Grey Day, Huntsville to Scottsboro, AL

Days on cruise:  193

Distance traveled: 45.5 miles

Travel time:  5 hrs, 30 mins (incl. 1 lock)

Total trip odometer:  4,325 statute miles

Last evening we discovered the air conditioning unit serving the salon was not working. The unit serving both staterooms operates just fine, and the malfunctioning one is old, while the other was replaced more recently. As a result, we got an earlier start this morning hoping to arrive at our destination in time to have a repair person take a look.

There was a fine mist falling as we pulled out of Huntsville, but after the first 30 minutes the rest of the day featured dark, heavy clouds and cool temperatures (mid to high 60s)with very little wind. As always, we drove from the flybridge, but we had the isinglass closed to stay warm.

Painted Bluff, below, would be more spectacular with blue skies and lots of sunshine to highlight the changing colors of the rock, but it was pretty anyway.

The Guntersville Lock was the only one we had to transit today, and we only had to wait 5 minutes, locked through alone, and the lift was 40 feet, so it went quickly.

After following undeveloped shoreline most of the day, we began seeing nice homes as we got closer to Scottsboro.

The approach to Goose Pond Marina where we’re staying tonight was unusual, in that we had to pass through a long, shallow bank of hydrilla, an invasive weed, widespread throughout fresh waters in the SE United States. A clear channel was marked, but it was very narrow and shallow. Weeds caught on our props anyway, so we had to go into reverse briefly to get rid of them.

Lee showed up an hour after our arrival, and delivered the diagnosis of a dead compressor in our air conditioning unit.  So he’s on the hunt for where to find a new marina AC unit to install when we return here next week after our stop in Chattanooga.  If he can’t find one in time, we’ll have it done in Huntsville instead, as we’ll be leaving the boat there for a few days to drive to Houston and visit Cathryn’s parents. Good thing we just got Bob signed up for Medicare so the reduction in our medical premiums can pay for the new air conditioner, eh? Remember what B.O.A.T. stands for?