Green Turtle Bay Marina

23-28 September – Green Turtle Bay Marina

We rented a car and drove to Nashville for a couple of days. We saw the Parthenon, built for the

Tennessee centennial celebration, then almost destroyed, then restored later. We found a couple of DDD restaurants. And we did
some honky-tonking at the classic spots (The Legend, Tootsies, Roberts, and others).













Next day we toured the Country Music Hall of Fame, including RCA Studio B. Election to the Hall of Fame is the most esteemed honor in country music. Studio B is the old recording studio where many top artists recorded their big hits, including Elvis. 1,000 of more than 35,000 songs recorded there
became the biggest hits in music history. The Steinway Piano that Elvis loved to play was preserved
and displayed. We listened to some of the hits while we danced. Our tour guide, Stephanie, was also a recording artist. We bought her CD in the museum shop. The highlight of the trip was the Grand Ole Opry. What began as a simple radio show in 1925 is now a big deal, and the large new theater is the home for the live audience watching the continuing radio broadcast. We saw eight performances, and each one got better. The new stage had a circle inlay of the original floor from the original auditorium, so the “circle is never broken.”

More loopers came into the marina, including another Journey, Down Time, Carol Anne, After Taxes (who we met in Michigan), Harmony, Midnight Star, Free at Last, and Sea Glide (who we have not seen since Solomons Island, VA). Radiance crossed her wake in Green Turtle Bay, so they held a ceremony to exchange their white looper flag for a gold one. Champagne was part of the ceremony, but Neptune didn’t get any – all was consumed by the congratulatory gathering celebrating the occasion.

The charging system was befuddling. We had the batteries checked, and they were good.  But we were puzzeled by why the starboard alternator and the port battery charger would fail simultaneously. Nevertheless, we ordered parts and worked with Balmar technical support to resolve the starboard issue, and, based on advice from ProMariner, we purchased a new charger for the port side. The Balmar folks were puzzled also, but they were very interested in resolving our problem. After sending two new alternators, a new voltage regulator, and a new wiring harness (the shotgun approach), we finally got to the problem – nothing to do with new parts, it was a bad ground. The port battery charger was available from Amazon (yea, really), so it arrived in a day, with Charli’s Prime membership. This was a nice marina and resort, but we wanted to start heading south at some point, so we solicited help from the marina’s electrician, Bill. He helped us complete the port charger exchange. And, after some “God, I don’t know where to go from here,” we took a new look at the basics – wiring. The ground wire we had been connecting to the alternator was not a good ground. Fresh ground solved the problem. Yay! Celebrations at the happy hour gazebo! Group dinner at the yacht club. We head south in the morning.

The Mighty Mississippi, Ohio, and Cumberland Rivers

Friday, 13 September – Grafton to Alton, IL – 16 mi., 3866 cum mi.

Nice day, cooler overnight, 71 degrees. We entered the Mississippi River!

We planned to go to Hoppies, but they were booked, so we went to Alton Marina, and very glad we did. Nice covered slips, nice pool, nice showers, nice town, with lots to do.
We met the Alton harbor hosts, Bob and Patty (on Orinoco). Very interesting couple. Patty was an airline pilot with 20,000 hours, and
she was Bob’s flight instructor (what happens in an airplane stays there). Bob and Patty gave us a briefing about
cruising down the Mississippi River, then we all went to dinner at Mac’s – a sports bar with an attitude – good food, good atmosphere, good company, including Mac.

Saturday, 14 September – Alton, IL to Kimmswick, MO – 43 mi., 3909 cum mi.

