Great Loop Day 063 Oct. 30, 2016, Panther Bay to Pebble Isle Marina, Tennessee
Panther Bay to Pebble Isle Marina, Tennessee
“I've known rivers:
I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.”
― Langston Hughes
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Day 63 Sunday. Oct 30, 2016. Panther Bay to Pebble Isle Marina. 37.4 miles. Panther Bay was a very unique stillness to it. Enjoyed by many but especially this evening, I got bombarded by hundreds of flying kamikaze insects. I recognize them as midges or muffleheads and they don't bite just fly into your eyes, nose, and mouth. I got below in the cabin and velcroed myself in with the bug screen on the companionway.
Despite the bug battalion on maneuvers, I had a good night's sleep. The next morning I was glad to have plenty of hot water in the thermos and didn't need to start up the alcohol stove. Checked my blood sugar; it was within my normal range and gulped down my morning meds, oatmeal, coffee, and bagel. Fed Mickey, now we are ready to move on.
Good morning Panther Bay sunrise!
The midge attack last night left many carcasses in the cockpit for me to clean up. Poured a couple of buckets of lake water in and around the cockpit and gave them midges a fitting funeral at sea. The morning dew was heavy on the boat. Dew that heavy is a good sign the sky will not rain today. I am making sure not to leave anything that absorbed water out in the open.
Got the stern anchor up. Washed the mud off the flukes and set it in the PVC pipe on the stern rail. Coiled the rode and found using the plastic bag handles torn from the plastic grocery bag to make a great tie to secure the stern anchor rode to the stern rail. If I need to use that anchor in a hurry just a hard tug breaks the tie. The pieces of the tie go in my trash bag below. Bow anchor up. Removed the trip line off the anchor, wrap, store line, and fender below. Maneuver out the bay to the main channel and I'm on my way to Pebble Isle Marina. The phone app SailFlow indicated some freshening of the wind later in the afternoon. I will keep my headsail ready. A couple of smaller tows are working the Tennessee River caring coal and sand in their barges. I steer well clear. I see more houses on both sides of the river. Some elaborate, some plain. Rarely any commercial docks.
It's amazing to watch the Lowrance fishfinder set on depth while underway. The dredged channel is deep in spots and the sides of the shoals are steep. I can go from 18ft to 3ft or less in seconds and there are times I can be in 30ft of water 10 feet from shore. The Navionics chart on the cellphone is pretty accurate. Along with the fishfinder, It's my underwater eyes.
The winds pick up, mostly from the south. Gusts are coming from the southwest. I raise the jib and try to capitalize on those small gusts but not really gaining much advantage today. I continue to run the motor.
The rabbit catches the hare again. I don’t know where Paul and Jean hang out at night but this must make half a dozen times Bob Tale has passed me on their way south. I’m going to suggest they rename their boat, LeapFrog!
It’s Deja Vu all over again!
Here’s a car ferry crossing the river. The ferry boat, Houston Benton on the Danville Ferry run.
The railway bridge to nowhere. L&N RR bridge
Just past the L&N RR bridge is this structure. A handyman’s special? Is it a fixer-upper? Not really. This is the top of the old Danville Grain Elevator.
“It was built on the banks of the Tennessee River about 300 yards from the L&N Railroad in 1914. The purpose of the building was to transfer barges of grain and other goods from the river to railcars above.”
“It contained six levels with the bottom three being open for boats carrying cargo to unload their goods from the river. The lower levels accommodated the water level fluctuation of the river. Two twenty-horsepower elevators carried cargo from the lower levels to trains docked at the fourth level. Primary commodities were peanuts, grain, limestone, iron, and cotton.” From: Old Danville Transfer Elevator - Four Rivers Explorer
Found an aerial video shot in 2017 of the elevator and bridge.
Pebble Isle Marina - Google Maps
Keep your eyes open for some spectacular aerobatics brought to you by your local white pelicans.
Did anybody order some sand for the kid’s sandbox?
Getting close to the bay that Pebble Isle Marina is in. The chart shows a fairly deep channel entering from upriver. The green navigation can should be located at the channel entrance. A green can is in my sight. A tow with sand barges appears heading toward me. I steer to my starboard. The river is wide enough to give us ample room. I change course to the bay entrance. Turning to port after passing the green can and I find myself in shallow water. So shallow the rudder pops up. Not good. I steer to deeper water as I lower the rudder. Better check that chart. Must remember river shoaling changes frequently. What you see is not what you get on any chart. Now I can see there were smaller buoys anchored away from the green can, should have used those to guide me further downriver. Some zigzagging in and I dock on my starboard to the marina gas dock. Get 5.5 gallons of gas in the empty gas can. Note: I found I can get an extra half-gallon of gas in these 5-gallon containers.
An overhead satellite shot of the entrance to the Pebble Isle Marina shows the tricky entrance getting in off the Tennessee River.
