Nashville to Knoxville

Three years ago my wife and I purchased a 48' Californian MY to use as a condo and do some cruising on Old Hickory Lake. The plan worked to perfection and we have had many wonderful times on board her in the Nashville area. The time has now come for us to move TWILiGHT TIME to her new home on Tellico Lake 30 miles south of Knoxville where we live. We will be departing on 10/1 from Blue Turtle Bay marina for the 800 mile trip with 15 travel days planned. I am sure we will meet up with lots of Loopers once we pass Green Turtle Bay and enter Kentucky Lake and head upriver on the Tennessee River. We will try to give a daily report on our progress and look forward to your comments.

We're at Clarksville now, headed for Cedar Creek Yacht Club on Old Hickory. We actually tried to get a slip at Blue Turtle but the were full. We'll go from Old Hickory to Rock Harbor on October 2. We'll spend a couple of weeks there, then go to Pickwick Lake for the winter.

Perhaps we'll be in the same place at the same time. If so, let's connect.

Paul

Love that entire area. We had to end our cruise this year in Nashville and had a crew take out boat back to Pickwick. However, at least we've cruised the entire area.

At least the Wilson Lock work is done so you don't have to clear it at night now like we did.

You'll be seeing some of the beautiful fall colors. We may still make a trip there this fall for just a few days, although doesn't seem likely.

Paul, Sorry we won't get a chance to meet. We will be a day ahead of you and will be at Commodore Yacht Club Sunday night and off to Clarksville Marina the next morning. To bad you couldn't get in to Blue Turtle Bay you would have enjoyed "Sams in the Cove". A great sports bar in the Marina but not owned by the marina. Cedar Creek is very nice but too far out. We looked there before settling on BTB. By any chance did I see your boat tied up at the dock at Tellico Marina a couple weeks ago. There was a Marine Trader 44 and a Defever 50 there for one night. Where will you be staying in Pickwick and are you having work done at Rock Harbor. Rock Harbor is the only full service marina on the river until you get to Green Turtle Bay. There is an old travel lift at Drake's Creek but I would not trust them to lift my boat. Have a great trip and safe travels.

Tellico Bob said:

Paul, Sorry we won't get a chance to meet. We will be a day ahead of you and will be at Commodore Yacht Club Sunday night and off to Clarksville Marina the next morning. To bad you couldn't get in to Blue Turtle Bay you would have enjoyed "Sams in the Cove". A great sports bar in the Marina but not owned by the marina. Cedar Creek is very nice but too far out. We looked there before settling on BTB. By any chance did I see your boat tied up at the dock at Tellico Marina a couple weeks ago. There was a Marine Trader 44 and a Defever 50 there for one night. Where will you be staying in Pickwick and are you having work done at Rock Harbor. Rock Harbor is the only full service marina on the river until you get to Green Turtle Bay. There is an old travel lift at Drake's Creek but I would not trust them to lift my boat. Have a great trip and safe travels.

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Wifey B: The two stops we didn't make it too due to hurricane interruption were Blue Turtle and Defeated Creek.

Tellico Bob said:

Paul, Sorry we won't get a chance to meet. We will be a day ahead of you and will be at Commodore Yacht Club Sunday night and off to Clarksville Marina the next morning. To bad you couldn't get in to Blue Turtle Bay you would have enjoyed "Sams in the Cove". A great sports bar in the Marina but not owned by the marina. Cedar Creek is very nice but too far out. We looked there before settling on BTB. By any chance did I see your boat tied up at the dock at Tellico Marina a couple weeks ago. There was a Marine Trader 44 and a Defever 50 there for one night. Where will you be staying in Pickwick and are you having work done at Rock Harbor. Rock Harbor is the only full service marina on the river until you get to Green Turtle Bay. There is an old travel lift at Drake's Creek but I would not trust them to lift my boat. Have a great trip and safe travels.

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Wasn't us at Tellico. We haven't made it that far yet, but plan to next year. We'll spend the winter at Aqua Yacht Harbor. We spent a month there this summer, and really liked it. We're at Rock Harbor as a stopover. We have to leave for a couple of weeks to attend to business. When we return mid October we'll explore around here for a while, then work our way back to Pickwick.

