Days 158-159

Chattanooga, TN - Scottsboro AL, Goose Pond Colony Marina

• Start 8:52AM
• End 4:07PM
• Underway 8:00 Hours
• Distance 74 miles
• Total Miles on Trip 3087
• Av Speed 9.3 knots
• Locks 1
• Weather Sunny , 67 Degrees, Wind 3Knts N

We got a much later start than we wanted to, because we had an online court hearing for a parking ticket that was issued in NJ while we were on the trip. It is bad enough dealing with this, but they rescheduled the hearing without telling us.

We ran by ourselves today Mark & Karen (Kay Dee) and Dan & Cheri (Cheri Baby) left at 8:00am. We would have easily caught up to them, but we got stuck behind a tow for 6 miles, going 4 knots. The river was very narrow and lots of hairpin turns and the tow did not want us to pass in that section. After we passed the tow, we had the Nickajack lock to go through.

The lock was open and ready when we got to it. We call the locks about 20 minutes before we reach them, to let them know we are approaching the lock and approximately when we will arrive. This gives the lockmaster time to "turn the lock around" if they need to. It is also when they tell us, if we will be going right through or if we will have to wait. In this case, we knew that Kay Dee & Cheri Baby had gone through the lock about an hour before us, and the lock needed to be filled before we could go through it. Next we call the lockmaster when we get to the designated approach point, which is about ½ mile from the lock.

The ride was beautiful. The trees are starting to change colors and we could see for miles. Cliffs and bluffs that were hidden by the rain and fog on our trip up river were now visible. Because we just traveled this section of the river, we are going to run longer days and skip some of the stops we made on the way to Chattanooga.

We spent Tuesday provisioning the boat. (Nautical for grocery shopping, it makes it sound more fun!) I also had to replace my running lights. One of the bulbs burned out. What should have been a 10 minute job, took 3 hours. I love owning a boat!

Wednesday we are heading back to Ditto Landing Marina.