Nice and cool, 55 degrees. Our four-boat flotilla left early, headed for the Mel Price Lock, 23 ft down. Then, avoiding the rapids further downstream, all boat traffic is directed to the Chain of Rocks Canal, probably named after all the rocks they dumped on the banks. It’s

relatively narrow, so we had to watch out for barge traffic. Lock 27 was 12 ft down, and that was the last lock on our portion of the

Mississippi River.  We docked at Hoppies Marina and found out why they were booked last night – there’s room for only six boats. The owner, Fern, has run the place for 40 years, after her father in
law ran it for 30 years. She holds a daily briefing about river conditions at 4:30 PM. We took notes, because she knows and gets first hand info from those who stayed with her.  The “marina” is a couple of barges tied to a cliff. Electricity and water are provided – nothing else. We discovered the Blue Owl restaurant – a very pleasant surprise – huge place and extensive menu, with the best
carmel mountain apple pie (ala mode of course).
I had never heard of Kimmswick , MO before, and here is a restaurant with a long waiting line in the middle of nowhere. We met
Irish Wake and Wanderer, Canadians on the loop, who pulled in behind us.

Sunday, 15 September – Kimmswick to MM 75 anchorage – 84 mi., 3993 cum mi.

Partly cloudy, 59 degrees, clearing up soon. We traveled down the Mississippi to an anchorage at about Mile Marker 75, just north of

Trail of Tears State Park. Good news – we made it and anchored. Bad news – we discovered that the starboard engine was not charging our house batteries. Had to run the generator to charge the system. Isolated the problem to the alternator. Made a plan to continue traveling with some adjustments. Run the generator to charge up the batteries and pull up the anchor, then jump the starter and house batteries, so that the port alternator would charge both, then hope the generator keeps working, and, with a little help from our friends, travel to Paducah or Green Turtle Bay for service. Still caught a nice sunset at our four-boat
anchorage.

Monday, 16 September – MM 75 Mississippi River Anchorage to MM 966 Ohio River Anchorage – 90 mi., 4083 cum mi.

Cloudy, rained some overnight, 69 degrees. Still four boats, still traveling together, still sticking to plan A – go the Green Turtle Bay Marina. We started the generator very early, so that the house batteries would charge up. We hooked up the jumper cables when the batteries were about the same level, and that worked. We headed down the Mississippi River to the confluence of the Ohio River. 800 miles from Pittsburgh, 900 miles from New Orleans, we made a left

up the Ohio River. Not unlike the Mississippi, the Ohio is also busy with barge traffic and fleeting areas where they assemble the barges for transport. A few tows later (which we passed on the “one”), we anchored on the Kentucky side, across the Olmstead Lock and Dam, which is still under construction.
We were tempted to tie up to Federal mooring cells, but decided not to, after getting some advice from the tow captains that the cells would be used by

tows if fog
would block their view overnight. Sunset was nice, dinner on the boat was nice, and the generator was working – yay.  We saw yet another great sunset on the river.





Tuesday, 17 September – MM 966 to Cumberland Towhead – 42 mi., 4125 cum mi.

Clear, breezy, 65 degrees. There were also two locks on this portion of the Ohio River. The barges have priority through the locks, so we had to wait for a break in the upbound traffic. These locks were under repair, with a significant back up in barge traffic waiting for passage. Fortunately, the second chamber of Lock 53 (10 ft up) was repaired just before we arrived, so we had only a two-hour wait. Lock 52 (12 ft up) was reported to have a considerable back up, but we caught it at the right time – when a downbound tow was coming through, and they took our four-boat procession up on that lock cycle. It was still about a two-hour wait. And there was a huge tow waiting to get in as we exited.

We thought of spending the night at the Paducah Town Dock, but it was quite small, not very sturdy, and they were about to start a dragon boat practice session, and the dock would not be available
until 8 PM (after dark). So we headed further upstream to an anchorage at Cumberland Towhead, a small island just

below where the Cumberland River meets the Ohio River. Nice, peaceful place, we tucked in behind the island. The anchor set well and the generator worked. We took dinghy rides and met on the flybridge for happy hour at sunset. Life is good.

Wednesday, 18 September – Cumberland Towhead to Grand Rivers, KY – 31 mi., 4156 cum mi.

