Alabama: Demopolis (Day 2)

Day 135
No Boat Travel

Today's activities consisted of a mix of chores and relaxation.  Intermixed with one more load of laundry that did not get done yesterday, taking care of an issue with our flood policy on the south Jersey house, and grocery shopping was a lot of socializing.

When I returned to the boat around 10:00 from putting the wash in the dryer, Mark, on the sailboat in the slip next to ours, complimented Sea Moss as a nice looking boat, so of course  I started chatting with him and shortly thereafter Clark joined us. When Clark and Mark started talking about inverters for the boats, I slipped away to do the insurance thing and do some hand sewn repairs on clothes. Two hours later Clark was still talking to Mark and had made himself comfortable sitting on the sailboat.  Since I had completed my most pressing tasks, I joined them.

Mark is a most interesting person.  He is a towboat captain and apparently he regaled Clark with one boat story after another.  I found him very interesting to listen to as well.  He told me he is from Point Pleasant, West Virginia - home of the Mothman.  When I told him I was unfamiliar with Mothman, he told me to go read about it, so I did and found the 1966 story of Mothman entertaining reading.

Back in 1979 a tugboat had a mishap with the Rooster Bridge which was just downriver from where we are now in Demopolis, Alabama.  The story is an interesting one because the tug went under the bridge, looked to be ready to overturn and sink, and managed to come out the other side in an upright position and keep going.  As it turns out, Mark knows the captain that experienced that incident because they both worked for the same tow company.  In addition Mark worked as a captain on that very boat that survived the incident. The Rooster Bridge, however, did not survive so well as it was demolished soon after and replaced by a new bridge.

We finally broke away for lunch somewhere around 1:00.  Apparently at some point during the day's discussions, Clark learned that Mark also plays guitar.   I heard them saying that they agreed that they should get together later for some guitar playing.  People often say things like that but one thing leads to another and it just does not happen, so I totally forgot about it.  I think Clark did too.

We had reserved the courtesy car for 2:00 which we took out after lunch to go to Walmart for a few non-food and food items.  We used our full two-hour slot and a couple of minutes more.  When we got back to the marina, I jumped on board to put away the perishables, and Clark took off on one of the two golf carts to trek over to the marina office to pick up our mail that he had forwarded here.

By the time we were done mucking about with one thing or another, the afternoon was gone and it was getting on for dinner time. Before starting to cook, I walked up to the "head" and heard that Mark was in the lounge area playing his guitar.  I went to check and verify that he would be there for a while and then went back to tell Clark.  No sooner did I tell him than Clark grabbed his guitar, guitar music, and a piece of cheese to tide him over until dinner and headed out the door.  It was already 6:00 and we had no way of knowing how long Mark had been playing or intended to stay, so I understood the urgency.

I had my own snack and then walked down to hear them play.  I did not stay long because I wanted to cook (and eat) dinner before it got too too late.  While there, though, I heard some pretty amazing music.  In addition to Mark and Clark playing guitars, Susan from Nuclear Fishin' had her violin. The three of them took turns playing what they knew and while I was there I got to hear a violin / guitar duet from Susan and Clark that nearly brought tears to my eyes since it was a lovely tune so nicely done.

Susan is a professional musician and a music teacher for many years.  She played beautiful Irish folk songs and lullabies on her violin.  Mark is a self-taught, play-by-ear-only musician who plays bluesy music.  He said he has never been able to learn how to read music.  He played and sang very well, and I enjoyed listening to him very much.  He even played and sang a couple of songs he composed himself - one he wrote for his son literally brought tears to his wife's eyes.

Clark on Guitar
(with folks from Yachta Dreamin')

Tow boat Captain Mark on guitar

                                                                           Susan from Nuclear Fishin' on Violin

At 7:00 I jumped up out of my seat like it had burned me because I suddenly remembered that Jeff said he would call me at 7:00.  Then I remembered that he said 7:00 mountain time and realized I had a whole hour to wait for his call.  I stayed at the jam session until 7:15 but figured that if I wanted to cook and eat before my call, I better go get busy.  The phone rang precisely at 8:00, and I ended up on the phone with Jeff for almost two hours.  Eventually I could hear Sierra in the background getting ready for bed and knew Jeff was needed on that end so I finally said goodbye.

