Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Burns Island Anchorage

Days on cruise:  200!
Distance traveled:  42.3 miles
Travel time:  4 hrs, 40 mins
Total trip odometer:  4,456 statute miles
After 3 days of gloomy, rainy weather, it wasn’t raining when we got up this morning. Glad we had the city of Chattanooga to entertain us during the first cold, wet spell of our entire Loop.
We started our return journey back down the Tennessee River under dense cloudy skies and temps in the high 40s. The scenery was pretty, and there were lots of birds, though mostly herons and cormorants. And kudzu blanketing the hillside at periodic intervals.
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Lynn took a turn at the helm.
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Huge rocks continued to dot the shoreline, often with a bird perched on top, presumably watching for a fish.
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We didn’t figure out why this turbine was parked on the shoreline, but it was near some sort of underground water reservoir pumping system, so perhaps was related.
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We ran the engine at 1000 rpms most of the day (normally we run it at 1200 rpms) because the river current was 2 knots, so we traveled our usual speed but used less fuel. About 1:00 we pulled behind Burns Island to anchor for the night.  We didn’t' have to worry about swinging in a circle on the anchor as the current kept us laying in the same direction at all times.  The blue dot in the river’s oxbow below is our GPS location.
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After lunch and naps, the sun came out and the temperature hit about 70 degrees, so we dropped the dinghy and Lynn and David took off to explore the Saquatchie River nearby.
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They reported seeing lots of birds, but the engine noise scared most of them away before they were able to get a close look.
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Bob grilled steaks on the BBQ, Lynn made a huge salad, Cathryn sauteed mushrooms, and David set the table. Dinner on the sundeck, followed by a pretty sunset made for a nice evening. Cathryn and David did some star-gazing on the bow, but only briefly as it got cold quickly.
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This was a lovely spot to spend the night.

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