Day 1: Kentucky Dam to Pickwick Dam

Kentucky Dam to Pickwick Dam, TN. 170 miles.

Weather has not been on our side. Four days of thunderstorms and more flooding predicted in the central U.S.

The Mississippi River is flooding and will crest over the next two days. We drove through solid rain-storms for 500 miles from Tulsa, OK to Paducah, KY on May 20: outrunning two funnel clouds along HWY 60 in Missouri. We took shelter at a SAMs store. They were in a “Code Black” situation due to a tornado in the area. Code Black entails waiting in the center of the store while the storm passes. It was scary but my family made the best of it.

We made it to Kentucky Dam Marina and this picture is our send off.

My first day started out well. My family wished me goodbye and I was on my way. I got about 60 miles down the Kentucky Lake and was making good time. But then my boat started having issues. When I would push the throttle down, it would not plane out well. Long story short, there was water filling in the center pontoon. Thanks to help of two great guys at Birdsong Marina on KY lake, I found the leak and fixed it with silicone and a gasket.

The rest of the day was great. I made it another 110 miles to Pickwick Dam and even went through my first lock. The engineering of these locks is amazing and it made my day worth it!