By now it was 10:00 and still Clark had not returned to the boat.  Jeez I would think four hours would be a sufficient amount of guitar-playing time.  I decided I needed to go find him and remind him to come back to the boat for dinner.  When I got there, the group was just breaking up for the night.  They must have really enjoyed themselves.

By the time he finally stopped chatting with people and got back to the boat for dinner it was after 11:00.  Although I had to cook his dinner and then later reheat his dinner, I do not begrudge him his day of socializing and relaxing especially with his guitar since it happens so infrequently.  While he ate, Clark told me that after I left more musical folks appeared - another with a guitar and one with a harmonica.  Quite a few boaters have multiple talents or so it would appear!  After dinner  Clark got back to what he was doing hours earlier in the day - trip planning for our journey to Mobile, Alabama.

Alabama: Sumter Landing Recreation Anchorage to Demopolis

Day 134

NM Today: 46

NM Total: 2952

Locks Today: 1

Locks Total: 100

Today we rose at 6:00 a.m. and were underway at 6:35.  Anchorages make leaving quickly easier – just pull up the anchor and go.  The three boats in the anchorage got on the VHF radio at 6:30 as planned, asked for lock status, and were told “come on down”.  We decided not to dawdle and took off for the lock ASAP.  Once again we found ourselves surrounded by a misty fog.

Foggy Anchorage at Sumter Recreation Area

When we want to leave in a hurry, we pass on breakfast.  That cuts out a lot of time.  I prepare the upper helm for the captain while he takes care of downstairs duties like engine checks and personal hygiene.  If we have dew, I clean the full-enclosure “windows” with a squeegee and a dry cloth.  I take the canvas cover off the upper helm station and remove the covers from each of the instruments, and then usually turn them on.  Lastly I put the US flag out on the stern of the boat.  These may seem like little things but they each take time.  When the captain comes up to the helm, he has less to take care of before he starts the engines.  After we are underway, I make breakfast for the captain and bring it up to him to eat on the go – my own rendition of an “Egg McMuffin”.  Once I have the captain’s needs taken care of, I take care of my own breakfast and hygiene needs.  It is a process that seems to work well.

Shortly after we left the anchorage, we arrived at the Heflin Lock, but the path to the lock from the anchorage was rather like crossing a mine field as the waterway was filled with all sorts of wood debris.  Some of the tree trunks floating by were up to 4” in diameter.  Fortunately they tend to get pushed out of the way at slow speed motoring; however, every once in a while we would hear a “ca-thunk” when we did not quite miss one of the logs.  I thought that if the wood could be collected, it would make a great bonfire.

As promised, the lock was ready for us when we arrived.  We were the first to enter and decided to tie to port since the guide book said that was the recommended tie up.  As we entered the lock the lockmaster told us to avoid the second bollard as it was malfunctioning, so we chose the third bollard.  The other two boats tied to the starboard side.  I could not discern any reason why the port side was preferred.  

As we waited for the vessels to be secured and the doors to close, we listened to the cacophony of noise generated by the numerous bollards banging, clanking, and screeching as they were jostled in place by the water movement in the lock.  The noise continued throughout the whole locking process.  Clark said the noises reminded him of a steel drum.I would have to say it is a very poorly tuned steel drum.

Heflin Lock & Dam

Most of today was typical of what we have seen previously on the waterway.  In fact when we reached the mile marker which is halfway between the Tennessee River, where we started, and Mobile, where we conclude our tour of the Tenn-Tom, I read in the cruise guide that we can expect “more of the same” for the second half.  We did pass a few noteworthy items of interest today.

When we arrived at Epes, Alabama, we got to see the very picturesque White Cliffs which the cruise guide said would be “spectacular”.  Given the amount of fog we traveled through to get there I thought that we would only see spectacular fog. However, the sun decided to make a brief appearance for us as we approached the White Cliffs, so we got some pretty good pictures.  We learned that the white cliffs are part of the Selma chalk formations containing dinosaur fossils. 

