Sometimes, the best laid plans......Decatur, Alabama

We left Huntsville fully intending pass through the Guntersville Lock and make our way further into Guntersville Lake to an outstanding anchorage called Bull Frog Creek when we started noticing something strange.  The current had really picked up.  I don't mean a little.  It picked up a lot; so much so, that from almost 22 miles from the Guntersville Lock we were having a hell of a time holding onto 4 knots.  Now, just having had the transmission repaired, I was not really into "standing on it" if you will to try to go faster.  I am usually thinking in terms of fuel consumption and completion.  So, I set my speed based on RPM's and get what I get.  Well, at my normal operating range, I was only getting 4 knots.  I did up it a little knowing I would be not far from a fuel supply well within our range, but I did not want to "stand on it".  She is a 30 year old boat, after all.

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. 

I think this says it all.

One interesting thing about this working industrial town is that it was not that beat up compared to some of the others we have seen.  Industry is still going on in Alabama so folks are working.  For some reason, and I am not quite sure what it is, industry in Tennessee, just a few clicks down the river from here is not nearly as well off.  There is an affluence here in Alabama that does not exist in Tennessee or in Mississippi.  Folks are working and folks are doing ok.  Again, I am not clear on the reason why, but plan to find out.



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.

Sunset anchored in First Creek

MAKING OUR WAY UP THE TENNESSEE RIVER TO CHATTANOOGA

After leaving Florence, we took advantage of some reasonable weather to anchor out for a couple of nights.  There was rain in the forecast, but it was not expected to get that cold. 

It usually works as follows:  the weather will be prevailing from the south.  With the southerly flow comes warm, moist air.  Temperatures even in the winter will reside between the mid 60's and the mid 70's.  However, the jet stream comes to play every few days and screws it all up. 

The jet stream is like a massive sine wave that moves around the earth in the mid to upper latitudes, from west to east.  Depending on the position of the North Pacific High (a massive high pressure system that moves north and south, back and forth, with the seasons - north in the summer, south in the winter) the sine wave may be north or it may be south.  When it is north, the California coast has beautiful weather.  Actually, the weather is good all the way up to Washington and Oregon.  The same generally goes for the mid west and the plains.  When it is south, it tends to drag weather from the Gulf of Alaska right into northern California, Washington and Oregon, and occasionally Southern California as well.  These same low pressure systems also catch polar air and drop it into the lower eastern part of the US.

You might imagine that the bottom of the sine wave stretches and compresses depending on the size of the polar air mass that falls into this trough.  The bigger it is, the further south the trough of the sine wave will dip.  This is also a function of it being cold and heavy air - high pressure air, if you will.  So, for instance, if you have a large mass of polar air corresponding with a trough in the sine wave, then that trough may dip as far south as the Gulf of Mexico.  You may recall we had ridiculous weather last winter on the Gulf Coast.  That was because large polar air masses kept pushing the trough in the sine wave way down. 

You can see the frozen mist hanging just over the surface of the water.  That's snow on the windshield.  It didn't last long and barely stuck, but it was interesting none the less.

So, the sine wave moves from west to east.  Highs and lows.  One after another. We can fairly well predict the weather here in the central plains region based on what happens a few days earlier in Washington, Oregon and California.  The Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada play a role, for sure.  Cold air that makes it over the top accelerates down onto the plains.  This helps the trough of the southbound sine wave move along and when you have this combination of cold, fast moving air come into contact with the warmer air that was coming up from the south, you get a rather nasty frontal system bringing with it rain and even snow for a couple days.  Then, as you might well expect, the sine wave continues on its merry way to invade points further east, and the now inverted trough allows the warmer southerly air to fill in.  This seems to happen every few days.  So, three of good and three of nasty, three of good and three of nasty and so on and so forth.  It's a little more complicated than I have described here, but not that much.

Anyways, we anchored out for two nights in this really pretty place out in the middle of nowhere called Goldfield's Bend.  We hung out, listened to the radio, watched movies, did a few boat chores, and basically took it easy.  We did drop the dinghy in the water and went for a short cruise and then a hike on shore. 

On shore, there was not much of anything.  We found a launch ramp to exit from and then walked on a lonely country road for a mile in each direction.  The Droid showed that there was nothing around, but it was nice to walk in any event.  What was so wonderful was how quiet it was at night and even during the day.  There was simply nobody around.  Granted, we anchored out on Monday and Tuesday nights, and we did not expect to see other boats out.  Also, it is winter and there are not that many brave souls out there using their boats at this time of year.  Finally, there was a weather frontal system approaching.  We were in a good spot for its arrival.  So, the wind comes from the south and it is warm and rainy. Then, the wind shifts to the north and it becomes cold and rainy.  We even got some snow.  However, our anchorage was perfect for both northerly and southerly conditions.  We had plenty of chain out and slept very well at night.