When you go to Clarksville, keep the No Wake bouy close on your starboard side (really close). It's pretty shallow away from center channel.

Where do you plan to stop after Clarksville?

Paul, Thanks for the tip going into Clarksville Marina. I don't need to start the trip off by going aground on the second day. After Clarksville we will be at Barkley State Park and then a long, 77 mile run to Paris Landing. From there it is Cuba landing Marina, Clifton Marina and then Pickwick. After Pickwick on to Florence Harbor Marina where we will stop for at lease one day to rest up. If you get to Tellico next summer please let us know. We live next to the marina and think Tellico Lake is one of the best keep secrets on the TVA waters.

Hi TB ,
We stayed at Barkley State Park back in June . It's a long and winding channel to get to the Marina but nice setting. They will ask for proof of insurance. I didn't have mine on the boat and had to get it faxed from insurance company. No big deal , we just don't get very far from home and have never been asked before . It was a little buggy and we saw a few snakes but other than that is was nice . Hope to see you at Paris Landing .

Thanks Marty, I had forgotten about the insurance issue. It has been 10 years since we have been there and maybe that is the reason I keep an insurance card on board. Should be at Paris Landing on the 10/4.

Sunday 10/1/17.
We had hopes of an early start but after talking to the lock master on Saturday evening I had a bad feeling that we may be delayed. Sure enough an 8 o’clock phone call told me we would not be able to lock through until at least 10:30. Another call at 10:00 informed me it would now be 12:30. So we cut our lines and pulled away from the marina that had been our home for the last three years and headed for the Old Hickory Lock about two miles away. The trip down in the lock was uneventful and we headed down river at 1:30, 4 hours later then planned. With 47 miles to our first stop and the sun in the west it was going to be a long afternoon. We passed Nashville around 4 and you could hear the music coming from the bars on Broadway. Since the Titans were not playing at home today there were all kinds of docks available if you wanted to enjoy the world of Country music. Nashville is the friendliest city you will ever visit. We found the narrow channel going into the Commodore Yacht Club with the Sun setting right in my face I kept one eye on the sonar and one on the channel. We noticed that TVA had lowered the river level about 3 ft and at one point I had less than 1’ under my props. Made it in to the basin, found our dock and called it a night.

Tellico Bob said:

Sunday 10/1/17.
We had hopes of an early start but after talking to the lock master on Saturday evening I had a bad feeling that we may be delayed. Sure enough an 8 o’clock phone call told me we would not be able to lock through until at least 10:30. Another call at 10:00 informed me it would now be 12:30. So we cut our lines and pulled away from the marina that had been our home for the last three years and headed for the Old Hickory Lock about two miles away. The trip down in the lock was uneventful and we headed down river at 1:30, 4 hours later then planned. With 47 miles to our first stop and the sun in the west it was going to be a long afternoon. We passed Nashville around 4 and you could hear the music coming from the bars on Broadway. Since the Titans were not playing at home today there were all kinds of docks available if you wanted to enjoy the world of Country music. Nashville is the friendliest city you will ever visit. We found the narrow channel going into the Commodore Yacht Club with the Sun setting right in my face I kept one eye on the sonar and one on the channel. We noticed that TVA had lowered the river level about 3 ft and at one point I had less than 1’ under my props. Made it in to the basin, found our dock and called it a night.

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We did the trip from Old Hickory Lake to Rock Harbor last week. We were delayed at the lock, too. When we got to Rock Harbor, the channel was less than five feet. That sure focuses your attention!!

We plan to leave Nashville on the 15th and make the trip back to Pickwick Lake for the winter.

