Wednesday Oct 22

(This entry is submitted by the first mate.)The bikes were loaded last night and dishes put away, coffee made so we are ready to go.  The day was a nice traveling day.  The sun has been making its usual appearance which makes for a pleasant day.  We will have one lock to go thru both today and tomorrow on are way to Chattanooga for the weekend.  Locks are not scary, they just make me anxious.  We prepare with fenders, acquire information from the lockmaster and still the pulse rate of this mate increases every time.  We are always safe with life jackets, gloves, lines and push poles and even then conditions are not always favorable.  The wind may increase off our stern due to lock doors being open, we may be tied close to the fill valve or the line to the bollard may be too long.  These little variables can make for an interesting lift in the lock.  We continue to alter our technique to try and improve the lock experience but it will be a continuous learning experience.  This was a pretty good one.  Every day I try to relieve the captain for a short time and pilot the boat.  It gives him a chance to play with boat stuff, and push buttons on his phone and read his book; all essential things for a well-rounded captain. 

Another beautiful day the Lord has made.  The lake is calm with an occasional ripple.  The sun is reflecting off the lake making it sparkle and glisten as the rays hit the water.

 We anchor in a bay called Bullfrog cove – very peaceful.  The sun is just hitting the tree tops and the nighttime bug noises are starting.  The little fish are jumping all over – or are these fogs?  I can’t tell for sure.  It cools down quickly, even Tom got out a sweatshirt to wear, as the last few birds tweet at dusk.  Power lines across the river are off our stern and their red lights are now blinking softly – a great night- light.

This is the Bellefonte Nuclear power plant on the river. It was one of the TVA's biggest financial disaster. They have spent over $ 6 Billion dollars on this power plant and it is still not operational and has never produced one volt of electricity. We googled it to see why it was never completed but could not find anything.

The crew doing a great job in Nickajack Lock during our locking process