6/2/2022 - Spending the day in Chattanooga - 0 miles, 0 locks, lots of smiles

By Lambert standards sleeping in was in order after the long, hot day yesterday.  Erik was concerned that after rising a little before 6:30am a huge portion of the day was wasted. lol

The weather forecast had been calling for some rain and thunderstorms this morning so we had planned to hang around the boat to work on Renee's thesis and catch up on the travel blog. As it turned out the weatherman was off and the rain forecast now showed a nice morning and early afternoon with the rains not moving in until later in the afternoon.  When we were here several years ago we enjoyed the local downtown attractions; the best aquarium we had ever seen, the Chattanooga Choo Choo and some nice dining at a local Italian restaurant.   We had also visited Ruby Falls which was very cool.  

One attraction that we did not make it to last time was to go up to the top of 'Lookout Mountain'.  It is the mountain which is across the river and about 5 miles away.  'Rock City' is a park/attraction that is probably the biggest tourism attraction to the city.   In order to get to that we would really need to take an Uber or Lyft since there is a 1100+ foot rise in elevation to get there.  Erik really wanted to feel the burn and give it a try to ride up but Renee wasn't feeling it (bahaha....even Erik is smarter than that!).   We decided instead to make the 4.5 mile modest ride to the base of the mountain and take the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway up to the top.  While Erik readied the bicycles Renee worked on some school work.  Walking the river walk wall Erik brought along with him a dozen of the 60 fresh eggs that were given to us by our friendly dock mates at Ft Loudon to use as enticement to find an air pump to borrow. The eggs went to the boat docked directly behind us, 'Final Draft' with Eric and his wife aboard.  We had gone through the lock with them yesterday and met them when docking.  They are a young couple aboard a 57' Gibson houseboat.  They just moved to the Chattanooga area six months ago from California.  They now live aboard their new to them boat along with their three rescue dogs.  They manage a portfolio of 8 AirBnb properties that they own in California and Mexico.  Unfortunately, they too did not have an air pump or compressor.  On up the wall a bit was a couple of other boats that we locked down with yesterday.  One was a very nice Carver and the other was an old hooptie Four Winds with a very interesting character as captain.  We didn't get his name, but for our purposes we are calling him Sanford (as in Fred from Sanford and Sons).   Readying the bikes was more of a hassle than was expected.   We were able to borrow a small air compressor from one of the  neighboring vessels, but, as it turned out an air compressor doesn't offer much assistance to a bike tire with a big hole in the innertube.  Erik called searched around and found a bike shop on the other side of the river about 1.5 miles away.   He walked the bike across the bridge and over to the shop where he was able to get a new tube and have it installed.  Ready to roll now, he headed back toward the bridge only to get 1/2 mile away and have the innertube that was just replaced blow out AGAIN! ugh.   A quick walk with the bike back to the shop and the new, faulty tube was replaced.  

View of Happy Destiny tied to the aquarium wall 
We are the boat in the front

Another view of where we are docked from further across the bridge

Back to the boat, Renee was finishing up the necessary school work and it was shortly after noon.  We grabbed a quick bite to eat before venturing out. We rode the riverwalk trail all the way to the base of Lookout Mountain which was mostly flat except for a couple brief leg burner inclines.  The bicycles were allowed to ride up on the incline train with us so we did that rather than locking them up.  The incline has a long history being in operation since 1887.  It is the steepest of any incline railway in the country rising up the mountain 1 mile.  

about 1/2 way up Lookout Mountain on the incline railway
We were sitting in the back of the train because our bicycles were strapped into the wheelchair spots in the rear

incline railway car heading down the mountain from the lower observation deck 

View from the upper observation deck at the railway station
We just can't take pictures that do scenic views justice

Panoramic pic gets a little more, but warps the frame of reference

At the top there are several observation decks that offer great views of the city and river below.  

Just a few blocks away from the upper railway station is Point Lookout Park.  It was the first war memorial park in the country.  Along with many amazing lookout views it offered multiple monuments and explanations of the Civil War history of the area.  Very well done national park.  

Civil War cannons perched atop the mountain
Placards all around the national park shared great information about the battles and history of the mountain

We had to imagine that cannon balls dropping from almost a mile high had to increase their trajectory greatly! 

