Log 31 Day 118; Lake Barkley Marina, Cadiz, KY

Log 31
Day 118
Tuesday, September 16, 2008

6:00 AM CDT
Location: Lake Barkley Marina, Cadiz, KY
Weather: 58* and no wind; heading for 77* and sunny today

It is staying dark so much longer that I have to use a light out in the helm area each morning when I get up and get on the computer (it is light enough to see without a light at about 6:15). I like it better when the sun comes up early...but I also like it when the sun sets early.

Cool out this morning...I think the coolest morning since we were in South Haven. It’s nice to have the heater in the helm area to warm it up. We are sitting in a very pretty area about 2 miles off the main Cumberland River channel at MM 59.5. We changed our minds and decided to head up the Cumberland River (but heading south) to Nashville and then turn around and come back down the Cumberland and join the Tennessee again next week.

The last few days...Steve and Claudia arrived at GTB last Thursday evening. We had a great 4 days with them. Steve brought his fishing boat and we fished both Friday and Saturday, both beautiful days on the lake. I’m not sure what has happened in the bass fishing deal...but all of a sudden I have learned how to catch bass. I have been going out in the dinghy by myself and practicing. My secret it to only use 1 lure...a rubber worm, and reel it VERY slow. Not sure why...but it works great. Between the 2 of us we probably caught 20 to 25 bass and had a great time. After we fished in the morning, we came back to the boat for breakfast and some relaxing and then both days took the boat out to one of the local coves for some swimming...lots of fun.

On Sunday morning we got some of the backlash of hurricane Ike. Not much rain...but winds that were a steady 25 to 35 and gusts reported over 60 mph. It was quite a morning. At about 9 am we lost power (for about 30 miles in all directions)...and it still is not back. The good news is we can run the generator and have normal power on the boat, but I don’t like doing that for a long time so after dinner and a movie (steaks and “Dave”...the movie with Kevin Kline) I shut down the generator and we slept with all the windows open during the night...with no electricity (the winds had calmed down early in the afternoon). On Monday morning (about 7 am) I started the generator again so we could have coffee and breakfast. Steve and Claudia were planning on leaving early and did so at about 9. I talked to folks at the marina about when they planned on getting the electricity back...and the answer was between 24 and 48 hours...so we decided to leave (a day earlier than planned) and head up river to find a marina that had power...and we ended up at Lake Barkley Marina...about 30 miles south. Hard to understand, but we are going south...up river.

For some reason I can’t upload the pictures I had planned with this log, and I think it is because of a very weak internet signal. I’ll see if this log will upload...otherwise I’ll send it later today when we get to Clarksville, TN our next stop. The plan today is to travel about 67 miles and enter Tennessee (the state...not the river) and stop at Clarksville. The cruising guide says they have a free dock right near down town and it is highly rated by some of the cruisers we have talked to...so we are going to give it a try. From there we keep going south and our destination (on Thursday) is Nashville where we hope to spend 2 nights.

Well it is light now...but very cloudy, and 61 degrees. I need to make some breakfast and then I want to wash the boat off before we head out...which we plan to do so at about 9. I also need to completely fill the water tank because there is no water at Clarksville...but they do have power. The forecast calls for the clouds to go away and for it to be very sunny this afternoon...looking forward to it.

I hope everyone is doing well...I’ll keep you posted.

BK.