We (there were 7 boats) got escorted by a small tugboat through the Olmstead Lock which is under construction (and has been for years!). It was supposed to be finished in 2014 and was meant to replace two existing locks on the River, lock 53 and 52. The new scheduled completion date is 2020 and in the meantime they are repairing lock 52 which is causing major delays.
The tugboat escorted us through the Olmstead and then took us over the wicket dam instead of through lock 53! At high water they lower the wicket dams (not sure how they do that) rendering the lock meaningless and you can motor directly over the dam. Perfect. Just a few days before that we knew of boats that had to wait several hours or more to transit that lock.
Follow the tug boat!
Then we continued on up the river for another 20 miles and found an anchorage off the main channel; no protection from the tug wakes. The bottom was very rocky and "It's About Time" couldn't get their anchor to hold so they rafted up with us; not our favorite thing to do especially in all that current but it worked fine. Launched the dingy and had "boat drinks" on "Reflection", 47' trawler, (George and Pat). The small Ranger Tug, "I Think I Can" (Randy and Cindy) were rafted with Reflection. Amazing how ten more feet can make such a difference on a boat.
The sides of the channel are parking lots for barges waiting to go through Lock 52. Some may have to wait two days or even more to get through. We talked to one captain and he said this is a very boring part of his job. They nose the barges into the shore and then idle their motors in gear to hold them there. The number of barges waiting to get through was amazing, they seemed to be stacked up everywhere along the river.
An average 8 barge tow (and many of these on the river were much larger, the largest we've seen was 21 barges) can move as much freight as 120 rail cars or 480 tractor trailer trucks. And a barge can move a ton of freight twice as far as a train and 6 times as far as a tractor trailer on the same amount of fuel. These large tug boats are really impressive. Well over 80' long.
We left the next morning to anchor in front of the dam by lock 52 to wait our turn; there were eventually 7 pleasure craft waiting. It was almost painful to watch the large tows get through the lock. We waited almost four and half hours as they managed to get one large barge up the lock in stages (take them apart, then reconnect them) and then waited for one tug down. As Werner put it, "excruciating"!
Finally got that over with and were able to continue on up the river. Most pleasure boats avoid the Tennessee River junction because of the heavy commercial traffic/lock and instead continue up another few miles to the Cumberland River. We anchored in a small cove just before the junction with the Cumberland. We needed a break; took the dinghy for a ride, had showers off the back of the boat, took it easy and watched the bald eagles.
Off the next morning to motor up the Cumberland River to the Barkley Lock and dam. Unfortunately the lock was busy and so we had to wait for more than an hour. The current coming out of the dam was quite strong and we ended up anchoring a bit downstream to wait it out.
Once we got through the lock we were in Barkley Lake and had only a short ride to Green Turtle Bay Marina where we had reservations for several nights. Supposed to be one of "the" places to stop in this area. Next up, the Tennessee River.
Follow the tug boat!
Then we continued on up the river for another 20 miles and found an anchorage off the main channel; no protection from the tug wakes. The bottom was very rocky and "It's About Time" couldn't get their anchor to hold so they rafted up with us; not our favorite thing to do especially in all that current but it worked fine. Launched the dingy and had "boat drinks" on "Reflection", 47' trawler, (George and Pat). The small Ranger Tug, "I Think I Can" (Randy and Cindy) were rafted with Reflection. Amazing how ten more feet can make such a difference on a boat.
The sides of the channel are parking lots for barges waiting to go through Lock 52. Some may have to wait two days or even more to get through. We talked to one captain and he said this is a very boring part of his job. They nose the barges into the shore and then idle their motors in gear to hold them there. The number of barges waiting to get through was amazing, they seemed to be stacked up everywhere along the river.
An average 8 barge tow (and many of these on the river were much larger, the largest we've seen was 21 barges) can move as much freight as 120 rail cars or 480 tractor trailer trucks. And a barge can move a ton of freight twice as far as a train and 6 times as far as a tractor trailer on the same amount of fuel. These large tug boats are really impressive. Well over 80' long.
We left the next morning to anchor in front of the dam by lock 52 to wait our turn; there were eventually 7 pleasure craft waiting. It was almost painful to watch the large tows get through the lock. We waited almost four and half hours as they managed to get one large barge up the lock in stages (take them apart, then reconnect them) and then waited for one tug down. As Werner put it, "excruciating"!
Finally got that over with and were able to continue on up the river. Most pleasure boats avoid the Tennessee River junction because of the heavy commercial traffic/lock and instead continue up another few miles to the Cumberland River. We anchored in a small cove just before the junction with the Cumberland. We needed a break; took the dinghy for a ride, had showers off the back of the boat, took it easy and watched the bald eagles.
Off the next morning to motor up the Cumberland River to the Barkley Lock and dam. Unfortunately the lock was busy and so we had to wait for more than an hour. The current coming out of the dam was quite strong and we ended up anchoring a bit downstream to wait it out.
Once we got through the lock we were in Barkley Lake and had only a short ride to Green Turtle Bay Marina where we had reservations for several nights. Supposed to be one of "the" places to stop in this area. Next up, the Tennessee River.
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