Meandering Magees: Cumberland River to Green Turtle Bay Marina

Day 14 - Tuesday, September 20
765 miles to Cumberland River and Green Turtle Bay Marina

The last post mentioned two possible anchorages on the Ohio river for us on Sunday night. We chose Bean Branch. This was not a side channel to tuck in to - we just pulled over parallel to the shore in a wide part of the river. We were far enough away from the center of the river that the occasional passing tow (much fewer than on the Mississippi) caused no rocking for us. We had just dropped our anchor when Dan and Jenny from Gypsy Spirit came over the radio asking if we and Scott and Brenda from Kali Nichta wanted to come aboard for drinks. The 3 boats had been traveling together all day, but other than radio communication about passing tows, we hadn't formally met. Dan was kind enough to be the taxi as he came to both boats to pick us up in his dinghy. Upon introductions, we learned Gypsy Spirit started the Loop a week before we did out of White Lake. We are practically neighbors as White Lake is in Whitehall, MI - only about 40 miles from Ludington. Small world! Kali Nichta is in the home stretch as she left Port Charlotte, FL last April.
In Looper terminology, we aren't sure what you call drinks on a boat, but we enjoyed the company and conversation. (can't be a docktail - no dock!)

We watched a beautiful sunrise over the calm waters of the Ohio river on Monday morning. No fog, just a light mist rising near the shoreline. Got an early start - 7 am local time. Gypsy Spirit took the lead, with True North next and Kali Nichta right behind. We arrived at our first lock - Lock 52 at 9. There were 2 tows in the lock, which caused a 2 hour wait for us. And yet another different lock experience. Since we were traveling upstream on the Ohio, we went 8 ft. UP in this lock. A worker lowered a hook and I looped our rope on it. He pulled the hook up and wrapped our rope around a cleat at the top of the lock. It was then just a matter of bringing in the slack as we rose. We exited the lock at 11:45.

Past Paducah, KY, we took a right turn on to the Cumberland River at 1:45. This stretch was more narrow and beautiful. At 7 mph, Captains Greg and Mike were taking Miss Daisy (me) for a nice Sunday drive (on a Monday). We often commented on how gorgeous most of this trip so far would be when the leaves turn their vibrant colors. We did have a monarch butterfly perch for a few minutes inside the flybridge.

My nephew was traveling in Kentucky and he crossed over the Cumberland River on I-24 a half hour before we passed under it. Small world!

We had one more lock to get through - the Barkley Lock. If we had another 2 hour wait, we would be pushing dark again coming into Green Turtle Bay Marina. We were communicating with a passing tow and the lock master heard us. He radioed "True North, are you at the I-24 bridge?" We said we were. He said he had a lock open with one other boat in it and he would hold it for us. (the lock was still a little bit ahead) All 3 of us traveling together slid right into the Barkley Lock for a rise of 53 ft. Sometimes you have to be thankful for the little things . . .

Our 4th crew member Karen had left Ludington Monday morning to meet up with us at Green Turtle Bay Marina. She arrived before we did so backtracked a little to try to catch us on the river. She told us that when we came out of the lock, she would be in a gazebo on our left side. We saw no Karen. A bit of a communication snafu. She did not know we had taken the Cumberland River to Green Turtle. The other route is to take the Tennessee River off the Ohio to Kentucky Lake to Green Turtle. We came into Lake Barkley.

All's well that ends well as by the time we got to our slip, she had driven the short distance and was waiting for us. A welcome sight indeed! Getting to this point was another milestone for us. This Kentucky/Barkley Lakes region is a very popular resort area so we had picked it out before leaving Ludington as our place with enough to do and see to spend about 3 weeks. Mike and I will travel back to Michigan on Saturday, returning on the 29th. Then Greg and Karen head back to Ludington for a family wedding, work and appointments. We will all be back on True North about Oct. 14 or 15 to continue the journey.

Pretty much every Looper stops at Green Turtle Bay Marina. It is one of the first chances for fuel after Hoppies. It also has a marine service division and marine store. The manager of the service department said the Loopers keep him very busy this time of year. Several boats were waiting for parts to be delivered and installed. Our parts - new props - were delivered by Karen in the back of her minivan. It was a matter of when they could be installed. We were told a day or two.

So we spent the better part of Tuesday cleaning the boat inside and out, from bow to stern. We then took her to the fuel dock for a pump out. (it was closed when we arrived the night before). We didn't get fuel as we didn't want the extra weight in the boat when it was pulled for repairs. We had just got back to our slip, all tied up, when the service manager came to say they could pull the boat right then and put on the replacement props. So we untied and drove it across the marina to the haul out slip. Karen drove the van right up to it . The workers took the old props off (one was damaged when we hit the rock in Joliet), took the replacements out of the van, put them on, and put the old ones back in the van for us. We just stood and watched. The whole process took a little over an hour.

We were invited to join 8 other Loopers for dinner at Patti's on Tuesday night. Patti's is a famous local restaurant that many people told us was a "must do". Its claim to fame is a 2" pork chop and mile high meringue desserts. We had both! (that "when in Rome" theory) Possibly the best pork chop I've ever had. There are other stores around Patti's that will warrant another visit in the day time.

There very well could be a 3 week break from the blog posts. Unless we see/do/find something or someplace interesting and noteworthy. A trip to the National Quilt Museum in Paducah is on the agenda, along with dinghy rides and just plain relaxing. No news is good news in this case.