Relocating Boat to Mid-TN

Prosideus

Prosideus

Active Member
Jun 5, 2012
635
Franklin, TN - Old Hickory Lake
Boat Info
1995 220 BR Signature
Prior Boat:
400 Sedan Bridge 1996 Cats 3116
Engines
Mercruiser 5.7
So after a year of boat ownership on Pickwick, we are moving the boat to Old Hickory. We love the marina we are currently at and hate to leave, but the 2.5 hour drive makes it tough to get to the boat as often as we would like. The new marina on Old Hickory will be 28 miles from our house, so we are looking forward to an easier trip to the boat.

This also means a 440 mile boat trip down the Tennessee and up the Cumberland rivers, which I am excited about. We will make the trip sometime before September 1.

Looking forward to connecting with other CSR members on the new lake. I welcome all the local knowledge and advice for boating on the lake.


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Have you considered moving your boat 50 miles upriver to Wilson Lake, Alabama? This is a very wide, deep lake, and is far better for boating than either Pickwick or Old Hickory. There are also many pristine coves and sloughs to escape the traffic.

We have 140,000 people and the amenities that come with a medium size city--including fine restaurants and shopping 5 minutes from the lake. And many permanent residences on this lake are absolutely incredible.

I grew up in Nashville, and spend my youth on Old Hickory Lake. I also lived in Williamson County for many years commuting to our lake house at Muscle Shoals. From Franklin to Old Hickory Lake is often a difficult drive with Nashville's increasing traffic. From my house in Florence, I can easily be sitting in downtown Franklin in 1 hour and 40 minutes.

There are two marinas on Shoal Creek, one of which is brand new. There are also 3 Robert Trent Jones championship golf courses.

I make this suggestion as Wilson Lake is one of those hidden gems. And it's very close to Franklin, and an easy 4 lane-interstate drive all the way. You should take time to check out this place.
 
I live about 35 miles from you and I don't even have a boat in Tennessee any more. I'll do whatever it takes to continue boating in paradise on the Gulf coast 12 months a year. An added feature is the fact t hat Southwest flies into the new NW Fla airport now........if they would just sell me a ticket for my dogs, I'd be set.

That also means I'm close enough to look over your shoulder at Old hickory if you get stuck on a boat issue...............
 
I am on Priest Lake but have a lot of friends who boat and live on OHL. They say you need to look out for debris which seems to be floating downstream, and there are some real shallow areas you need to be aware of. Other than that, it is a nice lake to live and boat! Enjoy.
 
Thanks for the posts guys, keep them coming.

The main reason we are relocating is a season of life thing. We have two teenagers, and it is a challenge to get all the friends out to the boat on a day trip, and we can't overnight more than six comfortably. We slip at Grand Harbor and sometimes rent out a condo. Inevitably, long day trips are what we usually end up with, especially given all the other activities they have going on. So the move is purely a convenience.

MWPH and Carter, thanks for the posts. Never been through the locks. So definitely a trip of firsts. I hope to take many pictures along the way. We looked into the yacht club, but the price to purchase slips was not an option right now. We had been on Pickwick for a year and I wanted to give this a try for a year. Turns out I will get to enjoy a 7% tax hit by TN when I register locally. That was the cool thing about buying in MS, no tax on transfer of property as long as I kept it in MS.

Bamaman, I have not made it as far down as Wilson lake. Only Florence. We considered Guntersville, but still had the drive that bumped up close to two hours. I will definitely check out Wilson lake when we are empty nesters. There is a marina and golf club there I am interested in looking into someday.

Frank, I appreciate the offer and will definitely take you up on that if you are ever up our way. You are always welcome to swing by anytime you are in the area. I believe we may someday end up in the Florida panhandle when we get closer to retiring.

Uplate, we may trailer the jet ski over to priest someday just to check it out. All the years I have been here I have never made it over to that lake. As far as debris, we went over yesterday morning to take a look at the new marina, and it looked like a 100 ft (really) tree was floating down the river. Your comment and what we observed may be very foretelling.

Thanks again guys appreciate the responses....
 
Welcome in advance to Old Hickory. Yeah, it's not the best idea to go out after hard rains for a couple of days. Which marina are you going to be staying at ? I'm at Creekwood.
 
Rxflyer, we will be at Blackjack Cove.

I hear you about debris. These last two days we were out at pickwick and wow was the water up - debris everywhere. Recent rains had lake at highest level than than locals remember is the last twenty years. Look forward to connecting up someday.