Many breathtaking views
From different sides of the mountain top you can see 7 states on a clear day

Renee on some rocks at the edge
There were three trailheads going out of the park, but they were long and had MANY steps that our already tired legs weren't up for today....maybe next time

A huge mural (40'x30') depicting 'the battle above the clouds' at the mountain was commissioned and completed in 1863

Just outside of the park there were a good number of  very cool old homes with fabulous view and cool architecture
This one had a large stone wall surrounding it that was built in an interesting way and had pink roses all around it

The weather radar was indicating that strong storms would be moving in within a couple hours so we descended the mountain and had a nice, much easier, mostly downhill ride back to the boat.  We arrived just in time; the last mile or so was windy with dark clouds moving in.  The storms were creating white caps on the river and the boat was rocking.  It was a nice evening to stay indoors and try out an Instapot quiche recipe we had found....remembering we do still have 4 dozen more eggs to eat! The quiche did not cook in the timeframe that was indicated on the recipe so it was finished off in the toaster oven which actually ended up bringing it to perfection :-) Very yummy! Light rain continued through the evening so we sat in our recliners and partook in the virtual world of FB, blogging and school work for the remainder of the night before showering and laying our heads down for a good nights rest.  It was another day of Chattanooga not disappointing us.  We have found this city to be very active with lots to do and see.  

Tomorrow we will be departing and heading further down river toward either an anchorage or possibly for a long haul down to Guntersville 

6/1/22 - Sunset Cove Anchorage to Chattanooga Aquarium wall - 70.9 miles and 2 locks

We had a peaceful and very restful night at anchorage.  The morning pre dawn hour or so was good for Erik's soul to sit on the deck with coffee watching the morning light come around and listening to the sounds of nature.  

After a couple of hours of relaxing and enjoying the morning Erik took Riva to shore for her morning business.  We sat and chatted for a short time and had a quick and easy breakfast of yogurt and granola.

Riva apparently didn't get enough sleep last night

We pulled anchor and started our trek at about 8:45 am.   We planned for a pretty long journey today of 70+ miles and a couple of locks.  As usual, the morning cruising was relaxing and aside from a few fishermen we were the only boat on the water most of the morning.  As we approached Watts Bar Lock and Dam, our first lock of the day, we called ahead to inquire if there would likely be any delays and the lockmaster informed us we were clear to come right on in when we got there.  The lockmaster met us at the wall of the chamber as we were pulling in and we had a nice casual conversation with him about our journeys.  Most of the lockmasters are very friendly and they seem to enjoy interacting with the boaters.  

As we continued downriver there are many nice mountain views around each bend.   We never tire of seeing the next spectacular view; pictures do not do them justice!  

one of many gorgeous mountain views 

kayak fisherman. we slow way down as not to wake them when we see them in time 

The terrain surrounding the river was continuing to change and become more rocky on the shorelines.  The water temperature was rising.   When we left Ft Loudon it was about 76 degrees and now just 80 miles or so downriver it was up to about 83 degrees.   The water temps did however lower significantly for the first several miles below each dam.  We assume this is because of the large quantities of water being let through from deeper in the riverbed.   

Riva the river diva

The afternoon was very hot so we took a short break to get in the water and cool down our body temps.  We had forgotten that with the dinghy on the davits that our swim platform ladder could not be put down without lowering the dinghy....hmmm.   Some quick work to fashion a rope ladder of sorts took care of that issue.   Cooled off and refreshed we continued downriver.   When we were about 5 miles (30 mins or so) from the second planned lock of the day, Chickamauga Lock and Dam, we phoned ahead again to check on the status.  Unfortunately, this time we were not as fortunate as the previous couple locks.   We were informed by the lockmaster that he was in the process of locking through a large tug and barge (he referred to it as a 'bearcat') and that it would likely be 2-3 hours before he would be locking down any recreational boaters.   We continued down towards the lock and decided that since it was now almost 5pm and Riva had not been ashore to potty since 8am that we would go into a marina located just above the lock to get her some grass.   We called ahead to ensure that they would have room and be ok with us doing this and they had no issue.   As we were entering we realized that we had been at this same marina previously when we transited the Tennessee River several years ago.   It was a small, tight marina to maneuver the boat in and out of but fortunately there was no wind or current.  We motored back out and into the channel a hundred yards or so from the top of the dam.   Rather than anchor we chose to just float.   By this time there were multiple other boats anchored and waiting to lock down as well.   The late afternoon sun was blazing so we got in the water to cool off before firing up the grill to cook up some burgers for dinner.   Finally, after waiting for almost 3 hours, at about 7:30pm the lockmaster came onto the radio hailing the recreational boats into the chamber.   This was a fairly slow process that took the better part of 30 minutes to get all 7 of the boats that had been waiting into the chamber and tied off.   We held back and were the last to enter the chamber which fortunately meant we had our own pin/bollard to ourselves and did not have to tie off or have others tied off to us.  The drop down to the Nickajack pool of the river was much smaller than the last couple, probably only about 30 feet or so, but it was a VERY slow drop.   

