Columbus, MS to Grand Rivers, KY

Total Miles Traveled 3153

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We spent six weeks at the Columbus Marina in Mississippi.   After visiting family and friends in Indiana in May, we returned to our boat and started the project of stripping all our teak trim “brightwork” down to bare wood then applied one coat of primer then ten coats of varnish.  The product we were using could not be applied when greater than 86 degrees or 95 percent humidity.  Who would have thought it would be 100 degrees almost everyday in June.  We could only apply one coat per day early in the morning to stay within the guidelines, then sand in the afternoon and recoat the next day.  It took a little over a week to strip, sand, and tape before applying the primer.  This was our first experience refinishing brightwork and although it was a steep learning curve, we are very pleased with the results.

During our brightwork project someone came into the slip across from us on a jet ski, it turned out “Mike” is doing the loop on his jet ski named “Y-Wait”.  Mike started the loop on the upper Mississippi River.  Since I had a vehicle, I took him to his hotel in Columbus then picked him up the next morning so he could continue his adventure south.  I checked today and he has made it down to Cape Coral, Fl,

The refinishing project took much longer than anticipated and we had plans for the fourth of July holiday with our family at our home port in Grand Rivers, Kentucky.   We made the 308-mile trip from Columbus Mississippi to Green Turtle Bay in four days.  On the first day, we passed through 7 locks, traveling 81 miles, and anchoring in Bay Springs.  

On the second day June 27^th, we were only able to travel 60 miles as we were held up 5 ½ hours at our last lock on the Tennessee River at Pickwick Lock.  The main lock chamber has had a structural problem for over a month, so they must use the auxiliary chamber which is much smaller.  When we arrived at the lock, there were three tows waiting to lock through.  We anchored behind Wolf Island on the Tennessee River after passing through the lock and just before dark.

 Sunrise at Wolf Island

We didn't see a deer crossing sign but this deer swam across the Tennessee River in front of us as we cruised north.

On our third day, June 28^th, we traveled 101 miles and anchored at Richland Creek on Kentucky Lake and on June 29^th we traveled 66 miles to our home port at Green Turtle Bay.  The number one boating rule is to never have a schedule on a boat proved true for us as we are totally exhausted.  We have been getting up at daybreak every day since starting our brightwork project, then back-to-back days of cruising, so were ready for some rest and relaxation.

Our family stayed with us for a week during the 4th of July holiday, we had a great time on the water, but returned to the slip to cool off in the evening.  At 11:30 pm July 5th it was still 86 degrees.

This will probably be my last blog for the summer.  We will be at Green Turtle Bay most of the time while cruising around Kentucky and Barkley Lakes and also completing a few maintenance projects.  We plan to start heading south again sometime late September when I will resume publishing the blog.