More Challenges

Hello from Clifton TN.  Yesterday morning we were anchored behind an Island on the TN River at mile 143, about 113 miles south of where we had been resting in KY Lake.  The trip down was mostly uneventful.  As you get further down the lake it gradually becomes narrower and more river like.  This includes more current in this case against us, building from 1/2 knot near the dam to almost 2 knots.  Therefore we are only making 5 knots or less over the ground although we are making 6.5 through the water.  Liz made a comment that something sounded different with the engine, I should have thought more of it.  After we got going for the day, I noticed that the battery voltage seemed low on the engine panel, and checked the volt meter on the power distribution panel.  It looked like we weren't getting any charge from the alternator.  When we opened the engine compartment to see if there was anything else amiss, we noticed that the water pump shaft seal was leaking badly.  We called ahead with the help another another looper that we had met back at Hoppie's Marina and got a slip and a mechanic to meet us at Clifton Marina, which was only 15 miles from our starting point.


When we took the water pump off it was definitely shot so we spent a bit of time trying to find the right replacement.  It turns out that Pathfinder used a Swedish pump from Johsnon AB, which of course is three times what a US pump would cost and they are not easy to come by, but the mechanic found one through a contact of his in FL and it is coming in overnight.  Then we can try to troubleshoot the alternator.

Also Max has been having some issues.  He developed a hot spot at the root of his tail, which resulted in an open sore and itchiness.  We got some over-the-counter treatments at WalMart near the Pebble Isle Marina that we stayed at two nights ago.  Since we were stuck at Clifton until we got the motor straightened out, Liz took the Marina's courtesy car to Savannah TN near the point at which the TN River joins the TennTom waterway.  She took Max to a Vet there and got him a cortisone shot and some antibiotics which he will be on for 12 days.  Everybody feels better knowing that we have that under control.

If we can get the engine problems taken care of today, we can leave tomorrow and probably make it to the head of the TennTom by Friday.  From there it is 450 miles to Mobile.  The current in this part of the river will continue high until we hit the first lock on the TennTom, then no or helpful current from there to Mobile.

Unfortunately in the TennTom there are lots of locks.  In fact, in the first 40 miles or so there are 5 locks that bring us down by 240 ft, including one lock that is an 84 ft drop.  Commercial traffic on this section of the TN R has been very mild compared to the Miss and Ohio. We were talking to some TN natives and they said the tow boats are much more polite and easy to deal with on this part of the waterway.  But there aren't many services from Demopolis AL to mobile which is the last 200 miles.

I guess thats all for now.