Home again, home again, jiggity jig

We awoke the next day at Shellmound Recreation area to a beautiful sunrise. Very calm and peaceful and a great location!

We tied up on the T-head of the dock the night before in the dark. The park has nice grounds for walking and bathroom facilities. Quite the view from the dock and you can't beat the price (free)!

Besides lots of bass boats each morning, we've seen no other cruising boats except for the occasional barge passing by.

There a few brave trees turning green on the hillsides now...spring is not far off and with it good boating weather.

The section of river between Hales Bar and downtown Chattanooga is just spectacular:

If you boat or spend much time in Tennessee you will see lots of "Volunteer Orange." This boat took it to a new level with the cowling covering their outboard. To stick with the orange and white theme of the Vols, they have elected to utilize an orange/white traffic safety cone for their cowling!

Dad skippering us up the river for a while. It was finally nice enough to utilize the flybridge which was very nice.

Slowly making way up the river despite the crazy currents from all the rains the week before:

Another of the 4-5 barges we passed on the river:

So we were fighting a VERY strong current all day. Usually I can cruise our Monk at 1,700-1.,800 RPM's and do about 7 knots. Today, we had to do 2,000 to 2,100 RPM's to hit 5 knots! At some points we were only doing 4.3 to 4.5 knots! We figured out why once we started getting close to downtown Chattanooga. The water levels are very high due to the rains, so much so that docks are under water:

This was the only other recreational cruising vessel we saw on the water the entire trip. A Mainship 40 Sedan, I could not resist taking a picture for our boating friend "BillyIII" who owns the same boat- couldn't help but think of you Billy!

I-24 parallel's the river for a brief period downstream from Chattanooga. We opted to stay on the river instead of taking Exit 178.

Dad keeping a watch for pirates.

The flooded downtown Chattanooga waterfront. Those concrete pilings are usually where one would tie off their boat and there is a big wide 10-12' sidewalk beyond it that is all under water.

Lots of construction at Chickamauga Lock resulting in a "busy" entrance to the lock! 6 months ago I would have been totally freaked out to try and navigate this old boat through all of these obstructions. She handles like a dream though and the entrance was no issue at all.

In Chickamauga Lock:

You may notice we are wearing leather gloves in the locks. Here is a picture showing why- rough and slimy concrete that will cut your hands up and make a mess! The lock was actually in the midst of some work and only one of the floodgates was open so it created an unusually strong current in the lock.

Back up on our "home" lake, Lake Chickamauga. After a month away it felt funny to be back up!

The sun was just about to set as we were arriving at Island Cove...a nice end to a beautiful trip up the river.

And finally, home again in our home slip:

So, we are all squared away and back at Island Cove. I cannot say enough how impressed I was with how the boat handled. The trip down the river and back up were the 2 longest trips our Monk has taken in at least 15 years. She absolutely ran flawlessly the entire time. We did not even have to change a single racor fuel filter going there or back and she just ran absolutely perfect the entire time. Our work thus far has seem to come together just as we had hoped and she is a great little boat with classic lines, a rich and homey teak interior, solid mechanicals, excellent layout, and about as cost effective to run as a power boat humanly can be. Our previous boat at hull speed would burn 7-9 GPH (gallons per hour) with her 8.1 Crusader gas engines. If we went fast in that boat she would burn 55 GPH! Living Light, with her little Perkins 135hp diesel only burns about 1.5 GPH which is virtually nothing. We are so pleased with how she has come together and are really looking forward to a great spring and summer aboard her with the kids and enjoying the TN River more. We still have some smaller projects we are going to be working on but it seems, for now, the major/big projects are now complete and she is running like a top and just an absolute joy to own and run. We feel extremely grateful to be able to have her as part of the family and really looking forward to a fun summer with friends and family, enjoying time on the water, swimming, anchoring out, grilling dinner while watching the sunset, meeting new friends, and sharing happy memories together. Life on the water is a great and this summer will hopefully prove to be a great time with our newly refit trawler!

Stay tuned...more to follow!

A day to go an hour

I didn't have a chance last night to update the blog, why you ask? Long day! 75 miles traveled fighting a very strong current the entire way. All said and done we put 12 hours on the engine yesterday (idling at lock was some of that time). I labeled this post "a day to go an hour" because in a car, we'd be zipping along at 75 MPH, not 75 MPH day. :)

The current was strong due to recent rains. It also made the river mostly a muddy brown color. For good measure and to make things fun we got to see various logs and large branches floating past now and again. We had hoped to leave Alred at 8 a.m. Atlanta time but that turned out to be an actual departure time of 9:20. I didn't think it'd be a problem but I had not anticipated the current would be as strong. We usually cruise at about 1,700-1,800 RPMs and that yields about 7 knots for cruising speed. Yesterday we had to do 2,000-2,100 RPMs and that only yielded a cruise speed of 5.5 knots and occasionally we would find a lull in the current and then we'd go real fast at that RPM and do about 6 knots. Pretty much though we did about 5.2 to 5.5 knots most all day and just below the lock and dam we were doing a lightening fast 4.5 knots. Despite that, it was a fun day!

Some pictures and more details....

The day started off cool and cloudy (50-55 degrees??). It stayed that way until about 2 p.m. when the sun finally came out.

At one point I had to sound the alarm that we were being overtaken by pirates. Upon further inspection though I discovered it was merely a false alarm. I was able to snap a picture of the vessel that caused the concern:

One of the multiple tree trunks floating down the river:

Afternoon view on the bridge. Once the sun came out it was a very nice day and warm(er):

This is an old car ferry. I am not sure if it is in use anymore or not? We used to have to cross a river on one of these to visit my grandparent's farm when I was young. No bridge so you hop on the ramped barge and the ferry shuttles you to the other side of the river and you go on your way.

