Log 49; Day 143; Oct. 11; Chattanooga, TN

The day AFTER the oil change I am in the engine room fixing things!

A night shot at the walking bridge just in front of us at the Chattanooga dock. They say the longest bridge of it's type in the US.
A cool map of the Tennessee River...if you click on this it should blow up and you can really see where we have been.
Log 49
Day 143
Saturday, October 11, 2008

10:00 AM EDT
Location: Downtown marina in Chattanooga, TN
Weather: 70* and partly cloudy; forecast is for 81* and mostly sunny

Another beautiful day in Chattanooga. Not up too early...7 am...and took my time with the computer and watching hunting shows on ESPN 2. Once the sun was up I washed down the boat and Deb and I wiped it down. We also cleaned all the isinglass and rolled it up to let the sun and fresh air in. After the boat was in great shape, I made a bloody mary, and now I’m going to take a few minutes to upload some pictures and a quick log before heading down river.

Yesterday...was a lazy day on HQ. After getting in the engine room and checking things out (and draining a couple quarts of oil out of the starboard engine, to fix the mechanics error) Deb and I did some organizing on the boat to get things back to normal from Chuck and Holly’s visit and the oil change. When you have not been cruising for a few days the boat gets a little un-organized, and we like to have it a certain way when we are traveling. Late morning we decided to walk back up to Porkers to get some more of that great BBQ, and then walked back to the grocery store and back to the boat. We talked about seeing a movie; visiting the IMAX; touring the aquarium; or visiting the museum. That’s all we did was talk about it. We ended up sitting on the boat and doing “boat stuff”. Oh yea...I got a nap in as well. Dinner was tilapia on the stove, and our dinner movie was an episode of “biggest fixes”...where they changed a thruster on a oil rig 30 miles off shore. Cool.

Today...we are sitting here at the dock this morning watching the annual Chattanooga rowing club races. This is an event that has 52 races of different folks in those long narrow rowing boats. Some boats have as many as 8 rowers (with a person in the front with a megaphone hollering row; row; row)...some with only 1 person. As usual, Deb thinks this is really cool, and is out taking pictures and hollering with the crowd. Me...I’m sitting on the boat writing this log, and looking forward to leaving the dock and going cruising. Sometimes I wish I had more of her perspective on things. At noon today they will break for lunch and I am supposed to contact the race safety coordinator (on the ship to shore radio) and ask permission to leave the dock. Once we do, we will head down river about 40 miles to Hales Bar Marina...a stop we made on the way up river...last Sunday (not much there...but a safe stop). Should be an uneventful trip...but as you may remember...the most dramatic scenery on the Tennessee River.

I’ll keep you posted.

BK.

Ps. While I have been writing this there are more boats going by every minute (we are sitting very near the finish line) and I must admit...it’s pretty cool to see the competition. But I’m still looking forward to heading out.

Log 48; Day 142; Oct. 10; Chattanooga, TN

Log 48
Day 142
Friday, October 10, 2008

8:00 AM EDT
Location: Downtown marina in Chattanooga, TN
Weather: 64* and sunny; forecast is for 81* and sunny

It is a beautiful morning here in Chattanooga. A little cool, but not a cloud in the sky and it is forecasted to be very nice today. I’m sitting on the back of the boat having my coffee and, like most everyone else, wondering when the market slide will stop, and what the next few years will be like as we work our way out of this mess. Not much Deb and I can do but wait this out. The good news in this is that oil prices have continued to drop...hopefully this will translate to lower diesel fuel prices at the marinas.

Yesterday was a tough day on HQ (not terrible...just tough). First of all I had to watch the market tank...again. Then there is the story of the HQ oil change, and let me just say it did nothing to lift my spirits. I had planned this oil change about a month ago and continued to stay in touch with the service manager (Jason) at Marine Max in Chattanooga to make sure everything would go well. Jason said the mechanic would arrive at 9:30...he arrived at 10:15, and I wondered if this was a sign of things to come...it was. The mechanic (Tom) was nice enough, but I noticed he did not bring a few things when he unloaded his tools at the boat. He only had an oil filter wrench; a 5 gallon bucket; oil filters; and 3 cases of oil. I was wondering...
1. Where were the fuel filters? I had ordered a complete set
2. Where was the diesel fuel necessary to top off the fuel filters as you install them?
3. What was he going to use to catch the oil as it comes out of the filters? When I do it I use several types of pans and catch cans
4. What was he going to use to put all the used oil in? The boat uses 14 gallons, and he had a 5 gallon bucket
5. What was he going to use to make sure he didn’t spill any oil anywhere? Everyone uses what they call “diapers” which are 2 foot square oil absorbent pads
6. And what was he going to clean up with? He did not bring any paper towels.

