Day 20 - Fast pass or slow pass? — Captain Father John

Miles cruised 57, Fuel purchased $0, slip fee $45

It rained last night. Just enough cloud cover to block our TracR satellite dish. Fortunately or unfortunately we did not lose the Direct TV signal until after the Chicago Cubs lost the playoff baseball game to the St. Louis Cardinals. We decided to not go the spaghetti dinner at the marina and ate leftovers instead. Now we have a little room in our refrigerator.

Our first Looper docktail event was pleasant. Dick Almay and Pat Leighton from the trawler Dream Catcher, a Grand Banks 42, came over at 5:30 pm. They each brought their own cocktail which is the protocol. We supplied the appetizers. Their plan is to attend the rendezvous, cruise to Florida and the Bahamas and return up the rivers in the spring and buy a houseboat and live at the Green Turtle Bay marina.
The following is a lesson in boating etiquette. Having been a boater on the Great Lakes I have not had a lot of experience passing other boats in relatively tight quarters such as a river. Having read a half dozen Looper books I do not recall this topic being addressed in detail. Perhaps it is common knowledge among most boaters. When passing tow boats and barges we have chatted up the captains to let them tell us on which side to pass – one whistle or two? That is because they are huge and take up the majority of the channel in the river. Pleasure craft are relatively small and can be passed of either side. Yesterday we approached John Winn on the Silverton 48 Winndecks and his buddy boat going 10 mph due to having only one engine. Our boat throws a huge wake when we are cruising at 10 – 12 mph. When we are on plane at 28 – 30 mph the wake is half the size. I saw the two boats ahead and hugged the side of the channel as far from them as I could. As we passed I heard a snide comment on channel 16 “jerks come in all size boats.” OK, I am trainable. Throwing the smaller wake did not make me any friends. A few miles ahead we approach Dream Catcher. I chat him up on the radio and ask him if he wants a fast or a slow pass. He says slow and that he will slow down to let us get past. We slow down and pass him and he comes back on the radio and thanks us for our courtesy. That evening we are all at the same marina and Dick from Dream Catcher says it would have been a lot better if we gave him a fast pass with the smaller wake. So the learning is to call pleasure boats as well as tow boats when you plan to pass them. Don’t assume they will know you are doing them a favor with the fast pass. This morning we had the opportunity to test our new theory. John Winn and his buddy boat left before us again and set up the same passing situation as the day before. I call out on channel 16, no answer. I call out on the Looper channel 71 no answer. Then I try the tow boat channel 13 and get Winndecks to respond. I asked if they prefer a fast or slow pass today. They answer – yes. I respond – OK slow pass it is Cap’t. We pull up on their port side as far away as we can and still be in the channel. They slow down so we can pass and all is forgiven. The key is they have to slow down or we cannot get past them at 10 – 12 mph. Yes, we rolled them with twice the wake we did the day before but they were happy about it because we called them.

Today we will transit the Pipwick lock. We have not locked through any locks in several days. We received a recommendation to stay at the Grand Harbor Marina in Counce, Tennessee. We called ahead and will get a covered slip for two nights.

When we arrived at the Pipwick lock there were 4 PC’s anchored. They had been waiting for a few hours already for a double tow to lock through. The lock master told us it would be about a 45 minute wait. When the lock cleared for entry there were 8 PC’s and 3 bass fishing boats. An up-bound tow on the other side called in and said once he sees the herd of PC’s pass by he will know it will be his turn to enter the lock. Winndecks and Dream Chaser missed the lock through. They will have a 2 – 3 hour wait.

Getting a covered slip at Grand Harbor Marina seemed like good until we realized it would block our satellite feed for tonight’s Cubs Vs Cardinals game. We have never hooked up our cable TV but we will try it tonight.

We arranged to borrow the marina loaner car on Sunday to tour the Shiloh battlefield park.

Carl (chef) Wooden – quote for the day

The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore.”

— Vincent Van Gogh, Painter

Our slip at the Clifton Marina. Very convenient to the bar.