Severe weather was forecast for the next day, so we decided to hang out there. We couldn't ask to be in a better anchorage than this! Fortunately, the severe thunderstorms missed us.
Bill took this opportunity to get the hooka rig out and examine the underside of OMEGA. A thorough check found a slightly loose prop on the starboard shaft. To tighten it involved removing the starboard line cutters and the two large nuts securing the prop. Fortunately, no damage was caused from the looseness other than a slight vibration. To tighten the prop in the water was no easy matter since the lock nut with standard heavy pressure wouldn't allow the outer nut to line up with the cotter key hole. To accomplish the task, Charlotte had to lock the shaft in place in the engine room with a large pipe wrench. Locking the shaft allowed putting a large pipe wrench on the prop nut. Hitting it with a heavy sledge, Bill was finally able to tighten it enough to align the cotter key hole. He was glad to be in clear water and have good visibility under the boat. While diving he finished the task by changing the shaft zinc and the large transom zinc. The rest of the bottom and running gear looked great.
June 29 - We cruised on north up the last leg of the Tenn-Tom (37 miles) to Zippy Branch, another of our favorite anchorages near Grand Harbor Marina. This is a very popular anchorage, and we were delighted to find space available. Glad we made it before TGIF!! Enjoyed an afternoon refreshing swim and a great evening at this lovely place!
June 30 - We were excited when we reached Pickwick Lake and the junction of the Tenn-Tom and the Tennessee River - a welcoming sight after 450 miles of the Tenn-Tom where you go round and round curves day after day!! Pickwick Lake is the section of the Tennessee River between Pickwick Dam and Wilson Dam; it is 52.7 miles long. The Tennessee River is wide with gorgeous scenery all along the shoreline. In case you want to find us on a map, look for the point where the NE corner of Mississippi meets the NW corner of Alabama and Tennessee. As we started upstream on the Tennessee River, we crossed back and forth between Tennessee and Alabama. Then the river goes in a southeasterly direction in Alabama toward Florence.
FLORENCE, AL
We docked at Florence Harbor Marina so we could have dinner at Rigatoni's, an Italian restaurant we liked when we were in Florence in 2010. Florence Harbor Marina has made lots of improvements since we last stayed here when we did the Loop (Great Circle) in 2002. They have added floating transient docks and the old restaurant that burned has been replaced with a new restaurant which is open for lunch and dinner. There is nice landscaping, and everything looked well maintained and neat.
July 1 - Our next stop was Wheeler State Park Marina, only 20 miles upstream. Between Florence and Wheeler State Park is Wilson Lock (96 ft.), the third highest lift lock in the world. It's a really neat experience to go through this lock!
Just downstream from Wheeler State Park, our next stop, we went through our 14th lock of the trip (Wheeler) and entered Wheeler Lake. Tommy and Jackie Stockard drove over to Wheeler State Park Marina from Killen, AL for a visit and dinner at the lodge. We met Tommy and his first wife Ima on their 60th wedding anniversary in 2009 at Goose Pond Marina in Scottsboro. Unfortunately, Ima passed away shortly thereafter. Tommy married his longtime friend Jackie this year. He is a special friend who loves boating as much as we do. It was so good to see them again.
July 2 - It's the 4th of July weekend, and all the boaters in northern Alabama are out on the water either fishing, tubing, jetskiing, or just cruising. We headed on upstream to Guntersville with plans to tie up at the free dock downtown so we could offload our scooter to go to church in the morning. As we approached the railroad bridge at Decatur, AL, the bridge tender informed us he was expecting a train shortly.
While we have taken many photos of Painted Bluff east of Huntsville on our previous cruises, we couldn't pass by without adding a few more - it's so neat!
EAST OF HUNTSVILLE
After going through our last lock (Guntersville-#15), we entered Guntersville Lake (elevation 595 ft). As we approached the downtown free dock, we saw that the community was having a 4th of July celebration carnival there, and no space was available, so we headed on up to the Guntersville State Park area to anchor.
Sections of Guntersville were hit by the severe tornadoes that marched through Alabama in April 2011, and we saw lots of damage along the shoreline.
WIPED OUT BY SPRING TORNADO
GUNTERSVILLE STATE PARK
Many homes were either destroyed or severely damaged in the area, and many lives lost during the multiple tornadoes that bounced across the small mountains in the vicinity. We were saddened as we viewed the damages from our anchorage near Guntersville State Park as it was such a beautiful area when we visited here last Fall.
July 3 - This is the last leg of our 1600-mile trek from home - only 17.5 miles upstream to Goose Pond Colony Marina in Scottsboro, AL. It has taken us exactly one month to reach our destination. The sign welcoming us to Goose Pond Colony Marina was a welcome sight!!
We are in a slip on the end of a covered slip dock that overlooks the golf course...a beautiful setting! Lots of geese on the water between us or enjoying the edges of the golf course! Know the golfers love them!
COLONY GOLF COURSE
CRUISING OVER TO THE GOLF COURSE
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