Day 21 - A Gloomy Halloween on the River

Happy Halloween!  We are up at 6 am to check the weather, which was overcast, warm and getting windy.  The forecast was for heavy rain and strong winds (gusts up to 60 mph).  But Randy decided that the weather would not reach us until the afternoon and that given its track, we would be fine moving south.  So we headed out and made it to the John Stennis Lock at 7:10 am.  We were in by 7:22 am and out by 7:41am – good start!  A few miles out of the lock we pass another Kinder Morgan facility and the Lowndes County Port (MM 330).  We past our first boat, a tug with no load at MM 329.  We saw not other boats – it appears that everyone else was nervous about the forecast and stayed in port.

Soon we saw the first few houses of the day – one large one with a large boat in front reminds of us the intercoastal waterway in Florida with boats bigger than the homes that sit behind them.  The Tombigbee River is winding now and we are in a more deserted stretch.  We see lots of egrets and blue herons. At 8:30 am we are 1000 statute miles (by river) from Chicago, we will pass 1000 nautical miles tomorrow.  It starts to rain very lightly at 9:10 am, but does not last long.  We finally see another recreational boat, a small pontoon that was fishing.

 

We arrive at the Tom Bevill Lock and Dam at 9:35 am.  Just north of the lock is a large riverboat, the Montgomery, sitting up on shore.  We are not sure if this boat is being used at all as a museum or something else.  We had to wait for a northbound tug to come through, but once it was gone we were in and out of the lock in 15 minutes.  It is 40 miles to the third and final lock of the day.

By 11 am it is less windy and wavy and we seem to be moving away from the storm, which is about 30 miles west of us and tacking from the southwest to northeast. Other than a few sprinkles of rain when we finally reach Demopolis, there is no more rain today. 

We past the Westerbelt Reliable Energy plant and a couple of other commercial sites.  There are more stilt homes now.  At 12:40 pm we see the first cruising boat of the day, a sailboat named Last Dance.  We get to the Howell Heflin Lock at 1 pm, but have to wait for the sailboat to lock through.  We now have 51 miles to Demopolis, our destination for today. 

 

The river banks are white rock now – looks like limestone, and there are a few industrial sites here.  The barge traffic is picking up as we near Demopolis, including one coming at us from the Black Warrior River, where it meets the Tombigbee.

Demopolis (population 7292) was settled in 1817 by French expatriates who wanted to grow olives and grapes.  It was incorporated in 1821, then bought out by Americans who started large cotton plantations.  The town offered major operational support to the Confederate Army during the Civil War.  Cotton was still “king” after the war.  Today, paper, cement and lumber are the main industries.  Beef cattle and catfish aquaculture are the major farming activities.

We arrive at Kingfisher Bay Marina at Demopolis at 4:45 pm.  As we approach the fuel dock we see a dancing witch, complete with broomstick, entertaining the passing boats.  We no sooner tied up the boat when someone called “Randy” – it was a boater Randy knew from Chicago who had worked as a captain for Captain Al out of Burnham Harbor.  He was taking a boat to Florida – what a small world.  After getting settled in a slip we are invited to a “Looper’s Party” in the marina pavilion.  We met a few boaters but everyone scattered after a short time as the mosquitoes were eating us alive!  Tired after a long day, we had dinner on the boat that night.

 

Day 20 - River Critters and Columbus Culture

Today when we woke up it was sunny and warm. Looking around, we realized the rest of the group we came into the marina with was gone.  We took some pictures and left the marina at 8:40 am.  It is 3 miles to the Fulton Lock and we ran into our sailboat friend, Hipnautic, close to the lock.  We arrived at 9 and went right in.  As we were tying up to the floating bollard, a friendly dog trotted over to say hello.  We dropped 30 feet and exited at 9:25 am.

 

The river narrowed again and both shores were lined with trees.  There was some debris in the river that we maneuvered around.  At MM 380, about 10 am, there was the first sign of homes around a small landing – probably the outskirts of Smithville.  We passed a few fishing boats as well.  Then I saw what at first looked like a piece of wood in the water, but turned out to be a snake, zig-zagging across the river.  It appeared to be a common water snake, brown with black markings.  The only water snake harmful to humans is the water moccasin.  Harmful or not, I was glad I was not in the water with it! 

 

The river widened as we approached the next lock, the Glover Wilkens, at 10:20 am.  No problem here, we entered at 10:49 am and left at 11:05 am.  The Amory Lock was next at 11:45 am and we exited at 12:02 pm.  Both of these drops were about 30 feet.  Soon we passed an industrial site: Kinder Morgan which is pipeline energy transportation and storage (petroleum and natural gas); and Weyerhaeuser, which makes tree products from wood pulp.  We did not see the first barge until 12:25 pm.  Unlike the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, which are crowded with commercial traffic, there is much less traffic on the Tenn-Tom and the barges are smaller (because the locks are smaller – 600 feet instead of 1200 feet long). 

