Fall Boating

This fall, I rediscovered the fun of boating... living on the water for a few days, connecting with nature and spending time in Chattanooga.  After correcting some issues with a fuel line, the boat ran great all fall.  I kept the boat in Sewanee for much of September and October.  Was sad to have to winterize it after my third trip to Chattanooga on Nov. 3.

Cool weather cruising... last trip - Nov. 4 at Williams Is. TN River

I made a great trip to Fontana Lake with Roya.  We hiked from Eagle Creek up to the Shuckstack tower on the Lost Cove trail, the steepest trail in the Smokies.  It seemed really hard.  Beautiful weather.

Fontana Lake Sunset

Forney Creek Trail - GSMNP

Click on photo to get the full view  ---  View from Shuckstack Tower - Appalachian Trail

Trailering 

After the Fontana Lake trip, I took 3 trips alone up the TN River through the beautiful TN River Gorge to Chattanooga.  I spent one night on the river each time.  I get really decent internet through my phone on Verizon so I signed up for an unlimited data plan so I could watch movies and stream TV on my laptop.  Makes cruising pretty nice.

I took my bike each time and spent a fair amount of time in Chattanooga, meeting up with friend Bill once for a nice pub dinner and a beer.  Bill also gave me a tour of his ceramics plant.   I also stopped at the Raccoon mountain dock and biked to the top of the mountain.  Another stop I took was Williams Island... a large river island near Chattanooga that has campsites and a working farm with cattle.  I mountain biked around the island.

At the Raccoon Mountain dock - TN River Gorge

Biking at Raccoon Mtn.

Morning in the TN River Gorge

See the photo that was taken first thing in the morning in the TN River Gorge when waking up.  It was a pretty intense night as a cold front came in dropping the temperature 20º from 55º to 35º and the wind was strong.  As you can see, the morning was lovely.  There is a stretch of the gorge where there is no road on one shore, and no houses.  It's very isolated and beautiful.

The above photo was taken at Williams Is. dock in Chattanooga. It's a large island, 450 acres. This article on Williams Island mentions the history and the farm.   As you can see, that last trip was cool weather so I had the canvas up and the heat on much of the time.   I don't mind cool weather cruising, actually prefer it to hot weather cruising.  My cabin is pretty cozy and I have a DC electric blanket that works quite well to take any chill off.

For the first time, I found a place to dock on the north shore of Chattanooga.  It's an old landing, a grassy bank with a metal rail to tie up to on an abandoned lot.  You can see in the photo if you look hard my boat tied up to the north shore.  The north shore is pretty awesome,  it has a great number of shops and restaurants, all in a very close proximity including Whole Foods.

North Shore of Chattanooga

I've been very focused on training in the spring and have ignored (but not neglected) the boat for most of the spring and summer.  I can see right now if I get more into boating, I could be spending some money on the boat.  It sorely needs the seats redone, and it hasn't been buffed and waxed in forever. The back canvas could use some repair as well.  The exhaust manifolds and risers is a major engine job - actually pretty simple in theory - that I'm going to attempt myself in the spring.  I want to learn to do more maintenance by myself, including replacing the lower unit water pump when needed.  Youtube instruction videos are a game changer.  The trailer bearings need to be replaced and I even priced a new trailer because it would be nice to have electric trailer brakes and my trailer brakes haven't worked in yrs.  To get my present trailer fixed with new bearings and new electric brakes if I paid someone to do it could cost $1500.  I could sell that trailer for $1000 and buy a brand new one for $5000 with all the bells and whistles that would be safe and last me the rest of my life.

I'd like to also build a boat shelter for it in Sewanee, a barn / workshop and on a concrete slab.  So... the engine work, a new trailer, new interior/ seats... that's close to $10k right there.   A slab and a simple roof (like this) would cost $10k.  I'll probably put priority on the mechanical and perhaps the pole barn.  I'll repair my trailer bearings, probably not worry about the brakes.  The trailer bearings have never failed, they just leak grease but I keep them packed.  They are the original bearings over 30 yrs old so I don't want to wait for trouble.  I think I'd like to do this myself because if I ever have a bearing issue on the road, I want to know how to repair it.   I'd save 5 to $600 if I did it myself.  I'd save over $1000 in doing the manifolds.

One of the reasons I've been reluctant to boat in mid summer is the southern heat.  But, I've even thought of rigging a compact a/c unit for the cabin (like this) coupled with a portable generator (like this) that I could build a mount above the swim platform.

Anyway, don't want to get carried away with spending on the boat but it may prove to be a fun hobby, including the learning the maintenance.  Truly amazing that I've had this boat 27 years.

Les Alps

After winning 6 of 8 races and finishing third in two World Championship Finals at the Lyon 2015 World Masters Athletic Championships, my dad and I did a little touring.

 I wanted to see the Alps so I arbitrarily picked a town off the map... Tignes, France. What seemed like about a 3 hr drive from Lyon. It was centrally located in the heart of the French Alps near the ski town, Val d'Isère - home of legendary alpine skier, Jean-Claude Killy.

 The trip took way longer than we expected, driving almost 5 hrs, never completely sure where we were on the map, we stopped for dinner at a restaurant with a mountain view just as it got dark. After eating a spartan diet for weeks if not months, my dinner of fried fish was incredible. Finger-sized pieces of boneless perch. My dad got a huge meaty cheesy pizza... didn't look so good to me.

We finally got to Tignes around midnight or so in a thick fog. Driving through tunnels and mountains, we were deprived of the scenery in the dark. The Montana Hotel apparently has many hostels and apartments for skiers that were closed for the season and when arriving, the GPS was not real accurate and we were trying doors that were not open. Was worried we would not find a bed for the night. Finally, we found the hotel proper and checked in. I booked an extra large room, actually a room with two sections, one large bed for the adults and a set of bunks for kids. Of course my dad took the big bed and was very happy with the accommodations ... and that we even made it at all. I was very happy with the hotel and our room.

 The next day, the view of the nearby ski hill from our large sliding door was awesome ... but that was just a tiny foothill among the giant Alps. We checked out the hotel breakfast, which unlike other places, was complimentary... it was awesome. Great bread, super bean to cup coffee, pastries, potatoes, eggs, everything. Dad approved.

 We set out to explore and stopped at cafes and made it all the way into Italy over a mountain pass. I managed to find some apple pastries, and enjoyed a caprese salad with french fires and a beer. It was pretty idyllic. Interesting to see the farmers and their sheep, the ancient looking stone barns with stone roofs. The only problem was that dad is acrophobic and found the mountain roads unsettling. On the way back he just put his seat back so he wouldn't get scared.

 This place was awesome. I decided I needed to cancel my next night reservation in Paris despite the fact that I'd be charged, to stay another day and night in Tignes. It was that awesome.  The next day, more exploring and a ride up the ski gondola which was free.

Driving back to Lyon to return the car, the GPS led us onto a beautiful small road in the mountains. Turned out it was closed for paving. Wasted a lot of time, but it was a nice drive. Somewhere I got a speeding ticket, by automated devise, a camera. They sent me the ticket at home in the US... couldn't read it, it was in French. Oh well.

 I definitely want to return to Tignes. It's a hiker and mountain bikers paradise.