The Adventure Begins.......

Our dream is about to come become reality.   It’s hard to believe all the planning, re-planning and numerous to-do lists will happen in less than 36 hours!!  We purchased our boat, Cloud Nine, in July 2014 with the intent, at that time, of taking the boat to the river when we retire to see how much we enjoy traveling the waters.  We retired in April, and have spent the last few months making final plans to “get this party started”!! We have had Cloud Nine docked at Center Hill Lake about 70 miles east of Nashville for the past 3 years.  We moved our boat to Rock Harbor Marina on the Cumberland River in downtown Nashville on July 19.  We have had some general maintenance completed and now we are ready to go!!

We have been through tons of lists that will enable us to be as ready as possible – our food is packed, beverages are on ice, swim suits (the bulk of my wardrobe!), clothes, bumpers, tie-off lines, cleaning supplies, life jackets, maps for distance, maps for depth and more maps, etc.

We will leave from Rock Harbor Marina Friday morning, August 18th, and travel down the Cumberland River toward Clarksville where we will spend the night at Clarksville Marina.  26 miles after we leave Rock Harbor Marina, we will venture through our first lock.  I (Kathy) have never been through a lock before and I have been volunteered to be the one on the front of the boat and loop the rope around the bollard (2 loops counter-clockwise) to keep us “attached” inside the lock until we are ready to exit the lock.  I have extreme angst about completing this task, but if we want to travel the rivers, going through the locks is a requirement!!  So it’s a good thing I have to face my fears within the first hour or so and get that over with.  After we get through Cheatham Lock, we will continue to Clarksville Marina.  We will spend the night and re-fuel there.  The next morning, we will continue north through Lake Barkley and spend the next 4 nights at Green Turtle Bay Marina which is on the northern end of Lake Barkley -- where we will experience the Great Eclipse on August 21. 

We will update the blog as we get to various marinas and have access to wi-fi.  We will include pictures of our trip and share notes of our adventures.  Enjoy “our ride”.