9/3 - 9/15/22 - Kentucky Lake

Sun, Sept 4 - Tues, Sept 6 - We spent Labor Day weekend doing chores and taking advantage of Green Turtle Bay and the surrounding area's amenities.  Highlights include:

  • Joining Leanne & Walt in the GTB courtesy car to check out the Bison & Elk Reserve at Land Between the Lakes.  The critters made themselves pretty scarce, but it was a lovely drive-through nature preserve.  Next, we visited Calvert City's Walmart for provisions.
  • Hailing the GTB golfcart transportation to visit the famous Patti's for dinner with Leanne & Walt.
  • Both washers & dryers were available, so I was able to do all of our laundry lickety split!
  • Our friends, Chery & Scott stopped by on their return from Nashville for the weekend.
  • 2 Dinners at Marty & Brenda's lovely home!

Wed, Sept. 7 - After refueling (thank you GTB for the .15/gal, Looper discount), and topping off our water, we're off to check out Barkley & KY Lakes for a couple of days.  First stop, Hu-B's in Kuttawa.  A lovely marina in a cute town.  As we pulled up, we noted all the covered slips; but alas, they are reserved for annual slip holders, so we were directed to an uncovered slip near the entrance of the marina.  To our delight, it was very quiet, and the view from our boat almost made us feel like we were in an anchorage - with power!  The just-about-full moon we spectacular.

On our way over, we encountered American Jazz on her passage from Memphis to New Orleans.  Maybe we'll let another captain take the helm at some point!  Small Cruise Ships | American Jazz | American Cruise Lines


Thurs, Sept. 8 - Our friends, Marty & Brenda, joined us for a leisurely cruise around Lake Barkley for the day, followed by dinner at HU-B's.  It was an informal, but good menu - as would be expected. 

Marty & Brenda

The State of Kentucky hosts 856 maximum/supermax prisoners at the "Castle on the Cumberland" in Eddyville (mm 43.8).  Those that get a room with a view must be grateful.

Castle on Cumberland
The shower room at Hu-B's was actually the outside restroom for the restaurant, but since the season is winding down and it's the middle of the week, we were not disturbed by restaurant patrons during shower time.  Every local we encountered could not be nicer - I bet this place is a hoot on the weekend.

Also, I encountered 3 deer on my 1-mile walk around town, they are a natural part of the landscape in this quaint town.


Fri, Sept. 9 - Sun - Sept. 11 - Duncan Bay Anchorage (mm34 RDB, Navigation channel).  With the crockpot full of chicken and rice, we headed back south approx. 18NM to Duncan Bay.  Once the anchor was secured, we listened to the Cubs defeat the Giants (4-2) and dined al fresco in the cockpit.

Thank you weather forecasters for getting it wrong this weekend; turns out it only rained for about an hour on Sunday.  It was perfect weather for swimming and cruising around Duncan Bay in the dinghy.  Not to mention being illuminated by a huge moon all weekend - nature's anchor light.

Bonus, Bears prevailed over v. 49's.  Chicago really beat up on California this weekend :)

September 11, 2001 was present in our minds and hearts. Our liberties did not go unnoticed in this setting.

Monday, Sept. 12 - Sledd Creek (mm 02, TVA Channel; mm 26 LDB navigation channel), as delighted as we were with Duncan all weekend, we opted for a change of scenery - along with continuing to test the limits of water, solar, and icemaker, which has sustained us for a whopping 5 days!

Unfortunately, the leftover chicken and rice proved too much for our 20-year old microwave.  The challenge will be finding a replacement for the custom cavity where it is secured.  Wish us luck.

Tues, Sept. 13 - Back to Green Turtle Bay to prepare for our drive back home for a week.  Secured back in Slip C, we needed to stretch our legs after being on the boat for almost a week.  We followed our legs to the Thirsty Turtle on the GTB property in view of the Dam.

GTB hosted lots of Loopers over the weekend but, they had already left to continue their trip south.  Fortunately, our Canadian Looper friends, Eamonn, Rhonda & Looper Dog on Volition, were on the dock and hosted us for docktails and engaging conversation.

