June 1, 2011. Hales Bar Marina to Island Cove Marina

Hales Bar Marina

We slept well last night, and were up by a little after 5:00. At about 6:15 we pulled out of Hales Bar and headed toward Chattanooga. There was quite a bit of debris and floating logs as we got started, but it gradually got better and better as we travelled upstream. The heat was tough today - high of 97 degrees!

We continue to see dozens of osprey each day, many times on thier nest, with young.

As we entered the 25+ mile "gorge" where the TN runs in the canyon created by Raccoon, Signal and Lookout mountains, I discovered why it is such a favorite cruising ground. I can only imagine what it would look like in the Fall as the leaves are changing! We tried to take good pictures and video, but they don't do justice to the views in real life.

One suprise I had was the fairly consistent cell phone service I had in the gorge. It wasn't always there, but probably over half the time we had a signal strong enough to make a call or check e-mail.

When we got to Chattanooga, I began to worry a little about getting to Island Cove before they closed. We needed ice and thought I remembered them saying the office closed at 5:00 PM. When we figured in loosing an hour due to them being on Eastern time, I knew we'd have to get through Chickamauga Lock quickly to make it in time.

We arrived at the lock a little before 3:00 Eastern time, and had to wait for another boat that was locking down to clear. We then entered the lock with another small boat, for the lift up to Chickamauga Lake. We exited the lock at about 3:35. We called the marina to tell them that we would be close to 5 oclock getting there, and were pleasantly suprised to learn they didn't close until 6:00! We arrived about 4:50 and pulled into the fuel dock, found the office and got our slip assignment, gate code, bath-house key and information that the restaurant next door was open.

We washed our faces and headed straight to the restaurant, the Fox Cay. Abby and I had catfish and Glenda had grilled tuna. We probably drank about a gallon of water each and enjoyed the air-conditioning!

Back at the boat we straighted up, drained the ice chest and got the berths ready for sleeping. Then Glenda and Abby took off to the showers while I downloaded pictures and videos to the computer.

The "Gorge"

The Chattanooga Star

We've seen the river from this Highway many times. Today the view was reversed. It's much better without the truck traffic!

American Indian Statue.

The famous Delta Queen, now a floating hotel in Chattanooga.

This must really be pretty when the leaves change!

This osprey let us get pretty close before leaving her nest. She didn't go far.

Mountains all around you!

 Glenda Says:

We got off to an early start this morning but no coffee.  Tom saw a boat launch with a store and offered to stop and see if I could get a cup of coffee.  I ask a man fishing there if he thought I could get a cup of coffee at the store, he sort of chuckled and said probably not but I could get a cold beer.  As we were tying up a couple rode down in their golf cart and I ask them if I could get a cup of coffee at the store.  She said no since the owner did'nt drink it he did'nt sell it.  She offered to go to her place to make me some.  You know some people are just so nice.  I declined of course and we went on our way. Abby  went back to sleep until about 8:00 ,but she was awake early enough to see most of the  beautiful scenery.  Many of the houses along the route are beautiful.  We loved the one with the indian statue.  But the area called the "skillet"  was the most beautiful.  There were mountains all around us.  In years passed as I have driven through Chattanooga I have always said I wish I could see this view from the water.  Today I was able to.  We arrived at the marina too late again for Abby to get in a swim.  But she was a good sport.  We fed the ducks and the fish and we ate a nice meal at the "Fox Cay" resturant.  Heck Abby thinks its cool that the showers had a dispenser with body and shampoo soap.  Come to thnk of it that is pretty cool!

Abby says:

Today two funny things happened.  Daisy was laying in her bed on the stepdown but she was too close to the edge and flipped over.  She did not like that!  And for the first time someone was in the lock with us.  They had a dog and a cat on board the boat with them. (Papa claimed he saw a bird in there too but me and G.G. did not see it)  The dog started chasing the cat and the man began to yell loudly!.  Here at the marina there are all kinds of ducks.  About 7 came over to our boat and G.G. let me get a piece of bread and feed them.  There were so many different kinds of ducks, 3 white ones, 1 multi colored one and 4 green headed ones.  We ate supper at Fox Cay, a wierd name for a resturant. But it was good.

