Thanks to everyone on the west coast who called to see if our boat was ok.
The boat is not near the flooded areas of Tennessee that have been in recent news, but it occurred to me that most folks I know have little idea of Kentucky Lake, how it was built and how much of a resource it is to the country.
The lake was created by the TVA, (Tennessee Valley Authority) after Sissy Spacek and Mel Gibson almost lost their ranch from river flooding ,… oops, wrong (but great) movie.
The TVA created Kentucky and Barkley lakes by damming the Tennessee river. This was a flood control project as well as creating a great source of hydroelectric power.
Here is a photo of Harry Truman in the 1945 dam dedication. In the next aerial shot, you can see the Kentucky Dam on the left and the Barkley Dam on the right. Our boat is at Green Turtle Bay which can be seen near the center of the photo. The third photo shows the lock construction to allow vessels to get past the dam. The lake is so big that large tugs pushing 15 full sized barges just blend into the shoreline.
For our friends in the SF Bay Area, Kentucky lake is about 183 miles long, by comparison, the distance from the Golden Gate Bridge to Sacramento Is about 93 miles. SF bay has maybe 50 well known anchorage’s. When we arrived, I asked a local sailor about recommended favorite spots on Kentucky lake and the puzzled response was “there are hundreds”.