 

There are many “marshy” areas along the shores now, with tall grasses and low plants.  There are homes on both sides, possibly the town of Aberdeen.  We see a second barge which, like the first, is carrying large rectangular metal structures covered with blue tarps that look like some type of electrical equipment. 

The sky is turning more overcast as we approach the Aberdeen Lock at 12:50 pm.  We have caught up with the group from yesterday:  Sweet Dreams, Humbug, Champs 3 and another boat from Midway Marina, Bella Sea.  The lockmaster held the lock for us (about 15 minutes) and we were out at 1:20 pm.  It is 22 miles to Columbus Marina and again, we left the other boats in the dust because we travel faster.  There are more homes on stilts and a few mobile homes on the shore.  We arrive at Columbus (MS) Marina at 2:20 pm and I find a stow-away near the rear starboard cleat.  It is a small, green tree frog.  When we went to check in, Randy took the frog and let it go in a wetland area near on shore – hope it survives.

 

Columbus, population 24,000, was founded in 1821.  Columbus served as a hospital town during the Civil War and also manufactured gun powder.  It was attacked by Union forces but successfully defended by General Nathan Bedford Forrest.  Columbus is second only to Natchez, MS, for the number of original antebellum homes that are still standing (not burned to the ground by Union forces).  The Columbus Air Force Base is one of four in the US for basic flight training.  Columbus is also the birthplace of Tennessee Williams.

The marina was busy and the courtesy car was booked, so we called On Time Cab to take us into the town.  As we waited for the cab, we saw a beaver near the shore and more American White Pelicans.  Randy walked through the grass to get pictures and came back with ants all over the bottom of his jeans and shoes!  Ugh!!

 

On Time was a little late, but he cab was very nice and cool.  We were dropped off at the Visitor Center which is also the birth home of Tennessee Williams.  The house features a room upstairs that tells the life story of the famous playwright in a series of posters on the walls.  We picked up some information and a map of the historic homes, then took a self-guided tour of some of the homes.  We ate dinner at Huck’s Place, a downtown restaurant that features southern cooking.  I had Mississippi catfish and Randy had grouper – both covered with crawfish sauce.  Delicious!!  We were about to leave when our friends from Sweet Dreams came in.  They were returning to Georgia the next day for a couple of weeks.  We hope we will run into them again along our way.  From Huck’s Place we walked to the Columbus Riverwalk, featuring a newly refurbished bridge over the real Tombigbee River.  Then we called On Time to come take us back to our boat.  There was no cable TV at this marina, so Randy was spared watching the Cardinals lose the World Series to the Boston Red Sox.

 

Tomorrow is supposed to be very windy and rainy, with possible flash flooding.  We plan to check the weather again in the morning and leave early if it doesn’t look too bad.

Day 19 - Every Minute Counts!

We woke up to overcast skies again, but in the mid-50s.  The run to Midway Marina is less than 60 miles so we took our time and walked around the Aqua Yacht marina grounds.  There is a pool, tennis courts, stacked boat storage and a small ship’s store.  Some of the dock set-ups here are amazing!  See the gourmet kitchen below - this is what we need at Diversey Harbor for our Sunday breakfasts.  At 9:45 am we left the dock, being careful not to run over trout lines that were marked with colorful buoys.

 

The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway (the Tenn-Tom) is divided into 3 sections and we would complete the first, the “Divide Cut” today (39.3 miles).  This section is a fairly narrow and straight canal that we entered as we left the marina.  On the shore was a small group of “land boats” (RVs) enjoying the beauty of the water and trees.  The sun was peeking out now, bringing out the colors that are deepening with every day.  We passed a refurbished commercial fishing boat, Passage, a boat we would run into again.  We did not see our first barge until 11.  There are many more pleasure and small fishing boats on this river.  There were few homes that were visible from the water. 

 

 

The river widened about 7 miles from the Jamie Whitten Lock and Dam and we enjoyed the peaceful scenery all the way to the lock.  We pulled up at 12:15 pm only to learn that the lock was closed for repairs (how do you break a lock?) and would remain closed for another 2-3 hours.  We saw our friends from Clifton, Sweet Dreams, tied up on the lock wall.  Rather than anchor while we waited for the lock to be repaired, we meandered down a secondary channel to check out Bay Springs Marina.  There was no restaurant so we did not dock, but went back and drifted near the lock to wait it out.  After making lunch and checking email, the lockmaster announced that the lock would reopen shortly.  By this time there were 7 boats that had gathered to lock through: Sweet Dreams, Passage (who had caught up due to the wait), Champs 3, Humbug, Hipnautic, Passage and us.  We entered at 2:37 pm, floated down 83 feet, and exited at 3:07 pm.  This was one of the largest drops or lifts that we have done in a lock.

