Tuesday, October 24 –  From Paducah KY to Grand Rivers KY and the famous Green Turtle Bay Marina

Before we left Paducah I headed to an area called Lower Town to a lovely coffee shop (Etcetera) in the artist community. A sculpture garden and labyrinth were next to the shop, making for a peaceful way to start the morning.

We left Paducah with some help from our friends since the wind was blowing us right back into the dock and traveled about 12 miles upstream on the Ohio to the junction with the Cumberland River.

A this stage the Cumberland is winding and not too wide and very lovely, until we encountered a few huge quarries. It was fascinating and a little unpleasant since the work was being done so close to the river and I was getting stone dust in my eyes.

It was getting pretty chilly for outside boating so we moved to the lower helm for a while. But ventured out again when we saw some sun and hoped for its warmth.

About 30 miles later on the Cumberland River we came to the Barkley Lock that lifted us 57 feet to Lake Barkley. We also saw some friends had written their boat name on the ballard post, so we did too!

We followed the other boat in the lock to Green Turtle Bay Marina. It is well known among loopers and very highly rated. It is well-equipped, large and very welcoming. It’s not their fault its cold hereabouts!

Last night we stayed at the end of the dock for long term residents. It was a pretty walk back to the boat after dinner. but we’ll move tomorrow to the looper area.