10/17/2010 SIX MILE CREEK TO DITTO LANDING MARINA, HUNTSVILLE, AL

SUNDAY

TOTAL MILES TRAVELED: 51 NM

We once again woke to a chilly morning with logy clouds nestles all around our anchorage. Soon wisps of sunlight were peeking through and we able to snake our way out of the creek and enter the lake.

 WISPS OF FOG BLANKET THE WATER

THE FOG LIFTS AS WE EXIT THE CREEK

Holy Mackerel!  By 8:45 we were totally engulfed in a blinding fog bank. Dan idled down and we crept along for a while then anchored out of the marked channel after talking to the lock master at the nearby Wheeler Dam. We located a red channel buoy and positioned ourselves safely outside the navigational channel and waited out the clouds nesting instinct. When the fog finally broke, we were startled to see just how close we were to the populated shore and Wheeler Dam.

WHEN THE FOG LIFTED

Image via Wikipedia

As soon as the tow and barges that were waiting out the fog had cleared the area, we locked up with another pleasure craft, Stowaway.

Wheeler Dam is named for Joseph Wheeler, a West Point graduate, leader in the Spanish-American War and Confederate general that fought in more than 500 skirmishes and had 16 horses shot out from underneath him. Tenacity or stupidity?? Your call!

                                                               

Image via Wikipedia

Again, the sun won out and the day turned into another bright and sunny example of fall’s delightful presence. We are grateful for each and every one of these beautiful days.

Wheeler Lake is wide with the port shores sprinkled with civilization and the port shores rugged with the trees dipping to touch the waters. We sat back and enjoyed what the day had in store for us.

At MM 304 the Norfolk Southern RXR Bridge raised it lift span for us and we slipped under. This bridge was built on the site at the Memphis & Charleston RXR Bridge that was burned by the Union Army to stop the Confederate advance in April of 1862.

NORFOLK SOUTHERN RXR BRIDGE

As we slipped  by old Decatur we discovered this Meow Mix establishment then continued our journey, passing the 34,500 acre Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. Thousands of ducks and geese spent the winter here.

WHO KNEW??OK, WHO CARED??

MM 326 is the midpoint of the Tennessee River, putting you halfway between its Knoxville origin and Paducah.



HALF WAY MARK IN THE TENNESSEE RIVER



CAGEY CLIFFS

By 5:00 we were snug in our slip at Ditto Landing Marina (www.dittolanding.com) in Huntsville, AL. It is a nice, new facility with a small store (yet to be fully stocked), a pump out connection and an automated fueling system. We will, for sure, be taking on diesel before we leave as the prices are extremely nice. We were greeted by this motley mixture of ducks and the sun setting behind the nearby bridge.


  DITTO LANDING

ALL KINDS OF DUCKS

NIGHT SKY