May 31, Scottsboro to Hales Bar Marina in Guild, TN

Sleeping on the boat last night was about a 6 on a scale of 1-10. We were under a covered slip, so the afternoon sun didn't heat up the boat too much. We ran the fans in the v-berth until around mid-night and the heat was tolerable. About 3:00 am the swallows that had nest under the dock awning woke up and thought the needed to wake the rest of the world. I turned my fan back on to drown out some of their chirping, and finally got back to sleep. I woke at 5:00 am and Glenda and Abby finally got up about 5:30. (Have I mentioned that Glenda is NOT a morning person?)

The grill at the bait shop was open at 5:00, so we had the deluxe breakfast this morning (that's canned biscuits and bacon instead of the usual honey bun or granola bar.) I had put my foot down with Glenda and Abby and insisted that the Knot-So-Fast was pulling out to head upriver at 6:00 AM sharp, NO MATTER WHAT. So about 6:33 we untied and left the marina.

The weather was clear with just a little haze on the water. As we entered the main channel of Lake Guntersville, I noticed that the depth finder was still not working consistently. I had hoped that the sensor had just moved out of alignment, but a quick check showed that was not the problem. Throughout the day it seemed to get better, so I won't worry about it now.

The broken binoculars that I  super-glued back together last night seemed to hold, and we handled them very delicately all day. We use them constantly, and I really can't imagine not having them. Hopefully the glue will hold for the duration of this trip.

Today's scenery was great, and we wound through some smaller mountains and around several islands that split the river. There were lots of bass boats on the water, and several areas were covered with drifting "noodles". Catfishers use a 1' piece of swimming noodle, with a line and hook, to drift fish, putting out dozens of noodles and letting them float with the current. After a sufficient time, they retrieve them and (hopefully) the fish on the end of the line.

We passed no commercial traffic at all today, which was suprising to me. I had assumed that there was a lot of barge/tug boat traffic here, but if today was a normal day I was certainly wrong.

We lost count of the osprey we saw today. Many of them were on nest at the top of navigational markers, with what appeared to be nearly grown chicks. About 11:00 oclock I spotted a bald eagle flying across the river in front of us. He flew until we had to use the binoculars to see him, and we then noticed that another had joined him. The sighting lasted probably less than a minute, but it was still a thrill for all three of us. When I was Abby's age everyone was predicting that the bald eagle would become extinct, and to see them now as we have on several of our boat trips is fantastic.

We held the Knot-So-Fast's little Yamaha 9.9 to about 4000 rpm most of the day, which translated to about 5.5 mph running against a slight current. When we were about an hour below the Nickajack Lock and Dam, I called the lock tender on the VHF radio to let him know we needed to lock through upstream. We were glad to hear that he had no other traffic, and when we arrived the gate was open and they were waiting on us. He directed us to a bollard on the upstream side of the chamber, saying there would be less turbulence there. The water rose quickly and were exiting onto Nickajack Lake within about 20 minutes of entering the lock. After clearing the lock, Abby took the wheel for about an hour, until she handed off to me as we approached Hales Bar Marina. After checking in and resupplying with ice, Abby and Glenda took a dip in the pool, then headed off to the showers and to do laundry. The restaurant at the marina was not open, so supper was sandwiches again. We made the decision not to bring the propane grill on this trip, hoping to eat one meal each day at a restaurant - I guess if you count the bacon biscuit, we'd already eaten out once today.

Tomorrow we'll entered the section of the TN river that everyone say's is the most beautiful section of the whole river - the Gorge that forms a canyon between Raccoon, Signal, and Lookout mountains.

