Tenn-Tom Waterway

Tennessee River to Mobile Alabama

The trip down the Ten-Tom is a trip into the past. After leaving the Tennessee River at Yellow Creek (near Iuka, MS and Counce, TN) the waterway enters the Divide Cut. This is the 29 Mile cut channel connecting the Tennessee river with the Tom Bigbee River. More Earth was moved to create this cut than was moved for the entire Panama Canal! The route then follows the Tom Bigbee River with cuts across many of the curves in the river to make it easier for tugs to push barges through. It then joins the Black Warrior River which pretty much winds its way with very few cuts until it joins the Mobile River about 45 River miles from Mobile, AL.

Saturday, October 30^th

Coloring book charts at the bottom

Woke up to heavy fog and 32º temperature another good reason to stay at the dock last night with the heater on. The fog finally started to burn off and we started down the Tenn-Tom Waterway at 10:00. The Corps of Engineers Chart Book for the waterway looks like a child's coloring book. It is hard to take it seriously. The electronic charts look a hundred times better.

Divide Cut

The first 39 miles of the waterway go through Divide Cut. It is a 280 ft. wide ditch. It has a few curves and most parts look like they were drawn with a ruler. Those of you that have seen the C&D Canal it looks very similar. Not the most exciting part of the trip, but if the cut were not here we would have to go all the way to New Orleans on the Mississippi – UGH!

Three deer just swan across the cut in front of the boat. Cool

We anchored in Five Fingers Cove, part of the Nachez Trace Recreation Area in Mississippi. A very pretty, quiet Cove. Each of the five coves had at least one looper boat in it. The shoreline appeared to be sand. When I took Annie to shore we stepped off into 4” of wet red clay. What a mess, it stuck to everything.

We BBQ'd dinner and hit the sack.

Sunday, October 31^st

We woke up to a cold, damp morning. I walked Annie in the clay and while cleaning up I got a call from Q's End that there was fog at the lock. Two boats had asked last night about our plans for today. They wanted to get an early start and go a long way. They were hoping that we would not delay them by approaching the lock after them, as the lockmasters will hold the lock up half an hour waiting to group boats together for a locking. It turned out that the fog was at the bottom of the lock and they had to tie up and wait. There were two boats at the lock when we got there with our 3 boat group and then 2 more after us. When we arrived at the next lock there were the two boats that left early. They were waiting for two tows to clear. So much for their plans to make tracks today. Nine of us locked through the lock. At the third lock we waited again while two fast boats caught up with us and 11 boats locked through. The two fast boats then barged by all of us and locked through the next lock and we had to wait (only ten minutes though) for the lock to open up.We are hoping for a nice anchorage tonight.

We anchored off Smithville, MS above the Wilkins lock. Nice and calm and there is a launch ramp here with a dock. Makes getting Annie to shore without getting my feet wet easy. It also was grass and asphalt so she could run and I did not have to wash her or the dinghy afterward.

Serendipity at Sunset

We sat and watched the sunset on Windsong with Q's End and Mar Jo III.

Monday, November 1

Starting our 6^th month underway today. It is a little warmer and very calm. As I was taking Annie to shore I saw Mar Jo III locking down. Our timing stinks again. By the time we were ready to go there was a tow entering the lock and another right behind it. An hour and a half later we entered Wilkins Lock. With only 5 miles to the next lock we will have to wait again. Then we have one more lock in 13 miles and will probably not be able to pass the tugs with enough space to allow us through. Commercial Vessels have priority so we may have to wait.

It turned out that there was only a short wait for the second tow to finish. The first tow was way ahead and moving fast. The second tow was only moving at 4 mph and by running hard (8.5 mph) we passed him easily and we should be O.K. at the lock.We are burning extra fuel with Columbus, MS as our goal before dark.

We are now running on the river cut section of the waterway. The river wanders back and forth here, but the channel has been cut to straighten out the bends to allow large tows to operate. The banks are fairly natural looking although we have not seen much wildlife. I did see an eagle snatch a fish out of the river 20 yards in front of the boat.

The weather is warm, in the 70's. It sure beats the 40's they are having back in South Jersey.

We made the lock easily and arrived at Columbia Marina by five o'clock. The Marina was very crowded. About 4 boats were rafted to other boats. They wanted to raft us with Windsong, but their 3 Labs and Annie do not get along which made it a bad idea. We wound up at the very back of the marina with all of the pontoon boats. It was real quiet back there.

Once again folks proved really nice. We were tired, the courtesy car was not available so Q's End Joined us in a cab and we went to Huck's Restaurant. Another great meal. The restaurant specializes in Cajun - Huck's Chicken on the Bayou, Shrimp Etufee (sic), Blackened Catfish, Fried Crayfish Tails, all excellent.

Tuesday, November 2^nd

We rented a car which we split 3 ways. Shopping in the morning and Carole and two friends went to visit some antebellum houses in the afternoon. It has been raining on and off all day. I used the time to post to the blog and do some minor maintainance ( I was actually probably goofing off – Maintainance just sounds so much better).

