Tennessee River

[colbysmith]

Just tentative plans for now, but looking at finishing up the Tennessee River in October. I know several that went along with me two years ago, mentioned they'd be interested in the Harrison Bay State Park to Guntersville, Al., leg, if and when I did it. This was part of the original plans, but due to flooding, we decided to just do Harrison Bay to the end of the Tennessee River. The distance this time is 120 miles. I would be "slowboating", only running around 5 kts or 6mph. That speed of course would change with the current. (Ie, I'll set 1500-1600 rpm, and if the current is running at 1 kt, I'll be running 6 kts. Going up stream, I'll burn more gas to stay at least 5mph.) I believe there are sections of the river in this area that are no wake. Anyone that would like to join me, would be responsible for their own boat and navigation. Same as last time. At 120 miles, figuring 30 miles a day, it would take 4 days one way. Probably anchoring out most nights. I'm figuring an 8 day trip, leaving Harrison Bay on October 15th and returning on the 22nd. Again, this is all tentative. Ideally the colors would be turning, but that all depends on the weather. And again, this is all tentative. Last time, Harrison Bay State Park had a nice ramp and parking available. Colby

 

[CPlay]

Colby,
Count me in. Thank you for organizing this again. (I enjoyed the trip last time despite my little mishap.) I'm not as adventurous as you when it comes to towing around the country, but this an easy destination for me. The Tennessee River is a great change of scenery from the Georgia coast.
-Jeff-

 

[multimediasmith]

Thanks to Jeff (C-Play) for leading me to this thread. Sounds perfect. The upper part from Chattanooga through Knoxville should be colorful and cooler at that time. I would love to tag along. Was thinking about linking up with Tom & Joyce from Pickwick to Chattanooga but it’s set for mid September.
Let me know when the dates firm up.

 

[colbysmith]

Thanks to Jeff (C-Play) for leading me to this thread. Sounds perfect. The upper part from Chattanooga through Knoxville should be colorful and cooler at that time. I would love to tag along. Was thinking about linking up with Tom & Joyce from Pickwick to Chattanooga but it’s set for mid September.
Let me know when the dates firm up.

We actually did the Chattanooga to Knoxville, and the end of the Tennessee River last time. This time we will be heading the other direction from Harrison Bay State Park (Chattanooga), and going to Guntersville, Al. I have moved the dates up one day, to October 14-21. I still need to sit down and look at distances to get some idea of where to stop each afternoon. I've been in the Apostle Islands this week, and hope to start doing more planning with the Tennessee River trip in the next week. The middle of October will be here before we know it. I feel 8 days should be enough to do the trip in. That's assuming we can make 30 miles each day both down river and up river. If anyone knows this section of the river well and has suggestions for anchorages or free docks, let me know. I'll try to get more specifics posted here before the middle of September. Hopefully we won't have the debris and flooding we saw last time. It still ended up being a good trip though. Harrison Bay State Park worked out well last time for launching and parking. Guntersville has some marina's that could possibly work out for launching and parking, but just makes more sense to use a known location. And I still need to make contact with them again to be sure we still have access to the week's parking. My plans are to launch the day before, on October 13th, and then anchor near by. It's basically a two day drive for me to get to Harrison Bay from home. I would plan to depart the morning of the 14th at 9am. And pretty much stay with that departure time each day. I haven't looked yet, but pretty sure we'll have a few locks to go through. That may change how far we get in a day, depending on wait times at the locks. As usual, everyone is responsible for their own boat. Or, follow me at your own discretion. LOL!