Home, home at last- the Ohio and Cumberland River to Kentucky lake

Yes, we made it off the rivers in one piece, Subject to Change is safely tucked away and I’m siting here in my “Girl’s Room” to finish telling you the saga of the cruise down the rivers.

I left you when we dropped anchor for the night on the Ohio River. How many nights had we been cruising down the rivers? I couldn’t have told you then. We had long lost track of days and could only look one day ahead. By this time, we were beat. I don’t think we had ever slept so soundly while at anchor. In rereading the last post, I figured this was Night 15 of the rivers. It had been a series of long days and creative moorings but all with great company. We had met so many great people on this journey and for us, that’s one of the best parts of cruising. So we return to the trip with great cruising buddies, Ray and Lisa, aboard SCOUT.

A big “hmmmm” for us was how wide the Ohio River was at this point in comparison to the Mississippi we had just left. In thinking about it, I think I was able to make sense of it. When the Ohio joins the Mississippi, it is at the end of its journey that began in Pennsylvania. It has had 981 miles to collect its water and grow. It is at its max. Where the Mississippi meets the Ohio, she is only halfway through her journey. She has a long way to go before she reaches her full size in Louisiana.

We passed numerous anchorage fields for barges as we headed up the Ohio and with that comes a lot of working tows.

The main reason we chose to make the long run the day before and get a head start on the Ohio was because we had heard that there was a potential river closure ahead at the Olmsted lock. Boats that traversed this area the day before had to tie off on the lock wall because of blasting up river. The Olmsted lock was completed in 2018 and was built to replace two aging locks on the Ohio. The process of removing the old locks was continuing. We were told that the COE was closing the river to traffic at 10 am as the demolition proceeded and we wanted to lock through before it closed. A quick call to the lockmaster answered our concerns. It was a Saturday (duh! I couldn’t keep track of the day of the week for the life of me) and there was no blasting scheduled for the day. Also, we were told that we did not need to lock through. We were told to go over the wickets and just follow the regular navigation buoys. A huge sigh was heard from both Subject to Change and SCOUT.

With all the traffic on the river, we kept a close ear on Channels 16 and 13. Tow captains will announce on the radio where they are and when they expect to be crossing certain areas or entering narrow or restricted waters. Several times we heard an announcement by RocketShip. The captain announced that he was bringing the ship northbound on the Ohio and all concerned traffic should be alert. No big deal, we hear that kind of broadcast a lot on the rivers. But it seemed RocketShip was alerting quite frequently and, she was getting closer to us. Soon we found out why. Rocket Ship is not just any tow doing her work on the rivers, she is a 313’ cargo ship that actually carrries rockets. She hauls rockets from United Launch Alliance in Decatur, AL to Cape Canaveral, Fl and Vandenberg Space Forcebase, CA.

The RocketShip’s captain was as intrigued by us little guys as we were of him. He radioed us to ask if we were doing the loop, where did we start from, etc. and Tim quizzed him about his destination and cargo.

The slow slog up the Ohio was rewarded with two nights on the Paducah Town Dock. What a cool town and such a wonderful new dock. The dock is an oasis for us river cruisers. Yes, there are no bathrooms, showers, laundry facilities or fancy amenities. But my gosh, after all we’ve done, having a solid dock with power and water and fuel for those who need it, Paducah was heaven. This dock was finished in 2017 and was built to replace a dock that was torn away during a flood. This baby is solid and it will take a mighty big flood to float this dock off it’s piling.

The river walk area is surrounded by a wall that proudly displays the history of Paducah including documenting floods of the past.

A must see in Paducah is the quilt museum. Now come on, I know what you’re thinking. Get over your preconceptions, this ain’t our grandma’s quilting. These are works of art. Even the men had ravs about the beauty and craftsmanship of these pieces. Here’s a few of my favorites.

Of course no stop would be complete without a visit to a local brewery. This time Ray found Paducah Beer Werks at the old Greyhound station.

And to keep Paducah on the list of great stops along the river, there was plenty of street music, yum restaurants and bars to keep cruisers entertained.

Unbelievably, we even had movie night on the dock. Ray and Lisa carry the makings for a movie screen and projector. The show for the night- Captain Ron- of course.

After Nights 15 and 16 in Paducah, a big decision had to be made. We had only one more lock to transit this summer. The question was would we make it the Kentucky Lock or Lake Barkley Lock. Our destination either way was Green Turtle Bay but there were a few factors to consider in making this decision. If we chose Kentucky Lock, our cruising time on the Tennessee River would be shorter and with less current ( see the red line). But and this was the big BUT, the Kentucky lock is known for being very busy with commercial traffic and being on the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to locking, we could potentially wait hours before locking through.

If we go the northern route (follow the black line) on the Cumberland River, we have a much longer route and we would be going UP river with current against us. BUT, the Barkley Lock isn’t nearly as busy as the Kentucky Lock and pleasure boaters usually get right through. A lot of discussion was going on in Paducah as loopers weighed the odds. A sailboater decided to risk waiting at Kentucky Lock rather than fight the current in his slower boat. We, along with SCOUT and Soulmate opted to take the longer Cumberland River route, but easy lockage at Lake Barkley.

It was slow going for us, and we watched the progress of our sailboat buddy, Royal Coachman III as he tried his luck on the Tennessee River and Kentucky Dam. Royal Coachman III was already at his lock while we continued to struggle against the sometimes 5 knot current on the Cumberland.

We finally made it to Lake Barkley Lock and were invited to head on in. I checked on Royal Coachman and he was still waiting for the same treatment at Kentucky Lock.

In the end, we beat Royal Coachman to the dock by a short period of time. We spent more in fuel and engine hours and he had more finger twiddling time. I’m not sure who beat who.

As we pulled into Green Turtle Bay, I had a mix of feelings. This was it for us. I knew when we left Green Turtle we would leave on our own. No more buddy boats, no more docktails, no locks, no current, no long ass days. We’d be leaving Green Turtle and heading just a mere 2 hours down Kentucky Lake to Kenlake Marina and putting Subject to Change away for winter. While I was ready for a break and a change, I knew I would miss the cruising life, the crazy days and the friends made along the way. For some reason, I didn’t take any pictures at Green Turtle. I’m not sure why. I guess I wasn’t ready to document this ending. But…. To look ahead, I’m sure we will be here again next year as we begin another chapter with Subject to Change on the rivers.

Come back here some time in April as we cruise the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers.