Green Turtle Bay to Dover Anchorage
Getting a slow start this morning, we left GTB about 8:30. Now headed on toward Nashville on the Cumberland River via Barkley Lake, we saw only 2 barges, one coming and one going the same way as us, South. The current showed a little mercy today, I assume because we are above the dam and the flow of water in the Cumberland is somewhat restricted. We were able to run just over 7 knots most of the day. That has been our normal speed for most of the Loop. The weather, warmer than yesterday for sure, but still cool was beautiful and crispy. I wore a long sleeve shirt and shorts. I was inside the pilot house all day, so I wasn’t really dealing with the elements. We traveled 7 ½ hours and covered 50. NM.
Hoping to make it to the Dover Island Anchorage, we thought we’d check out a little marina, called Bumpus Mills Marina, as a backup plan. The name caused a little concern, but we had heard the place would do in a pinch. Amanda called and the conversation went something like this:
ML (marina lady—just imagine a Western Kentucky dialect that I cannot figure out how to type phonetically) HALLO!
AD (Amanda) Is this the Bumpus Mills Marina?
ML Waille, eze that the number you dialed?
AD I think so.
ML Must be then!!!
AD Do you have room for a transient boat for the night?
ML Yep
AD What kind of power hook up do you have available?
ML (to someone else) Wha kinda pow’r we got? 2-30’s? (to Amanda) Yeah, we got 2-30’s
AD Okay, we will be there in about an hour.
ML Aight! Bie!
We decided to press on to the anchorage. Kind of felt like it would be less painful than negotiating the rest of that deal after we arrived.
This gorgeous building is the state prison 
US Highway 79 bridge. Somewhere down that road is home, Haynesville, La.
The high hit the 50’s, and with the sunshine pouring in, we had to open the hatches and allow a little cool air inside. This is more like it. The cruise was quiet and uneventful. We enjoyed the brilliant colors, enhanced by the sunshine and calm waters. The occasional fisherman flew by in his bass boat, but otherwise, we had the whole place to ourselves and it was great. We arrived at Dover Island, a popular-to-Loopers anchorage. With virtually no current behind the island, the breeze caused us a few minutes of twisting the boat, blowing us back toward the anchor. After 2 tries, I decided to throw a little anchor off the stern to compensate for the windage and ensure we stay downstream of the anchor. I don’t want that thing pulling loose while I am asleep. That seemed to work, keeping us straight. Having the wind die down didn’t hurt matters either.
So today’s journey won’t go down in history as remarkable or particularly memorable. But it will be relished as the kind of day you wish for on a trip: one that is easy, stressless, where everything works on the boat (so far), and the weather is perfect. The forecast for the next week calls for clear skies and a warming trend. Both will be welcomed guests on the Honey Queen.
