So, we were litterally slugging it out for 6 and a half hours until we finally made it the 21 miles from Huntsville to the Guntersville Lock and really did not like what we saw. The current was getting stronger and stronger. We were down to 3 knots and were now almost standing on it. There was a lot of debris in the water. I mean trees - whole trees, and lots of pieces of trees. The Dam was spilling and it had been spilling. I started doing some looking (I suppose I should have done it before, but it was such a nice day........). I learned that, due to the very large amount of rain that fell over the last couple weeks, the water levels in the river had become so dangerously high, that all the dams on the Tennessee were having to dump water at a much higher rate than normal to maintain the seasonal pool levels. I explained this in a previous post.
The TVA (Tennessee River Authority) is charged with maintaining the navigability of the Tennessee River to allow commerce in the region to continue. As such, they control the river levels through the use of a series of dams. They have to guaranty at least 9 feet of depth in the main channel. They also have to be very careful to maintain the water levels so as not to flood out any towns. When they put in the dams, they created a chain of lakes. The level of the lakes is referred to as pool level. If the pool is too high, there is a risk of untoward flooding. If the pool level is too low, there is a risk to the navigability of the waterway. So, by holding and spilling water, the TVA maintains the pool where it needs to be, often depending on the season. They let water out in winter in advance of anticipated rain and thaw.
The last couple days, however, have seen much higher rates of spillage. As a result, when we got to the mile or so before Guntersville Lock and Dam, we were experiencing a spillage rate in excess of 110,000 cubic feet per minute. To put it into perspective, there is at least one lock above Guntersville that closes when the spillage rate reaches 90,000 cfm. As a result, we saw rapids, whirlpools, and sets of waves that would have hit us right on the beam. It's hard to put inter perspective, but I guess it would be like running up a class 5 rapids. We were warned by a downbound cruiser that it was hairy at best and downright dangerous at worse. He advised us to call the lock ahead of time and ask that the gates be open so we could make a run for it for the last half mile or so into the lock. This guy was in a 65 foot Motoryacht with at least 900 horsepower and he said it was ridiculous trying to keep the boat pointed in the right direction. So, as we approached with our measley 200 horsepower and were starting to pound and twist, and slow to slightly better than 2 knots, we realized pretty quickly that there was no way we were going to make it into that lock. Or at least, if we did, it would be hell bent and furious. Frankly, it would have been fun to try, but the consequences severely outweighed the benefits. Even if we did make it through this lock, we had the Nikajac Lock ahead of us and the Coast Guard had just issued a safety zone around that lock due to conditions that apparently made Guntersville look relatively tame.
So, Chattanooga will have to wait. It was interesting that, when we got turned around and started heading down river, it was at nearly 15 knots! I actually reduced throttle to try to keep it under control at a comfortable 11 knots. Even 11 knots feels fast when you have been shovin' along at 4-5 for the past few days.
It's all good. We made it back to Huntsville in 1/5 the time it took us to get from there to where we turned around, and we still had plenty of day left, so we decided to pass Huntsville and head for Decatur. Like always, we had never been there before. We though about waiting a day or so to see if the water levels were going to calm down. We also wanted to give the generator some needed love, and had a couple other chores to accomplish. So, Decatur it was.
The town of Decatur is a regular old town. It's a working city. It is not bent on tourism. Frankly, it would be hard to be so, in that all but three of the original structures in Decatur were destroyed during the Civil War. There is nothing much older than turn of the century. There is industry there - petrochemical, grain, and other commodities; and, the Purina Cat Chow factory is there. The reason for Decatur's being, however, is its position on a deeper part of the river which is good for shipping, and its position at a junction of two railroads, one heading south and one heading northwest. So, it was a strategic location during the war, and it is said to have changed hands a number of times. Evertime historians tell you that a place changed hands several times during the war, what they are telling you is that it was burned to the ground, destroyed, razed, and otherwise stomped on and that there was, and likely still is, nothing left to talk about.
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| I think this says it all. |
So, we are heading back down the Tennessee River to the junction with the Tenn-Tom and then will be heading south to Mobile Bay, at the bottom of which we will close the Great Loop. We'll probably stop in Florence again to take care of some things there, and then stop again in Counce (Grand Harbor) to top off the fuel tanks and fill up the freezer before we make the 460 +/- mile run down the canal to the Lower Black Warrior River and then to the Mobile River. Who knows? We're not in a hurry. So first we will stop for a night at anchor up the beautiful First Creek which is just adjacent to the Joe Wheeler State Park. It's very beautiful here.
By y'all for now.
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| Sunset anchored in First Creek |
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