed quiet nights sleep. We were in bed at loopers midnight. That would be 9:00 pm.

10/6 Awoke to storms coming in. Waited an hour for them to pass and started motoring again. Beautiful scenery and houses. We did notice several houses along the way where the bluffs had started to give way and parts of the houses and yards got taken by the river. We also noted the river is very low. Countless boats and docks sitting high and dry. We’ll ask later to find out why this is. Anchored at Wolf Island tonight. 1.5 to 2 mph current keeps the boat in line, very nice. We’re anchored with De-De and Bodacious from San Diego. Karen made a turkey breast in the pressure cooker Steve Lind gave us, many thanks to Steve and Sharon. Hopefully we’ll see you down south in a year or two. It’s Monday Night Football on the Sirius radio and hopefully a good nights sleep. Unfortunately I think I’m getting a cold.

We're in the South Now

Oh by the way, I know many people think of the state of Mississippi and think of ill educated and backward people. I’ll tell you this. At least Mississippi has public radio station that over powers the born again bible thumpers. In Kentucky and most of Tennessee very little public radio. Just people telling me to give them money and I will be saved. Karen has made many new friends and I now have NPR and MPR radio also.

10/8 We entered Pickwick Lake after going up 53 feet in the lock. What beautiful houses are on Pickwick Lake. We spent the night at Grand Harbor Marina in Mississippi last night and tonight. Nice to take a full shower and go out to dinner. A group of us went out last night and ate at Freddy T’s in Counce TN. Not all that impressed. The blackened fish tacos were pretty good but the service wasn’t. It appeared they weren’t prepared for a party of 8 people. We did eat at The Hickory Pit in Savanna TN today and it was wonderful. Great food and decent prices. By the way since starting our trip Karen and I are well under budget. Karen is adding what was not spent last month to this months budget.

Some of the Houses above Pickwick Lake.

Great Place to Eat in Savanna TN

We spent much of the day at Shiloh National Military Park with 2 other couples from the marina. I wish we could of spent more time at Shiloh but it just didn’t happen. It’s incredible to think how many soldiers lost their lives in this small 5 square mile area in just 2 days.