Monday 10/2/17.
We had a quite night and got an early start. As we went out the channel to the Cumberland I saw -.9’ on my screen and then felt us slide through the mud into deeper water. Right, back to positive `numbers and on our way to the Cheatham Lock 20 miles away. A call to the lock master told me there were two tows ahead of me. We ended up having to kill about 45 minutes before we could lock down and finish our 45 mile run. We are now in Barkley Lake and the scenery is beautiful. We have left behind the industrial area around Nashville and find ourselves cruising through a very rural area as we head for Clarksville, TN. We passed a tow going up river with 4 full barges and we passed one of the tows that held us up pushing 15 empty barges at about 9 mph just before we reached our marina for the night. Clarksville Marina is owned by the same group that owns Blue Turtle Bay Marina where we started from. That is where the similarities end. As we approached the marina, Rick the Harbor Master was in contact with us and met us at the dock to help us tie up. The marina is only a few years old and in excellent shape. There is a good restaurant on the property and with the excellent transient docks and adding Rick to the equation I would give it 5 stars.

If you have time, I recommend a stop at Prizer Point. The marina is pretty good, bit the cove it's in is beautiful.

Paul

Thanks Paul but by the time I saw your note we were already to Paris Landing.
Bob

Tuesday 10/3/17 Travel Day #3
We met some great people here at the Clarksville Marina. Liquid Asset was a boat we knew from Old Hickory Lake. They were headed to Blue Turtle Bay to have a bottom job and left about the same time we did. We were headed to Barkley State Park Marina, a place we had stayed at 10 years ago when we were traveling in a 1926, 26’ triple cockpit Chris Craft. This trip was very pleasant with beautiful scenery and not much traffic. Not far down river from the City of Clarksville are several barge terminals. It makes you realize what an important roll the barge traffic plays on our inland water ways. A standard barge loaded with coal takes 100 trucks off the highway. A standard tow of six barges moving from the Ohio River terminal eliminates 600 trucks and moves the coal for a fraction of the cost compared to the cost of trucking. The tow captains are always friendly and willing to help you get by. Last spring the captain of the tug Charlie Everheart slowed down for me to pass him and let me get to the locks first so I wouldn’t have to wait three hours for him to lock up. I can’t say enough about the wonders of traveling the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers. We soon approached the channel leading into Barkley Marina and I had forgotten how long, narrow and winding it was but we made it to the marina about 2:00 and went to the fuel dock. Because the diesel nozzles have an over size fill pipe they would not fit into my tank deck fitting I gave up trying to fuel after and hour and a half and only took on 150 gals. No big deal. with a burn rate of less than 1 gpm, I was in good shape. Moved to our assigned transient dock for the night and called a day.

Tellico Bob

So, are you ready for the rain from Sunday through Thursday? Not that any of us have a complaint when the gulf coast is having to brace and evacuate.

yes, we are going forty miles tomorrow and then hunker down until it is over. Thanks for asking. We will stop at Clifton Marina for two to three days.
Bob

Wednesday 10/4/17 Travel Day #4
Eight AM start with seventy miles ahead of us today. It took a half hour to travel the channel back to the main channel but we were soon our way. We had thirty miles to travel on the Cumberland River before crossing over to the Tennessee River. We had been going down river for three plus days with green to starboard and when we entered the TN we would be going up river with red to starboard. The two rivers are only a mile apart at one place and instead of having to go all the way to the Ohio River there is a one mile long canal on grade connecting them. As we entered the TN/Kentucky Lake I had forgotten how big and beautiful it was. We had forty miles to travel to Paris Landing Marina where we would spend the night. The states of TN and KY have built a number of first class resorts and marinas along the rivers. Some include golf courses and they are a great value with cabins, camp sites and a large hotel. The marina has a number of seventy ft slips plus the main slip that is at least 150 ft long for transients. They give a discount for Boat US as did Clarksville. Very friendly Harbor Master who offered to stay late if we were not going to be there by closing time. They have a free shuttle to the hotel if you want to go for dinner or use the pool. I give this place five stars.

The Kentucky and Tennessee State Parks are exceptional.

We are at Paris Landing tonight but have to leave early am . Might be back Sunday afternoon. Let us know if you're here .

Sorry Marty but I got behind on my postings and we are at Cuba Landing this morning heading for Clifton today. Our plan is to hunker down at Clifton and wait out the storm.

