Holiday Week-End

Friday 5/22/09 Our travel continued at 7:20 am this morning with no snakes on the horizon! The only obstruction in our path besides the occasional floating log was the Johnsonville, Tn. RR bridge which at 24' of clearance was just enough for us to slide under without knocking down the antenna or mast light and allowing the bridge tender to keep reading or whatever he's doing up there. Shortly after Johnsonville the river starts to open up into Kentucky Lake. Also at this point the number of fishing boats increases dramatically. These guys are either fearless or just plain stupid. They buzz by us no more than 5' from our sides or cut across only a few feet in front of us, all at 60 mph or better! One knucklehead even played chicken with a 30 barge tow waiting till the last minute before firing his motor and moving out of the tows path. I'm not sure they ever catch anything. I think they just run over the fish at high speed and then go back and pick up the carnage.

We continued cruising down Ky. Lake enjoying the scenery. Knowing this week-end will be a busy time on the water we decided to anchor in Duncan Bay where we had anchored last November and stay out of harms way. Once we arrived there we saw that the location we had been in was occupied so a quick glance of the charts and we turned into a cove on the other side of the bay which actually offered more protection from the elements but still had a nice view of the lake. Duncan Bay is approximately 10 miles from Grand Rivers, Ky. located in the Land Between the Lakes region which is quite an outdoor enthusiasts paradise. While anchored here we saw several herons, ducks, jet skis, (wrong wildlife) and the biggest beaver I've ever seen! This guy was huge. I took a picture but was too far away for it to look like anything but a log.

Saturday 5/23/09 The forecast called for occasional T-storms with temps in the low 80's so we had a lazy morning on the hook. While sitting there I couldn't believe my eyes. I saw what I thought was a dog swimming across the cove right behind the boat. Wrong! When he got out of the water and shook I could see it was a wolf! How cool! I called for Pam to come look too but by the time I got the camera he had taken off into the woods. It was in Duncan Bay in November that we thought we had heard a wolf howl during the night. I guess we did. Continuing on the wildlife theme we decided to launch the dinghy and head up to the quarry. Ky Lakes version of Party Cove. The amount of traffic on the lake made it a slow bumpy ride. Boats of all sizes going in every direction. I've never liked lake boating just because there is no traffic pattern. Only an owl could keep the 360 degree lookout required to avoid collisions. Anyway we survived the ride and joined in the steady stream of boats entering the cove. All shapes and sizes were on display (boats that is!) once we got into the main area. One large houseboat was tied to the trees along the bank and had the stereo set up on top of it and blasting. Remember this is a quarry with rock walls most of the way around it causing the music to bounce in all directions. Kids were jumping off the walls and the southern belles were soaking up the sun. We got there a little too early for the alcohol to kick in which was just fine. The entrance is narrow and the muscle boats were out with their immature drivers streaming into and out of the cove. An accident waiting to happen. I must be getting old! We continued exploring other areas on our way back to Tourist checking out the beaches and coves along the way. Wherever we went the water was churning with fisherman, skiers, tubers, jet skis, etc. It was a welcome relief to get back to our cove with only our boat and a couple of fishing boats in it. Besides, as Pam informed me it was cocktail hour!