Clarksville TN, again

Friday, October 10, 2014

Stats:
Nashville, Cumberland River MM 191 to Clarksville TN, MM 126 (McGregor Park courtesy dock)
8:00 - 3:00. 65 miles.

At 7:45 I finally woke up (Jeff let me sleep in after our late night), pulled on some clothes, gulped down some coffee and was on the dock ready to cast-off our lines in minutes.  Jeff pulled the boat off the dock, turned it around and for the first time since leaving the Mississippi we were going downstream again.  What a difference the current makes.  With much lower rpms than on the way up the river we had gained a couple of knots!

As predicted, it was a rainy day.  No worries, though.  We were snug as two bugs in a rug in our vinyl solarium.  It's actually quite pleasant to travel in the rain (as long as there's no lightning and not too much wind. Those are the real trouble-makers).  We spent the day, as usual, taking turns on the helm,
reading, watching the world go by, eating, chatting.  etc.

We sometimes despair about how industrial these rivers are, but, in fact, the only reason we are able to complete this trip, through the dredged and maintained river system and countless locks (at NO charge) is because of the industry around us. This is a major industrial artery of the interior U.S. of A, and we are the (sometimes ungracious) guests here. We had a good chat about that today.

Here is the birthplace of many of the barges we pass in the course of a day.

A friend showed us a picture of one of the floating bollards in a lock with a little rattle snake nestled on top of it.  She really had no choice but to hold on to her line wrapped around the bollard and keep the boat secure the whole way down as the lock was emptied, keeping a close eye on the baby rattler, of course.

I was just thinking about that and commenting to Jeff that at least I don't have any snakes on my bollard when this massive black snake wiggled past along the wall.  He was a biggin'.  I thought for a minute he was going to climb up on the swim platform.  EWE!!!

Just as we were both spellbound, watching and wondering how we were going to get this monster off our boat, the horn signalling the opening of the lock sounded.  LOUD!  Both Jeff and I just about jumped out of our skin!  And...  more girlish screams.  But THIS time from Jeff!!!  I just about fell overboard laughing!

We stopped at the courtesy dock in Clarksville, tied up and plugged in (for those behind us: there is one 30 amp plug at the bottom of the ramp. The rest are 50 amp).  Tomorrow is supposed to be the same weather wise -- soft rain all day.  A soaker.  After a look at the charts and a team planning session we decided that the best course of action for tomorrow will be to stay put.  That should put us at a marina with a full service department by Monday morning, ready to receive some routine maintenance....

and also, Yay!!  That means a movie marathon day tomorrow!!