Well here we go, off to the races! Ok not really much of a race! Turtle race... maybe. Anyhow we were off the dock about 0630 Tuesday, 5/7 headed for Wheeler Lock. Two other pleasure craft were there waiting. We planned on then waiting for the 1600 lockage at Wilson Lock, due to Amy's schedule, however the 0900 lockage was delayed until 1030. We were able to squeeze in, so we did.
We floated for nearly 2 hours, then joined 3 other boats through Wilson Lock's Auxiliary chamber. The main chanber is still under repair, expected late June to return to service. Getting through early we canceled our reservation at Florence Harbor to go on to the Rock Pile anchorage. This is the one we had the 5 boats rafted together.
Not as special as our last time, with friends, but after I got over the Coors Light shortage of no Good Day Sunshine, we kicked back and just enjoyed being at anchor and back to doing what we love. The friends and social aspect of the loop is great, but we really like traveling on our own and just enjoying the peace and serenity of a night at anchor. Tomorrow, we aim for Mermaid Marina to take on fuel. If we get delayed at Pickwick, we will get in early Thursday!
Wednesday we had the anchor up by 0700, and headed out in the channel. We got about an hour of drizzel, but stayed cloudy and overcast the rest of the day. Pickwick Lock was open and waiting for us, so between getting right through and the push we had below the dam, we made Mermaid easily before 1700. We even got our picture took as we locked through. Look up Pickwick Lock on Facebook to find the post on May 7, 2025.
We had a mostly peaceful day, except the 40ish foot carver blasting past us while passing the Francis Keegan throwing a 5' wake. Never slowed down a bit. Please don't be that guy if you get a boat!
The Tennessee River is filled with beauty, even on an overcast day. We will spend Thursday at Mermaid, waiting on a fuel truck delivery, plus hanging out and enjoying the folks that run the place.
Thursday we filled our diesel tanks from a fuel truck to ready for the trek op the Mississippi. The Mermaid Marina crew opened up, served us a great dinner and great fun!
Friday we took off early, and made the 73 mile trek to Paris Landing Marina. We have friends Glen and Jean that have their boat there, plus neighbors John and Jackie were driving up to have dinner with us.
We had a delicious dinner at the Dew Drop, great smoked brisket burger for me, and they actually had Coors Banquet... BONUS! John and Jackie headed home to then head for New York the following morning. We had to wait for the marina to open at 0800 to leave so we hung out with Glen and Jean until, well later than we should have stayed up!
Saturday we paid our bill and got underway right after, We joined up with a delivery Captain I know, plus Plane Relief, a boat we met in Red Wing, MN last year and partied with a few places along the trip south last fall.
We spend about an hour anchored to wait out Kentucky Lake Lock. We must have looked like suckers, we had company looking for a meal almost immediately
KY Lake Lock is under construction of a new 1200' main chamber, can't wait until that thing opens up!!!
We arrived into Paducah about 5:45pm. Just in time to head off with Mark and Sue for dinner and Ice Cream!
Sunday we took off at first light, to allow us time to get up the Mississippi a ways against the current. This gave Amy a chance to get a sunrise picture :)
The Ohio was giving us a push, so we arrived at Olmstead in no time. The water is high enough the wickets were down and we were able to pass over the dam instead of locking through.
We continued upstream at about 5mph to the 23 mile marker at Brown's Chute to anchor for the night. We anchored and had a great dinner aboard! Salisbury steak, baked potatoes, and salad! It's a tough life, but someone has to do it right!
Well folks, that wraps up our first week of travels this year. It's great to be back on the water. Next week we will work our way up to Grafton, IL at the mouth of the Illinois River. We have several friends to see and excursions planned when we get there, but you will hear about all that next week! Also don't forget to check out our YouTube channel for more details.
https://www.youtube.com/@adventuresaboardtoscana
