Circumnavigation Complete... On with Life

Detour was looking great when we returned to Demopolis to begin our cruise to Knoxville and our new berth at Choto Marina on Lake Loudoun. Lake Loudoun is located in Louden County, TN (notice the spelling difference... I have no clue) and Choto Marina (MM612) is approximately 9 miles upriver from the Loudoun Lock and Dam. The Loudoun Lock is first lock and dam on the TN river, depending on which end you're on, and because the TN flows north for many miles most serious cruisers specify upstream or downstream (upbound or downbound if calling a tow for passing instructions... which most Loudoun boaters fail to do or even know to do) to indicate cruising directions. Don't mean to be too hard on the Loudoun boating public but most of the great advantages of living on a navigable waterway are lost in the desire to join the revelry of the Vol Navy and boating to the Big Orange football games. SeaRays were born here and there are lots of those "big 'ol skiboats" zooming all over. Most of them have modern VHF radios available and many have never been turned on. Now, that being said there are lots of knowlegeable cruisers and a number that have completed the Great Loop and other cruising adventures. I believe, however, that Detour and I are the only ones that have circumnavigated Mississippi. I think it was Yogi Berra that said, "if you done it, it ain't bragging". Wow, did I get off track. I think I was talking about making the trip from Demopolis to Knoxville. We, Mickey, Pam and I, boarded Detour and left cruising north into the TennTom Waterway, it starts at MM 217 just north of the Demopolis Yacht Basin, and we will travel its winding waters to the Yellow Creek Canal that will take us to the beautiful Tennessee River. The Yellow Creek Canal is anything but beautiful and is commonly known as the "ditch". The first day's trip will take us to Marina Cove (has a new name and owner now but I don't remember the details). We will then lay over a day or two at Columbus Marina, Columbus, MS. Pam will have to drive home and go to work, leaving Mickey and I to complete the trip. From Columbus we will climb the hill through the seven TennTom locks between Columbus and the Tn river and overnight at Bay Springs Marina on the really pretty Bay Springs lake. The lock at Wilson Lake is under repair and we anticipate a potentially long wait there. Seems a barge hit the gate and made a real mess. All traffic must be raised in the smaller two-stage lift auxiliary lock. As I recall, our wait was about two hours and it gave us time to have lunch and chill for a while. From Wilson (MM259.4) we moved through Joe Wheeler (MM274.9), Guntersville (MM349), Nickajack (MM424.7), Chickamauga (MM471), Watts Bar (MM529.9) and our home lock of Ft. Loudoun (MM602.3)without much delay or fan fare. On the last day of our trip, we covered 183+ miles; the most mileage I've ever done in a one-day cruise. Detour rose to the occasion and completed the long day without missing a lick... the crew was not so fortunate and spent the next few days recovering. Docking at Choto began a three year period of little long range cruising and a brief membership in the Vol Navy. However, I do know how to use my VHF.