White Cliffs of Epes, AL

Railroad Bridge at White Cliffs of Epes, AL

Later on the river we passed more cliffs which, according to the captain’s chart book, is the highest point on the waterway.

Highest Point on the Tenn-Tom Waterway

Towards the end of today’s journey, we passed the junction of the Tombigbee and the Black Warrior Rivers.  From now until Mobile we will be traveling the Black Warrior River portion of the Tenn-Tom waterway.

Confluence of Tombigbee and Black Warrior Rivers

With our early start today, we pulled into the Demopolis Yacht Basin, our stop for at least the next two nights, at 12:35 p.m.  As we watched multiple loopers came into the marina and joined us at the docks.  The owner of the marina said that 55 to 60 looper boats have left here this week – Monday through today.  Each day a set of boats sets sail for the Gulf Coast.

So far we are pleasantly surprised by the Demopolis Yacht Basin.  The restrooms are large and clean. Four washers and dryers are available for laundry, and a courtesy car is available for our use.  We joined Susan and John from Nuclear Fishin' at The Red Barn restaurant for dinner tonight.  I ordered grilled catfish and enjoyed it very much.  Though the breaded and fried variety seems the more popular choice, I was concerned that my stomach would not be happy with that as my entree.  The broiled catfish was very moist and nicely seasoned and turned out to be an excellent selection.

I got my laundry done today using the machines here at the marina.  Tomorrow we plan to take the courtesy car and go to Walmart for groceries in the afternoon.  Perhaps in the morning we can get into the historic downtown part of Demopolis for a look around before the predicted rain and thunderstorms are upon us.  Fingers crossed!!

Alabama: Columbus, MS to Sumter Landing Recreation Anchorage

Day 133

NM Today: 55

NM Total: 2806

Locks Today: 2

Locks Total: 99

Today we were up at 6:00 and on our way before 7:00.  Given our strong tendency to want to stay up late and then sleep in, this is an amazing accomplishment for the two of us.  We are trying to match our morning behavior to that of the sun, so that we optimize our daylight hours.  Still it is hard to change old ingrained habits.

We stayed at Columbus Yacht Basin last night docked at the fuel dock with plant vegetation floating all around us.  When we left this morning, we left a trail through the water where our boat pushed the floating growth out of our way.  We navigated two locks today.  The first one, John C. Stennis Lock and Dam, had accumulated a large amount of the floating vegetation right in the lock, so when we locked through we had it floating all around us.

Floating Vegetation in Lock

When we came out the other side, we were happy that Drifters plowed a trail for us to follow where she had already pushed the vegetation to either side of the channel. 

Vegetation After Lock

Fortunately, we eventually left the vegetation behind us, and the waterway became clear of growth in the main channel area. The floating vegetation is Water Hyacinth and is a very invasive plant that is a nuisance on the rivers.  It can jam the river - an acre of water hyacinth weighs up to 200 tons.

In our travels today we saw a couple of industrial sites.  I asked Clark to take a picture of one work site in particular where a crane was loading a dump truck through a funnel-type device.  Once full, the truck drove away and another pulled up to get the next load.  This scene so much reminded me of one of my son Chris’s toys as a child that I wanted a picture.  I liked playing with that toy construction set as much as (or more than) he did.  Instead of metal for recycling as we saw today, Chris’s set had little black balls to load and carry away.  I wonder if he remembers it too.

Truck-loading Work Site

Miles and miles of the same old thing on the waterway and then Clark sees and captures the most interesting, unexpected objects in his pictures.  Who would think that a phone booth would appear out of nowhere?  I wonder if it works.

Phone Booth in the Middle of Nowhere

 Although Clark did not get a picture of the old Aliceville Hyuck Felt Plant, we sure smelled it as we passed by.  The paper-making felt plant went out of business a number of years ago, and the building sat vacant for a long time until in 2011 a wood pellet fuel plant opened for business in that spot in an initiative to produce alternate fuel sources.  I am not sure what they were doing to manufacture wood pellets, but as we passed by I actually thought the engine compartment might be on fire, and I felt and then very carefully lifted the floor boards to get a better sniff.  I later learned from Clark that the smell came from outside the boat, and thankfully we left the smell behind after we passed by the site and continued on our way.