All in and tied off ready to ride down

After 11 hours on the river on a hot day Renee needed a break. We were lucky to be on the shady side of the lock chamber

By the time we got out of the lock and were headed the last 5 miles down to Chattanooga it was almost sunset.  We arrived to the 'Aquarium Wall' in downtown Chattanooga and were met by the marina harbor guy who helped us get tied off and powered up.  It had been a long day and we were all tired.  After bringing Riva out we ventured up into town for a very brief walk before heading back to the boat where we showered, had our evening coffee and relax.   Renee retired at around 11pm while Erik stayed up to finish our first days blog (behind already darn it) and attend to a few work emails.   

Our 'Nebo' track for the day 

Stats for the day

5/31/2022-Ft Loudon Marina to Sunset Cove Anchorage-58 miles 1 lock

 Happy Destiny with the Lamberts aboard is on the move again!  Welcome aboard.

We arrived at Ft Loudon on Sunday evening and spent the past day and a half preparing Happy Destiny and Trudge for this years adventures.   There were multiple last minute items to take care of including cleaning, putting boat numbers and name on Trudge, provisioning, checking systems and spending a couple of hours with our hired electrician to go over the details of the newly updated electrical systems.  Thanks to our good friend, Belinda, for coming down with us from Ohio and helping, and, most of all for bringing our car back home so that we have MUCH less running and driving at the end of the trip :-) 

A beautiful boat in the transient slip at Ft Loudon Marina "Telico Lady"

We woke up this morning and while Renee made a final quick run to Home Depot for a couple of things Erik readied the boat for departure.   After bidding Belinda farewell for her drive back to McConnelsville we disconnected our lines from Happy Destiny’s home dock and started on our way at about 10am.   

Leaving our slip at Ft Loudon Marina to start our voyage

Immediately outside of the marina is Ft Loudon lock and dam which would be our only lock to get through for todays planned trip.   We had radioed to them as we were departing and the lock master had the doors open for us we got there. 

Renee securing the boat to the floating bollard inside the lock 

Exiting Ft Loudon lock onto the Tennessee River

After a 72’ drop we exited onto the Tennessee river.  The flow out of the dam was significant enough that it gave us quite a push down river for the first 10 or so miles.  We cruised along nicely at about 12mph with the engines only turning 1500 rpms.  The cruise was nice and it was a quiet day.  This area is pretty rural but there are a lot of nice homes to look at. 

Time for Renee to catch some rays

hot and thirsty cows

It's always fun to see fellow Marinette boats along the way

As we were heading down river we called five or six of the marinas along the way to see who had the best price on fuel.  We found that Euchee Marina which was only about 3 miles from the spot we were shooting for to anchor out for the night had the best price beating the next competitor by 30 cents a gallon.   Definitely worth shopping when we are talking about the quantities of gas we will be using.   We arrived at Euchee Marina about 5pm and got in and out of there pretty quickly after letting Riva out to potty and pumping 91 gallons.   

Just a few miles further down river was ‘Sunset Cove’ anchorage which had good reviews on Navionics.   The reviews said there was a sandy beach with good dinghy shore access; important to us with Riva.   The “sandy beach” was not exactly what we had envisioned in our heads, but, it did offer a good spot to go ashore and there was a primitive campsite there with a small clearing on the otherwise heavily wooded shore with dense undergrowth.  

Take me for a ride mama and papa

Riva on her way to shore

After getting the boat anchor set (on the first try!!….yay for our new 35 lb delta style plow anchor purchase) we fired up the grill and cooked chicken breast, squash and zucchini.   Not Erik’s best grilling results tonight as the chicken got a little over cooked; booo for dry chicken :-(

After dinner we lowered Trudge (the new to us dinghy) and put the trolling motor and battery on.  We motored into shore and let Riva do her business.   It was about an hour before sunset and although low in the sky the sun was blazing right at us and very hot while standing on shore.  We got back into the dinghy and did a nice slow ride around the the side of the large cove that was getting some shade relief.   Aside from the frequent surfacing and jumping fish the main wildlife we saw was when we startled a deer along the shoreline that took off making a ruckus (ok, maybe the deer startled us as much as we did him/her).   We got a few good pictures of the boat at sunset, which did not disappoint!   They rarely do.   

