I need info on VOL NAVY (merged)

#1

JeffB4UT

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#1
My wife and I want to boat up from Chattanooga and join the vol navy before a game but we never have done it. Could you give me all the details you can as to what I need to know before doing it. Thanks and GO VOLS!
I have a 2001 Chapparal 18 foot ski boat. (Small by Vol navy standards I'm sure.
 
#2
#2
unless you have places to stay, i would not do it in that size boat. you will beat yourself up.
 
#4
#4
the travel is too rough in that size. also dont forget the locks you need to go through. i wouldnt try it in anything smaller than a 25/28 ft with a cutty and friends who know what they are doing.
 
#5
#5
Why don't you just go to a game driving and go down to the Vol Navy area early. You can check the whole gig out and ask the veterans there about the best way to do it.
 
#6
#6
thats a good idea. you can also rent a boat around here for the day. you would have much less stress.
 
#7
#7
How ya feeling J? Hope everything is going well for you..... :thumbsup:
 
#8
#8
You could also pull it up I-75 and launch it in Knoxville the first time, and then ask for advice from some of the regulars.
 
#11
#11
You could also pull it up I-75 and launch it in Knoxville the first time, and then ask for advice from some of the regulars.

Thats sounds like a good idea .. anyone know some of the particulars once there?
Thanks for the info.
 
#12
#12
As you mention, that's a small boat for the Vol Navy. Best you can hope for is to tie up at the end of a chain, but that entails arriving pretty late. Folks are pretty nice down there, and theoretically you may be able to tie up in the front of a houseboat (though I'm not sure that's very do-able either).
 
#13
#13
As you mention, that's a small boat for the Vol Navy. Best you can hope for is to tie up at the end of a chain, but that entails arriving pretty late. Folks are pretty nice down there, and theoretically you may be able to tie up in the front of a houseboat (though I'm not sure that's very do-able either).

Some of the smaller boats seem to sometimes dock further away from the stadium. At least in my small experience that is how it looked.
 
#14
#14
there are plenty of small boats in the Vol Navy (dozens). Driving up from Chattanooga wouldn't be a problem at all, other than just the time it will take and the amount of gas you're going to use.

The problem would be where you're going to spend the night.
 
#15
#15
there are plenty of small boats in the Vol Navy (dozens). Driving up from Chattanooga wouldn't be a problem at all, other than just the time it will take and the amount of gas you're going to use.

The problem would be where you're going to spend the night.

I will stay in my boat if I have to. It has a sunlounge which would be a good bed, as long as I don't fall asleep :) Anyone know how long it might take to get to Knoxville from Chattanooga?
 
#17
#17
I to have wanted to be part of the Vol Navy. I am on the main channel of the TN river. I am around river marker 491 just north of opossum creek. I would love to travel up with someone else in a caravan of sorts. I have a 25 ft. sea ray. with a cuddie cabin that sleeps 4. Let me know if anyone in the Chattanooga area is interested. Anyine on this forum make the trip form Chattanooga please elaborate on your experiences on the trip.

Thanks,

Corey
 
#19
#19
I don't have charts for that area, but did a quick look and it seems that it is around 160 miles by water. I'm guessing you cruise at around 25 knots, so with a fuel stop, I'd figure 6 hours. Again, I don't have charts, so that assumes limited no wake areas. Sleeping on a bowrider isn't ideal, but not horrible either.
I recently did a trip of about the same distance, but we broke it into two days. The boat cruised between 12 and 14 knots and it took about 15 hours total.
 
#20
#20
I don't have charts for that area, but did a quick look and it seems that it is around 160 miles by water. I'm guessing you cruise at around 25 knots, so with a fuel stop, I'd figure 6 hours. Again, I don't have charts, so that assumes limited no wake areas. Sleeping on a bowrider isn't ideal, but not horrible either.
I recently did a trip of about the same distance, but we broke it into two days. The boat cruised between 12 and 14 knots and it took about 15 hours total.

i've made the trip from Opossum Creek to Knoxville and back many times. It's about 6 hours depending upon how long you wait at the locks.
 
#21
#21
I will stay in my boat if I have to. It has a sunlounge which would be a good bed, as long as I don't fall asleep :) Anyone know how long it might take to get to Knoxville from Chattanooga?

That's a good way to possibly not wake up the next day. I'm all about having self contained sleeping qtrs. meaning walls and a door that locks. The old days of camping in tents or as you plan are gone, there entirely too many unstable people out there nowadays. Getting through some locks can be difficult in a boat that small. I have seen more than a few small boats get swamped; depends on the lockmaster and his rate of flow. I wouldn't make that trek in less than a 26ft. cruiser.
 
#23
#23
I wouldn't make that trek in less than a 26ft. cruiser.

other than the advice given by Mullet, this is the best.

I have done it in a 21 ft bowrider many times, but never on game day. The amount of traffic will gurantee rough water throughout...
Posted via VolNation Mobile

perhaps you did. however, it still really isn't that great of an idea. i wouldn't recommend anybody trying it, espcially with no experience going through the locks.

i've never been through the locks in anything other than 40 ft or bigger so i don't know, but would they really be willing to open the lock for just a 21 ft boat?
 
#24
#24
Call the volunteer marina and speak to Joe, he is the manager their, he can give you all the info you need.
 
#25
#25
other than the advice given by Mullet, this is the best.



perhaps you did. however, it still really isn't that great of an idea. i wouldn't recommend anybody trying it, espcially with no experience going through the locks.

i've never been through the locks in anything other than 40 ft or bigger so i don't know, but would they really be willing to open the lock for just a 21 ft boat?

They will open the locks for you even if you are in a canoe.
 

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