Earlier emptied all the gas from the 5-gallon container using the siphon hose into the main gas tank so all I need is to fill the can and not drag out the main 6-gallon gas tank. One note of interest. There was less than a gallon in the can so I elected to pour the gas using the spout that came with the can instead of the siphon hose. Nothing pouring out. Forgot to take off the green cap that seals the can. Dummy!. Don't like these safety features on the can. In order to get the gas to flow you line up the spout in the groves and push them down to open. Still having trouble getting gas to flow. Push harder. Then Zing! The upper spout shoots out over the stern rail like a submarine depth charge firing off a Navy destroyer. Goodbye spout. Still have the important pieces that seal the can. Lesson learned.
Pay for gas and an overnight stay. I pull up and tie off along a long dock. Look who I find. Paul and Jean in Bob Tale are next to me. They are having someone look at their batteries. They find their battery bank is dead. Going to need new and larger ones for their electrical needs. I suggest they check the charging status. That might not be working and if that’s the case it could ruin any new lead acid batteries
Also in front of me are Randy and Nancy from Wisconsin on their 34 ft American Tug, a real beauty. We met at Green Turtle Bay. And of course, Mickey has to say hello by jumping on their boat.
Boat Card:
The best part of this marina? Hands down the salad bar in the floating restaurant next to the marina office. Today it turns out is my lucky day. This restaurant will be closed tomorrow and not open till next spring. If I could only disconnect the building from its moorings I'd tow it behind me all the way to Florida! Excuse me while I pig out. Along with the salad bar, I ordered a large burger with Swiss and non-sugar-sweetened iced tea. Mmmmm good! I think this is my fifth restaurant on the trip, let's see; Harbor View Cafe, Tommys Chinese BBQ and Buffet, Horseshoe Casino, Argosy Casino Buffet, and here, Grey Heron Grill. I am managing my money rather well. Keeping my gas and marina costs under budget. I still have money in the back in reserve for any unforeseen catastrophe. Being very careful to avoid spending any of that and make sure everything on this sailboat is running in good condition.
They have cable TV here too. Let's hook it up and see what we get. It has 6 channels. 3 major networks, a local station, a Hallmark channel, and a continuous loop of movies to rent. No sports channel, No ballgame. I get the portable radio out and search the AM band for channels. Found a weak station from Chicago. Like yesterday it was fading in and out. A Latino station plays in the background but I can still hear the announcers rooting for the Cubs.
World Series Game 5. Oh no, Trevor Bauer pitching for Cleveland again. I got this bad feeling. In the first inning, all our batters go down in order and all I hear is how great the cubs are pitching. It's the fourth inning and Cubs scored 3 runs off of Trevor Bauer. Wriggly Field is ecstatic. And that's all the Cubs get. The Tribe comes back with 2 runs and strands 3 players on third base unable to score. Methinks something foul afoot. Maybe the Tribe wants to take the World Series at home Tuesday.
For Game 5, former Cubs star and Hall of Fame member Ryne Sandberg threw the ceremonial first pitch before the start of the game, former Cubs public address announcer Wayne Messmer performed the national anthem, and Eddie Vedder sang "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the seventh-inning stretch.
José Ramírez hit a home run for Cleveland in the second inning off Jon Lester, but the Cubs, facing elimination, scored three runs in the fourth inning off Trevor Bauer. Kris Bryant led off the inning with a home run. After Bryant's home run, Anthony Rizzo doubled and Ben Zobrist singled. Addison Russell's RBI single put the Cubs up 2–1. After Jason Heyward struck out, Javier Baez's bunt single moved Zobrist to third before David Ross's sacrifice fly made it 3–1 Cubs. The Indians cut their deficit to 3–2 off Lester in the sixth on Francisco Lindor's RBI single that scored Rajai Davis from second base. With the tying run on second base in the seventh inning, Maddon brought in Aroldis Chapman, who threw 2+2⁄3 scoreless innings, earning his first save of the series and fourth overall in the postseason.
Well, I'm going to take it easy tomorrow as I am only going a short distance to the next marina with shore power and hoping to get a better radio or TV station to hear we won the World Series. So to all, Fair Winds and gentle seas...
Comments in 2016:
Scott Stanley Sikorski Beautiful skies, hoping the weather holds out for you.
Sherry Thaler Hmmm, will Mickey be happy living a normal kitty's life when the journey is over?...LOL
Still, coming home to vote on 11/8?
BTW, my faith & head are telling me yes we want to win the series at home. You & 50 + of my friends think the same...no one wants to talk about Cleveland...too bad! Stay away! Anyway, you don't know what a great town we have and the people within...GO, TRIBE!
Ed Kowalski, You seem to be making good time.
Henry Krzemien RN The weather is nothing short of fantastic! I know I'm getting farther south. Last night I had to bring out the big bug screen. Lots of pesky midges bombing me at dusk at the Panther Bay Anchorage.