"If not for the courage of the fearless crew"', the Freebird would be lost (or something)

One of my biggest surprises as I tied up at different spots along the banks were all the different types of soils I found.  I am not a geologist by any definition of the word, and I cannot correctly identify the different soils I find; but I recognize their differences.  This would not be especially remarkable or even noticeable if I did not take into account that the lake level is the same throughout, meaning that I was not finding different soils at different altitudes.  Different altitude distribution could be attributed to erosion and would be less surprising.  Since all these different soils, most times less than a mile apart, were so diverse, it caught my attention.  Correctly or not, I draw the conclusion that the land must have been smashed together during the formation and "wrinkled" up against the Cumberland range, buckling the different layers in random fashion.  Or something else!?

Here are some images copied from the University of Tennessee collection:

I blasted off again toward the "Loyston Sea", a very wide portion of Norris Lake.  It is shallow in many parts with several islands.  It is bottom land once home to the settlement named for the Loy family, thus Loy's Town (Loyston).  The whole 'town' was taken and flooded when the gates of Norris were closed.

My steering mechanism was giving me considerable problem as I coursed my way up the Clinch.  I had foolishly failed to properly service my boat after it had been unused for three summers.  In the beginning I had settled for just getting the steering loose enough to steer, but a left turn (port for us real mariners -Ha) was stiff and not full.  I had been struggling when turning since I left home.  A little aggravated as I tried to turn a hard left into the bank on Pilot Island, I put too much pressure on the wheel and something snapped.  I had hope to free up the snag in the cable.  Instead I snapped what later turned out to be a rusty mechanism attached to a frayed cable.  I was effectively marooned when I managed to slide up to the bank and tie up.

A very crude sketch of the steering mechanism.  A cylinder houses a sort of piston which attaches to a steering cable (left).  This piston slides in either direction according to the steering wheel while moving a control arm that rotates the motor for direction of travel.  The cylinder and piston must slide freely for effective control.  In my case, years of neglect rendered the cylinder and piston both covered and pitted with rust.  My forceful attempt to steer simply jammed the mechanism and caused the frayed cable to separate.  I became effectively shipwrecked.

(That's Freebird parked in the bushes along the bank of Pilot Island.  I snapped the picture from my kayak, my only mode of commuting to the "mainland" while awaiting repair parts.)

 

My neighbor most mornings while moored 

(Look closely above and you will see a bald eagle waiting for surface ripples indicating a fish he hopes to have for breakfast.)  

The lake level meant that most of my moorings left me sitting right amongst the trees.

One-a-them funny camera things I don't fully understand.  My shirt is not labeled backwards like an ambulance.

While I tried to repair my steering I thought I had rigged a useable substitute that would allow my journey to continue.  The lines (see below) rotated the engine more fully and more smoothly than the original system.  I just fed the ends of the lines through my back window and pulled for steering.  Worked beautifully  --  until the motor was running.  Newton's 'invention', inertia, proved to be my downfall.  It took tremendous effort to change direction when the boat was in motion and the propeller was cutting through the water.  I did manage to visit the dock at Loyston Point one time, but it was torture trying to avoid boat traffic and account for wind.  This became even more pronounced while I was at Pilot since Memorial Day was fast approaching with its onslaught of speed boats, wake boarders and a few stubborn fishermen.

I lacked many parts as well as proper tools to effectively make my repairs.  I ended up improvising while learning about the system I had to fix.  Having never disassembled these things before, it was a harsh learning experience.  Thankfully I had excellent phone service and Google along with YouTube gave me a quick education. But I was far from solving my dilemma.  I still had to somehow round up the parts, more tools and take some food.  I was catching some fish (rare occurrence for me), but even fresh fish need a little help to complete a meal.   As I waited, the holiday weekend arrived.  Friday was overcast.  Saturday and Sunday were dismal and not lake friendly for the party crowd.  I thought things would remain calm despite the predicted sunshine for the official holiday on Monday.  My thinking was that the weekend invasion of boater would give up and leave for home on Monday.  I soon got educated.