Days 195-199 - Ewes Bay to Clifton

We stayed at a beautiful anchorage other Loopers had told us about. The water level in Kentucky Lake, as I had mentioned before, is at a very low level so many anchorages are too shallow to get in to.  

This is supposed to be a 360 degree picture, but blog.spot won't let it post that way!  I should have done a panorama.

We took the dinghy to shore and went swimming to combat the 90+ degree temperature. The water so SOOOO nice and cool.

Dragon flies are everywhere here.  This little guy found his way into our boat and decided our pillow was great camouflage!

On our way to the Dry Forks anchorage, we went under a few pretty bridges.  This was my favorite.

Lots of long islands stretch along the shores of the lake.  

This is actually a reservoir and it has wonderful coves all around the shore, some deep enough for us and some not so deep! It is hard to think of the communities, homes, and businesses that had to relocate when the dams went up. We sure appreciate the transportation that the dams and locks provide to commerce as well as pleasure craft (or PC’s as the lock masters refer to us).

One of the many bays along the lake. This one is so large it has homes and marinas along the shore.

              Our beautiful anchorage at Dry Forks.

We've begun to see more houses...(thought I'd forgotten about my love for houses, didn't you :) )

                              ...Some in developments...

                            ...And some alone. Aren’t they beautiful?

                                      And some on the hills overlooking the river

                                      And some condo type

So many interesting sights along the way.
                                                      The bridge to nowhere!

Not sure why the bridge is gone, but the ferry business has improved

Just past the bridge to nowhere and ferry landing is an interesting old “dock” -- not connected to shore and not even close to shore. I couldn’t find any history on the area so the imagination goes wild! What stories can you come up with?

More unknown history - we think this is all part of an old dam and lock.

A most interestting sight - notice the difference in height between the front and back of the barge. Which end was unloaded first? This really demonstrates how much weight these barges can carry. A typical barge can carry 1500 tons although newer designs can carry double that. One rail car carries 100 tons and one semi truck 26 tons.

There is lots of industry along this stretch - how is this for new and improved silos?

Our next anchorage was tucked behind an island where Daydream (our friends from Birch Bay) joined us. They paddled over in their inflatable kayak for an afternoon visit. We left early the next morning and had a beautiful view of their little boat.

       The leaves are starting to change - it’s going to be a beautiful fall as we move down the rivers.

       Our view as we prepare to come out behind our evening anchorage back into the main river.

We haven’t seen so many fishermen in one area since the Chesapeake Bay!

There were quite a variety of fishing boats but the boat of choice has a low free-board, a pedestal fishing chair bow and stern, a standing platform for casting bow and stern, two to three chairs in the middle for going fast, a trolling motor on the bow, and a big outboard on the stern. They appear to have only two speeds, very slow when fishing and very fast when not. When going fast the outboard and a little bit of the stern are the only things that touch water. I never did get a good picture of the this type of boat but here is a smaller version.

The terrain has changed dramatically. The shore is very rocky and we have lost all evergreens. Only the deciduous remain. 

The cliffs are as beautiful as they are varied

The houses are built on or around the rocks, incorporating them into their landscapes.

Can you say - long walk down?

This one has its own garage and “driveway” for their boat

People get creative to bring in business along the water

We begin to see more signs of how low the water level is. This is a davit system to hold their boat - if only the boat could get there!

The “floating docks” are no longer floating

We arrived at Clifton Marina, a small marina with a terrific staff. We docked next to Jetstream - a Gold looper we had met at Green Turtle Bay. They invited us on board to cool off in their air conditioned comfort, as the temperature was in the 90’s and our air conditioner takes a while to cool our boat down. 2 other looper boats joined us and all had a simple dinner of shrimp and chips at the marina cafe. The owner (a retired pharmacist) let us use his beautiful Cadillac to run to the local store for a few groceries. Did I say how nice they were here?

Anchored in Ewes Bay 9/19-/9/20

Anchored in Dry Fork Bay, Panther Creek 9/21

Anchored at Rock Port Landing 9/22

Docked Clifton Marina 9/23

(Kentucky Lake)

Day 193-194 - Ewes Bay

Could I ask for a better place to stay?  It is a beautiful bay in Kentucky Lake in an area called Land Between the Lakes.

 Angel Louise waiting for us.

 This is a park literally between two lakes (actually reservoirs).

To back up a bit - when we got back from our shopping trip Monday night, we discovered 5 boats had arrived! 4 of them we have traveled with in the past and one, Daydream, we have been waiting to meet as they are from Birch Bay!  They trailered their 25 foot C-Dory to Florida where they will close their loop in a month or so.  They will then trailer it back to Washington in time for Christmas.



We all visited for a short time before bed. So sad we were departing in the morning, so I got as many pictures as I could before the sun set.

Some of the friends that caught up with us.

Pharm Life was docked next to us in New Bern, NC in April.  They are both pharmacists.

New friends, Byron and Cynthia, on Bright Angel.  These are Gold Loopers who have completed the loop once and are going around again.

Our dock - now full of Loopers!

This is not a looper boat, but was docked next to us.  A captain was taking it to its owners in Florida.  WOW!

In the morning, Bob filled our water tank, disconnected the power, and had the holding tank pumped out before we left at 8:30 while I said good-bye to everyone.

It was a beautiful but short passage to our anchorage down the lake.

Leaving Green Turtle Bay

After a cloudy, wet Monday, Tuesday appears to be shaping up beautifully!

Interesting cliffs on this beach

We went through a short cut between the two lakes.

One of the many bays along The Land Between the Lakes.  Some are too shallow to anchor in.

We stopped in Ewes Bay - and Angel Louise was there ready to have a rematch on Jokers and Marbles.  We had a great visit with them on their catamaran that they have been cruising on for 10 years.  They've taken her to Europe and did the Loop there!  Wonderful couple even if Ed and Bob trounced Sue and I in Jokers, TWICE, and then Ed promptly beat us all in a round of Chicken Foot.

Angel Louise left in the morning....

...and we had the bay to ourselves (well - a few fishermen that come and go)

We had a quiet, HOT day.  It's in the 90's this week.  Too hot for us, especially with no air conditioning unless we run the generator, which we did for a few hours in the evening to make sleeping more comfortable. We'll leave in the morning to our next anchorage and more heat!  Blessedly, cooler weather should arrive in about a week.  Not soon enough!  The water looks too murky for swimming but we may try it this afternoon.  Bob has to drop the dinghy to get at our swim step for that so not sure.

I haven't posted houses for a while so I'll leave you with these.




Anchored in Ewes Bay 9/19-9/20