Bob

Friday 10/6/17 Travel Day #5

Yesterday we decided to take a lay day and do some boat cleaning. We had been on the go for four days and needed to do a wash down and try to get rid of the spiders we brought with us from Blue Turtle Bay aka Blue Spider Bay. We had a 50 mile run to Cuba Landing and got off the dock by 8:30. Very little traffic on the river just lots of Bass Boats. The view from the bridge was great and at 10 mph we made good time. We passed two tows one going each way and the conversations with the Captains was, as always, very congenial. There is always an abundance of wild life to watch and there are several Wild Life sanctuaries along the River and Lake. We are traveling on Kentucky Lake and will be for three more days. The waters upriver of each dam carries the name of the dam. The next dam will be Pickwick and then we will be in Lake Pickwick. The entire TVA system is set up this way. We arrived at Cuba Landing early afternoon and after tying up two other boats came in for the night. One of them had been with us at Paris Landing and would be traveling with us tomorrow. We enjoyed docktails together and talked about the days travels. We all wanted to get an early start because there was talk about Nate and we were planning on waiting out the storm at our next stop.

Saturday 10/7/17 Travel Day #6

Off the dock at 7:30 with 43 miles to travel. We are headed to Clifton Marina for the next two days. We plan on waiting out Nate before we head on. Clifton Marina is considered to be one of the friendlies marinas on the TVA. The owner Gene Davidson purchased an old marina around 2002. Pictures show the old buildings sitting on the mud during the time of the year when the river was at winter pool. Winter pool is about five feet lower than summer pool. Gene dug out the harbor and now there is at least seven feet of water during winter pool. The pictures in the marina office show the removal of thousands of yards of dirt. They have great transient docks, both covered and uncovered with power and an excellent fuel dock. Because of the storms approach there were about seven boats in for the night. All were Loopers except us. As we traveled up river we passed a floating mining operation extracting sand from the river bottom. As I passed by I could see the results of their work on my sonar screen. It looked like furls from a plow. This operation was going on ten years ago when I came through here. After they mine the sand it is transported to the shore where it is off loaded and graded before being trucked away. Some times the barges become part of larger tows and go hundreds of miles before being off loaded.

Seems I remember a few years ago, perhaps 2012 or so, the marina and area were for sale with plans for a luxury resort community. I found it a bit odd for the location, but glad the marina is nice as a good stop was needed in that area. We didn't stop there on our way through. Will have to sometime.

Monday 10/9/17 Travel day #7

Because of our concerns regarding hurricane Nate we took a lay day at Clifton Marina. Clifton Marina is located about 50 miles down river from Pickwick Tn where the river takes a sharpe turn to the east. There is a Lock at Pickwick that is 1000’ x 110’ and one might think no way will you have to wait here. We will talk about that later. Off the dock at 8:30 with six boats in a row that stretched for about a mile and as soon as we left the marina we hit heavy fog. Morning fog is not that unusual around here so we all run with our radar on and are use to using it. It was easy to keep track of everyone and also see all the markers. About two hours later the fog lifted and the sun came out making for a beautiful cruise. There are not a lot of houses along the lake/river but you will come upon small clusters of houses on the shore. Even when they are built on high ground the first floor will be on stills ten feet high. Back at Paris Landing they have a gauge the shows the normal water level for winter and summer pools. It also show the heights for record floods that are about twenty feet above normal summer pool. All the marina docks float and the spud poles that hold them in place are at least twenty feet high. Mother nature is not always easy to get along with. Remember TVA was created to try and prevent this from happening but man can only do so much. We arrived at the Pickwick lock and dam about 2:00 and ended up waiting two hours for a large tow to lock up. I mentioned Nate as our reason for a lay day well over night the water level came up about 12 inches and the current picked up to around 4 mph. While waiting at the dam I was able to stay in forward and hardly move. my normal idle speed is between 5 and 6 mph. With the increase current I was only moving at 1 mph. We finally made it out of the lock by 4:00 and made it to Grand Harbor Marina on the Tombigbee waterway about one mile from the Tennessee River/Pickwick Lake. More about the marina tomorrow.

