Traveling the Great Loop

Oct 23; Mile 96; Today’s run 31 miles

“How much water is there in the channel going into the marina ?” we asked a local boater who had recently been there.”Well, it’s pretty shallow,” he said. There’s enough there but it will pucker you up going in. “

Confirming the marina’s buoyed entrance, we pulled off the Tennessee River and followed a long, snaking channel towards the marina. The local was right, there were spots with very little water. We shifted into neutral and coasted over the shallows, just like the man had suggested.

Billy, the marina’s harbour master, was waiting to take our lines when we pulled alongside the linear transit dock. “Not much water in the channel,” I remarked. With a deep southern drawl, “The water level is below winter- low thanks to river and dam management,” he said with disgust. We understood now, why earlier, we could hardly decipher his words through his drawl over the radio .
“Make yourself at home,” he said. There’s a complimentary truck up there on the hill. Just leave the keys in the box outside the office when you’re finished with it. I leave the keys there overnight in case one of you needs to use it in an emergency.” He points down the dock towards a live-aboard and says, “Bob lives in that one. If you need anything, he’s a good guy.”

In the morning, I took my camera with the intentions of doing a walk-about. But then I remembered that I wanted to ask Billy about the sailboat they use on the roadside to announce the marina. Billy had mentioned that he started at 8:00 o’clock. I only had a few more minutes to wait for him.

While I sauntered down the dock,  I met a couple of liveaboards and another Looping couple. The Loopers told how they had used the courtesy truck the day before. “When we braked, it screeched of steel grating on steel!” The liveaboard replied, “Ya, But we don’t want Billy to get rid of that truck, we need it. Y’all just run it on an uphill grade and it stops just fine.” He didn’t look as if he was kidding.

I entered the marina office. It had an unusual warm feeling about it for a marina office; probably due to the natural wood finish on the walls. That, and a faint smell of cinnamon.

A small restaurant shared the space with the office. I didn’t see anyone in the restaurant and I wasn’t sure if it was ever open. But I saw Billy in the kitchen and called out. “Good morning, did you have a good night? Ya, I made some chili dogs when I got home. I don’t know why I felt like chili dogs, but I did.” Thinking he might have a family recipe, I asked, “How do you make chili dogs?” “You put chili on a dawg,” he answered with that long southern drawl of his.  He must have thought I was pretty stupid.

 “Can you tell me about the sailboat down by the road at the entrance to the marina?” “A local man built the boat. The interior is beautiful. All wood everything. The owner took it everywhere,” reported Billy. “But the man died, and the boat sat here for ages. We had the hull redone, got a crane and sat it up on those supports at the entrance. I guess we should put more blocks under it to keep it up there.”

Billy tells me he is making cinnamon buns. “Started them last night. Come look at them, they’re almost ready. “

Walking away from the marina, we came upon the Johnsonville State Historic Park.

Prior to the Civil War, Johnsonville had been a steamboat landing. In 1862, the Union Army captured Nashville and in time, completed the Northwestern Railroad. They needed another supply depot further downriver to receive military supplies and they established one along the Tennessee River. They called it Johnsonville after Military Governor, Andrew Johnson. From here, supplies were directed northward to Nashville by military train.

For 40 years following  the Civil War, Johnsonville continued as a river-rail transfer point. But severe flooding stunted its development. The TVA purchased the land to create Kentucky Lake and in 1944, Johnsonville was lost beneath the water.

A Collection of Boat Names