 

At this point, we were in the central section of the TTBW, a 45 mile lateral canal from the Whitten Lock to the Amory Lock and Dam (which we will hit on Wednesday).  The last part of the Tenn-Tom is 168 miles from there to Demopolis, AL, where it joins with the Black Warrior waterway to Mobile, AL.

Most of the group was planning to stop at Midway for the night, so we stayed together through the next 2 locks.  Six of us made it together to the GV Sonny Montgomery Lock by 3:39 pm but waited for the lone sailboat to catch up before the lock doors closed (20 minutes).  It was 4:12 pm when we exited and there was concern about getting to Midway Marina in Fulton, MS before dark.  There was one more lock and about 15 miles to go.  The Kristin Says could make pretty easily as long as the lock cooperated, but the rest of the group was travelling slower.  There would not be time to lock us through, prepare the chamber again, and then lock the rest of the group through before sunset.  So we stayed together at a slower speed.  One piece of good luck was that the slowest boat, the sailboat Hipnautic, was going to anchor north of the last lock so we did not have to wait for it.

As we got close to the town of Fulton (population 3,900), just past the Montgomery Lock, we passed Murphree’s Waterfront Campgrounds, then a spatter of homes on shore.  The Scott Paper Mill was a huge operation and probably the destination of all those logging trucks we saw yesterday!  The John Rankin Lock was ready for us when we arrived at 5 pm and we left at 5:28 pm.  Midway Marina was 3.5 miles away and sunset was at 6:03 pm.  Midway was ready for us and brought us in one by one at 6 pm.  Whew, that was close!

We checked in, had dinner on board and worked on our pictures and blog because we finally had good internet service – hooray!

Day 18 - Pickwick Landing - A Little Taste of the Keys in Tennessee

We left Clifton Marina at 8:40 am, again under overcast skies.  Our ride today is not too long, about 60 miles to Aqua Yacht Marina in Iuka, MS.  The area around Clifton is chiefly farms and we saw cattle drinking from the river.  The Tennessee River here is more populated with stilt homes, homes up on the bluffs, and motor homes parked under metal canopies to shade them from the sun.  One section of the river has a flood wall, but most of the shore is built up with rocks.

Two of the boats from Clifton, Satin Doll and Lady J, left before us, but we travel faster and passed them at 9:25 am and 9:45 am respectively.  We passed the first tug with barges of the day, the Evey T, at 10:14 am – we had passed her yesterday as well.  There was a working barge with 2 tugs tied along shore, a possible dredging barge.  All along the river system we have to make sure to stay within the channel markers or risk running aground.  Captain Randy pays close attention to the markers and depths.

We arrived at the Pickwick Landing Lock at 11:20 am and waited about 20 minutes for the doors to open.  The boat was raised 63 feet inside and we exited the chamber at 12:10.  From this point on, all of the locks will be lowering us to sea level.

After we left Pickwick Lock, the sun was finally out and the scenery here was gorgeous; large homes sprinkled in the trees high up on the bluffs to the left, and a wooded state park to the right.  The river widened again and there are several small islands in the middle of it.  We turned right into Yellow Creek, which is also the entrance to the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.  We passed more spectacular homes and the Grand Harbor Resort before pulling into Aqua Yacht Harbor at 1 pm.  The marina and resort sits on the border of Tennessee and Mississippi.

We were met at the fuel dock by Mark and Betty Klym our friends and fellow boaters from Diversey Yacht Club in Chicago.  They were in Mississippi to visit some of Betty’s family and decided to meet up with us and “tour” Pickwick, TN, area.  After a drink on the boat, we were off to Freddy T’s – a landmark of sorts in Pickwick.  From the looks of it, Freddy T’s belongs in the Florida Keys.  There is a shark head coming out of the sign in front.  As we stepped inside, there was a cardboard woman with a moving sign advertising new merchandise in the store.  We had a drink in the upstairs bar overlooking Highway 57.  We could not help but notice truck after truck carrying pine logs passing by. 

Freddy T’s has several rooms, all decorated with great detail:  one with lobster buoys hanging from the ceiling; one with old wooden water skis, a wave runner, and a Chris Craft boat transom; one with hanging fenders; and the “club room” that was decorated for Halloween.  After a dinner of barbecue at the Rib Cage, we returned to Freddy T’s to watch the beginning of the baseball game before returning to the boat.  We worked on our blog entry, but the internet was very slow and we could not post.  A recurring problem on this trip.