To take you through how the day went would take too long but let me give you some highlights:
· It normally takes me 30 minutes to drain the oil and get it out of the engine room. It took Tom (the mechanic) 2 hours. Somehow he was surprised when he had to go and empty that 5 gallon bucket a few times. Wouldn’t you think it would occur to him that when he hauled 14 gallons of oil to the boat that he would have to take 14 gallons off?
· At 2 PM he had the oil out and the filters replaced...including the 30 minutes it took him to clean up the mess he had when he dropped the starboard (large) oil filter and all the oil under the engine. I had to give him lots of (our) paper towels and my oil diapers to fix the mess.
· At 2:15 he asked me if he could run and get a “quick” sandwich...at 3;45 I called his boss to see where he was...he got back to the boat at 4. He said he was the lead technician at Marine Max and several people wanted his time.
· At this point I decided to help him and make sure we got this done in 1 day. I jumped in and became his helper, and things went a little quicker
· I thought we’d end the day fine until I was counting oil containers and found out that Tom put 7 gallons in the starboard engine, and was getting ready to add more. When I asked him about it, he tried to explain that I said it took 26 quarts so he was adding 2 quarts to what he had already put in. To which I said “you’ve already put in 28 quarts...7 x 4 is 28...and he just looked at me with a “what can go wrong next” stare. I told him to leave it...I’d fix it tomorrow.
· At 7 PM he finally left the boat...and I finished up in the engine room this morning.

Today...is our last day in Chattanooga. No real plans for the day, just organize the boat; check the engine room for any left behind damage from Tom; walk into town to get some groceries and maybe even head to Porkers, for some of that great BBQ. Kind of a lazy day.

I’ll keep you posted.

BK.

Log 47; Day 139; Chattanooga, TN

A shot from across the Tennessee River at our dock in downtown Chattanooga...HQ is the boat on the far left in this shot. The boat behind us is Footloose...a boat I have mentioned a few times

Below we are look down the Tennessee River and to the left is downtown Chattanooga
We took some time from our very busy schedule to visit a local downtown pub with Chuck and Holly
Unbelivable scenery along the Tennessee...some cliffs over 1000 feet high


A typical shot of our view heading up the Tennessee


Great dock in downtown Chattanooga

Our view as we got close to downtown Chattanooga
Chuck & Holly enjoying our cruise

Log 47
Day 140
Wednesday, October 08, 2008

2:30 PM CDT
Location: Downtown marina in Chattanooga, TN
Weather: 67* rainy and dreary; forecast is for more of the same today...clearing tonight

It’s a dreary day here in Chattanooga. It started raining late last night and has not stopped yet. Chuck and Holly have been here since last Friday and just left at noon for the airport. We had a great time and saw some awesome sights.

It took us 3 days to travel the 133 miles from Guntersville, AL to Chattanooga, TN. The navigation was straight forward, and the scenery just kept getting better and better and the last 20 miles was just awesome. At one point the water was 135 feet deep, in a narrow part of the river, and the mountains and cliffs rose 1100 feet above. All the guide books, and things I have read, did not exaggerate how pretty and dramatic the river is in this area. I hope the pictures give you some hint of what things are like.

We stopped at 3 different marinas along the way. Signal Point I mentioned in my last log was a little “used”. We tied to the end of a covered dock which was fine; Deb used their washer and dryer; and we also used their courtesy van to go to town for groceries. All in all a good stop...and we’ll probably stop there again as we head down river. The next night we stopped at Goose Pond Marina, in Scottsboro, AL; a very nice stop about 1/2 mile off the river. We took on 207 gallons of diesel, at $4.09 per gallon...best price we have seen on the river so far. We plan on stopping there on our way back down as well, and will probably top of the fuel to take advantage of the cost. Our final stop before Chattanooga was Hales Bar marina...a 67 mile run from Goose Pond. The docks and area were fine...but not much to do off the docks. The final 42 miles from Hales Bar to Chattanooga were the best river boating we have ever done.

Chattanooga is a great stop. Our slip is just about 1 block from downtown, with lots of restaurants, and nice places to visit. From a boater’s perspective...one of the best places we have stopped. Chuck, Holly, Deb, and I went to town both days they were here. On Monday evening we went to dinner at a place called Blue Water...very good. The next day we walked about 1 1/2 miles to a BBQ place called Porkers...awesome BBQ. From there we spent the afternoon visiting a couple of downtown bars and enjoyed the area.

It’s now 7:20 am on Thursday...I’m picking up where I left off yesterday afternoon. Sun is not up yet, but starting to get a little light. It’s 61* and heading for 78* and partly cloudy. The rain ended about 3 yesterday and the next several days look to be just perfect. The plan for today is to change the oil in the engines and generator. I scheduled this about a month ago...and a mechanic gets on board at 9:30. It should take about 4 or 5 hours to get this done. I have put too many hours on this oil change, and will be glad to get it done. After that we don’t have any plans, but I’m sure we’ll explore more of Chattanooga. We leave Saturday...so we have lots of time. This is a great stop...by boat, or car.

I’ll keep you posted.

BK.