Tennessee River

colbysmith

colbysmith

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C Dory Year
2009
C Dory Model
25 Cruiser
Hull Identification Number
UWH25301J809
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C-Traveler
Just tentative plans for now, but looking at finishing up the Tennessee River in October. I know several that went along with me two years ago, mentioned they'd be interested in the Harrison Bay State Park to Guntersville, Al., leg, if and when I did it. This was part of the original plans, but due to flooding, we decided to just do Harrison Bay to the end of the Tennessee River. The distance this time is 120 miles. I would be "slowboating", only running around 5 kts or 6mph. That speed of course would change with the current. (Ie, I'll set 1500-1600 rpm, and if the current is running at 1 kt, I'll be running 6 kts. Going up stream, I'll burn more gas to stay at least 5mph.) I believe there are sections of the river in this area that are no wake. Anyone that would like to join me, would be responsible for their own boat and navigation. Same as last time. At 120 miles, figuring 30 miles a day, it would take 4 days one way. Probably anchoring out most nights. I'm figuring an 8 day trip, leaving Harrison Bay on October 15th and returning on the 22nd. Again, this is all tentative. Ideally the colors would be turning, but that all depends on the weather. And again, this is all tentative. Last time, Harrison Bay State Park had a nice ramp and parking available. Colby
 
Colby,
Count me in. Thank you for organizing this again. (I enjoyed the trip last time despite my little mishap.) I'm not as adventurous as you when it comes to towing around the country, but this an easy destination for me. The Tennessee River is a great change of scenery from the Georgia coast.
-Jeff-
 
Thanks to Jeff (C-Play) for leading me to this thread. Sounds perfect. The upper part from Chattanooga through Knoxville should be colorful and cooler at that time. I would love to tag along. Was thinking about linking up with Tom & Joyce from Pickwick to Chattanooga but it’s set for mid September.
Let me know when the dates firm up.
 
multimediasmith said:
Thanks to Jeff (C-Play) for leading me to this thread. Sounds perfect. The upper part from Chattanooga through Knoxville should be colorful and cooler at that time. I would love to tag along. Was thinking about linking up with Tom & Joyce from Pickwick to Chattanooga but it’s set for mid September.
Let me know when the dates firm up.
Click to expand...
We actually did the Chattanooga to Knoxville, and the end of the Tennessee River last time. This time we will be heading the other direction from Harrison Bay State Park (Chattanooga), and going to Guntersville, Al. I have moved the dates up one day, to October 14-21. I still need to sit down and look at distances to get some idea of where to stop each afternoon. I've been in the Apostle Islands this week, and hope to start doing more planning with the Tennessee River trip in the next week. The middle of October will be here before we know it. I feel 8 days should be enough to do the trip in. That's assuming we can make 30 miles each day both down river and up river. If anyone knows this section of the river well and has suggestions for anchorages or free docks, let me know. I'll try to get more specifics posted here before the middle of September. Hopefully we won't have the debris and flooding we saw last time. It still ended up being a good trip though. Harrison Bay State Park worked out well last time for launching and parking. Guntersville has some marina's that could possibly work out for launching and parking, but just makes more sense to use a known location. And I still need to make contact with them again to be sure we still have access to the week's parking. My plans are to launch the day before, on October 13th, and then anchor near by. It's basically a two day drive for me to get to Harrison Bay from home. I would plan to depart the morning of the 14th at 9am. And pretty much stay with that departure time each day. I haven't looked yet, but pretty sure we'll have a few locks to go through. That may change how far we get in a day, depending on wait times at the locks. As usual, everyone is responsible for their own boat. Or, follow me at your own discretion. LOL!
 
Ok, back on land this month, with a lot of things on my calendar. However, I spent some time this morning looking at cruising the Tennessee River from Harrison Bay State Park to Guntersville, Al and back. Looking at my notes from two years ago, I see I had already mapped out going both directions from Harrison Bay. But due to the flooding at the time, I decided we would just go upstream to the mouth of the Tennessee River. So I didn't have to spend much time looking at possible anchorages for going down river. This trip would involve two locks. The Chickamauga and Nickajack locks. While I have a planned schedule, weather, lockage delays, etc, could create the need for flexibility and schedule changes. Anyway, this is what I have:

(Most of the anchorages show on the Navionics / Active Captain charts.) Plan to depart daily between 8am-9am, TBD the night before.

October
13th, at Harrison Bay State Park in Tennessee, near Chattanooga. Anchor out or stay in marina.
14th, depart Harrison Bay. Arrive McNabb anchorage (36 miles)
This leg includes lockage at Chickamauga Lock. If we take a long delay, an alternate anchorage would be at Williams Island (23 miles)
15th, Burns Island Anchorage (22mi from McNabb, 35mi from Williams.)
This leg includes lockage at Nickajack Lock.
16th, Jones Creek Anchorage (33mi)
17th, Guntersville, AL Free Dock (31mi)
18th, Bellefonte Island Anchorage (34 mi)
19th, Battery Hill Anchorage (26mi)
20th, Nickajack Lock, McNabb Anchorage (26mi)
21st, Chickamauga Lock, Harrison Bay State Park (36mi)

I emailed Ranger Matthew Vawter this morning. He is the ranger I worked with two years ago. I'll update this when I hear back.. Last time we launched here, we were asked to park our rigs about a mile away in a different lot out of the way, still on Park grounds. The ramp is very wide, with plenty of room. However, there is no dock to use while launching, but is very close by.

I plan to cruise at 1500-1600 rpm, which gives me 6mph with no current. Going downstream, I expect my speed will be a little faster. Depending upon current coming back upstream, I'll pick a speed most efficient without going below 5mph. Colby
 
I spoke with Rick Smith and he’s liking the mid October timeframe.
Count me in for at least Guntersville back to Chattanooga if not the round trip.
That makes three “Smiths” so far… looking forward to this for quite a while.
Thanks for offering the benefit of your experience.
 
Colby have you checked fuel availability? We found that in some places in this area close down for the winter, and do not get fuel for a few months. Have a great time.
 
Hi Bob,
Nope. Not concerned. It's only 120 miles from Harrison Bay State Park to Guntersville, and there are several large marinas on Lake Guntersville that still provide fuel in the fall. I'm pretty sure there are other marinas along the way where fuel will be available as well. Still a lot of fishing going on in October, and those guys are probably burning more fuel than we will. :-) Thanks for the reminder though. I'm looking forward to another fun trip. Colby
 
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