Putting the restored 1954 Old Town back on water

The finished canoe ready to take to Tellico Lake for its first float since about 1982.

Anna in the Captains chair and me on the bow seat.  Man was that wind blowing!  It was back on the water at 2:00, December 2nd, 2009.  Yehaw!

Anna's picture from Facebook.  I LOVE IT!

Back on Annas car to be taken to its new home safe and sound.  The canoe is 16' long, made from wood and canvas, coated with four coats of red paint on the outside and five coats of varnish on the inside.  It weighs exactly 80lbs.

Paddling on Notchy Creek

Very cool cedar growing horizontal over the lake on upper Notchy Creek.  I am trying to paddle all of Tellico from the 411 Bridge east up to Chilhowee Dam and up to where the Tellico River stops running above Sloan Bridge.  I want to go into every cove and side stream.  I have only about 4 miles to go to meet my goal before December 31.  That would be from where Tellico River and Ballplay Creek meet and upstream to Sloan Bridge.

This is at the back of a very pretty cove across the lake from where Notchy Creek empties into Tellico Lake.  Very pretty.  It is the next cove below Kennedy Branch.

This is a really neat rock.  Note the hole all the way through it.  This is between Notchy Creek and Ballplay Creek.  When paddling along the lake banks you get to see all kinds of cool things.

This cliff is between Ballplay and Notchy Creek.  The old road bed is between me and the cliff.  As you get closer you can see the drill marks especially at the top of the cliff.  Apparently road builders either removed the rock to make the road or they used the materials from the cliff to build the road.

Mid-Tellico Paddle

This is the new 2008 Newman Memorial Fishing Pier in Vonore.  Nice place to park and launch a canoe or kayak This is NOT a boat ramp...it is a fishing pier but had great access  the lake for a canoe or kayak.  From Vonore, take 360 and just before the first bridge look for the unsigned road to the left.

With sounds of muskets and canon fire last Saturday, Phillip and I completed my mid-Tellico paddling by marking off several miles around Ft. Loudoun and the 411 bridge area.  One thing I know, the area will look vastly different after the Sequoyah Marina and Resort is complete!  We visited the Tellico Blockhouse, Ft. Loudon reinactment, paddled to the Harbour Place development (which is the first major development along the entire Little T system) and I showed him the first private dock on the main channel as you paddle west or "downstream".   It was a great day with the osprey, deer, hawks, buzzards, crows, squirrels, osage orange trees, late-summer wild flowers and beautiful weather.

The first advertizement along the Little T

This is the first private dock along the whole Little T...it sets in front of a house of the Harbour Place development

This sinkhole is along the lake edge between the old 411 bridge and Harbor Place 

Boy Scouts on Tellico

It has been a while since I posted but here are some pics of our latest BSA trip. We paddled from Harrison Branch down (west) to Four Mile Creek. There is a nice peninsula with a campsite on public land.

Above is our site with all our canoes. See Jeff Meyer with his tarp over the side of his boat? This is a classic canoer move! The Scouts in the foreground are learning about the use of Woods Tools and in the background they are getting ready to prepare meatball marenera for subs.

Dylan and Phillip were our chefs that night. Don't those peppers and onions look good?!

David is practicing throwing a teathered PFD to a "drowning" victim in the pic above.

Hard to see...but its a Bald Eagle. This bird came swirling down and grabbed a fish from the surface of the water and flew to a tree for lunch.

I just love it! Scouts on water in a canoe! Classic!