Day 170, Nov 20th TN River from AL into TN

Another 0530 alarm - maybe only one more of those o-dark-thirty starts!
Everything seemed routine as we left the Alred Marina in Guntersville, AL.
About forty-five minutes out, we encountered fog. Visibility was reduced to two hundred yards or less so we reduced speed and slowly made our way, hoping that the fog would quickly lift.

Over two hours later, things turned back to normal and we thoroughly enjoyed "another day in paradise" on the water. The one photo shows the fog hanging suspended mid-way on the hills. It was really strange how it lifted.

I've included the one photo showing a green marker on shore. We navigate on the water with red and green buoys to stay in the channel. In addition, there are markers, either red or green, that indicate a mile marker, too, so that you can check yourself on paper charts. Rich works the chart plotter and I do the "backup" on paper charts in the event of an electronic failure.

You must know exactly where you are with all the tow and barge traffic. When you talk to the tow Captains to ask permission to pass or when meeting them, you give your location first. This is your navigation lesson of the day!

We have 41 miles more to Chattanooga, passing through the Grand Canyon of Tennessee area. We're told that it's some of the prettiest area on the Tennessee River.
How can it get any prettier??!! More to follow.....

Days 167 - 169 continued...

So we continue to take in this awesome scenery. These three photos must be studied to appreciate. The mountains in the background, the hills ablaze with color and the clouds all reflect into the water.

Days 167 - 169, Nov 17th - 19th, TN River

This is Wilson Lock, the fifth highest lift lock in the US, raising CRAZY EIGHTS 93 feet into Wilson Lake! To date we have traversed about 100 locks.

We were the only boat in the lock but had to wait for 3.5 hours for two tows with barges to be locked through first. We had a long day planned so we set the alarm for 0530 - oh, how we hate that hour! We called the lock master, only to find out that it was going to be a delayed lock UP for us until he was done getting the tows through.

To add insult to injury, the one tow was going our way, so when we arrived for the next lock at Wheeler Dam, we had to wait for him to lock UP again! Even if we had been able to pass him at some point, likely he would've still been given lock through priority. So we waited another 3 hours this time.

Remember, we've commented that with the short daylight this time of year, we plan to be docked no later than 4 PM? This didn't allow for much further travel - we progressed only 17 miles for the day!