Wed, Sept. 14 - Marty & Brenda picked us up and drove us to Enterprise in Paducah, where we were given a Nissan Versa hatchback.  This made us very nervous because we unexpectedly needed to bring our dinghy home for repairs - (the davit patches began to come off).  Crisis averted, turns out those little cars can hold a lot of cargo!

We arrived home Thursday evening for a whirlwind week of doctor appointments, family events, and at least 1 round of golf!  I never feel homesick while on the boat, but it always feels good to come home.  After a few days, Brian and I are both anxious to get back on the water.

Main attraction for our trip back home:  Baptism of our grandson Jack on 9/18/22.


Next Leg - Kentucky Lake to Pickwick Lake, where we will begin the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway

Miles: 18????

Anchorages:  Duncan Pay, Sledd Creek

Marinas:  (2) Green Turtle Bay, Hu-B's





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

8/25/23 - 9/10/23 - Detour Village, MI to Racine, WI (Lake Michigan) PORT-A-GEE IS GOLD!!!

Image
Fri - Sat 8/25-26/23 - Detour Village, MI to Mackinaw City, MI (Mackinaw Municipal Marina) (39.7NM) Our buddy boats agreed on an 8:00 a.m. departure. We enjoyed a gorgeous day on Lake Huron via St. Mary's River.  Calm seas and sunny skies!! It was very exciting to see the Mighty Mac Bridge and lighthouses coming into view.   Mackinac Suspension Bridge As we got closer, we were thrashed around by the huge wakes left by the speeding Island Ferries. Port-A-Gee secured a slip in the Municipal Marina while our buddy boats stayed at the adjacent Strait's State Harbor. The Municipal Marina is the aforementioned ferry boats' port, so we were alerted to all departures with the blast of their horn. We walked around town.  It was pretty touristy, and kind of tacky, with LOTS of tee-shirt, ice cream & fudge shops.  It was kind of hard to find a good place to dine.  Mackinaw City has really benefitted from being the source of transport to Mackinac Island. The crews of Summer Place,
Read more

Starting Over in 2022! (8/20/22)

Image
Port-A-Gee's quest to complete the Great Loop began in 2017, as documented on our blog.  Our last post indicated that we were considering a more livable boat that would accommodate our desire to stay at anchor more frequently.  All boaters know that once the words "SHOULD WE GET A BIGGER BOAT?" are expelled into the universe, there is no turning back!  We sold our beloved Cutwater-26 in June 2021.  We purchased our new-to-us 2002 Mainship Pilot-34 in September 2021 in Port Washington, WI.  This location not only erased all the Loop miles that we have logged, but it also put us negative 40 miles!!  Oh well, in the words of the great Cubs Hall of Famer, Ernie Banks, "Let's Play 2".  The Mainship Pilot checked a lot of the boxes, but not all of them. We ran out of time getting her ready to Loop by Fall 2021, so the new Port-A-Gee went into winter storage, and we rented a condo in Cape Coral for the winter.  We loved the "ground" activities of golf, pi
Read more

5/20 - 6/3/23 Troy, NY - Central Square, NY (Brewerton) (Erie Canal)

Image
Sat, 5/20/23 - Lock #2, Waterford, NY to Vischer Ferry, NY (Lock 7) (12.7nm) .  Moon Dance IV, was the first to leave and catch the first lock through.  We were monitoring channel 13, and discovered the Federal Lock was full, so we decided to wait for that batch to come through and then head over to Lock 2 and begin our Erie Canal adventure. The fork in the road forced a decision to go east on the Champlain Canal or West on the Erie Canal. We chose the Western route. The area around the Welcome Center was charming.  They were setting up for the annual Canal Festival. Erie Canal rises 566 feet from the Hudson River to Lake Erie through 35 locks, of which we will do 23. We already went through the first one in Troy on Thursday. Day 1 - Waterford Flight of 5 locks that are done sequentially + Lock 7 for another 11 miles: MM 0.63 - E2 Waterford, up 33.6 MM 1.09 - E3 Waterford, up 34.5' MM 1.60 - E4 Waterford, up 34.5' MM 1.87 - E5 Waterford, up 33.3' MM 2.15 - E6 Crescent, up 3
Read more