Tuesday 10/10/17 Travel Day 8

Grand Harbor is a Five Star Marina. From the moment you arrive and you are met at the dock to the moment you leave and the Harbor Master, Needly Potts, waves you off you know you want to come back. Several of the boats we were with at Clifton made it to Grand Harbor. Some staying for just one night and others staying for several days. Since we only had a 50 mile run and no locks we didn’t get off the dock until 10:30am. Cloudy skies and mild temperatures made for a very pleasant day. Pickwick Lake is about fifty miles long and several miles wide in places with a very pretty shoreline and some beautiful homes to be seen. We passed several tows but no locks meant no waiting for the tow to clear. We arrived at Florence Harbor Marina, Florence, AL only to find several boats that we had been with several days before in Clarksville TN waiting for us. Florence Harbor has a restaurant that is becoming a destination by itself. We had dinner there and enjoyed our first meal off the boat in over a week. We had wanted to stay two nights but because of the Loopers gathering taking place at Joe Wheeler State Park we were planning to leave in the morning. There have been rumors for the last week that Wilson Lock was going to be shut down for major service and once the happened we would be stuck 350 miles from home. We were told we would not be forced out but we may have some one rafting off us because they had several boat due tomorrow.

Tellico Bob said:

Tuesday 10/10/17 Travel Day 8

Grand Harbor is a Five Star Marina. From the moment you arrive and you are met at the dock to the moment you leave and the Harbor Master, Needly Potts, waves you off you know you want to come back. Several of the boats we were with at Clifton made it to Grand Harbor. Some staying for just one night and others staying for several days. Since we only had a 50 mile run and no locks we didn’t get off the dock until 10:30am. Cloudy skies and mild temperatures made for a very pleasant day. Pickwick Lake is about fifty miles long and several miles wide in places with a very pretty shoreline and some beautiful homes to be seen. We passed several tows but no locks meant no waiting for the tow to clear. We arrived at Florence Harbor Marina, Florence, AL only to find several boats that we had been with several days before in Clarksville TN waiting for us. Florence Harbor has a restaurant that is becoming a destination by itself. We had dinner there and enjoyed our first meal off the boat in over a week. We had wanted to stay two nights but because of the Loopers gathering taking place at Joe Wheeler State Park we were planning to leave in the morning. There have been rumors for the last week that Wilson Lock was going to be shut down for major service and once the happened we would be stuck 350 miles from home. We were told we would not be forced out but we may have some one rafting off us because they had several boat due tomorrow.

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Wilson Lock had it's daytime shut downs earlier this summer. If it does so again, the trick is you either get there and clear at night or you get there early in the day and wait all day for them to resume locking.

Here are the details for this time courtesy of Waterway Guide.

Beginning on 16 October 2017 through 22 December 2017, Wilson Main Lock will begin a series of daytime closures to navigation traffic during working hours from 0600 to 1800 daily. These closures are necessary for the installation of the lower land valve by maintenance crews.
Wilson Lock operates on a 24-hr schedule and it is anticipated that any queues that develop due to the repair work will be cleared on a nightly basis.
Wilson Aux Lock will not be available during this time. For questions or further information contact Wilson Lock Master at (256)764-5223.

Tellico Bob. I am really enjoying your post / following your trip. It’s my first read in the morning. Thank you so much for taking the time to allow me to follow along on your trip!

When we came up through Wilson Lock in June, We stayed at Florence Marina and went through EARLY.... That worked out best for us as there aren't many good anchorages on Wilson Lake.
Also we just found out that there will be occasional closures of Chicamauga Lock as well. I spoke with the Lockmaster and found that they will be able to have lockages, but might be delays.


Wm Mayberry
OPTIMYSTIQUE
Mariner 40


Watts Bar Lake, Tennessee
Heading South beginning Monday 10/16

As you probably know, there is a 3-day Loopers' event at Joe Wheeler on Oct 16-19. There may be some space available. You likely will know some of the attendees. Sea Duck II Edit: Scratch that. You have already addressed the Loopers' get-together.
- Looking forward to seeing you on Tellico Lake and thereabouts.