Thursday Sept. 12 

49 miles     Swallow Island mm#169.3  to Panther Creek, TN mm #219

As we pulled out of our anchorage at 0700 we noticed that we hadn’t been alone last night.

 

Today’s ride started out with trees and bluffs and then we started to see more houses. One in particular caught our attention. This house was made out of 8 semi trailers.

 

At 1230 we got to Pickwick Lock and Dam. This lock brought us up 55 feet. We are still traveling up stream because the TN River flows to the Miss. River. No waiting here we got to lock right through.

 

Coming out of the lock the river widen to about 2 miles across. This looked more like a lake than a river and almost all of it boater friendly. (Meaning very few shallow areas). We were getting 60-70 foot depths in some places. From here we will be taking what is called a “side trip” from the actual Great Loop. We will be taking the TN river to Knoxville to visit some friends instead of heading south on the Tenn Tom waterway. This trip will be about 400 miles one way.

We pulled into Panther Creek at 1330 and set the anchor for the night.

 

Cormorant drying it's wings.

 

The dinghy came down and we went exploring. We were told there was a waterfall across the river from our anchorage and we found it tucked in another little bay.

 

 

Friday Sept. 13 

58 miles      Panther Creek mm #219 to Tenn. river mm#275.8

We got going this morning at 0735. Today’s ride took us through 3 states and 2 locks. The TN River flows through Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi.  The first lock we came to was Wilson Lock. This was the tallest lock we have gone through so far. (93 feet) We had to wait 2 ½  hours to get in but once we did it was quite a ride. They must have opened up the flood gates because it only took 20 min. to raise us up.

 

The second lock was Wheeler Lock. We didn’t have to wait at all here and we went up 49 feet. Coming out of both locks the water way opens up to large lakes. These areas are also a Who’s Who for housing. Some of these homes were gorgeous.

 

 

At 1700 we pulled into a little cove for the night after exiting Wheeler lock.