The Tom Bevill Visitor Center is located at the second lock we passed through today.  The Montgomery Snag Boat is located here in dry dock.  Built in 1926 and used as a “workhorse” boat until 1982, she was retired from service by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and is now a museum as one of only two remaining snag boats in the U.S.  The Montgomery was a steam-powered, sternwheel-propelled vessel used to remove “snags”, stumps, and other obstructions from southern waterways.  She was driven by coal-generated steam before World War II and diesel afterwards.  She was used to clear the waters of the Tombigbee and Black Warrior Waterways (where we are now traveling) until 1959 and was named a National Historic Landmark in 1989. 

Montgomery SnagBoat

Montgomery SnagBoat

While reading about the Montgomery, I learned that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers took over maintenance of the navigable rivers in the U.S. in the year 1900.  Before that individual states tried to keep the waters clear.  The Army Corps of Engineers maintains and operates all the locks we have passed through on the U.S. river system.  They are strict about wearing life jackets and adhering to the rules for safety.  One part of the procedure for locking through that I find somewhat humorous is the warning siren that sounds when the gates close and the water starts to, in our case, drop.  The siren sounds like an air-raid siren and instead of manning my station on the boat, I want to dive for cover from an enemy attack.

As we traversed the lock, Clark took some pictures of the dam and spillway.  The bright red signs telling boaters to stay back 800 feet from the dam can be seen from a long distance away from the locks.

Dam Spillway 

Today we had four boats roughly traveling together down the waterway – Drifters, Yachta Dreamin’, Sea Moss, and Nuclear Fishin’, and we briefly saw a Gold Looper, Bucket List, as they “flew by” at 29 mph in a rush to get to Demopolis tonight  – a far cry from our 9 mph average speed.   As we approached the end of our travels for the night, we debated with Drifters and Yachta Dreamin’ the merits of stopping at Sumter Landing Recreation Area for the night as we had planned or continue on through the next lock and anchor just beyond at the Tombigbee Ox Bow anchorage. 

The pros and cons of each scenario were weighed carefully as the decision was not an easy one.  Passing through one more lock and anchoring on the far side sounded like the better idea until we learned from the lockmaster that two barges, a dredge and two other pleasure boats already occupied that space.  Although the Active Captain application indicated the anchorage is large, it certainly gave us pause to hear so many large vessels were already there for the night.  The other con we learned from Active Captain is that on occasion anchors get set so well they cannot be retrieved and the line must be cut. 

These two negative factors weighed against a potential long wait in the morning for a lock through swayed Clark towards anchoring before the lock.  Drifters and Yachta Dreamin’, on the other hand, wanted to get to Demopolis tomorrow as early as possible so they opted for anchoring after the lock.  When we arrived at Sumter, we found the looper boat Red Eagle already here.  After we got our anchor down, they came over in their dinghy to introduce themselves, swap boat cards, and visit for a while. 

As we chatted with the owners of Red Eagle, Nuclear Fishin’ pulled into the anchorage for the night.  Shortly after they dropped their anchor, they swam over to say hello.  We have met them before and it was great to reconnect, but I could not believe they swam across the anchorage to see us.  There is absolutely no way I would have gone swimming tonight for two very important reasons – 1) the water was only 70 degrees and although I will swim in that when the weather is in the high 80s or 90s, I will not swim in it when the air temperature is close to the 70 degrees of the water, and 2) this is alligator country and someone spotted one not far from here.  Sorry but I pass on swimming, or even kayaking, with alligators nearby!

Susan and John from
Nuclear Fishin’ Came to Visit
Beer in hand!

After our guests parted, I decided we would have an early dinner tonight.  I started preparing dinner when it was still light, and it starts getting dark at 5:00 now.  As I prepared dinner Clark took care of some boat chores and then performed the nightly ritual of channel scanning on the television just to see what we could find.  We did find local news and weather, but the digital signal kept freezing which is beyond annoying when a program gets interesting.  After that we turned it off.  I pulled out the laptop for the blog, and Clark pulled out his sadly neglected guitar. 