That's us anchored way back in Goldfield Bend.

Our next stop is Huntsville, Alabama.  There is a rocket and missile museum here.  Apparently folks in Huntsville had a lot to do with the development of rockets and whatnot.  We still have all of that to learn about so I will write more about that later. 

Yes, those are bullet holes in the boating safety sign. 

You might be wondering why I publish what some might consider really poor photographs out the windows of the boat.  I do that so you can see what we see.  Also, sometimes, it's just too cold to open the window and take that shot......from the port side.

More later.....


HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA

I must say that I bristle at the idea of how life would be different if Jim Lovell, the commander of Apollo 13 had uttered the words, "Huntsville, we have a problem", instead of "Houston, we have a problem."  Well, it actually could have been. 

We have visited Kennedy Space Center, where rockets are launched.  We have visited Houston Space Center, where they are controlled after launch.  Finally, to complete the trifecta, we have visited the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama where they design and build rockets.  Actually, we visited the museum and space camp portion of the establishment.  Either way, it was very interesting to see the variety of rockets, missiles, and other flying things. 

They have a Saturn V rocket exhibit that is, hands down, the best we have seen.  There was more in the way of interactive exhibits and actual artifacts than at Kennedy and at Houston combined.  Plus, they had a Saturn V actually "all up".  It is so big, you simply cannot believe.  However, you can see it from miles away.  Even having seen this magnificent machine twice now in different locations, it is still overwhelmingly impressive.

They had a very interesting exhibit there covering the life and work of Wernher Von Braun.  Von Braun is probably the greatest rocket scientist of all time and is directly responsible for the success of American rocket science and the technology that ultimately put Americans on the moon.  Before this, however, Von Braun worked for the Nazis.  Whether consensual or not, Von Braun's science is directly responsible for the V2 rocket which was used by Germany to terrorize its enemies during WWII.  For me, the most important part of the exhibit focused on the moral decision he made at the war's end.

Von Braun was a very intelligent man and was very good at a lot of things in addition to building rockets.  He was very well read, and was very astute at comprehending the world around him.  So, when the Nazi stronghold on Germany was coming to an end and the Americans were at one gate, and the Russians were at the other, he and his team of scientists had to decide which gate to go through.  Von Braun chose to surrender to the Americans.  We learned that he believed it was a moral obligation to ensure that his science and his work would go to the side that had in place the best system of checks and balances to make sure that his work would never again be put to use for evil purposes.  This noble gesture notwithstanding, he also wanted to come to America. 

So, with the help of an army general, Von Braun and 118 of his co-workers were taken out of Germany, not as POW's, but rather as POP's (prisoners of peace) and taken to a military installation in Texas where they lived essentially hidden until WWII was over.  Then, they started building and testing rockets in Texas and in New Mexico before finally being moved to a facility in Huntsville.  Then, Von Braun was given the keys and allowed to run the whole program.  At first, his group worked on an intermediate range ballistic missile for the army, but then, when his program was assimilated by NASA, his group worked on the super booster known as the Saturn V which is the rocket that ultimately took Apollo astronauts to the moon.

That's one small step for man.......one giant leap for Bucket.

Von Braun became the Director of the Marshall Space Flight Center located here in Huntsville.  He marshaled (pardon the pun) some pretty extensive resources to help this country develop its rocket and missile program.  So not only was he the chief architect of the Saturn V program, but his work lead to the growth and development of just about every other aspect of missile technology we have today.

The first American in space.  This little dude was only 11 oz and fit into this canister for the trip to space and back.

Here is where he is buried. 

Since we had the rental car for the day, we took the opportunity to do some sightseeing in downtown Huntsville.  It's a very nice smaller city that has absolutely everything you could possibly want.  The historic downtown area is very nice.  Lots of old brick buildings built in the late 1800's interspersed amongst newer buildings.  You can sense the effort on the part of the city's planners to retain the old school charm.  Whether it is a good thing or not, the downtown area is dominated by the big county courthouse.  As such, the streets below are lined with law offices.  However, what I have not seen before were the window dressings.  I have never seen law firms that actually organize a window display on the street level.  Mostly, they involved the placement of books and furnishings, as opposed to broken and bent cars or slippery floor tiles.  But, they looked pretty nice. 

