Chattanooga! ...and more problems

Got underway this morning at 8:45 under cloudy, threatening skies. We did have some very heavy rain as well as some occasional sunlight. I was chilled and bundled up with two pairs of socks, four layers on my legs, seven layers on my chest, boots, gloves, and a winter hat! My outside layer was rain proof, so I stayed dry...and warm. Much of the day we took turns, one driving and the other below. That worked pretty well.

The Tennessee River is really quite gorgeous with incredible and varied wildlife (read birds), very interesting forested land, and dramatic hills and bluffs. So even on a day like today there was lots to see as we made our way slowly down the river. We run the diesel at a very comfortable 1800 rpm which moves us along at around six knots. Add the flow of the river we are traveling downstream and we're making between seven and eight mph. We covered fifty miles today in a little over eight hours, including another lock.

We really need a marina. Our 52 gallon water tank is empty and we're making do with one gallon of distilled water that we have aboard for the batteries. There are five marinas along the Tennessee River in Chattanooga that we passed. Not a single one was open! We are hoping that they are closed because it's Easter Sunday, but there are indications that they are still closed for the winter and haven't opened for the season yet! There are very few marinas coming up in the next hundred miles or so and if they are all closed we could be in real trouble. Our diesel supply looks OK for now. Our fuel tank gauge says we have used a little over a quarter tank so far, 85 miles. So if that is an accurate reading, we can go another 250 miles on this 20 gallon tank. Plus we have a five gallon can with diesel fuel strapped to the deck. But we can't make it to Lake Barkely without refueling. And we need ice. And a shower wouldn't hurt either!

Right now we are tied to a pier in downtown Chattanooga. We might get a taxi tomorrow to get some water. We'll see. We will try all of the marinas again tomorrow to see if they were just closed because of the holiday. And we'll try to reach someone who might know where there is an open marina.

A nice bottle of Chateau Smith with dinner tonight (sloppy joes and salad)...and the moonshine chaser.