And we're off!

The journey has begun. I left Gold Point Marina at 5:30 p.m. on September 30 with my youngest daughter Betsy as my first crew. The wind was 18 knots, gusting to 22. Somehow, it seemed like a sign. I prefer to think of it as a good sign -- starting a sailing voyage with lots of wind seems good. Betsy and I posed for photos at the helm while we waited for the lock gates to open.





After the lock drained, we were blasted by huge winds as we were trying to exit the lock and had to abandon our "locking line" to keep the boat from hitting the wall. I asked the lockmaster to close the gates to protect us from the wind, which he did, and we went back and retrieved the line. Betsy had nerves of steel in a very scary situation. So, our very fist lockage was a rough one! But, no harm, no foul.

Not only was it windy, but the river was running at 2 knots, so we FLEW down to Ross's Landing at 9 knots (speed over ground). We tied up at the commercial dock across from the tour boats and immediately plugged in to heat the boat as the temperature dropped. It fell into the 40s during the night!

So now were are tied up for the weekend in beautiful downtown Chattanooga. The RiverRocks Festival, Three Sisters Music Festival, and Wine Over Water event are all occurring this weekend, so we will have plenty to do.




Betsy and I toast a successful to start!



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