We plan to be on the VHF checking lock status and ready to leave shortly after 6:30 tomorrow morning if the lock is available and not full of tows.  Seems like I perpetually feel groggy these days.  Tonight better be an early night so I can catch up on some missing sleep. 

Mississippi: Midway Marina to Columbus Yacht Basin

Day 132
NM Today: 51
NM Total: 2751
Locks Today: 4
Locks Total: 97

"Up by 7:00; out by 8:00" was today's mantra.  At precisely 7:45 the first of six vessels left Midway Marina together to travel down the Tenn-Tom Waterway.  One sailboat, Namaste, and one motor vessel, Sea-to-See, joined our caravan south which included yesterday's foursome of Grand Baron, Sum Escape, LeeLoo, and Sea Moss.  When we left Midway, the latter four boats planned to anchor together just after Amory Lock; however, as Clark and I traveled south with the group, we looked at the current weather (no rain) and the forecast a couple of days from now (heavy rain) and decided that we should make as much distance today as daylight would permit.

We set a new target for ourselves - Columbus Yacht Basin in Columbus, Mississippi -- adding 31 miles and one lock to our original planned 28 miles and 3 locks making our new target mileage 59 statute miles and 4 locks.  To get to our target destination of Demopolis, Alabama, we will need to stay in at least one anchorage.  By changing our plans, we are hoping for a dry anchorage instead of a rainy one.

The Fred Myers Cruise Guide says that we are supposed to relax and enjoy our time on the Tenn-Tom to admire the waterway's beauty.  Perhaps it is the lack of sunshine, but I find the waterway quite tedious.  The most interesting part of each day's voyage is locking through the locks, which after having completed over 90 locks has become quite mundane in and of itself.  I may become excited should I spy an alligator as one looper did recently.  Until then I find that I look forward to alternate scenery further along the Great Loop.  In other words I had no issue with my captain's proposal that we push on as far as possible today.

After we entered the first lock for today, the lockmaster closed the doors as usual only to open them again shortly afterwards.  Another looper boat, Good Day, had called the lock requesting a lock through.  Since Good Day was only a short distance away, the lockmaster decided to wait for him to arrive.  When he reopened the doors, I noticed that a Great Blue Heron was enjoying a free ride. Unfortunately by the time I got Clark to the stern of the boat to take a picture, the heron decided that he had been riding the door long enough.  He appears in the picture below flying away as Clark snapped the shot.

Blue Heron Leaving the Scene

When we exited the lock, the lockmaster told the rest of us to wait for Good Day to exit first.  He was a fast boat, so we let him go so we would not get in his way and force him to pass us later on.  He took off when the doors opened, and we never saw Good Day again for the rest of the day.

The Skipper Bob cruising guide showed pictures of the structure below called a Baffle.  I thought it interesting and requested that Clark click our own picture should he see one.  A baffle is a structure restricting water from rushing in where a creek flows into the canal.  The picture below proves that he found one although I did not see it myself.

Baffle on the Tenn-Tom Waterway

Tenn-Tom Waterway Reflections

Clark noticed two different "bridges to nowhere" on the canal.  Below is a picture of one of them.

Bridge to nowhere on the Tenn-Tom

As we approached Columbus, Mississippi we heard one jet plane after another going overhead; however, with the cloud cover, we did not get to see even one of them.  Columbus Air Force Base has runways only a couple of miles east of the waterway.  This base was used heavily during World War II and then again during the Korean War.  Now this base trains about one-third of all U.S. Air Force pilots.  No wonder we heard so many flying over.  Clark said that, given the sounds, he assumed they were practicing take off and landing, i.e. "touch and go" maneuvers.

Sunset occurred today at 5:00.  To see if we could make it to the marina before sunset, the captain did some calculations and predicted our arrival at Columbus, Mississippi to be 4:45 based on distance and travel speed.  We pulled into the marina at 4:47 and were docked by 4:55.   His calculation were right on the money, but wow ... Nothing like cutting it close in terms of losing daylight!!

When we walked up to the office to check in for the night, we found the owners of Drifters there waiting for their laundry to finish drying.  We had a nice chat and learned that several other vessels are here for the night and heading out tomorrow with the same plans as ours - anchorage tomorrow night followed by arrival at the marina in Demopolis, Alabama Thursday night before the bad weather arrives on Friday.

