Happy Destiny: 6/24/18 - Sunday - Joe Wheeler Al (anchorage) to Guntersville Al (free dock)

Our anchorage last night worked well, although Renee didn’t sleep so well and she tells Erik (must be a heavy sleeper!) that the storms (and tornado warning) from last night did have the boat rocking and blowing significantly. No rain though.
We awoke around dawn and Erik tried his hand at a little more fishing (to no avail) while Renee worked on some more number theory class work. After breakfast (cereal) and A few morning boat straightening chores we motored back in to Joe Wheeler lodge docks where we hooked up to their shore power for about 45 mins to get our house battery bank back to a near full charge. We then motored over to the marina fuel docks where we topped off the gas tanks (at a reasonable price) and pumped our holding tank (because it was free). Erik was out of his filthy, rotten cigarettes and the state park did not sell them. The marina staff was generous enough to run up the road while we waited to get him some. Long story, but this ended up taking practically an hour. It was about 10:30am before we were on the water headed out for the days adventures.
We started out cruising slowly upriver not really sure how far we would go today. We would play it by ear and either make it a long day (about 80 miles) up to Guntersville or if the the sites were good and we found a pleasant anchorage somewhere between we would stop.
The first 30 miles or so of the cruise was much more industrial and somewhat boring as compared to some other sections. We did then come to Decatur which had an interesting railroad lift bridge that we had to wait for while a train traversed the tracks. We were too high to go underneath with it down. We continued upriver and picked up the pace a bit (to about 12 mph) and got in our minds that we would likely try and make it to Guntersville (another 50 mikes or so + one Lock).
At this point the Wheeler Lake turned into more of a river feel (it is still the Tennessee River after all). The landscape started changing drastically as well. What was somewhat flat for the past 30 or 40 miles starting giving way to mountains on one side of the river and more large rock ledges. One of note was a HUGE rock wall (Painted Bluff) which was in a tight turn. It is touted in our river guidebook as being the most photographed spot on the Tennesse River. It was impressive (again, pics won’t do it justice I am certain). We debated on staying here until sunset because we were sure that it would be a beautiful site to see. Instead, we called ahead to the Guntersville Lock Master who told us that there should not be a wait if we got there in an hour. We picked up the pace a bit again (to about 14 mph) and got there in less than an hr. We floated and waited for about 15 mins while waiting for a rec craft being towed to lock up. Through the lock and onto Guntersville Lake (incedentally the largest lake in Alabama). Our destination, Guntersville Municipal Free Dock, was just about 10 miles from the lock. The 10 mile cruise was very scenic. This area of this lake is much less developed and has beautiful hills and maintains surrounding it. Also lots of islands. During the last few miles cruising in towards Guntersville we observed a CRAZY number of boats all speeding and heading in the same direction as we were headed....it was very odd and we figured that there had to have been some large event that just ended. We found out when we got to the dock that the 3 day long hydro boat races had just finished up.
Once we got tied off and setled onto the dock (in a well protected harbor and very nice for a free dock....just no electric) we went off for a bike ride to explore a bit and find a Piggly Wiggly for a few provisions we needed/wanted. The two mile bike ride (one way) turned out to be a fabulous one! There was a bike path that followed right along the shore of the lake and through some very nicely kept parks. It was up a few moderate hills that supplied excellent vistas. In the out lot of Piggly Wiggly was a shaved ice joint so we HAD to stop to cool off and enjoy 😉. Coffee shaved ice with capaccino topping was their new flavor and we both approved strongly of it....yum. The ride back after shopping was times perfectly with yet another brilliant sunset. We may have to ride this trail again in the morning to check out all of the placards that are identifying the species of trees along the path. There are many very interesting plantlife that interest us.
Back to the boat for a quick, late dinner of brats and beans. Cool showers on the boat to freshen up ....ahhhhhh. A bit of blog writing while Erik is trying his hand again at trying to catch the legendary Tennessee River Catfish! We’ll report in tomorrow entry how that turns out 🐠🐟🦕 (ok...the dinosaur is probably not gonna happen).
Good night