We left the boat over the winter months at Prizer Point Marina in Western Kentucky.
DECEMBER} Traveled 6 hours to insert a bubbler underneath Spring Fling to keep the water moving around the hull to prevent any ice damage if it got too cold and the water should freeze.
MARCH} Bubbler removed and cleaned the boat.
APRIL} Cleaned the boat and Pete changed the oil.
MAY} We began exploring Lake Barkley and took two quick trips: One North to Eddycreek Marina and one South to Lake Barkley State Resort Park.
JUNE} Bobby Henry came down and we took him to Eddycreek Marina overnight. Bobby is tall and he was able to clean the ceiling of the Fly Bridge! A few days later Pam Dunaway joined us and we took a trip North to Green Turtle Bay. Pam proved to be an excellent Navigator as she helped guide Cheri with spotting the Red Nuns and the Green Cans along the way. We walked to the beach and went to dinner at Patti’s 1800’s Settlement House. Upon returning to Prizer Point Marina, we took the opportunity to help our church with rebuilding houses in Dawson Springs that were destroyed by the tornado almost 2 years ago. The three of us helped with electrical wiring the house under the direction of a Master Electrician and his helper. We cleaned the boat and defrosted the refrigerator for the summer months.
Bobby helping Pete move the dinghy!
AUGUST} Headed to Spring Fling after spending time in Massachusetts. But we were waylaid by a tire that blew out on the way down. A night was spent in Florence Y’All and 4 new tires were added the next day. We chose to return home due to an upcoming doctor appointment.
SEPTEMBER} Arrived at Prizer Point on Sunday of Labor Day Weekend! We had never been there on a weekend let alone Labor Day. It was absolute craziness and busy. Monday it quieted down as people went home and the rest of the week it was only me and Pete on the dock. We spent the next 5 days, Monday through Friday – Cleaning the Boat of Spider Poop!!! Spiders poop people! And the black little poop piles stain! Prizer Point is in rural Western Kentucky out in the farmlands. The nearest real town with a grocery store was about an half hour away. We were unable to secure anyone to come out to wash the boat while we were gone for 2 months!
SATURDAY we drove to PADUCAH} We had stopped there overnight last Fall when we came down the Ohio River and since we had our car, we chose to drive the hour to get there instead of taking 2 days by boat. We went to the Farmer’s Market, visited the Train Museum, the River Heritage Museum, and The National Quilt Museum. The National Quilt Museum houses innovative and extraordinary quilts from the United States and the world. There was such an array and variety of uniquely designed quilts. The Quilts of Valor Exhibition was featured. These quilts were created in appreciation and special recognition of veterans and active duty members and will be awarded in November.
SUNDAY we drove to the LAND BETWEEN THE LAKES} In order to control flooding and generate electricity in rural Kentucky and Tennessee, the Tennessee Valley Authority built the Kentucky and Lake Barkley Dams. As a result, Lake Barkley which is located on the East side and flows into the Cumberland River and Kentucky Lake which is on the West side and flows into the Tennessee River enclosed The Land Between The Lakes. Due to the flooding when the dams were created, some of the low lying towns and its people were forced to move and relocate. The Land Between The Lakes was designated by President Kennedy as a National Recreation Area. We started our day by finding a small beach along the Kentucky Lake side to eat our lunch. We visited the Woodlands Nature Center Station that houses a variety of animals, drove around the Elk and Bison Prairie (they were all sleeping – too hot for them), and visited the Golden Pond Visitor Center that displayed and talked about the effect the building of the dam had on the towns and the people who had lived there. how the people and the towns were forced to move and relocate from their homes.
Eagle with a broken wing