Drifters called tonight to solidify plans to leave together at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow.  We are heading for the same targeted anchorage for the night.  Looks like we will have some company for our trip on the waterway tomorrow!

Mississippi: Aqua Yacht to Midway Marina (Fulton)

Day 131
NM Today: 48
NM Total: 2699 (3106 statute miles)
Locks Today: 3
Locks Total: 93

The alarm rang at 6:00 this morning which Clark justified as being reasonable by thinking of it as equivalent to 7:00 before we changed our clocks.  It still felt like 6:00 a.m. to me!  We were underway by 7:00 with approximately 50 miles to cover today plus three locks.  Traveling with three other boats motivated the early rise from bed.  Today we formed a caravan with Mazel Tug, Sum Escape, Grand Baron, and LeeLoo.

We passed through a 24 mile long Divide Cut today.  The channel including the rocky edges is 280 feet wide.  The cruise guide says that when this section was completed it was as pretty as a strip mine.  Over the years Mother Nature has worked wonders transforming the scenery with grass, trees, and shrubs.

Tenn-Tom Divide Cut with
Train passing over the Railroad Bridge

The Divide Cut is 100% man made.  All of the 150 million cubic yards of land were dug out and hauled away to make the canal.  The need to connect the Tennessee River to the Tombigbee River was first identified by a French explorer in 1792.  The project to build the canal was authorized by Congress in 1946, and construction started finally in 1971 and  completed in 1985 almost 200 years after the idea of a canal here was first conceived.  An interesting fact from the Fred Myers cruise guide -- "More dirt was moved to build the Tenn-Tom than was moved to build the Panama Canal.  At no time in world history had man moved so much to get what he wanted."  The cost of completing the project came to two billion dollars.

The town of Holcut was in the path of the canal, and consequently, the town of Holcut is no more. On the canal, the only evidence the town ever existed is an orange and white sign marking the spot where Holcut once stood.

Marker for the Defunct Town of Holcut
moved so that the canal could be completed

Further along the Cut, after passing miles of just the riprap (stone embankment), we passed by a site owned by the Scott Paper Company.

Scott Paper Company Work Site

Once we exited the Divide Cut opened out into a lake where we came to prettier landscape with "flaming foliage" on the lake's edge.

Lake Landscape on the Tenn-Tom

We traversed three locks today.  Once we entered the first lock, the lock masters communicated with each other, and the next and the next were each prepared for our arrival.  As we dropped the 85 feet in the first / Whitten Lock we got wet from the drizzling rain that continued to fall.  Clark got even wetter than I did as water spewed out of the cracks in the walls of the lock as the water level dropped. Clark tried to stop the lock wall from spraying him and the boat by putting his boat hook over the hole.  I joked that he was like that little Dutch Boy who tried to hold back a dam with his finger.

Mazel Tug Ready to Lock Through

After 50 miles and three locks we arrived at Midway Marina near Fulton, Mississippi for the night. Since we docked around 2:30, we had time for a bike ride into town for a look around.  Yes, it actually stopped raining / drizzling just after 1:00 as we passed through the last lock for the day!  With the sun brought warmth (lots of it) and I changed to shorts and a t-shirt for the bike ride.  We found a very nice bike trail to ride for a portion of the way into town.

Fulton, Mississippi

Downtown Fulton, Mississippi

As we passed through town on our bicycles, I made Clark stop at an open tire repair shop to get air in our bike tires.  The person working there could not believe our bike tires take about 90 psi of air pressure.  The bike felt so much better after the tires were pumped up.  The hills were killing me before we got the additional air.

After a quick look around town, we had to skedaddle to get back to the boat before dark.  I turned on the flashing red light attached to the back of my bike helmet to help the traffic see us as evening approached. We made it back to the marina in time for sunset.