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Good luck with the move and the trip.

here are some thoughts: I'd call pickwick lock before you leave GH so you don't have a long wait to enter the chamber. Your first 100 miles will be ALOT of backing down for residential docks, fishing boats and a few tows. if you do this leg on a Saturday or Sunday, it will take the better part of a day if not the entire day due to all the boats in the water (millions of pontoons on the banks). I'd really think hard about doing this part on a week day because it'll drive you nuts. Pebble Isle (Tenn mm98) is about halfway between Pickwick and the 2-mile canal connecting the Tenn & Cumberland (tennessee mm25 & Cumberland mm 33). Pebble usually has low diesel price and they pump a lot of it so its a nice place to transient. restaurant and courtesy car too. Next 80-90 miles is wide open so you can easily be at the canal by noon if you leave pebble by 0800. GTB is just off the canal Cumberland side if you need any parts, work or just want to stop by if you're not in a hurry. I'd probably run from Pebble to either prizer point (mm55) or Barkley lodge (mm60). if you have kids, prizer is fun place---very family oriented. barkely lodge is just very pretty area...google it. from either you can then make the run to Old hickory (lock is mm 215 or so) fairly comfortably the next day or transient at Rock harbor (mm175) or Nashville riverfront (mm190). Cheatam is the only lock between pickwick and Nashville and its around mm150 or so IIRC. let me know if you need any help with planning, marinas, fuel, anchorages, etc. have fun...
 
searay40dad said:
Good luck with the move and the trip.

here are some thoughts: I'd call pickwick lock before you leave GH so you don't have a long wait to enter the chamber. Your first 100 miles will be ALOT of backing down for residential docks, fishing boats and a few tows. if you do this leg on a Saturday or Sunday, it will take the better part of a day if not the entire day due to all the boats in the water (millions of pontoons on the banks). I'd really think hard about doing this part on a week day because it'll drive you nuts. Pebble Isle (Tenn mm98) is about halfway between Pickwick and the 2-mile canal connecting the Tenn & Cumberland (tennessee mm25 & Cumberland mm 33). Pebble usually has low diesel price and they pump a lot of it so its a nice place to transient. restaurant and courtesy car too. Next 80-90 miles is wide open so you can easily be at the canal by noon if you leave pebble by 0800. GTB is just off the canal Cumberland side if you need any parts, work or just want to stop by if you're not in a hurry. I'd probably run from Pebble to either prizer point (mm55) or Barkley lodge (mm60). if you have kids, prizer is fun place---very family oriented. barkely lodge is just very pretty area...google it. from either you can then make the run to Old hickory (lock is mm 215 or so) fairly comfortably the next day or transient at Rock harbor (mm175) or Nashville riverfront (mm190). Cheatam is the only lock between pickwick and Nashville and its around mm150 or so IIRC. let me know if you need any help with planning, marinas, fuel, anchorages, etc. have fun...
Click to expand...


Thanks for the info. This is a great springboard and saves me a lot of research. We are thinking of heading out on a Wednesday which will hopefully cut down on the recreational traffic. It would be sweet if we can make it in three days. I was thinking four at 100 miles each day. I'll hit the web on the transients. Would you do rock harbor or the riverfront if we ended up having to call it a day?


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You could do this in 2 days if you tripped during the week. they'd be long days but easily doable. Three would be no problem at all but if you have 4 days, take them because its pretty boating and there's neat places to see if you have them time. I'd probably tie up at the Riverfront if you haven't done that before. You'll be right there near Broadway so plenty of places to eat, have a drink or catch a show. Only downside is a lot of homeless people end up sleeping in that area so just be aware. Always a lot of law enforcement walking around when I've been there though so it's not a big deal.
 
UPDATE - Trip partially completed.

Just wanted to update everyone on the trip progress.

Lesson Learned Summary:
1) Know what "one whistle" and "two whistles" mean before you meet a barge in a tight spot
2) Trolling motor batteries don't maintain the cranking power a diesel engine needs
3) Read and follow Frank's article on maintaining diesel fuel in your tanks.
4) Practice maneuvering your boat with one engine
5) I have a fueling problem where fuel ends up in the bilge
6) Fuel gauges seem to be reading lower than the amount of fuel in the tanks, getting more pronounced as fuel is consumed.

Details of trip follow.....

We got away this past Wednesday as planned to head towards our first destination about 110 miles away. The morning we were to leave the starboard engine would not start, supplemented the starter with the emergency start button and it reluctantly turned over and started up. I thought the long run would be perfect for charging the batteries.

