And So It Begins…
was one of my favorite lines from Babylon 5, one of my favorite science fiction shows. It set the tone for something new, something different, without letting on how that something would turn out. It was just a beginning, but things were now set in motion, and something (or many things) was going to happen.
We had spent the previous two weeks finishing last minute projects on the boat, while packing up the house. Everything that we decided we wouldn’t need when we get back, we sold or gave away. Everything else, we put in storage. Everything except what we took to the boat. Moving from a modest ranch style house to a 31 foot sailboat is an exercise in downsizing not for the faint of heart. ‘Ruthless’ is the term I had to remember when deciding what did and didn’t need to come aboard or go into storage. The last few days of that last week were full of 3D Tetris matches, making sure everything fit into the quite finite storage space on an E31. Even at 7:30 am, the day of departure, there were still a few things that had made it on the boat, that we decided to leave behind.
Under the Decatur Railroad Bridge - gateway to future destinations.
But then, after marking everything off of the departure checklist, and one last look around, we cast off around 8:00 am, and motored slowly into the river channel. Having the boat in a marina only half an hour away from where we lived has been a treat, but for the next span of time, the boat is where we will live. ‘And so it begins…’
Setting sail…
Sharing the river with commercial traffic.
This step of our journey will take us to Pickwick Lake on the western end of the Tennessee River, where it turns north to eventually join the Ohio River. But there will probably be some pauses along the way. Oh look, there’s one just ahead.
Joe Wheeler State Park is just upstream from the first lock we will transit and at about 5 to 6 hours from Decatur it seemed like a good place to stop for the night. Especially when the weather alerts started; severe thunderstorm warnings were popping up all around us, and the wind picked up quickly from 5-8 mph to 20-30 mph. Wheeler Lake is not very wide but it is pretty long, and guess which way the wind was coming. Well of course it was. Straight up the channel. Plenty of fetch for a nice 2’ or so chop. The boat handled it fine, of course. The only complaint we had was a bit of spray now and then, as Kotona sliced her way through the chop - note to self: Finish those dodger repairs!!
We arrived at the transient docks just before 2:00, and checked in at the the lodge. The park has a well reviewed restaurant on site, but it usually closes around 2:30 on Sunday. We were delighted to find that it would be open till 8, due to the July 4 holiday (Yay!). Dinner and showers, not necessarily in that order, ended at great first passage.
We give Joe Wheeler State Park high marks overall. It’s not a five star resort that caters to your every whim, but it doesn’t hold itself out to be one either. It’s a nice, quiet, functional, pleasant place to pull in off the river, and stay couple of days. So I think we will.
Floating in the lake, a girl and her boat.
A quiet cove on the Fourth of July.