Sunset at Fulton, MS near Midway Marina

Reflections in Pond at Midway Marina

Mississippi: Florence, AL to Iuka (Aqua Yacht)

Day 130

NM Today: 37

NM Total: 2651

Locks Today: 0

Locks Total: 90

The captain’s log for today shows the following entry: “Overcast day with limited visibility and patches of fog”.   In addition to the moisture in the air, a nasty chill caused us to keep the full enclosure zipped closed for the entire cruise time.  We saw no sun today but at least we saw no rain either.  The photos taken today all show the foggy conditions. 

Peek-a-boo --
Smoke Stacks peeking through the fog

Can you see the towers hiding in the fog?

At this point, we have completed our travels on the Tennessee River.  As we exited the Tennessee River today, we left Alabama and entered Mississippi. For the next few days we will be traveling down the 234 miles of the Tenn-Tom Waterway that connects the Tennessee River to Demopolis, Alabama.  After that, the next 217 miles of river from Demopolis to Mobile, Alabama is officially the Black Warrior – Tombigbee Waterway.  However, most boaters refer to the combination of the two segments from the Tennessee River all the way to Mobile, Alabama as the Tenn-Tom.

With our entry onto the Tenn-Tom this afternoon, we are back on the Great Loop.  As we pulled into Aqua Yacht in Iuka, Mississippi, we spied a number of looper flags on some familiar and some unfamiliar boats.  We found Mazel Tug and LeeLoo whom we met at previous stops along the way, and we met some new loopers, and by that I mean new to us and also relatively new to the loop having started their adventure only 4 to 6 weeks ago.  Among the boats at Aqua are Corsair, Sum Escape, Grand Baron, and a non-looper traveling with us loopers -- Valor. 

Shortly after we docked the boat, Annie and Bill from Rock Me Baby came over to reconnect and say hello.  We traveled with them in parts of Canada and haven’t seen them since Michigan.  They became members of the elite set of boaters known as Gold Loopers when they came into Aqua Yacht earlier this week and “crossed their wake”. 

Given the number of loopers on the docks at Aqua, the perfect opportunity for “Docktails” presented itself.  The owners of Sum Escape graciously offered their vessel as the venue for our get together.  We enjoyed a great, relaxing evening.  A number of us are leaving together early tomorrow morning to start our journey down the Tenn-Tom.

Alabama: Decatur to Florence

Day 129
NM Today: 38
NM Total: 2671 (3074 statute miles)
Locks Today: 2
Locks Total: 90

When we walked up to use the "head" (restroom) one last time last night, the parking lot at the park was empty except for one lone truck parked off in the back somewhere.  When we walked up to the "head" this morning, there were trucks with boats on trailers filling the parking lot to overflowing.  Seems there is a fishing tournament every Saturday in Decatur at Ingall's Harbor, and as soon as the sun is up they are there dropping their boats into the water via the super wide boat ramp near where we had docked our boat.  Thankfully Clark had the forethought to dock far away from the parking lot where we would not be disturbed by boats on the boat ramp though, at the time, he was thinking in terms of a handful of boats - not a parking lot full.

Parking Lot (partial view) Filled with Trailer-pulling trucks
and extra wide Boat Ramp at Ingall's Harbor

Because rain was predicted and we had a ways to go, we decided that we needed to get moving today as early as possible, so we dropped the lines and shoved off.  Then I made Clark's breakfast and took it up to him.  Then I made my own breakfast and sat down below and had a leisurely meal with my romance novel by my side.  After breakfast I decided to call my friend Maris (Heather's mother) to RSVP for the baby shower she is hosting, and we ended up talking for a good long time before I finally decided that I really needed to go up and find out if the captain needed anything from his first mate.

I took over the helm while he went down below for a quick break.  That's when the day started getting interesting!  It was Halloween after all, and the boat decided it had a Trick for us and not a Treat!

We have indicator lights on the boat to tell us when something is working - a yellow light for water running, a blue light for bilge pump, and a red light for the head flushing. Normally we want all indicator lights off.  Typically when someone uses the head both the red and the yellow lights come on.  That happened today, but when Clark came back up top the red light was off but the yellow light was still on, so I asked him why.  He went to investigate and found water pouring into the bottom of the boat.  Yikes!!  That really gets the heart rate going!!  No captain wants to see water flowing into the bottom of his /  her boat in a steady stream.

