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Day 152-153 2nd year. October 22-23 On to Panther Bay on Kentucky Lake and beyond Miles 34. Total miles. 4599

 We woke to another beautiful sunny day and readied to leave the dock, first to fuel up and then to leave Green Turtle Bay Marina.  


                                           



We left the marina and turned south on the Cumberland River to the Barkley Cut which connects the Cumberland to the Tennessee River.  The Barkley Cut is surprisingly only one mile long, the rivers are so close to each other here.  We are greeted with quite a bit of Fall colors.



Once through the canal we turned south onto the Tennessee River. As we travel the Land Between the Lakes, a National Park in Kentucky is to our east.  The park has lots of hiking, camping and boat ramps and even a herd of bison!  We saw them on our Kentucky/Tennessee road trip last year.

The Tennessee River is 650 miles long and is formed by two rivers merging just outside Knoxville TN and then flows south to Paducah KY.  The river meanders through four states, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama. Not until 1925, when a series of canals were dug was the river tamed  to allow its use for commercial purpose.  Prior to that time, the river required use of rafts and canoes with portaging in some areas. In 1926, a lock and dam project on the river began to harness the power of the water for electricity.

Today there are nine locks and dams that created nine lakes.  We will travel Kentucky Lake today.  It is the  largest man made lake east of the Mississippi River, some 184 miles long.   Kentucky Lake is one of the  most popular lakes in the system with its five state parks and over 80 resorts and boat ramps.

As we travel south on the lake we see lots of opportunities to anchor in all the bays along the Land Between the Lakes National Park shoreline.




  Our company on the lake today was one barge and tow, lots of fishing boats, 5 cruisers like us and a few small motor boats.



Here are some shots of Kentucky Lake shoreline.





Just before we stopped for our anchorage we saw a sailing race as we went under a bridge.


Arriving at Panther Bay we slowed down to check out the water depth, as the lake is at winter pool, 4-5 feet below normal.  We hoped to find enough depth to anchor here for the night, which we did!

We dropped the hook and soon afterward the MV Annie B joined us .  We were greeted by a small flock of white pelicans in the anchorage and hope to see a lot more wildlife during our stay here.



Also here are Bill's drone shots of the anchorage.





Day 153   October 23.  On to Lick Creek/ Brodie Landing  Tennessee River.   Mile 59.   Total 4658

We woke early to a beautiful sunrise and weighed anchor, leaving Panther Bay to turn south into the Kentucky Lake section of the Tennessee River.


Along the way we passed a Coast Guard tug pushing heavy equipment down the river and Paris Landing State Park, where we attended the Looper Rendezvous last year.  The complex has cabins, camping, boat ramps and a motel and conference facilities.


Our continuing down the river bring us to the State of Tennessee, our 17th state in our travels.  The lake changes slightly and it now contains lots of small islands off the shores and the shoreline has a higher elevation.  







This section of the Tennessee is a major migratory flyway - mostly White Pelicans, Canadian Geese and herons.  There were several flocks of White Pelicans off the many islands of the river, one with more than 200 in the flock!


Further along we pass Pilot Knob, a 200 foot rise just off the river used  as a land mark for the early steamboat captains. This is also the site of a Civil War battle.  General Nathan Forrest led an attack on General Sherman's supple lines in an effort to stop his March to the Sea.  Within five days, General Forrest successfully destroyed 33 Union boats, two trains and warehouses containing supplies.  This is the only battle in military history where a cavalry force defeated a naval force.

 This river section is also known for its fresh mussel harvesting which were exported to Japan to serve as seed for pearl production.  There is still mussel harvesting going on today, but on a much smaller scale.

I ended up driving quite a bit this morning as Bill was on the phone with the inverter support people trying to figure out why ours just stopped.  Luckily they were able to help us restart the inverter so we are fully powered.  Always something!  We did pass a lot of tenacious trees surviving on the Tennessee.

Note the tree roots growing down into the river mud and water.

                                         

We went through a tight bend in the river where the shoreline is part of the Highland Rim, a geological formation that used to cover most of Central Tennessee.  Over the years the soft rock has eroded to leave the yellow orange rock that is so prominent along the shoreline bluffs in this section of the Tennessee River.



After traveling further and going under the I-40 Bridge, the river narrows and we have more current to push against us as we cruise.  Also we began to see more home developments, the first we've seen right along the river.




Here the shoreline changes again to incorporate the slate and limestone bluffs, some dating back 150-350 million years. these bluffs dominate the shoreline on the Tennessee from now on.




We came across a home that has a navigational mark in its backyard.  Neither Bill nor I thought that someone would go on the wrong side of that mark!  Note the red triangle high up on the shore.

As we came close to our destination tonight, we slowed considerably and picked our way through the narrow entrance channel until it opened up to a small forested lake where we dropped the anchor for the night.  We are in such calm waters, we can see the clouds reflected in the water.  Lots of Blue Herons and Kingfishers in here to keep us company.




Here are some drone shots of our anchorage.







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