Must have been a hot tiring day; Renee may have been sleeping on the dinghy ride...lol

Returning to the boat, we enjoyed each other’s company while relaxing on the aft deck.   The temps lowered after sunset nicely allowing for our usual evening cup of coffee (along with a bowl of ice cream 🍨).   The night sky was perfectly clear with only a very small sliver moon.   Before heading to bed we turned off the boats anchor light and went up to the bow to experience an amazing star filled sky.   A nice end to our first day back aboard! 

Crescent Moon

It's been a very rough day...should put our feet up for a while

our trip stats for the day

Preparing 'Happy Destiny' for departure.....B.O.A.T

It has been almost six months since we took possession of the new to us 39' Marinette Aft Cabin Cruiser.  Thought we would take some time on a cold and blustery late January day to create a blog post on what has been happening with us and the new boat.  

We officially took possession on July 28th.  Erik's dad (Bert) and his wife (Felicitas) had been staying at our home in McConnelsville since early June where we enjoyed spending time with them.   They were eager to see the new boat and spend some time aboard so when the time came to make the jump they traveled with us to Lenoir City TN (Ft Loudon Marina) to check things out and help with initial cleanup and transfer.  We arrived at the marina late in the afternoon on a very hot and humid day.   We were told by Larry, the previous owner, that the main A/C unit for the main salon and forward berth was flaky and only working intermittently.  Well....intermittently was discovered to be not at all.  It was going to be a hot and sweaty week aboard if we could not get the unit working.   So, while Renee, Bert and Felicitas got started with stripping all of the previous owners stuff out of the boat and starting on a deep cleaning Erik started working on the A/C.   Within a couple of hours, with the phone guidance of a marine HVAC guy who Larry had recommended, it was determined that both the motherboard and blower motor were going to need replaced to get it to operate.   Tim, The HVAC guy, stated that he likely had, at a minimum, used parts that would work and could likely get there to work on it within 2-3 days.....hmmmmm.   Erik made the decision to make a road trip with Dad to Tim's house and shop to hopefully get the necessary parts to make the repairs himself.   Tim's shop was only about 20 miles or so away, but it was 20 Tennessee mountain miles in the middle of nowhere.   His driveway alone was a dirt road over a half mile long.   Tim was very helpful and set us up with a used motherboard and complete blower unit for a good deal.   By the time they made it back to the marina it was well after 10pm.   The temperatures had finally come down to a reasonable level and Erik decided that it would be best to wait till tomorrow to attempt the repairs.  

Early the next morning, before the temperatures got the the boiling point, Erik started working on replacing the parts.   The unit is VERY tight to work on so it essentially required him to remove the unit from under the dinette seat to install the new blower unit.    Next up was the replacement of the motherboard.  With that completed it was time to fire up the power and HOPEFULLY have A/C!  No dice....ugh!   After a little more investigation and another call to Tim it was determined that the new motherboard simply did not have a fuse in it....lol.    A quick trip to the auto parts store to get the proper fuse and walaaaaaaa....cold air was blowing :-)    

Renee, Dad and Felicitas had continued with major cleaning.   The boat had not been particularly cared for or cleaned well for quite a while.   There were spider webs and spider poop on everything outside, carpet that required cleaning, cabinets that were grimy etc..etc..etc...  

The first 3 days the boat never left the marina slip and lots of sweat and elbow grease went into the chores.  It was nice to have Dad and Felicitas aboard to help, but, we started feeling bad that they were working too hard.   Finally, on the 4th day aboard, we took her out of her slip and spent the day cruising Lake Tellico.  It was a beautiful day of cruising, floating and swimming.   Toward the end of the day we had made arrangements to meet with one of dad's previous coworkers at Tellico Village Yacht Club/Blue Herron restaurant where we had a nice visit and dinner.   We arrived back at the marina just as the sun was setting.   

We spent the remainder of that first week on the boat continuing to do all kinds of miscellaneous small projects to the boat along with continued cleaning.   We did manage to go out for a couple more nice cruises to help break up the time and not make the trip ALL work and no play.   

Just two weeks after our return home we made another trip down to the boat for a long four day weekend, this time with our good friend Belinda.   We had made the conscious decision to make this second trip much more relaxing.  We had wonderful summer weather and a great time sharing the boat with our friend and showing her a little about our love of cruising.  We did several trips out onto the lake.   Our usual trip is always up toward the top of Lake Tellico to get the wonderful views of the foothills of the Smokey Mountains.  We anchored out one night near the the old historic Ft Loudon.  We had debated on making the trip up the Tennessee River to Knoxville since this was the only portion of the river that we had not yet traversed.   This would have been approximately 50 miles each way.  We decided that since it was getting near to the end of our long weekend that we would not do that entire trip but instead just cruised up the Tennessee River about 10 miles or so and then floated in a cove there for a bit before heading back to the marina.   This was a very nice and much needed weekend aboard.  Makes all of the work worthwhile.    P.S....Belinda will have to get invited back soon since she brought three beautiful, huge and tasty steaks along with her that fit just perfectly on the grill!   

