We woke up a beautiful morning, a bit chilly, but expected to warm up a bit to about seventy degrees. Today we will have to go through a lock, The Cheatham Lock and Dam on the way to Ashland. The lock is about twenty two miles from Clarksville, and the dock is another ten miles after that.
We wound our way down the river, through the twists and turns, snaking our way toward the lock. Again, not much traffic, just keeping a constant sharp eye out. As we got closer to the lock, I was watching the AIS and could see there were two barges going through the lock ahead of us. I also saw we were right behind a third barge, and knew he would be going through as well, so I slowed down a bit. When we were about three miles out, I radioed to the lockmaster and he informed me there were indeed some going through now, and there is a barge in line ahead of us. At this point we caught up to the barge in front of us so I slowed down even more and then came to a stop. We could see the tow had entered the waiting area, so we held back about three hundred yards.
After an hour and half, it was finally our turn. The lock doors opened and we motored in. We tied up on the starboard side, and it was an easy locking. We now have plenty of experience with them, and Lauren does an excellent job of securing the midship and keeping it tight. This keeps the bow or stern from swinging out. We continued on down the river and came to the restaurant dock. We had called prior and was told it was fine to tie up there, there is no charge since they do not have power or electric or facilities. This was fine for us, as we don’t need anything and free is the perfect price. We secured the ship and I went in to check in while Lauren took Frank for a walk. Once this was done, we hung out on the back deck for a bit enjoying the early evening. We decided to eat at the restaurant, so we walked up to the patio. Frank saw us and started barking. And more barking and barking. The staff was pleasant about it, but there were other customers on the patio and it was annoying. We did everything we could to get him to stop, but he wouldn’t. He wanted to be with us I think. By this time we had been served our food, and was taking turns sitting with him to keep him from barking- What we don’t do for our dogs! Dinner finished, we took him for a walk and returned to the boat to settle in for the night. I started the generator to charge the batteries after the patio and guests had cleared out. The forecast calls for rain tonight, so we buttoned everything up and retired for the night.
Around 3am I was awoken by a banging sound on the hull. The dinghy will sometimes rub against the swim platform when a large tug goes by, or if the water is really choppy. I went upstairs and could hear the wind howling and rain beating the boat. I looked out the window and saw one foot waves at least rolling up the river! The dock we were tied to was pitching and groaning…I peered out again and decided I wasn’t going out there! I was confident in the lines holding us as I had tied up knowing we would have some weather. I wasn’t expecting this, but I don’t do it half way any time. I checked on Frank and he was on the couch, looking at me like “I’m not going out there!?”. He just put his head down and went back to sleep. Lauren poked her head upstairs and saw the waves and we went down and listened for a bit, but fell asleep soon after to the sound of the dinghy pounding into the rear occasionally. At least I knew it was still there.
Nashville is now only thirty two miles away. We will have a straight shot, no locks, nothing to slow us down. We were planning on leaving early, but want to make sure the rain at least has stopped before we depart. The forecast says it will stop raining by around 8am, so we are looking at a 9am departure.
Ha! I love that story about Frank! He just wanted to be included!! Hi Frank!!