Tennessee River Cruise Guide information

I posted the below information in response to another thread and thought I would post all of this information in one pace under a better title in case some one searchs for this type of information in the future (I am not a fan of the CSR search function - it could be a lot better).

Swimparent said:

There is a great publication called Life on the Water. It is all about life on the Tennessee River. I will post a link to their website. The magazine is quarterly I believe and well worth the subscription price. I believe the publisher is close to Decatur...Florenc maybe? Anyway you can read about it on their website.
http://www.lifeonthewater.com/dnn/

Anne

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When staying on the water front in Chattanooga, the city docks along the waterfront are rented by the Marine Max guys who have a fuel station/small marina just downriver from Chattanooga. (Who handles renting the docks was hard to find for me the first time I went to chattanooga.)

http://www.marinemax.com/Page.aspx/l...-River-TN.aspx

Also get a copy of the Tennessee River Navigation Charts from the Army Corp of Engineers. They sell out quick when they make a new printing but check back with them. They always print more. When I picked up my latest copy I called them and they had one for sale even though the web site said sold out.

http://www.lrn.usace.army.mil/lakein...ts/NavBuy.html


This is a great little book but out of print and hard to find:

http://www.amazon.com/Tennessee-River-Cruise-Guide/dp/0963200569

You can however get a pdf version on these cd roms (it also looks like you can buy a reprint of myers last book edition, cool):

http://www.greatloopcruising.com/products/

Lastly the site below by Jerry Hay is about his tennessee river trip. He is planning on doing a guide to the river. I have not used any of his guides. I found his site from an earlier post he did here on CSR.

http://www.riverlorian.com/tennesseecumberland.htm

I have seen the cd's and i have fred myer's book but to me the most important thing are the charts from the Corp. My second favorite is Fred Myer's book (it lists all of the nice anchorages, it has no charts whatsoever).


John

John,

Great info and here is some more.
I'll second Fred's book. Heck getting Fred's book in PDF format makes the What to expect cds worth it by it's self.
May also want to check out Quimby's guide and Heartland Boating has info on the TN river from time to time.

As to charts - You used to be able to get the Corp charts for free via a download and print for free. I purchased the full set from the Corp, but mainly use them as backup because I've got them on my GPS and via Mapsource.

Here is the link for the free charts and river info.

http://www.tnriver.com/

or

http://www.lrn.usace.army.mil/opn/TNRiver/

Just click on the chart you want.

You can print the images from the usace website on 8.5x14 paper. Just right-click on the chart and save the file to your computer. Then open the file with a photo app and use it to print. Make your own 3-ring binder and you will be all set.

I started to do this but it was not the easiest. The charts also have info on the back that i do not think is printable ( cant remember) . Also the army one is printed on paper that is water resistant. If the army has one available it is well worth the price. Trouble is they are often sold out.

Very nice post with great links.

Trip Complete!!!!

We completed 800+ (~807) in 6 days.
We departed on 4/9 and arrived on 4/14.
We departed from Tellico Lake approxly mile 620 on the Tn. River on Monday at 3:30 after a chartplotter snafu, which never reoccurred.
We arrive in Nashville on Saturday about 1pm, ate lunch downtown and then finished the trip to Old Hickory Lake that afternoon.

It was an incredible trip.
We had perfect weather. We saw almost no one, share 2 locks with 1 boat.
3 Bald Eagles -together over the lake -Ky Lake
1 Silver Fox -near Shilo
2 Turkeys (flying) -Cumberland River
3 sighting of Old Man River -secret

We got very lucky, really clean water, docks open but not busy, we were alone almost the entire trip on the water. A few fishing boats.

We feel very lucky to have experience such a great part of our country and be able to use the billion plus $$$ of waterway infrastructure for free. Everyone was so nice and helped us alone the way.
We saw some great places with so much history and enjoy a great trip through inner America.

This was my 1st long river trip, 1st long trip as captain. My 1st time as captain of a 2 engine, direct drive vessel. My 1st time locking... ever after 9 I was feeling like a pro...my crew my have a conflicting opinion, so many 1st 1st etc.
A great life experience. I highly recommend it.

Everything went wonderfully. I feel lucky to have bought my boat from Harbortowne Marine in Vonore, Tn.
Great facility and great honest!!! people.

Relocating to Cumming GA in the next month. I had read about cruising the "Tennessee river, and I was wondering if I trailer to Chattanooga is there a marina that you can launch, park a vehicle and trailer while you are cruising. Are the fees for parking reasonable? Any information will be appreciated.

Absolutely, You can launch at the TN River Park. You can park overnight for free. Right below Chickamauga Dam. You will be on Nickajack lake. Going through the TN river gorge is unbelievable. You can take a nice day trip to Hale's Bar Marina and back.

http://www.hamiltontn.gov/tnriverpark/

cmn1882 said:

Absolutely, You can launch at the TN River Park. You can park overnight for free. Right below Chickamauga Dam. You will be on Nickajack lake. Going through the TN river gorge is unbelievable. You can take a nice day trip to Hale's Bar Marina and back.

http://www.hamiltontn.gov/tnriverpark/

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What he said....