We departed Nashville Riverfront dock at approximately 8am and stopped into Rock Harbor Marina (15 mi down from Nashville) to fuel up and pump out the waste tank. We got our best deal on gas prices thus far (3.50 per gallon) and the pump out was free.
Another 25 miles we came to Cheatham Lock and Dam. Unfortunately, we were just behind a large barge and tow that was too long to get through the lock in one piece. Commercial traffic takes priority so we had to wait for about an hour and a half. While waiting we dropped the anchor for lunch. We were in about 30’ of water and managed to snag onto something solid and LARGE 🤔 after struggling with it for a bit, coming at it from different angles, I decided to just tie off the anchor and put the boat in reverse to give it a strong tug. Success....kinda....the anchor came loose and up but looking a little worse for the wear. We pretty badly bent one of the flukes of the anchor 🤭. We will wait till we get to a marina in a couple days to hopefully straighten it out with a sledge hammer. Fortunately, the tow captain agreed to allow us to ride down in the chamber with him (disconnected from his barge) on his second trip down. This saved us at least an hour or more of additional waiting.....thank you ‘Nashville Hunter’ !
From Cheatham to Clarksville was another 20 miles or so and was uneventful. I failed to mention earlier that we were on slow cruise mode today (2000rpm @ 10mph) enjoying the scenery and seeing what kind of down river fuel usage we can achieve (planning ahead a few years for a long haul down the Mississippi with very limited fuel stops available).
We arrived at the Clarksville cilty free dock (our 2nd stop here) to take advantage of the free dock and free electricity to run the AC 😜. We got the bikes down and rode into town to check out many historical houses and buildings. We were also on the hunt for some postage stamps and a mailbox to get Fathers Day cards out (sorry Dads...they’re likely going to get to you late). We stopped and asked the local deputy sheriff for directions to the post office and he gave us his last stamp! Thank you officer!!! The first 1/2 mile or so from the river level up into town was BRUTAL. A very steep hill (Renee would swear it was the first 10 miles 🤣) wore us both out and had us sweating profusely on the 90+ degree afternoon. We then rode up the road a couple of miles to a senior center that also serves as an AA club. The meeting was very well attended and seemed to have some good recovery. Got some good laughs from a few of the old timers comments. The ride home was MUCH easier (all downhill 👍).
Back to the boat we did our usual cooking of dinner on the grill. The dock was busy with kids and families fishing and strolling at sunset. Evening cup of joe and bedtime for us. Yet another wonderful day on the river!
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| Nashville Riverfront |
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| Popular hangout, only one boat today, but over the weekend there were several; It mus be very shallow because people were standing in he water beside their boats! |
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| "Modified" anchor!!!! |
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| Very cool fountain of kids playing. This was on a neat little street in Clarksville. |
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| Amazing museum in Clarksville with much of the roof and dormers made of copper! |
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