Since the yellow light was on, he turned off the water pump, but the water just kept coming.  Fortunately that turned out to be only a temporary situation, however, as eventually the water flow reduced and then stopped.  Seems that, even after turning off the water, a lot of it continued draining from the source before it finally stopped flowing into the boat.  After some rational thinking about where the water was flowing (the stern of the boat) and what might be the associated source (only thing back there is the shower hose), he checked and found that a hose had disconnected itself from the shower fixture which allowed water to flow freely and empty our water tank into the bottom of the boat.

While all this was going on, I continued to pilot the boat towards the Joe Wheeler Lock blissfully ignorant of the true situation down below and Clark's activities.  I started to get concerned however when he had not yet reappeared and I found myself getting closer and closer to the lock.  I called the lockmaster on the VHF radio to check on the lock status, and he responded that he would have the doors open and I could come "right on in".  Normally that is great timing and something to be hoped for, but the closer I got, the more unsettled I got - primarily because the fenders and lines were not yet set in lock-through position and I could not be two places at once.

Thankfully Clark did reappear before I reached the lock doors.  He quickly gave me the run down on the water flow issues down below.  He told me the situation was contained and took over the helm for locking through while I ran down and did the fenders and line.  As I went to do my lock duty, I saw the shower fixture hanging out and items from the storage area in the stern sitting on deck, so I knew he had more work to do.

After we completed our locking activity, I once again took over the helm and Clark went back down to finish removing the water from the boat (he started a siphon  going before we locked through) and clean up everything he had torn apart to get to the root of the problem.  Considering what he had to do, he returned quickly.  Honestly I was amazed at how fast he assessed the situation, determined the root of the problem, corrected the issue, and cleaned up the mess made fixing it.  No wonder his name is Clark - like Superman!

After the "water in the boat" drill everything returned to normal except for the fact that we now had an almost completely empty water tank -- that water drained out fast!!  We had debated where we would stay for the night - marina or anchorage.  With basically all of our water gone, the decision was made for us - marina!

With all the excitement, I must say that the morning went by in a blur.  Where normally I am killing time as we move along, today I was busy driving the boat and working the lock, so the time flew by a lot faster than usual.

We had two locks today -- Joe Wheeler first and Wilson lock second.  Wilson lock is the oldest TVA hydroelectric dam and lock.  Construction completed in 1924, so it was actually built before the TVA came into existence but was later adopted by them.  The lock has a 94 foot lift making it the highest lift lock east of the Rocky Mountains.  The 94 foot ride down, since we are now heading downstream, was the fastest drop in a lock I have ever experienced.  When they pull the plug on that lock, the water must really pour out in a hurry because we dropped fast.  Both Clark and I were amazed at the speed with which we went down.  It was a great ride!!!

We did have two not-so-great things going on with Wilson lock, however.  First it was pouring rain when we got there and second we had an hour wait to lock through because a slow tow got there before us.

Slow Tow (big white box-like object)
clogging up Wilson Lock on Tennessee River
added over an hour to our travel time today
due to the wait while he locked through in front of us

The lockmaster allowed us to tie up to the wall at the lock while we waited.  We did so, and because it was lunch time, I made sandwiches and we ate lunch while we waited for the lock to be ready for us. After the whistle blew indicating we could enter and we got ourselves secured to the floating bollard, we noticed two people standing up on the lock wall waving hello.  I thought they were waving at the other boat in the lock with us.  They were waving at us.

Since we did not wave back, they called Clark on the phone.  It turned out to be friends of his from about 40 years ago that he had been texting with.  They knew we were at the lock so they drove over to see us lock through.  Afterwards they came to the marina where we stayed tonight and took us out for dinner and then took me to the supermarket so I could get some much-needed supplies.  We got back to the boat at 10:30.  I cheated and set my watch back as soon as I got on board so I could pretend we got back at 9:30.  I still needed to put away groceries and write my blog entry and I did not want to be up past midnight.

We plan to head out early again tomorrow.  If all goes as planned, our next stop will put us back on the official Great Loop.  From there we start heading south to hopefully warmer weather.  The next two days are expected to be miserable with plenty of rain - not my favorite way to travel, but at least we do not have any locks to go through before our next stop.