When we returned to Goose Pond, all we found of the May Flies were a few dried up carcasses, hot, hot weather and terrible fishing. But the place was still as beautiful as before. We traveled down there on Friday night with Eric my son-in-law, once again, as our "wheel man". The idea was that Eric and Mitchell could fish a little upon arrival and then again on Saturday and Sunday. Eric would leave us Sunday morning and the Sea Me Smile would head up river toward Chattanooga. And that's pretty much what we did, however the heat and poor fishing put a little crimp in our style.
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| We got back to Goose Pond late in the night |
I asked Chuck, one of the original guys who was involved in the river trip idea, if he could come along, but he couldn't get away. Then I thought of "Little Wayne", but he and his better half were going to Alaska for a vacation. And finally, I thought of a new friend from the VFW, Dale, but he was having gall bladder surgery. So Jeff, much to his chagrin, was pressed into service.
You see, there are elements afoot within my family structure who don't want the old man out on the seven seas without a specific contingent of crew members in attendance. I tell 'em, "I'm a big boy; I'll be just fine"! Their response goes something like this: "You're not a big boy, you're fat, and further more, and most importantly, you're old!" Ain't love grand?
So off we went on Sunday getting about a twelve noon start and deciding we were headed for Hale's Bar Marina on Nickajack Lake, TN, The trip went smoothly, which for us means no break downs and no injuries. In hind sight it seems so long ago that I was in constant pain and limping around. Wait, I guess it was a long time ago. Reality check... this trip has taken forever.
We made it to Hale's Bar (get over it; it's a sandbar) about six in the evening. We couldn't raise anyone on the radio, but seeing all kinds of empty docks, we pulled in. We were assisted by the crew of the Lady in Red. While securing the boat, I noticed that the Lady in Red did have a lot of red paint on her, and the lady helping me retie my lines was dressed in a lot of red. I said, "You must be the boat's name sake?" She simply smiled. I'll took that as a, "You Got It".
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| The old power house is supposed to be haunted |
One of the interesting things at Hale's Bar is that the marina is built on two sides of an old TVA dam and power plant. However, apparently they had so much trouble with it leaking that they finally tore most of it down and built a new damn and lock a little farther down stream. The old lock is used by a commercial mining company as the place they load their barges. That worked out perfectly for them. And what is left of the old power house is used by the marina to give haunted house tours. Now that's creativity.
Once secure, I learned from the other boat that the marina monitors channel 68 (go figure). And, that they close at six o'clock. Ah, minute men. So we'd settle up the next day. We hadn't been tied up but a few minutes when a couple came strolling down the dock and were admiring the boats and visiting. After a few minutes of answering questions, I invited 'em to have a crawl. (That's Boater Talk for letting someone explore your boat.) They were impressed with the boat and, in appreciation, decided that they would bring dinner down to the dock for all of us. We provided the barbecue and they provided the food... it was great. Now, if I could pull that hat trick off a little more often, I would love it
The next morning, the Lady in Red left about an hour and a half before us. We stuck around to take care of a few things like filters and oil checks and paying our dock-age bill. Then we headed for Chattanooga, just about ten o'clock.
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