Grand Harbor Resort, Iuka MS

(Thursday Oct 4 - Dist: 45.5 mi; Avg Speed: 7.8 mph;
        Locks: 1; LWT: 35 mins; TTT: 6:15 hrs)

It was another nice day for travelling and we were making decent time until we got closer to the Pickwick Dam.  Here the Tennessee River is narrow and they were letting a fair bit of water go through the dam causing us to lose a further 2 mph in our speed.  Our speed on the Mississippi was 12.3 mph and during the last hour before reaching the Pickwick dam we were going 7.2 mph at the same engine RPM's.  It doesn't make sense but we have been fighting the current on all of the rivers since leaving the Mississippi.  The Ohio and even the Cumberland Rivers are logical but on the Tennessee we have been travelling south for a couple of weeks but the river current flows north.  The Tennessee starts way out past Chattanooga and empties into the Ohio about 30 miles from the point where the Ohio empties into the Mississippi. 

Despite fighting a current most of the way we travelled 511 miles between fuel stops; the furthest range we have ever gone.  Of course, it was painful when I filled up here at Grand Harbor: 305 gallons at $3.94 per for a total of $1204.  Oh well, it had to be done as our fuel tank only holds 450 gals. and we are soon leaving civilization.

There may be a drought in the mid-west that has seriously reduced or destroyed much of the crops but here on the Tennessee there is an abundance of product... gravel and sand that is.  We encountered 4 of these dredge type units that were sucking up the bottom and then grading the results and loading them onto different barges.  I guess that this is were river rock for the gardens comes from.

Many people have seen better times down along this way.  When someone says that they have a roof over their head, often it means that they have a carport-like roof over their trailer.  Some even have room for their house and their bass boat.

We had to wait a bit for this tow to clear the lock when we arrived but we still got through in about an hour.  It was a significant lift at 57 feet.  Now I can understand why there was such a current on the low side. 

On the high side of the dam is Pickwick Lake.  It seems to be a popular and quite an up scale vacation area.  There are numerous lodges and of course the Pickwick Landing State Park. 

Grand Harbor Marina, our home for the week, is another example of the well-to-do.  The staff is absolutely great and the marina has all the amenties that one could hope for... although this week we are hoping for warmer weather.  There are even 3 courtesy vehicles that are less than a year old available for us transients.  We have taken advantage and have golfed Shiloh Falls and have gone into Savannah TN to re-provision.  Here are a few shots from around the marina complex. 

The Rockers are a great place to gather and we do.