Where There's a Will, There's a Way

Linda & her mom, Joyce, pulled anchor out of the Hiwassee River at 7:40 a.m.  By 8:05 a.m. we were on the Tennessee River.  It was a foggy morning until about 10:00 a.m., but we had at least a half mile to mile visibility.  "Making Memories" and "Marilyn Ann" were about 11 miles back as they stopped at Shady Grove last night.  Ray's work crew decided to go hunting the rest of the week, so he got up at 3:30 a.m. to drive to The Livezey's so Bill could drop him off at Shady Grove Marina.  We decided Ray could ride with "Making Memories" to our planned anchorage, where we would raft together and Ray could get on board "The Second Noelle".  Our timing was perfect for meeting up at Watts Bar Lock, so Linda got permission from the lockmaster to raft to "Making Memories" in the lock so Ray could get on board "The Second Noelle" just in time for lunch.  We lifted 59 feet in the lock along with "Marilyn Ann" and "Shored Up III" also.  By 1:30 p.m. the lock doors were open and we took up the tail.  By the time we got to Iron Hill Secondary Channel Cut-off, Marine Max was right behind us.  They got delayed at Chickamauga Lock this morning, but still made it through Chickamauga Lake pool in two hours.  They let us get though the cut before they took off again.  Since our timing worked out so well today, we decided to anchor a little farther up river than "Making Memories" and "Marilyn Ann", and not raft with them as we originally planned.  So we dropped anchor just before 5:00 p.m. in a first class harbor at Tennessee River mile 561.3.  It was a peaceful evening despite the neighbor cutting his lawn and finishing his yard work until just past dark.