We went to Hank's BBQ for dinner. We thought that this was going to be a loser. The building looked like a roadside stand. When we asked for glasses for our beer and wine, we were given Styrofoam cups. Dinner came on paper plates. Appearances are deceiving. This was the best BBQ to date! Ribs, pulled pork and brisket were on the menu and not much else. What a great choice.

There were 8 of us so we had to make two trips with the car to get everyone back to the Marina. We had closed the place down (about 8:00 pm) and while the second group was waiting for the car to return for them, Hank came out and talked with them. He took them to the back and showed off his BBQ's. Tom said they looked like they cost more than the rest of the restaurant. He also told them how he had to change his recipes for competitions (which he has won many times) depending on the judges. His winning recipes were not what he served his customers since that was not what they wanted. As far we were concerned he made the right choice.

Looks like more rain tomorrow and we are debating whether to stay another day or go.

Wednesday, November 3^rd

It rained on and off all night. It had stopped when we headed for the fuel dock. Turns out we needed to hurry. If we did not make it to the lock in 20 minutes we would have to wait 2 ½ hours. I am not sure why all of the stops seem to be before the lock and after it. If we stopped below the lock then we would not have this problem in the morning – of course we might then have it at the end of the day, guess it does not matter. We have to deal with it one way or another. We hustled and made the lock. While in the lock it started to pour down rain. For the next 2 hours I could not hear anything but the rain drumming on the canvas overhead.

We finished early today. With the rain and cold ~ 60º we pulled in to Pirate's Cove Marina in Pickensville, AL. Nice people good facility and if I had not been in "Deliverance Country" before I am there now. The owner has an old wooden boat for home. The office/store/marina is a double wide that has been sided over, and there are lots of trailers and dogs around.

The owner lives here

Double wide Marina and store

Tom Beville Visitors Center

We used the courtesy car and headed out to the Tom Beville Visitors center. The visitors center was a museum covering the Ten-Tom waterway, wildlife area, local commerce, steamboats and a Paddlewheel Snagboat. The exhibits were nicely done. It is located in a replica antebellum mansion that was really authentic looking. We could not board the Snagboat as it is closed on rainy days.

After a nice social hour on the veranda of the marina we all went back to our boats for dinner.

Anne decided to jump on to the boat without using the ladder and she missed. Finding her while she was swimming in the dark water was difficult. Carole had grabbed a flashlight, and I grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and got her back on the dock.

Tomorrow looks to be clear and cold.

Thursday, November 4^th

The day started out overcast and cold. The sky cleared quickly. We called the lock before leaving the marina and once again, were told: “get here in the next 15 minutes or wait 1 ½ to 2 hours. Two boats hustled out, our group of three decided to wait. An hour later I checked again. The lock was ready and would be clear for at least another hour. We left a 9:00 this morning.

North wind all day about 15mph. Since we are headed south it did not bother us. After a 35 mile run we pulled in to a small basin. Very pretty and there was a dock to take Annie to shore without any sand to roll in. However when Carole, Annie and I went to shore Annie managed to find a dead fish to roll in. We sent her in swimming to wash off so all we had to do was dry her when we got back to the boat.

While we were sitting there Dreammaker pulled in to an already crowded basin and dropped anchor right in front of us. I told him where our anchor was and he was unconcerned. If he drags anchor into us tonight I will own his boat!

Friday, November 5^th

We woke up to a very cold morning. Temperature was close to freezing. At 6:30 my “friend” was leaving in the dark. Fortunately for him the night was calm. As they were leaving they passed so close to Q' End that Tom thought they were going to snag his anchor line.

We got a very early (for us) start at 7:30. We want to make 50 miles today with one lock in the middle. The wind is still NNW at 15-20 mph and the clouds covering the sun slowed my bodily warming this morning. The river is very twisty here and when we are headed North to Northwest the wind blows straight in to the cockpit. I could run the boat from the inside, but would rather complain about the cold.

 The river scenery has changed again. We are seeing white chalk(we think) cliffs that are very striking. 


We saw the second pleasure boat headed north that we have seen on the Tom-Bigbee. Both were sailboats motoring into the wind. Why anyone would want to take a boat north in to tis weather I can not imagine.

We arrived at Demopolis Marina and had to tie up to the fuel dock with 10' of boat hanging off the dock. They are working on the marina and had no available dock space. They did go out of their way to make sure that everyone that arrived was able to tie up. Our anchor was hanging over Q's End's dinghy.

Dinner aboard Windsong was chicken Nacho/Taco's. They are leaving the boat shortly to go home until after New Years and have food to get rid of. It was great food and great company.

Saturday, November 6^th

There was frost on the decks this morning. We had to juggle a few boats around so that we could get to the pumpout. We will not be able to empty our holding tank again until we get to Mobile. The boats that had barged in to the anchorage at Sumpter had left a 6:00 AM for the lock. We left at 8:00 and they were still waiting. Justice is served sometimes! We had a long day ahead (68 miles) and the lock held us up for an hour. We averaged 8.2 mph downstream, passed more tows (6) than we have seem in a while. All of them were considerate and helpful.