We finished our day with the grocery shopping escapade at the nearby WalMart Supercenter.  That's always a treat.  You just never know what you are going to see.  Long hours travelling on the river seem to have inspired Brenda to take over as Ship's Quartermaster.  For one, she is cutting and organizing coupons.  Actually, if you know Brenda, then you know that what she is doing is searching for coupons online, printing them and then cutting them out.  She has established methods for finding manufacturer's coupons that work on top of the store coupons for additional savings.  Moreover, she has found Droid Apps that allow you to scan bar codes and she has started an inventory of items we keep in the pantry and in the fridge.  I'm proud of her for taking the interest, and I now sleep comfortably knowing that our chances of running out of sliced jalapeno peppers have just dropped from slim to none.  You go girl!

OK, that's quite enough for now.  We'll be heading further east today on our journey to Chattanooga.  We will be there in a few days.  I'm thinking of stalling our arrival until after the weekend.  We will stand a better chance of finding a space on the wall near the aquarium and will lessen the chance of getting stuck moored under the pedestrian bridge which, in any city, can spell bad news given the propensity of certain lower species of humankind to throw things off bridges at the boats below.  (We almost got nailed a couple times in Nashville and we weren't even directly under the bridge).  So, the weather is looking good - sunny but very cold - so .......

See ya later.

POSITION UPDATE - FLORENCE, ALABAMA

As you know, we broke down the day before Thanksgiving.  We got out of the yard yesterday, December 2.  The total time for repairs was only 4 days. The pricetag could have been worse.  Well, there you go.  We are done with that episode and hopefully, we make it through the rest of this cruise without any further mechanical issues. 

We had an interesting time where we were, however.  I have described how we did not merely sit idle by, but rather explored the area in the courtesy car provided to us by Grand Harbor Marina.  We visited, Savannah, TN, Iuka, MS, Tupelo, MS, Memphis, TN, Crump, TN, Counce, TN, Corinth, MS, and all the little places in between. 

We also met some really nice folks, like Garth and Kathy on a boat called Algonquin, and Jerry and Jenny on another Roughwater 41 called Sweetgrass.  All wonderful and interesting folks we enjoyed meeting very much.

For the next couple weeks, we will be traveling on the Tennessee River on our way up to Chattanooga, TN.  We have been told that, if we thought the Cumberland River was something, the Tennessee is like the Cumberland on steroids.  So, how can we not go?  It's always hard to imagine where you may be many years from now, but travelling up the Tennessee River on a boat is not something I can clearly imagine so we have to take advantage of this time.  We are here.  So, let's go.

Those black spots at the top of the tree in center are bald eagles.

At present, we are in Florence, Alabama.  We got here late yesterday afternoon.  After all the rain we had during the last week or so, the lake levels are rather high so the dams are spilling and causing a significant increase in the current on the nose as we head UP river.  I think we barely made 5 knots for the better part of all day yesterday.  So, it was a long 37 miles from Iuka.

When we got here, we hit the town and enjoyed what the locals call First Friday.  This is an evening street festival that includes music, and lots of street vendors.  The restaurants and stores stay open late.  It clearly reminded us of Art Walk in Fort Myers, FL. 

Florence is in the Muscle Shoals area of Alabama which is known for great music. Many of the studio musicians for some of the greatest acts in history came from the Muscle Shoals area including, but not limited to, The Swampers.

We encountered this band playing on Court Street that was a Christian Rock band called Fervent Worship.  Their music was pretty good.  Their message was very religious.  Then there was the crowd.  I have seen this sort of thing on TV before, but I have never personally witnessed anything like it.  When the music was playing, a large crowd of folks in the street right in front of the band swayed back and forth with their arms in the air just like you see on the religious TV stations on Sunday mornings.  It was good, though.  There was not a single dirtbag among the crowd, and everyone seemed content.  There was absolutely nothing but good feelings.  But, it was almost scary that folks who look just like us and who are seemingly otherwise completely normal got such a religious charge on with the music. 

After we had had enough of the revival style music in the street, we headed back to the marina and found that the upstairs bar and grill was still open so we went up.  What we found up there was the extreme opposite of what we witnessed dancing in the street.  At the bar upstairs, there were blues musicians going at it all loud and bawdy.  The booze was flowing and there was a lot of laughing, commaraderie, and carrying on.    We ended up staying really late and closing the bar with the locals who own the place.  (YES, WE ARE "CLOSERS" IN ALABAMA, TOO...HA!  THAT MAKES US "MULTI-STATE CLOSERS" - PLEASE LET LINDA AND CECILY KNOW WE WILL NEED AMENDED "CLOSER" HATS)

Due to the extended party call last night, we will stay in Florence another day and see what this very cool city has to offer.  I am aware that the house where Hellen Keller grew up is here, and there is some interesting archetecture to view.  And, there is a rather famous musician playing at the marina tonight.  So, we'll check it out and report more later.