Glenda Says:
I AM TOO A MORNING PERSON!  Just not a 5:00 A.M. person.  I just enjoyed the view early this morning while Abby and Daisy napped.  I seem to always see the big splash but miss seeing the big fish that made it.  I like sitting out on the back and feeling the warmth of the morning sun before it gets too hot.  Abby read aloud some from "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" after she got awake.  There's just something magical about floating down the river enjoying God's creation.  The "regulars" here at Hales Bar are super nice.  We were immediatly met with welcomes and questions of what they could do for us.  One older couple insisted on leaving their fan here for us to use tonight!   Of course for Abby, the most important thing once we arrived at Hale's Bar was getting to the pool.  For most of our couple of hours we had the pool to ourselves.  We've showered and are now ready for the worst part of every trip.  Getting the beds ready.  By the time I am finished I need another shower!

Abby says:
Today we had FUN!!! First we headed off on the Knot-So-Fast from AL toTN. We passed the AL/TN state line! When we got here at the marina, there was a pool, and this time the pool closed at 9:00. So we got to go swimming. We also got to see turtles. Lots and lots of turtles. Some turtles were as big as a wadded up shirt, others as small as the circle you can make with your pointer finger and your thumb.



Daisy says:
I WOOF am WOOF sweating WOOF!!!

May 30th. We are in Scottsboro, AL and will start our TN River trip tomorrow!

This post was written last night, but we didn’t have Internet access, so it is being posted now.


Glenda and I, accompanied by our oldest grand- daughter Abby and Daisy our miniature dashound, are embarking on river cruise from Scottsboro, AL to Chattanooga and back on our 20’ tug boat Knot-So-Fast.

On Monday (Memorial Day) we trailered the Knot-So-fast to Scottsboro, AL to Goose Pond Colony Marina. On the way we stopped in Guntersville and at Wintzell’s Oyster House. We had hoped to go to Wintzell’s by boat sometime, but we learned that the two causeway bridges between the restaurant and the main Tennessee River channel only have about 6’ of clearance, a good 18” too short for the tug get under.

By the time we launched at Goose Pond , it was almost 4:00 pm. As Glenda parked the truck, Abby and I motored around the point from the ramp to the marina slips. I handed Abby the binoculars and asked her to read a sign on the bank for me. The binoculars came apart and fell onto the floor, broken. Without my binoculars, I’ll have to depend on Abby and Glenda more to help with the navigational markers, and I’m sure we’ll miss the close up views of the wildlife and birds on the trip.

After originally tying up at the wrong slip, we finally found where we were supposed to be and secured the Knot-So-Fast. Abby was disappointed that the pool was already closed for the day, but the parks sandy swimming area on the river made a decent substitute. We took a short ride out of the marina to the main channel of the river, just to make sure the boat was running correctly and to get a little breeze on our faces – there was no wind at the marina and we were going through our water supply pretty fast in the heat. After a shower, we settled in for the night. Tomorrow morning we’ll head out at daylight for Hales Bar Marina in Guild, TN.

Abby says: Today Monday (Memorial Day) we took a long car ride from Montevallo to Scottsboro. When we finally got here we had to get settled. Then it was time to go swimming, but a nice lady came up to us and said the pool closed at 5:00. Of course it was 5:00. So my grandmother asked another lady if there was a place that we could swim in the river. Yaaaaa!!!!!! We got to go swimming! After that we dried off. We were on our way back to the boat when my grandmother and I saw a muskrat in the water! Today was a great day, and I am looking forward to the next day!



P.S. It is now 9:36 and I am sweating in my bed!





Glenda says: Time to unwind. I can’t explain how refreshing it is to have 9 year old eyes to see the world through. All is well as long as you can go swimming and it is really exciting to see a muskrat swimming in the water! I need to be reminded of the simple joys in God’s creation. I think tomorrow will be a “great” day too!

March 16, 2011. The End of Our Trip, and a Few Notes



Sunrise from the Barber Marina deck. Glenda and Abby slept through this!



The night was peaceful and quiet at Barber Marina and we slept great. I got up about 6:00 and watched the sun come up and a dolpin play in front of the marina. Glenda and Abby slept in.