In late October we made another trip down to the boat, this time with Erik's brother, Mark, and his wife, Pam.  We were hoping for the opportunity to see the area during the height of leaf change.  Unfortunately, we did not quite time that perfectly.   We did see what was the beginning of a lot of fall color but it was still a week or more off from the true peak.  Nevertheless, it was another fun weekend aboard with family.  Mark will be retiring this coming May and he and Pam are seriously considering moving to the coast around the NC area.   Part of Mark's desire it to also have some sort of cruiser to explore the ICW in that area.   The weather was chilly, but it did warm up enough for a nice cruise up to the top of Lake Tellico and to explore the Ft Loudon area.  We docked the boat at the Fort and spent the afternoon up on the flybridge enjoying each others company, a tasty charcuterie board and unfortunately a Browns loss.  

Finally, and most recently, We made the trip back down to spend a week aboard the week between Christmas and New Years.  This again, was intended to be largely a working trip.   However, we did take the time on the way down to stop in at Gatlinburg where we spent one night.   We did a nice hike and explored the town.   We had a very tasty dinner at The Cherokee Grill and Steakhouse, recommended by one of Renee's teacher friends from New Lex.   The town was hopping with lots of people this holiday week.   We waited over an hour to go up to the top of the mountain on the chairlift.  It was a neat view down at the town with all of the lights.   The skybridge was neat also but some of the affect was lost on the glass floor section since it was dark.   

We had contracted with a guy in October for a major canvas and enclosure job.   When we arrived we were very pleased to see the completed new flybridge bimini top and isinglass enclosure as well as a top that connects the upper bimini with the lower bimini over the aft deck.   Also, we had him make new splash guards and gates around the aft deck that now go down closer to the floor to make it safer for Riva and hopefully keep her from losing toys overboard.   

We had made arrangements in the fall months with Bruce of Alexanders Mobile Marine to meet us at the boat early this week to discuss and go over the electrical scope of work that we want accomplished over the winter.  Bruce is a ABYC (American Boat And Yacht Council) certified electrician.   This is important to us because obviously we want the boat to be wired safely and correctly.   It was NOT when we purchased it.   Someone over the years of ownership had done a hack job on the electrical panel.  We met with Bruce as scheduled and reviewed our desired scope: updated electrical panel, installation of new inverter system and battery bank, installation of 'backbone' for Simrad system that will give us ability to connect up all our Simrad radar, chart plotter and newly acquired fuel flow meters.  

In addition to meeting with the electrician we also spent several days 'digging in' and discovering much more about the systems and locations of things on the boat.   We changed the engine oil in both engines and the generator and put new impellers in the water pumps of the engines.   We also tore apart and winterized the Purisan toilet units in both heads.   We were uncertain whether these units were really working properly and discovered that one (the front one) appeared that it was but the other (rear one in the main berth) was not.   While trying to service it and get it to work properly we managed to break a couple of the old, brittle fittings and had to place orders for replacement parts.   We were able to get both units winterized though.    We also winterized both A/C units and the complete water system on the boat.  With a small ceremony and no wine to offer Poseidon we renamed her "Happy Destiny". By the end of the week we were satisfied with our progress in getting to know our 'new to us' vessel. 

   

These first couple weeks of January we have spent multiple hours on the phone, emailing and texting back and forth with the electrician on designing and planning for the electrical upgrades.   Erik mostly just looks and listens in with confusion while Renee and he discuss design options.   Renee is MUCH better at this type stuff than Erik and has spent many hours herself researching standards and options.  It was looking like the electrical panel/s and equipment itself (not including the labor to install) was going to be custom designed and built and be quite expensive :-(    However, after some more research and considering it has been decided that we are going to simplify some things in order to both hold costs down as well as ensure that we will be able to get needed components in a reasonable amount of time. We are now currently planning to order essentially a pre made panel, switches and disconnect box that will suffice for our needs.   We will be eliminating the single 50amp service input for now and just go with the double 30amp service that is located on the front of the boat.   This is what most marina's have readily available anyhow and also what we have shore power chords for to feed.  More to come on this when we see how things progress.   Crossing our fingers!