DAY 12

Monday September 28, 2009

Up early to be ready to be pulled out at 8, which turned out to more like 9. After our incident with the log in the Ohio River we were very relieved to see the props looked good. The mechanic checked them and one of the Starboard blades was 1/16 of an inch off. They don’t feel it is vibrating enough to do any damage to the bearings so the decision was made to put her back in the water without changing the props. Our ride down Lake Kentucky was adventurous. We had 2-3 ft waves and it made for a wild ride. Stopped for the night at Pebble Isle Marina in New Johnsonville, Tennessee. Now for your history lesson….. As you pass this part of river, you go over the remains of 33 Union vessels that were ambushed here and lay on the bottom. Most were supply boats for Sherman’s army and their march to the sea. Nathan Bedford Forrest organized the ambush. He was a merchant from Memphis and had no military training. Along with the boats, they destroyed warehouses and two trains. In the end it really had no impact on the outcome of the war as Sherman was the destroying the rail lines behind him and he had already decided that the army would “live off the country”. And he would “make Georgia howl” until they reached the seaborne supplies at Savannah. We have adjusted our itinerary somewhat so we can spend a day touring the battlefield at Shiloh. So, tune in for another history lesson in a couple of days.

Here is the process of pulling the Oddysea out to check the props. The lift drives over the haul-out area and lowers the lift straps on the water. Ross drove the boat in over the straps and then they lift up her up out of the water and drive the lift onto the hard where the mechanics can inspect the props.









They simply use a straight rod and swing the props around to see if they hit the rod at any point. And by how much.