At the marina, we met a couple from Tuscaloosa and thier 9 year old daughter. They had chartered a 33' sailboat and had spent the last few days sailing in Alabama and Florida. They offered some TheraFlu for Glenda's cold, which was greatly appreciated.

We also met Tim and Pamela Pennington, who live on their BEAUTIFUL home-built sailboat the "Pamela Ann". They spent 10 years building thier boat and have been living aboard her for 10 years. They told me of plans to transit the Panama Canal next winter and then go up the West coast to Alaska. Tim said they are working on a book of their travels and he hopes to get it published. After talking with them for just a few minutes, I can't wait to read their book!



"Pamela Ann", built by owners Tim and Pamela Pennington.



We pulled out of Barber Marina this morning at 9:00, and made the short trip to the boat ramp under the Hwy. 59 bridge in Gulf Shores. There we pulled the boat out onto her trailer and ended this little adventure.



We love seeing the osprey's. This one didn't seem to care that we got prettly clost to him.



Here are some figures for the trip:

Time:                 Five days, four nights

Total Mileage:   154

Avg. MPG:       11.18 (This is slightly lower than the 13.2 mpg I got previously. On this trip we ran about   

                         1/2 mph faster. On the next tank of gas, I will run slower, about 5.5 mph, and see how

                         much difference there is).

March 15, 2011. Our trip gets extended, and Abby goes on a Dinosaur Hunt!

We were worried last night after hearing that the storms were severe in Mississippi, but everything went North of us, and all we got was a pretty stiff wind all night long. I had to get up several times to check the dock ropes on the boat, since a falling tide and the wind shifts made us start bumping into the dock pilings off and on. Nothing severe, just enough to wake me up with the "thump ......... thump ........... thump".

We took Daisy for her morning walk, filled the ice chest with (free!) ice from the marina, and left headed West for what was supposed to be our last day on the boat.

As we turned to go under the bridge at the marina, one tug/barge was Westbound under the bridge and another was waiting on the other side to come through. When he radioed that he was going under the bridge, I asked if I had time to get through before he got there. The captain assured me that I did, and after clearing the bridge we followed alongside the first tug for a mile or so before turning NW into Pensacola Bay.

These two tugs and the Knot-So-Fast met at the Pensacola Bay Bridge.

My cousin works for the Pensacola Parks Dept., and we decided to take the detour to pay her a visit. Aside from my first going to the wrong pier and ending up in 2' of water (scary), we had a good visit.

By mid-morning Abby was voicing her desire to spend another night on the boat. Glenda was thinking that her head cold might be more tolerable in a real bed that didn't sway and go thump in the night, but a grand-daughter who wants to spend time with you is hard to resist. Glenda agreed to one more night on the boat.

Abby is happy as long as she has a book and Daisy!

We stopped for lunch at the Oyster House and Restaurant, which is near the AL/FL border and right on the ICW. The food was fantastic here. Abby had fish (as always), I had fish and shrimp, and Glenda had salmon. We ate on the porch overlooking the ICW -- great food, great weather, great view ... It doesn't get much better than that!

the Oyster House and Restaurant at the AL -FL line

As we entered Alabama, we started seeing some familiar sights such as the "Cold Mill" fleet of Dolphin Cruise boats. We discussed anchoring in Ingram's Bayou, but when we stopped for gas at Barber Marina, the price of $20 for a nights dockage which included showers, was too good to pass up.

Barbor's Marina is a beautiful facility, clean and quiet, but a little out of the way if you don't have access to a car. But since we'd has such a great lunch that really wasn't an issue. Cold sandwiches were fine for supper.

Of course you can't go to Barber Marina without searching the woods for midieval knights and dinosaurs. Abby caught a dinosaur and made friends with a couple of knights and a giant seahorse.

Abby and the Giant Seahorse at Barber Marina

We met lots of interesting people!

The woods around Barber Marina are full of surprises!

The Knot-So-Fast looks a little small next to some of the other boats. It looked much bigger when it was in our basement!

