Chattanooga boater sets Tennessee River speed record

Following a high-speed odyssey up the Tennessee River on Tuesday, Paul Nichols expects his back to ache and his joints to be stiff today from being jostled about as be piloted his bass boat to an American Power Boat Association speed record.

"My hands have blisters all over them. My back hurts, my legs hurt; I'm worn out," Nichols said after completing his record-setting run in 11 hours 14 minutes.

The Chattanooga resident said the excitement of driving his way into the boating organization's record book will dull the aches and pains.

Nichols is the first boater to ever travel - in less than 12 hours - from Paducah, Ky., where the Tennessee River ends to where it begins in Knoxville.

Nichols said the trip went smoothly. His only problems were a foggy start to the day and losing a cell phone when it blew out of the boat somewhere on Pickwick Lake.

Heavy fog in the Paducah area prompted Nichols to delay start of his trip by almost an hour. The delay did little to slow him down. By traveling at almost 100 mph at times and avoiding long delays at the nine dams along the 652-mile long river, Nichols was able to complete his journey faster than he expected. "I was hoping for anything under 12 hours. I never thought I could do it this fast."

The time for his trip included spending about three hours in the nine locks on the river. He used oversized fuel tanks in the Bullet brand bass boat that allowed him to make the trip with only two stops to refuel.

He said the 300 horsepower Mercury outboard used less gasoline than he expected, averaging more than 3.5 miles per gallon.

As he passed through Wilson Dam Lock, Nichols said he has dreamed of attempting to travel the length of the Tennessee River in record time for more than 10 years. Other boaters set speed records for the Tennessee River in the late 1980s for a now-defunct boating organization but none came close to Nichols' record-setting run.

Nichols is accustomed to going fast in a bass boat. He has set numerous American Power Boat Association records for speed runs where boaters are timed in a one-kilometer trip down a waterway and back.

Cooper Jones, who rode with Nichols, said he was not scared during the high-speed trip Tuesday. "He's an excellent driver. He's the only one I would ride with at these speeds."

Titus Grisham, of Killen, a construction worker at Wilson Dam Lock, paused from his job for a moment to chat with Nichols as he locked through the dam. He and Nichols are longtime friends.

"This is pretty cool. I think he is going to set a record that no one will ever break," Grisham said.

Dennis Sherer can be reached at 740-5746 or dennis.sherer@TimesDaily.com.