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The next day we woke up really late.  I think Brenda was asked what time she woke up this morning and she replied, "This afternoon."  So, I had some time to get some boat chores done.  Then, we hit the road in the courtesy car and visited a couple of the recommended sites in Florence. 

We had lunch at this place in the downtown area.  The sandwiches were great and we met a nice girl who attends the University of Northern Alabama which is in Florence.  The school is pretty small, but has apparently just made the decision to go to Division 1 in athletics which is a huge undertaking.  Ultimately, this will mean a big hit in terms of income and in terms of school population.  In the interim, however, it is a really nice place to go to school.  Their mascot is the Lion and there are a pair that actually live in a special enclosure on the campus.  This time, we did not get to see them, but will probably stop and visit on the way back.  Florence is really into their Lions.  There are painted paw tracks on the streets, on the walls and even in the courthouse.

In fact, Alabama, in general, is really into sports - but not just any sports - COLLEGE FOOTBALL - is where it's all at.  If it ain't red, you ain't wearin' it on Saturdays.  The expression, "Get a rope" originally thought to have evolved in connection with the notion that reasonable salsa could come from New York City, actually emerged when a travelling business man once (and only once) suggested a professional football program would be good for Alabama.  No way, Jose.  College football is the rule here.  Actually, not just college football, but all college sports. 

Then we went off to visit Hellen Keller's birthplace which is across the river in Tuscumbia, Alabama. 

 I had never bothered to learn much about this amazing woman before.  Of course I have heard of her and of the multitude of jokes that have spread so far and wide.  Really, however, this woman is no joke and the things she accomplished in her life for herself and for the folks who endure her plight - the blind and the deaf - are truly astonishing. 

Helen Keller was not born blind or deaf; instead, it was not until she had a serious illness which may have been meningitis or scarlet fever, did she lose her hearing and her sight. However, she overcame these obstacles and became a world famous activist, a lecturer and an author.  She is the first deaf-blind person to earn a bachelor's degree.  The essence of her story is how, throughout her life she learned to communicate, and the things she did with that ability.

After spending some time visiting the Helen Keller Museum, we moved on to something that does not appear in too many crusing guides - the Coon Dog Cemetary.

This place was introduced to us in concept in the movie, "Sweet Home Alabama".  So, when it came up on our radar screen so to speak, we just had to go.  The road out there is long and you really get the feeling you are way out in the sticks.  Then you turn off the main road and you keep going and going and going, further and further out into the middle of nowhere and then you see  the sign telling you the Coon Dog Cemetary is only a couple miles away.  Then the road winds on and on and on.  It was getting dark.  We were driving a courtesy van that was in the shop when we arrived in Florence.  We had driven the van for a couple hours the first day and then a couple hours the second day before heading out to the cemetary and had not seen the gas guage move.  So we were concerned.  Nevertheless, we headed on out not knowing if we were going to encounter some bearded toothy feller with a shotgun.  Anyways, we found the cemetary just as the sun was about to set.

We were unable to determine if this place is private or public property, although there was a sign with a phone number to call.  However, what we did discover is this really beautiful place where only Coon Dogs are allowed to be burried.  What is a Coon Dog?  Glad you ask.

A Coon Dog is a variety of scent hound.  This hound was named after its original purpose: hunting raccoons.  The hunters do not eat raccoon (at least not here in Alabama).  The sport of coon hunting however involves cutting the dogs loose and allowing they to chase raccoons up trees.  Coon Dogs are developed and chosen for their keen sense of smell, the ability to track, chase and corner any manner of animal independent of human commands.  Most importantly, however, they have to have the ability to follow an animal both on the ground and when it takes to the trees. A good coonhound will bark and keep its prey treed until the hunters arrive.  The folks who engage in this sort of hunting apparenly have great admiration for their animals and hold them in ridiculously high esteem.  Here, they even have their own cemetary.

Well, we had another great evening at the bar and grill at the marina.  This evening, we enjoyed more wonderful music and met some new friends, and continued to learn about this place and its people. We'll probably stop here one more time on our way back down the Tennessee River.  In the mean time, we headed out of Florence with some beautiful weather.  We are now anchored in a nice little embayment where we will stay for at least a night if not more before continuing up the river towards Chattanooga.  Next stop will be either Decatur or Huntsville.

First, however, we engaged the biggest lock we will see on this entire cruise.  It is one of the biggest locks in the world - the Wilson Lock and Dam.  The photos really do not do it justice.  The lift was a little less than 100 feet (due to higher than normal pool levels). Not withstanding the turbulence you can imagine when over 50,000,000 gallons of water go sloshing in and out, it was a smooth ride and a great experience.