Happy Destiny: 6/20/18 - Wednesday - Mermaid Marina (Decaturville Tn to Aqua Yacht Harbor Iuka Miss.)

Friday, June 22, 2018

6/20/18 - Wednesday - Mermaid Marina (Decaturville Tn to Aqua Yacht Harbor Iuka Miss.)

We arose early (as usual) and Erik fished for a bit (caught a gar). Made breakfast while waiting for the marina to open to get gas. Fueled up and talked for a bit with the owner as we shopped their very full store with a little bit of everything. Renee bought a dress and Erik hegira a T shirt and sunglasses.
We were on the river at about 9am. As with yesterday, the scenery continues to be spectacular! Shortly after leaving the marina we came up on A point with a dead tree on the tip of it. Their sat a beautiful bald eagle. We came to a stop and floated up on it and it let us get right up on it before flying off. Got a few of the best eagle pictures I’ve ever taken. The houses in this area are very nice and very interesting to look at.
As the afternoon rolled on the ride continued to be peaceful but we saw that rain was moving in. We called ahead to Pickwick lock and Dam to ask if there was going to be a wait. The lock master stated that if we got there within an hour we could lock up with a TVA vessel (Tennessee Valley Authority) Otherwise we would have to wait an hour or so. So, we push the pedal down and picked up the speed to about 15 mph. We arrived at the lock in plenty of time and went on into the chamber. As we were approaching the wall and getting ready to tie off to the floating bollard The port engine appeared to be stuck in gear....hmmmm. I shut down the engine and helped Renee get the boy tied off. While waiting for the TVA vessel to come up behind us, I opened the engine hatches and after some investigation it was determined that the shifter cable that goes from the lower helm station back to the engine
Had broke. This was a much better scenario than transmission issues would have been 🤗
We cruised into Aqua Yacht Harbor (about 10 more miles upriver from the lock) on the starboard engine only. We got a transient slip assignment and walked up to the service dept./ships store but unfortunately they had closed for the day. Our slip for the night is on an outside wall of the marina without much protection from the chop (storms were now moving in). It’ll likely be a rocky night. We made a FB post to the Marinette page inquiring about possible places to get a replacement shift cable and got some good suggestions but it was too late to contact anyone today. We’ll have to wait for morning to look further into making repairs. A late dinner (as usual for this trip) and showers brought us to bedtime.