New, Moving to Eastern TN Advice please

Hello, I'm new to the forum. I am planning a move to Eastern Tennessee and have the good fortune of great flexibility in where I choose to live. I have settled on somewhere along the Tennessee river, and would appreciate opinions and advice. My current thoughts are that I will live somewhere between Chattanooga and Knoxville. Watts Bar lake is attractive, as is Chickamauga lake. I will not be living aboard, but do plan to spend as much time as possible nearly every weekend, and maybe a week a month on the water aboard my 34' Mainship.

Any advice or opinions regarding these two areas will be greatly appreciated. Info on Marinas, traffic, anchorages, etc. We like to anchor out in private peaceful areas either alone, or with only a few other boats.

Thanks to all in Advance!

Greetings,
Welcome aboard.

We just moved out trawler to Island Cove in the Chattanooga area. Brand new piers, swimming pool and full service marina with lift. Only drawback is they don't sell diesel.

Watts Bar Lake is one of the prettiest on the TR system. Many coves and places to anchor. It is also in a rural type setting. I love to cruise the area, but as all the lakes on the river, it will get small after awhile. The Mainship is pretty long legged. You will probably want to exercise those legs after a while up there.

Chattanooga is a good place for activities, but the lake is not as good as Watts Bar. I live in Chattanooga, and can give excellent advice on where to live right down to the particular home. (I must disclose that I am developer.)

Living is good in East Tennessee. Just pick the area that suits your desires.

We will be visiting the area the 2nd week of April as I have to travel there for business. We will spend a few extra days looking around and visiting a couple of Marinas as well as house hunting.

Watts bar does look nice from what I have learned so far. I am used to lake Champlain and a little of the NYS Canal system. Our plans are to home base in eastern TN and travel the river system and visit the gulf coast for one extended trip per year. Lots of places to go and things to see. I have the luxury of being able to work from almost anywhere for a few weeks at a time and we are going to take full advantage of that and stretch the boats legs at least a couple of times a year.

The important thing for us is a marina that provides some privacy for us as well as great service. We don't need a big facility, or things like a pool as our kids are all grown and no grand kids yet.

We are also looking forward to year round boating. Everything here is still frozen hard and we won't be able to get the hull wet until late April. The cold weather isn't a problem but the ice is!

Thanks for the response.

Bob

Eastern TN - Great Place to be

Currently living in Chattanooga. Have had our boat at Blue Springs Marina in Ten Mile TN. Nice marina with great service department but in a very rural setting.

We have had our trawler at Erwin Marine/Chickamauga Marina and now at Gold Point. If you want to berth in a serene park like setting this is the place for you. Its only 10 minutes from the lock to head down river. The diesel is available across the lake at Erwin (who own and run Gold Point) - and the pump out dock at Gold Point is free. Docks are in great shape and there are a few liveaboards.

Good luck with your relocation!

We have boated on Watts Bar Lake since the early 80's and find that it is probably the prettiest Lake we've been on. There are many great anchorges in secluded coves. The water is cleaner there than most of the other TVA lakes. In the Fall, some nice trips are up to Knoxville for the University Of Tennessee Football games, or up the Tellico Lake almost into the mountains, or run down to Chattanooga and do the color cruise through the 'Grand Canyon' of the Tennessee on Nickajack Lake.
We've had our boats at several different marinas over the years, but find Blue Springs Marina to be our favorite. Gas, desiel, boatyard, restrurant and GREAT people, staff and boaters.

Wm Mayberry
OPTIMYSTIQUE
IP 37-30

Marathon, FL

Thanks for the replies. Blue Springs is definitely on the list to visit. I'm not sure if we will make it to Chatanooga this visit or not. We have a lot to see and not much time we may have to plan a second trip. We will likely rent a boat if possible (i know it's early in the season) when we are in the area to get a from the water look at the lake.

We are looking forward to it, and Watts bar sounds like the best choice for us. We can easily visit Chatanooga all the way to Tellico in a reasonable length of time. and have access to more distant cruising grounds for extended trips.

Thanks Again!

Bob

I wish I could make up my mind but I can't I love my 36 ft Nantucket mainship but I would like to have a bigger boat with havering 2 kids but I got this boat setup the way we like it.....we are talking about a 47 ft merridian i guess that was what it was called maybe some of you may correct me on the proper name but anyway Steve to awnser question ..in the gally of mine the ice mech ..and the leather sofa and that was a task getting it in but it looks great in there ...the washer dryer combo the other half HAD to have so let me know about the other boat we may take a peek at it...

Hi Bob,

Welcome to East Tennessee. Watts Bar is pretty nice. Relatively speaking, the water is clean and there are abundant facilities, but it is more rural. I keep my CHB45 at International Harbor on the south side of the river at about marker 611. Ft Loudon Dam is at 600 and downtown knoxville is 650, so it is fairly central for me. The water isn't the cleanest here, but Tellico is just 12 miles down river and is pretty clean. Also, rates on the south side of the river are better than the north side. Good luck!

I've lived on my boat at Blue Springs Marina for 4 years now, and the cove has only frozen over twice for about 10 days each. It's a little less than an hour to downtown Knoxville by car; maybe 1.5 hours to Chattanooga. The nearest grocery of any size is 18 miles. The marina is really quiet during the week and less so on a summer weekend, but still significantly quieter than Island Cove in Chattanooga (where I spent 18 months). The marina restaurant is open daily Friday through Sunday. It's mostly bar food with a couple of enhancements. I give it a solid 2 stars. I'm told that the wine list is unexpectedly good. Service at the marina is pretty good, and prices are reasonable. The marina has ~250 slips; about 1/3 are covered. Watts Bar Lake is the best boating lake on the Tn River in my opinion.