Partly cloudy, 71 degrees. There were several stone quarries on the shore, with trucks dumping rocks into barges from huge piles of different sized rocks. Many loaded barges were being towed both up and down the river. And we ran against about a two-knot current. We had one more lock to go through – the 57-ft Barkley Lock. This is a huge dam and lock

system that created Barkley Lake. We called ahead to let the lockmaster know we were coming. And we lucked out in that the lockmaster put us in a pleasure craft cycle (at the lockmaster’s discretion, pleasure craft can pass every third barge cycle), and we
were lifted after another trawler was lowered. Immediately past the Barkley Lock, we found nirvana – the Green Turtle Bay Resort and Marina.  It was such a welcome site after four days of river travel (and no chance for a real shower).  We soon discovered why this is
one of the most popular stops on the Great Loop. They welcomed loopers, gave us discounted slips and fuel, provided courtesy cars to shop and explore, and we could take advantage of the resort’s amenities, including a

health club, an indoor pool, outdoor pool, a laundry, and a spa. It was great to wash the river mud from our boats, our bodies, and our clothes. And it was great to be reunited with so many loopers – Journey, Second Wind, Golden Hawk, Humbug, Meandering, Q’s Cabin, Sea Fever, Summer Recess, Irish Wake, Wanderer – and we met some new folks, including Meridian, Off Leash, His Idea-Her Command, Yinzer, and Mopsy II. We even met a “half-looper” who is cruising from Hoppies to Mobile in a homemade cabin on a pontoon. We decided to stay a week.

Grand Rivers has a population of about 350, yet it sees itself as a destination resort. It is situated in the Land Between the Lakes (Barkley Lake and Kentucky Lake, formed by dams on the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers). And it is proud to have Patti’s 1880’s Settlement (a great restaurant, specializing in

2” thick pork chops), the Badgett Playhouse (where we saw a great performance of Lost Highway – the Hank Williams story), several antique/gift shops, two marinas, and a condo development – all in a dry
county. We had to borrow the marina’s courtesy car to get groceries and liquor at nearby Eddyville or Paducah.

On the Kentucky Lake side we found the Catfish Kitchen which Wes and Judy Davis have run for 24 years, after they retired from

other food-related jobs. This was our least expensive meal out on this whole trip. And quite tasty. They serve white beans, slaw, and hush puppies as standard sides with their fried catfish.

The local yacht club hosted a

seafood boil Saturday night and invited all the loopers. All you can eat crab legs, shrimp, potatoes, sausage, and corn, with lots of salads and desserts brought by those attending. Held under a tent at the “beach” near the river. We had a chance to mingle with all the loopers, and we also met many “locals” – those who may live a few hours away, but keep their boats the Green Turtle Bay.

Paducah was a pleasant surprise. They were holding their annual dragon boat festival at the waterfront

– from the town dock that we did not spend the night. Many teams were proudly wearing their team colors and creative team names, lots of spectators were enjoying the festivities, food booths were selling everything from slow cooked barbeque to funnel cakes, even a beer truck at the Carson
Center – a theater – which was the first time we ever saw a street beer truck accept a credit card using an iPad. They have a nice river museum with a simulator where you can drive a tow up the rivers.  The museum also made us realize how important the barges were to the country's grain, chemical, and aggregate industries, since barges are the least expensive way to transport materials. A barge can hold more than hundreds of railroad cars, and thousands of trucks. We also saw the National Quilt Museum, with an extensive collection of magnificent quilts, including a wooden one.  And, of course, we found the Ice Cream Factory.

Entrée decided to rename their boat Perfect Day. Actually they planned to do this from the beginning of their loop in Mackinac Island, but they were waiting for their approval from the US Coast

Guard, which just came through. They held a ceremony on their boat honoring Neptune and the wind gods, feeding them lots of champagne, and we all celebrated with them on this glorious day (with lots of champagne). And so did our neighbor loopers, since lots of witnesses are needed to make the transition a reality. It worked.