Pebble Isle Marina owners Randy and Tami are well known for their infectious southern personalities.

On our way to Pebble Isle Marina today, At MM-78.2, we passed the Louisville and Nashville RR Bridge (above). It is a non-functioning bridge at this time, probably only used for fishing now. Shortly after the bridge, we passed an abandoned, partly submerged, building (photo below).

The Tennessee Valley Authority purchased many acres of land in preparation to create Kentucky Lake. The Kentucky Dam was completed in 1944, when the area was flooded and many towns below the new water level disappeared. Lake Barkley was created in the early 1960’s when a dam was constructed on the Cumberland River, only a couple of miles from Kentucky Dam. When the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers were impounded to create the two lakes, an inland peninsula was formed. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy designated the peninsula as the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation area. The Land Between the Lakes region has 215,000 acres of water, 300 miles of undeveloped shoreline and 170,000 acres of public land.

It was kind of eerie passing this ghost of a building, it made us think about how things used to be in the area and got us to wondering about what remnants of that prior day lay beneath the surface of the water.

Pebble Isle Marina is located at MM-96 on the Tennessee River, we were looking forward to returning for a visit and some of their famous morning cinnamon rolls. Owners Randy and Tami are well known for their infectious southern personalities, their hospitality, and their genuine care and concern for the boating community, they are the kind of people that find it easy to welcome perfect strangers to their establishment and make quick friends in the process. This was our third visit to Pebble Isle and we’ve returned because we know a good marina when we see one. The homemade cinnamon rolls made every morning in the marina kitchen are just one of the friendly features this marina provides their transient boaters.

Randy and Tami, keep their marina “ship-shape,” while exuding a friendliness we’ve come to expect, and enjoy while cruising the Tennessee River and the surrounding southern states.

We arrived fairly early in the day and immediately pulled up to the fuel dock to fill up on diesel. They have some of the best-priced fuel on the river. Staff helped us secure our boat into our assigned slip and offered the use of their “loaner car.” Since cruising boaters don’t often have the means for provisioning while on the river system, many marinas have a car available for running errands, usually the grocery store. We sometimes like to use provisioning as an excuse so we can check out a nearby town. Oh and by the way we met Loopers from other parts of the world during this stop, one boat was from New Zeeland, and the other from Brazil.

Last time we were at Pebble Isle Marina, this boat looked in sad shape (below). Randy and Tami did a nice job getting her back in ship shape to become signage at the entrance of their marina.

Pebble Isle Marina is located within walking distance of the Johnsonville State Historic Park. Civil War enthusiasts will love an opportunity to absorb some historic landmarks relevant to this area while getting some exercise at the same time.

Gabi and Rob (below), on S/V CanCan, met us one morning at Pebble Isle for breakfast. They are friends of a friend who told them we’d be in their area; they had some questions about trailerable boating. Of course, we had those delicious cinnamon rolls and a good conversation about both our boating exploits and adventures. After breakfast, Rob and Gabi drove us into town to visit the hardware and grocery stores, it’s just what boaters do to help each other. Jim needed a part for something he was fixing and Gabi and I found stuff we needed for our respective dinners, and as the sign below so clearly states… the butcher was in.

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Kismet will be cruising the Tennessee River for four weeks!

For die-hard boaters, like us, there’s no better feeling than heading out on the road (for trailerable boaters) on the cusp of an adventure, we were just itching to do a little river cruising. We took our Kismet on a 680-mile road trip, from Traverse City, Michigan, before we floated her off of the trailer today into Lake Barkley at Green Turtle Marina, in Grand Rivers, Kentucky. Our intention is to cruise the Tennessee River for the next four weeks.

We had spent a couple of days at home, prior to departure, rigging the boat up and provisioning for our month-long excursion. We also made storage arrangements, ahead of time, for our truck and trailer in Grand Rivers, Kentucky for the duration of our cruise.

The reason for choosing Green Turtle Marina as a starting point is because this marina, nestled in the calming waters of the Kentucky Lakes, is a natural gathering place for “Loopers.” Upon arriving at the marina, they are usually exhausted from experiencing one of the most treacherous rivers in the United States, the mighty Mississippi River (followed by a short stretch of the Ohio and Cumberland Rivers – or Tennessee River depending on the chosen route). By the time they get through the Lake Barkley Lock and Dam, they are ready to unwind and regroup a little before they head out on the calmer waters of the Kentucky Lakes and Tennessee River.

We’d been to Green Turtle before and, even though we’re not currently cruising the Great Loop trip ourselves, we wanted to get to know some of this year’s participants. Launching at Green Turtle will also give us an opportunity to re-explore the beautiful 240-mile stretch of water from Grand Rivers down to Joe Wheeler Marina, in northern Alabama, our final destination, it’s where we plan to attend AGLCA’s 2012 Fall Rendezvous. Our aim is to try to recapture a little of the thrill of doing the Loop and observe the excitement amongst the current Loopers, many whom we hope to get to know as we bump into them while cruising south on the same route.

The first person to greet us when we pulled up to the boat ramp in the marina was Paul Kessinger (his son, John, above, joined Paul on their sailboat, Memsahib, to do the Great Loop boat trip). See what they have to say about that encounter on their blog… The Tardis Project.

Bruce, (above) on Tango, was our dock mate at Green Turtle, he’s doing the Loop boat trip in this 25-foot sailboat. Bruce is the perfect example of the spirit and determination it takes to do a 6,000-mile boat trip. We hope to bump into Bruce again, and several other Loopers we met at Green Turtle, as we make our way down the Tennessee River to Joe Wheeler in Rogersville, Alabama for the AGLCA (America’s Great Loop Cruisers’ Association) 2012 Fall Rendezvous.

The Tennessee River begins at the confluence of the Holston and French Broad Rivers, east of Knoxville, Tennessee, and runs 652 miles southwest to Chattanooga, Tennessee, down into Alabama where it runs south and west before turning and heading north at the Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee borders. From here the river runs north through Tennessee and the western section of Kentucky before it ends at the Ohio River, just east of Paducah.

When Loopers arrive at Green Turtle Marina they will actually be going upriver, although traveling south, as they access the Tennessee River via the Barkley Canal shortly after leaving the marina at Grand Rivers.

Lisa and I have navigated these waters twice before during our two Loop boat trips and have gone as far east on the Tennessee River as Chattanooga. We know there will be lots of territories still left for us to explore and we’re excited to get started.

Most of the boats tied up to this dock are Looper boats.

We are leaving Green Turtle (below), headed for the Barkley Canal, and the start of our return trip to the Tennessee River.

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