Tues, May 24 thru Thurs, May 26, 2011 - Waterfall Cove, Pickwick Lake

It was nearly 8 am before we pulled up the anchor and made our way back to the channel. The temperature was already 74°F but the cloudy sky helped to keep things cool. For awhile that morning Maureen even wore a jacket while she steered the boat. This section of the Tenn-Tom north of Bay Springs is called “The Ditch” because it was cut out of the surrounding bluffs in a straight path from Yellow Creek to Bay Springs. The traveling was easy and before we knew it, we were through the chute and coming into Grand Harbor Marina for fuel. We lingered there for an hour or so as we took a walk up to the grounds and checked out the pool and fitness center.

 

 


We still had about five miles to go to find our favorite anchorage, mile 217.3 on the Tennessee River’s Pickwick Lake, and what we call Waterfall Cove. We were surprised to see our old friend, Mo, of m/v Motu, already pulled up on the sandbar. There were also a few other pontoons on the beach which we knew would be gone by the end of the day. We met Don, a self-proclaimed River Rat, and his Pomeranian, Precious, who had come by jet ski. We also met Frank who invited us up on his pontoon where Don, Precious, Mo and her friend, Joe, were already visiting.


 

 
 There was some stormy weather forecast for Wednesday night and Thursday. Mo, m/v Motu, was a little spooked from the April tornadoes and decided to take a slip at Grand Harbor marina instead of staying at the anchorage. We felt we were very protected where we were and opted to stay. We did, however, put out a stern anchor which combined with already being nosed up on the beach and held tight with the bow anchor we felt we were quite secure.



 
 
We did experience quite a storm on Wednesday night and could see a lot of lightning a few miles away. The wind blew and the rain came but we held fast and weathered things quite comfortably.











Thursday morning brought us cooler temperatures and cloudy skies. We decided to stay one more night but would then leave Friday morning before the anchorage became crazy with all the Memorial Weekend traffic. Besides, we wanted to get to Florence so we could settle in there for a couple of days before leaving for Iowa again.