As I type this, Abby and Glenda have finished showering and have headed back to the boat. We should sleep well tonight as the floating docks here are easier to manage and quieter. Tomorrow we will motor back to Gulf Shores and pull the Knot-So-Fast back onto her trailer until the next adventure.

We hope you've enjoyed reading about our little tugboat trips, and until next time, God Bless.

Tom, Glenda, Abby and Daisy

March 14, 2011 - Back to Santa Rosa Yacht Club in Gulf Breeze, FL

The Landing, a Ft. Walton city park where we docked Sunday night.

We all slept late this morning, and didn't stir until 7:00 am. A tow boat and barge came through about 3:00am and woke me, but was gone by the time I got up to see why the boat was rocking. It was a quiet and peaceful night.

We walked Daisy this morning and Glenda spotted what she thought was a big fish or dolphin headed for the pier, making a wake from underwater. As we all walked to the end of the pier to see it, the little otter popped his head up and looked at us. We watched as he moved from one pier to the other, coming up to look around every minute or so. At one point he stopped to harrass a duck swimming near the pier.



We pulled out just before 9:00 this morning and took a quick look at the Hwy 98 (Miracle Strip) Bridge before turning back West toward Pensacola.



Hwy 98 Bridge over the ICW





I realized that with our late start we wouldn't be in the Pensacola area for lunch as we origianlly planned. I called the Navarre Beach Chamber and got directions to "Sailor's Grill" at the lower west side of the Navarre Beach Bridge. This was sort of a "Jimmy Buffet" style beach grill. Other than the fact that they don't serve sweet tea, the meal there was pretty good.



Knot-So-Fast at the "Sailor's Grill"










Two Shrimp Boats passed us about 2:00. You can see the sound was getting choppy.



After we were out of the Navarre Beach area, we were pretty much all alone again in the Santa Rosa Sound until we got almost to the bridge at Gulf Breeze. After lunch the wind picked up again and the last 2 1/2 hours was a little rough.



Today we only saw one dolphin, who came up beside the boat to take a look at us. We had expected to see a lot more.



ParaSailers at Gulf Breeze



Dinner tonight was leftover chicken and PB&J sandwiches!



Abby playing at the Santa Rosa marina.



This is our home for tonight, Santa Rosa Yacht Club in Gulf Breeze.



March 13, 2011 - Gulf Breeze to Ft. Walton



This was one of only a few other boats on the Sound this morning.

 We left Gulf Breeze at about 8:00 this morning, headed East toward Ft. Walton. The water was dead calm and the sky was clear blue, and we had Santa Rosa Sound almost to ourselves most of the day. We passed a tug pushing barges early in the morning, and then only saw two or three other boats until around noon.

Bridge to the beach. The old (lower) bridge sections are now fishing piers.

Abby got a lot of "wheel" time. She's becoming a pretty good Captain.

Glenda is still fighting a virus or head cold, and took to the V-berth several times today to nap. Abby took the wheel for 2 watches of about an hour each, and really did great. She even took us under the Navarre Beach Bridge. I was standing by her side, but I didn't have to pitch in to help at all!!!

We saw several nests of Ospreys today, and although we never saw any chicks, the mom and dad ospreys looked like they were attending to babies, by thier actions at the nests.

We also saw several dolphin, and had a couple of them follow alongside the boat for a short distance.

Abby and I took a break while Glenda was at the wheel.

Abby "posing" with Daisy.

We are staying tonight at the "Landing", a city park in Ft. Walton. I had called ahead and gotten permission to dock overnight here. The park is really great and within walking distance of several restaurants and a Publix. We got here in time to visit the children's science museum, which was a little dated but still lots of fun.

Abby and I walked to Publix and got a bucket of chicken and we had a picnic. Everyone want to know about the boat and our trip, and it's really fun to see the children get excited when they see the little tug. (Glenda says that's cause I'm still a kid at heart.)

The Landing park was great, and docking was free with prior approval!

The rain forcast has been moved to Tuesday, so we'll head back West in the morning and stay somewhere near Pensacola again.

Abby and a rare giant "Park Pelican".