Day 167-8. 2nd year November 6.-7 Driving back to Chattanooga

We enjoyed our last morning with the girls and Cori, leaving in time to take Kyle to the MARTA station so he could get to his flight back to Tampa on time. Always bittersweet when you have to leave family. We then turned around and headed back north to Chattanooga.

We had time to get to a grocery store to reprovision with fresh produce and meats we need for the next 7-10 days. before we returned the rental car.

Returning to the boat, we settled back in to the boat routine and readied for an early day to leave and head back down the Tennessee River retracing our steps to the Tombigbee Waterway where we will turn south and head toward home.

Here are some parting drone shots of Chattanooga.

Day 168. November 7. Retracing our way back down the Tennessee River. Miles 89 Total Miles5028

Started our day at first light to leave Chattanooga, TN head down river to our anchorage tonight.

It started out as a cool 50 degrees but not a cloud in the sky, so it warmed to 70. A beautiful day for cruising.

Our route took us back through the Tennessee Valley Gorge and back into Northern Alabama, traveling south and west.

We locked through Nickajack Lock and dropped 40 feet, down to Guntersville Lake which we traveled on for the rest of the day.

The Lake begins very narrow and deep with mountains on each side and then gradually widens with fewer mountains most further off river. Foot hills and marshy grasses and islands now dominate the shoreline.

Our company today was lots of fishing boats, one sailboat, one cruiser and one tow and barge. Not a lot of traffic on the lake. I also got to add to my Tennessee eagle count. Now I’m at 12. This one soared overhead and circled and dipped to catch a fish and took off again.

We did not stop at our planned anchorage, but continued on another 20 miles because it was such a nice day for travel and it will allowed us to have a shorter day later in the week so we could get anchored before the predicted rain starts..

We anchored in Short Creek between Bald Knob and Ellenberg Mountain, part of the Little Mountain State Park.

Reflections on the Bahamas

Reflections on the Bahamas Over the past 10 weeks, we have traveled through Abaco, Eleuthera and Exuma Islands and enjoyed the hospitality of the Bahamian people. We have learned all about the islands, its unique geography - limestone, caves, blue holes and chalk cliffs; and colorful history-pirates and rum running, salt ponds and cotton plantations, boat building and wrecking/salvage. Traveling over 1300 miles through narrow cuts and wide bays to vast depths of ocean, we negotiated the islands and found safe harbors, calm coves for anchoring, bays filled with moorings and marinas large and small. This trip required us to pay close attention to the weather, the tides and currents as we traveled between and through the islands. The Bahamian people are warm and friendly, willing to give us rides, advice and directions, as well as some secret recipes!! We enjoyed hiking trails, walking the beaches, snorkeling the coral rocks and reefs, discovering ruins and ol...

June 4-5. Day 63-64. On to Cape May New Jersey. 53.4nm. Total 1534 miles.

Left Delaware City at 5:35am to be able to take advantage of the strong currents going with us while traversing Delaware River and Delaware Bay. The Delaware River goes south about 15 miles and flows into the Delaware Bay. As we travel south, New Jersey is to the east and Delaware is to our west. We are traveling just outside the shipping channel and are really moving at 10.9 knots. That is three knots faster than we normally travel, as the outgoing tides are pushing us along. Nice to have Mother Nature helps us save on fuel. The Delaware River is about 8 miles wide so there is plenty of room for the freighters and the pleasure boats. So far, we have not encountered any commercial traffic, but there is a large freighter behind us that will eventually pass us as they travel at 14 knots. The Delaware Bay proper varies from 23-29 miles wide and 26 miles long. There are five lighthouses on the Delaware marking the shipping channel. We went by Ship J...

Day 121-122. 2nd year. September 21-22. On to Chicago and returning to Hammond Harbor. Miles 26. Total miles 4116

Woke to prepare for a short trip to a mooring can in Monroe Harbor, Chicago. Will meet up with Bill’s cousins to take them on a boat ride down the Chicago River. As we leave Hammond, the Chicago skyline is very visible on the horizon on this hazy morning. The seas are calm and winds light as we traveled with only a few tugs as our company on Lake Michigan. The closer we get to Chicago, you could recognize some of the more unique skyscrapers along the skyline. We hooked up to a mooring can in Monroe Harbor with the help of Capt Val from her Harbor tender. Soon afterward, Bill’s cousin Mike and his wife Karen, and cousin Ron were ferried to the boat and we made ready to take the boat ride down the Chicago River. We left the harbor, past the lighthouse and turned north to get to the lock at the entrance to the Chicago River. Had to wait for a boat to lock through ahead of us, then we proceeded into the lock to lock down about 3-4 feet i...

Crustacean Travels

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