Calm day:

Beautiful!

Sun is getting low. Notice the channel marker in the foreground- you can see the current swirling around it.

Just getting to Nickajack Lock. We had radioed ahead 2 miles downstream to let them know we were coming up river and hoped to be able to lock through and would they be so kind as to have it open on the downstream end. Most times the lockmasters are happy to do this for you so you don't have to wait. Not this time though- lock master insisted he be able to see me physically arriving before he would prep the lock. He didn't answer our multiple haling calls on the VHF once we got there so I had to call on my cell phone. So- despite it getting dark, us being in relatively unfamiliar waters, etc. we had to wait 30 minutes for the lock to be made ready for us.

Due to the wait at the lock I had some time to snap some pictures. You can see the holes for the venturi shield brackets that I still need to install in the foreground so just pretend I have it already installed. :)

In the lock with dad doing bow duty:

Lock doors shutting:

First time locking through at/around dark!

We did not make it to Hales Bar Marina as hoped due to our late start and the current. It was dark when we got out of the lock and I was not about to run another hour up river in the dark! Luckily there are some very nice free docks at a state recreation area just a few hundred yards from Nickajack Lock so we made our way over there last night in the dark. Our 8KW Northern Lights generator gave us power to turn the stove, heater, etc. all on. It was a very peaceful night. It got down to about 39 outside though so definitely nice to crank the heater up this morning!

Time to get out of bed, eat, shower, and enjoy a cup of coffee before we start our 52 mile run up to Island Cove and our home marina. I think I could sleep another couple of hours but perhaps the coffee will change that.

P.S. Boat ran great again today. The trip down river last month was her longest trip in many years but yesterday was definitely her longest day and longest running time in a day in a long, long time. It is so great to see all the work we have done and had done over the winter has come together to make her ship shape and running and working like the happy little trawler she is.

Shining Like New Money....

My wonderful grandmother has a phrase she uses now and then to describe something that looks really nice and new. That phrase is that it is "shining like new money." Well...our little Monk trawler seems to be shining now like new money herself!

We made our way from Atlanta to Guntersville today and Alred Marina to inspect the boat and prepare for the return trip up river. Due to school and baseball schedules, it is just dad and me making the trip back up to Island Cove. My mom was kind enough to drive us over to the boat so we had a nice ride together and got here around mid-afternoon. Russ Cranford, the marina and service yard manager, met us and took me out to the covered slip they had placed her in since resplashing her again late last week. First off, Russ is simply great and I could not say enough about how positive my experiences have been with him and Alred. I HIGHLY recommend them!!

The boat looks great. It is like a night and day difference compared to how her exterior used to look. It was a cloudy and grey day today but boy did she look good. I still have multiple pieces of trim I need to install/reinstall before everything is 100% done (i.e. reinstall the teak grab rails along the flybridge for the side decks, venturi shield, trim around edge of flybridge where it ties into the bridge deck, etc.) but I am very happy with our "new" boat.

Just for fun, here are some good "before" and "after" pictures so you can get an idea of how much better she looks!

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

I'll try and get some more pictures tomorrow of her in the sun so perhaps if you check the blog tomorrow be sure to be wearing your sunglasses. :) As well, in case you are wondering why in the "before" pictures the flybridge is all discolored and yellowed...the previous owner had planned to paint her topsides some time ago before we bought her. He sanded it down, primed that area, and then sanded again before stopping. He never painted her and, over time, the primer turns yellow thus her former splotchy appearance. Also, in the "after" pictures you can see the refinished and newly installed name boards...complete with 9-10 coats of Epiphanes varnish (front and back). We will have the new name installed once back at Island Cove.

Anyway, our plan is to leave for our trip up river right after dawn tomorrow. After a month away from the boat due to the painting, I can't tell you how wonderful it feels right now to be resting peacefully in the aft stateroom berth surrounded by our beautiful teak interior, the faint and familiar smell of the boat, the gentle and slight roll of the boat. There really is something special about older boats that cannot seem to be replicated in new boats. It is like there is a sense of history and a past to this boat...like we are not owners but stewards of this purposeful little trawler. It feels so good to be back aboard on this calm, quiet night.

Here's to safe travels tomorrow, warm sunshine, and fun times with my dad on the 125 mile run back up to Island Cove.

Be still my heart!!!

Goodness!!! The yard just emailed me a few pics of the boat as I've not been able to get over there to inspect her directly yet. Do you remember when you were a teenager and at the big school dance and the prettiest girl in the entire school was there and you wanted to ask her to dance but your palms were sweaty and you were nervous and in love? Or when you first met your wife and how wonderful she was and still is after all these years?? I JUST GOT THAT FEELING!!!!!!

A bit of our trawler comes home

Since we are changing the name of our trawler, our port/starboard nameboards need to be refinished and the new name placed on them. Since the boat is over in Guntersville getting the finishing touches of the topside paint done, fuel at $3.40 a gallon and a round trip 4 hour drive, I asked the yard doing our work (www.AlredMarina.com) to just overnight our nameboards to us. So...a little bit of our Monk trawler made it's way to our home and arrived this morning. It feels funny to have the nameboards here at the house and not on the boat! Now I will have to do a lightening quick sanding down and cleaning of the teak boards, refinishing, and as many coats of varnish put on as I can muster in the next few days.

The plan right now is to start the trip back up the river either late Sunday afternoon or very first thing Monday a.m. One thing is for sure- I can't wait to see her with her new topside paint!