From Nashville back to Green Turtle Bay

September 8, 2018

Yesterday around 5pm, picked up Justin Shaw from my “boat school” at Kentuckiana Yacht Services as he agreed to be my first mate for this leg of the Loop. Deb and I wanted to see the Cumberland River to Nashville and having accomplished that, Debbie had seen enough of Cumberland water, mud and trees, hence the replacement.

Two days on a boat at less than 10 mph required a bit of a bribe to get Justin to go along so a trip to Bar B Que Nirvana was promised and in the pouring rain last night we headed to Martin’s Bar B Que Joint in Nashville. Killer Q, great atmosphere, this is a must visit on any trip to Nashville.

Today started as a beautiful day cruising down the Cumberland after departing Rock Harbor Marina

Pretty cool hacienda on the Cumberland. Due to the shape of the hull on WB, she throws quite a wake. These waves were generated at 10 mph. At top speed of 20 she would swamp a bass boat. Today even a tug pushing 12, count ’em, 12 barges asked us to pass at idle speed. The Mighty Motor Vessel, WB must’ve sceered him!

Cruised by Clarksville, Tennessee during a festival of some kind and we were a bit concerned a bit at first as there was a fireboat and police boat with blue lights flashing. Just a presentation of a some sort. Looked like everyone was having fun.

Weather was great when we left the marina at 7:30 this morning. Debbie called to warn us of impending bad weather but that was not near us. We did not escape unscathed as we were in and out of showers most of the day.

Check out the canon on the hillside overlooking the river at Fort Donelson where the Battle of Fort Donelson was fought in 1862 during the Civil War. The Union capture of the Confederate fort near the Tennessee-Kentucky border opened the Cumberland River for the invasion of the South. The Union’s success elevated General Ulysses S. Grant from an obscure leader to the rank of Major General.

No, we did not enter the Twilight Zone. Just a true north heading.

We cruised 11 hours to get within striking distance of our bogey, Green Turtle Bay near Paducah. Found a really great anchorage that we had to ourselves and after dropping the anchor the rain stopped. Sun tried to come out just a bit.

Justin took the helm while I installed a new VHF radio on the flybridge. Shout out to Keith Sheffel for this technique to heat shrink a wire connection. The ABYC (American Boat and Yacht Council) dictates all wire connections on a vessel be water tight with a particular type of wire connector. Keith showed me how to use a cigarette lighter in lieu of a cumbersome heat gun. Just one of many gold nuggets of info I picked up at KYS.

Talk about hacienda’s on the water! Check out this place!! Uh, what does KSP stand for on that water tower? Maybe Kentucky State Penitentiary? Our “guests” at this state funded facility have a better water front view than my brother has at Rough River!

September 9, 2018

Finally got to Green Turtle Bay this afternoon after a 4 hour cruise in showers the whole way. After 8 days of cruising the Ohio and Cumberland Rivers, Whisky Business is sporting quite the “mustache”. A bottle of lemon juice will give her a clean shave.