Knoxville to Nashville -Spring Trip 2012 700+ miles

So reading this post, most are advising not to do this trip in April. I'm not familiar with boating on a river. Can you guys enjoy boating in April and May? Please elaborate..........
 
Yes we can and do but spring rains raise the "pools" from winter stages or levels to summer stages. Hard rains float debris and raised water levels float debris into the waterways. TVA has an elaborate system of locks and dams used to control flooding, provide hydroelectric power and for navigation. Ky lake for example has over 2000 miles of shoreline and ky dam is one of the busiest locks in the world. Once things stabilize (depends a lot on spring weather), the rivers and lakes (dammed up reservoirs) become pretty clear of stuff. It can just be a little hairy in April and early may. And covering 700 miles without incident in a typical spring is like drawing a straight flush. With the march and April we have to date--very little rain--things have stayed fairly clear as lake levels remain at or near winter pool stages.

Last year we had worst flooding in 90 years, levees were intentionally breached to protect towns downstream. We had a mess until late may. It was a pretty unusual year though. Normally boating isn't a problem in April if your alert. Knowing your stomping grounds help too.
 
jerryd5515 said:
Admiral and I are looking forwards to doing the same trip, but from Guntersville. We bought our boat in Chattanooga and brought it down to Guntersville. In the fall we will go to Nashville to watch the Titans play. Any recommended marinas around Nashville?
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Rock harbor is about it. Although titans stadium does have a courtesy dock. There is also a downtown Nashville courtesy dock too...one block away from "music row". Old hickory lake is a bout 25 miles or so past nashville and they have a few more marinas and a decent yacht club (cedar creek). That will be a nice trip from guntersville. I bought my last 2 boats in Chattanooga--great trips.
 
During the trip we did see some floating junk. We saw a couple large trees....and a few barely vloating logs.
We had to keep a tree watch going the entire time.
We got lucky a few times, seeing a log as we passed it closely, not having seen it before.
But generally it was very clean.
 
If you are planning on boating to the game, the dock at the stadium and across the river on the city side, with walking bridge to the game, take reservations.

So, if you want a game day spot it looks like making a reservation is necessary.
I haven't been yet but also plan to do the same, go to a game by boat.
So, check out the details as the stadium side is a lottery...city side is just reservations....
 
Liquid Destinations said:
During the trip we did see some floating junk. We saw a couple large trees....and a few barely vloating logs.
We had to keep a tree watch going the entire time.
We got lucky a few times, seeing a log as we passed it closely, not having seen it before.
But generally it was very clean.
Click to expand...

Glad to hear it was relatively uneventful for you. Running the gorge outside Chattanooga is pretty spectacular. Good luck with your new boating home. We spent 5 days on hickory a few years ago and had a great time...4 days of it looking for Johnny cash's home. 10 different people sent us to 10 different places. No idea if we ever found it or not but it was all in fun.
 
That is a great trip to make but I have done it in reverse. I used to work for Rock Harbor (now Erwin) and we made several runs moving new boats. That was the best job ever. It is a beautiful ride. Jerry, Are you berthed at the LGYC? Seems I have seen that boat over there before. We go up several times through the season have made a lot of friends there and will be there the weekend of June 15-17th. Our boating club does a get together there. Glad your run from Knoxville to Nashville was a smooth one. Now turn around a make the trip south to Mobile Bay. That is a great run. Tenn Tom is kinda boring at times until you get to Bobby's fish camp. Kinda like deliverence but great food. During the summer The city dock in Nashville is great for the downtown concerts they put on.
 
I would compare running the TennTom Waterway to either watching paint dry or sailboating. Bobbys Fish Camp is the only fuel stop on a long stretch of the Tombigbee heading south toward mobile bay. It has gravity fed fuel hoses running down a long hill to the dock. Imagine taking 500 gals of diesel on--rivers have cut new paths In less time. Deliverance does come to mind.
 
Liquid Destinations said:
During the trip we did see some floating junk. We saw a couple large trees....and a few barely vloating logs.We had to keep a tree watch going the entire time.We got lucky a few times, seeing a log as we passed it closely, not having seen it before.But generally it was very clean.
Click to expand...
I am curious, did you have radar? Did it provide any value in picking up the floating junk?
 
DustinL said:
That is a great trip to make but I have done it in reverse. I used to work for Rock Harbor (now Erwin) and we made several runs moving new boats. That was the best job ever. It is a beautiful ride. Jerry, Are you berthed at the LGYC? Seems I have seen that boat over there before. We go up several times through the season have made a lot of friends there and will be there the weekend of June 15-17th. Our boating club does a get together there. Glad your run from Knoxville to Nashville was a smooth one. Now turn around a make the trip south to Mobile Bay. That is a great run. Tenn Tom is kinda boring at times until you get to Bobby's fish camp. Kinda like deliverence but great food. During the summer The city dock in Nashville is great for the downtown concerts they put on.
Click to expand...

DustinL - We will be at LGYC that weekend and hope to meet up with you then. Our club just had 15 boats make the trip to Chattanooga and 2 of them hit submerged logs. Neither boat was damaged beyond bent props. They could not see the logs because they had no branches or anything above water. Just like others have said in this post, as the rains increase the water pool, stuff from the shoreline gets refloated and becomes a hazard. I have made the trip twice and kept a sharp lookout, but was slowed down by so many fishing boats in the channel or at its edge, that I was not able to cruise very fast.
 
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