Shortly after locking through pickwick, we met a barge in the narrow part of the river. I hailed him on the radio to determine port or starboard side to pass on. He replied "two whistles will be fine"......DOH!

Arriving at first destination pulled up to fuel dock to take on gas before moving over to transient dock. Well, the first of a series of events happened. If you have seen my other post on "fuel venting into bilge?", it happened again as we were fueling. I knew this was an issue with the port tank and I would only take on 7/8 tank. However, had not experienced this with the starboard tank so I was not watching the gauge. So this is a feature I have to think through what is happening and how to resolve.

So next issue is the engine does not start. Two new batteries to replace deep cycle trolling motor batteries the PO had installed. Motor started and idled over to transient dock. Pebble Isle marina - great folks there.

Great breakfast from the marina put a fire in our bellies, and we needed it because we pulled out just as a torrential thunderstorm opened up. We could barely see 100 yards in front of us. Luckily it was moving pretty fast and we were heading away from the weather so within about 20 minutes we were all clear.

Third thing that popped up happened right as I was handed a burger for lunch on the bridge. We had been making about 22mph and it seemed as if an engine thumped or chugged. It was an instant and I thought perhaps i bumped the throttled....well about 15 minutes later, the stbd engine lost power. At that high speed we dipped to the right until I could pull the throttle down. The engine did not cut out though. Scared the piss out of me. We slowly throttled back up and I began running through causes, at this point we were about 100 miles into the second leg of our journey and about 5 miles from the next marina. At the harbor entrance to the marina, the stbd engine just cut out and died. Tried to maneuver on one engine, nope. I changed over the fuel valve to the other tank and cranked the engine. Started right up and made our way to the marina for fueling. I also changed over to fresh fuel filters. Back on our way, but a little nervous about what had happened.

I pinged Frank and thankfully he was able to call me and talk through the scenario and gave me some peace of mind. Thanks Frank! The thinking is that without the proper fuel maintenance/treatment, stuff has been stirred up in the tanks and caused a brief cut out in fuel.

The final thing that ended our journey short was the insane amount of rain we have been experiencing in middle Tennessee this last week. At about 10-15 miles out from our next stopping point for the night, the new Clarksville Marina (which is very nicely done by the city), we encountered an incredible amount of debris in the river. There were times we were idling through debris fields and dodging huge logs and trees. Very frustrating. Knowing that this was the start of more to come, we decided to moor at Clarksville for the week and pick back up on our trip this next weekend.

At this point, we are 285 miles into a 390 mile trip. Outside of the couple of anomalies the boat has performed beautifully. We are consuming one gallon per mile based on our distance and the amount of fuel I have purchased thus far. I need to check my sending units, because they drop to about 1/4 tank, but I have not put more than 75 gallons in each tank, so that is either a large reserve allowance or I have something else going on.

I will update this post as we complete our trip.


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Update: details and specs

1996 400DB with Cat 3116TA with ~ 1000hrs.

Total miles on TN River/Cumberland River: 378
Total engine hours: 29
*Total fuel purchased: 465 gallons
Total fuel cost: $2055

Avg cost/gallon: $4.42
*Gallons/hour: 14.75
*Gallons/mile: 1.13

*total gallons of fuel purchased has been adjusted down for averages and gallons per calculations as follows. Estimated 25 gallons under full at start of trip, 12 gallons of spillage (estimated 3 gallons leaked into bilge at each fueling stop due to cracked fuel fill hoses - and yes I cleaned the fuel from the bilge)

Trip took three days. After the first two days we had to stop over about 90 miles away and moor for the week due to heavy rains creating too much debris in the waterway.

The only issue we had was what I attributed to growth in the tanks. In the middle of the second days the stbd engine furled from the port tank choked twice several minutes apart, then completely died. Switched engine over to stbd tank and headed into closest marina where we changed over to new racors and filled the tanks. Made and emergency reach out to Frank to talk me through what was going on. Set the stbd engine back to the port tank and continued our journey without incident-Thanks Frank!!

Have been in our new slip since September and learning the new lake. Great having the boat 100 miles closer.


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Great report - thanks. We've had a lot of debris at Chickamauga May - July with the heavy rains as well. It's just a TN River thing. I'm getting close to moving to PCB with FrankW...

I'm working through dirty fuel as well. Changing Racors every 20 hours or so after shocking the tanks with Biobor. Once I get the tanks close to empty, I'll refill and reshock and hopefully they will be clean(er)...
 
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We are at blackjack cove. Used to be the old hickory boat/yacht club I believe. About 3-4 miles from the dam.


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