Grand Rivers, KY to Bay Springs, MS

September 1, 2026

Tuesday

Total Miles Traveled 230

This has been a busy summer for us this year.  We attended our grandson’s graduation from Indiana State University and visited our family and friends in Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky.  We completed our annual preventative maintenance schedule, replaced a few batteries, and upgraded a portion of our electrical system. We did manage to anchor out a few times and enjoy a swim in the secluded coves of Kentucky and Barkley Lakes.

 ISU class of 2026

 Electrical system upgrade

Ball Game at Indianapolis...............

On the farm at Terre Haute....

Trying to guestimate the width of a 2400 lb bull before attempting to load.

Good times on the lake

We did have a few storms pass through Grand Rivers, this one was a little concerning...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ID_H04nhsCBeplEKcN7Z-7FEPnLJVX4j/view?usp=sharing

Our good friends Kevin and Jill on m/v Chasing 80 arrived at Green Turtle Bay, completing their second Great Loop Adventure, known as crossing their wake.  They started their first loop in 2015, the same year we started ours, but have traveled thousands of miles since their first loop.  Last year they completed what is known as the Down East Loop, a loop around New England and through southern Canada.

The white burgee is planning or attempting the loop, the gold is for completing the loop, and the platinum is completing more than once. 

The Corps of Engineers have scheduled two lock closings on the Tombigbee Waterway from September 9^th through October 10^th.  To avoid any extension of the scheduled reopening of the waterway, we have decided to move to Columbus Mississippi for a month, to be downstream of the lock closures.  The Columbus Marina is a great marina with a courtesy car and close to any supplies or provisioning that is needed.

Hmm...... a week before departing we noticed a part of the dock structure sticking up out of the water behind our boat.  This is part of an underwater crossbeam 6 or 7 feet below the surface.  The marina had a diver check it out and it had broken loose only providing 3 feet below our boat.  Our draft is 5 feet so we could have damaged our underwater gear if it wasn't repaired before leaveing.  During the holiday weekend a houseboat rammed the dock pretty hard so this was probably the cause of the failure.

We departed Green Turtle Bay Marina on August 18^th and traveled 44 miles to Paris Landing, TN.  With temperatures in the upper 90’s during the day and taking most of the night to cool back down, we decided to stay at marina’s until we got a break in the weather.

Traveling to Pickwick with Chasing 80

On August 19^th, we traveled 31 miles to Pebble Isle Marina and docked just before a storm arrived, then traveled 62 miles on the 20^th to Clifton Marina, TN.  As luck would have it, Thursday was prime rib night, and it was awesome.

The RR bridge was in the open position when leaving Pebble Isle Marina

We departed at daybreak on the 21^st and traveled 56 miles, passing through Pickwick Lock to Safe Harbor Aqua Yacht Marina, Iuka, MS.  Our good friends Charlie and Robin on m/v The Lower Place keep their boat here and have a home close by.   

 Interesting homes along the Tennessee River

We passed a barge with strange looking cargo, we heard tow captains talking on the radio and found it is equipment for AI Data Centers heading somewhere north.

Approaching Pickwick Lock......

This very nice yacht was on the hard at Aqua marina.  It hit something coming up the Tombigbee waterway, looks like rocks or concrete did the damage?  We heard the insurance company totaled the boat.

Tore off the stabilizer fin and punctured the shaft thru the hull

This is the stabilizer fin on the other side.

On August 23 we traveled 36 miles to an anchorage on Bay Springs Lake.  This is an awesome body of water with several protected anchorages.  The clarity of the water is very good in this area, and I wanted to dive under the boat to inspect my running gear and zincs (sacrificial anodes) used to protect underwater metal from galvanic corrosion.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o4Ew8Z9Qej2ovhuHp4kuuuVC4Kx7QueZ/view?usp=sharing

Our friends Charlie and Robin on m/v The Lower Place rafted up with us a couple of days at our anchorage.  We had a great visit.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/11OLtgK2NAv8BlOR1L-iilmtC3lZE3xlW/view?usp=sharing

We anchored here for 9 days and the weather was beautiful, great for swimming and cleaning on the boat.