RumpShaker Adventure 9/30

DEP: Paducah KY Sunday 9/30 @1:00PM * Sunny* High 74 Winds NNW@5MPH

ARR: Green Turtle Bay Marina @ 7:00PM * 1 LD * 58 Miles * 6 hours

Our gas gauge is still showing 1/2 full - plenty of fuel to get to our next destination, Green Turtle Bay Resort and Marina if we go up the Tennessee River instead of the longer more scenic Cumberland River.  We will save ourselves a little over 20 miles and avoid most of that distance on the very fast Ohio River.  

As promised, Jim - local resident - shows up to take Rob to the nearest gas station to fill our 14 gallon "insurance" gas tank.  Since we have shaved 20 miles off our trip, we take advantage of a late start by taking the dogs for a long walk around downtown Paducah.  At 1:00, we shove off.  

The Tennessee River between Paducah and Grand Rivers KY is deep and wide.  It takes about 3 hours to travel this 22.4 mile stretch and we don't encounter one single tow traveling in either direction as we putt along.  About 2 miles before we reach the Kentucky LD, we are joined by three powerboats that will lock through with us.  We find out that they will also stay at Green Turtle Bay so we are excited to get to know them better.  One of the boaters, "Our Bubble" has radioed ahead and got word from the lock master that we will be able to lock through at 4:30PM. He is locking through an upbound tow and will get us in as soon as possible.  The Kentucky Lock lifts 57 feet so we drop anchor to wait.  We get the whistle to lock through at 5:15PM - not a bad wait - especially since the water is so calm - so we throw in an anchor, have a cocktail, and listen to some tunes.

This lock is so interesting and different from what we've seen.

What a surprize we have waiting for us when the doors open to let us out - we've never had this experience before!  Fortunately, the tow has left a large enough passage on his Starboard side for us all to pass by!

Once though...what a view!!  Kentucky Lake is HUGE and deep and amazingly beautiful!  We would love to boat around, but it's getting toward twilight and we still have about 5 miles (40 minutes) to Green Turtle Bay.  

So...we travel 3 miles down Kentucky Lake to the Barclay Canal and head east on this 1.5 mile long flowing canal that connects the Tennessee River (Kentucky Lake) with the Cumberland River (Barclay Lake).  Then we head one mile north to Green Turtle Bay, home of Commonwealth yacht Club.  It is the first fuel stop on the Cumberland and is the northern entrance to "Land between the Lakes."  It's dark when we rach our slip (Dock B) right next to the gas dock, convenience store, restrooms, showers, and laundry.  This will do!!  

We are happy to see that our friends, Mike & Cindy Gilbertson (Aurora) are here!  We meet up with them and discover they will be here for a week.  Green Turtle Bay has a "pay for 5 and stay for 7" deal.  Too good to resist, so we decide to do the same and take this time to change the motor oil, transmission fluids, and general maintenance for the rest of the trip.