Bashi Creek anchorage

We arrived at Bashi Creek after Q's End and Windsong had been anchored for a while. It is really quite small. If we are cross ways in the creek there is only about 10' of open water in front and back. The two of them were rafted with two stern anchors out. We opted for one anchor and tied our bow and stern to trees on opposite sides of the creek to stay in the middle. No wind so it shuld not be a problem. We were late for Social Hour however.

There is no cell service or any kind of service and the only lights are our anchor lights.

A Digression

I have been telling you how nice and friendly & helpful almost everyone has been. We have now met the “exception that proves the rule” these two boats, hereafter known as IA's (stands for Inconsiderate A-H**s) started by anchoring directly in front of us and not testing their anchor to see if it was holding. I mentioned this two days ago. One of them SAID he checked it, but both Jay on Windsong and I were watching and he never did. Testing is normally done by lowereing the anchor, putting out an appropriate amount of chain or line, and then putting the boat in reverse to make sure that it does not slip. He also did not put out enough chain to make a good anchor set.

The next day he was arriving at Demoopolis Yacht Harbor. He wanted fuel. There was only one person available due to a problem elsewhere. When he called on the radio he was asked to wait and she would call him back as soon as she could. He then proceeded to call every minute and complain that he was not getting an answer. When he arrived at the fuel dock he tied up and walked off completely blocking the dock for anyone else. When told that since he had no reservation he would have to raft off another boat he left in a huff.

All day long he and his buddy talked on channel 16 on the radio. Channel 16 is used for calling other boats and is also the emergency channel.Normally you contact someone on 16 then switch to another working channel. Not the IA's they copntinued to chat on 16 preventing anyone else from contacting the Tows. The tows could not even contact each other which they need to do to set up where they will pass each other.

Tonight at Bashi Creek one of the two anchored across the river. IA #2 pulled in to the creek after Q's End. Tom told him that two more boats were coming in. IA proceeded to anchor across the mouth of the creek totally blocking it, leaving no room for anyone else . He never set or tested his anchor and proceeded to drift in to the bank. He finally picked up his anchor and went across the river to his buddy.

End of Digression

Sunday, November 7^th

Morning at Bashi Creek

Daylight Savings Time Ends. This will really screw up Social Hour On the long travel days we will have to leave at 6:30 and be in bed at 9:00 the night before. We woke up to heavy fog and 1/4” of ice on the deck. The dew had frozen last night and I almost skated off the back of the boat when I was taking Annie to shore. This anchorage is really narrow. When I was pulling the line from the trees the stern and bow were almost touching the banks. The fog lifted at 8:30 Daylight time and we were underway. Only a 28 mile run today so we will be their by 11:30 standard time.

Sea Smoke on the river, tree lined banks and very pretty morning.

Sea Smoke

Arrived at Bobby's fish Camp at 11:30 as expected. We three were the only boats there which was good since we used almost the entire dock. There was about twenty five feet behind me at the fuel dock.

Bobby's really is a fish camp and no a marina. The dock is kind of an afterthought. It is a nice dock, just not very long. And there is no water or electric available. There are no good anchorages available for the next 65 miles so Bobby's is it.

This is the entire Dock at Bobby's Fish Camp
We had to move to let the 74' boat dock.

 

Those of you who might know Greg's Neck Boatyard will have some idea of the look and feel of it. However there are no boat services, no bathrooms or showers and the Restaurant is only open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Guess we missed out on the Catfish here.

Watched the Eagles game on Q's End and had a spaghetti dinner on board Serendipity with Jay and Joan from Windsong. Q's end passed on it since Tom does not like spicy food and all we had was hot sausage.

Earlier a 74' boat pulled in and we had to move. We rafted with Q's End. Since this is really the only stop for most boats they announce ahead of time that they will move boats as needed to make room. I have been told that sometimes they are rafted 4 deep. Big boats are always on the inside for safety reasons.

Monday, November 8^th

Another cold night although no frost this morning. There was however lots of fog. We need to go 63 miles today and a late start is really not welcome. No choice – if you can't see you don't go!

Note

There are those who say: “You have radar why not go?” the last thing you want to do is be in the middle of the river and have a boat that does not show on the radar screen appear out of the fog. Also if there is a tow coming at you and you want to be between it and the riverbank and the trees do not show real well on the radar – you are then literally between a rock and a hard place!

End of Note

We did get underway about 8:00 and were able to get right through the Coffeeville Lock.

Last Lock! Yay!

Carole is driving and cheered loudly as this was the last lock until spring! We have also just entered
tidal Water.

We are seeing more common Egrets. There were 6 or 7 on the lock walls looking down at the boats. This is the third time I have seen a Great Blue heron land in the water. I never knew they could swim and am not sure they actually can as they took off immediately after landing. We are also seeing the first Seagulls since we left the Ohio River.

Every day brings new terrain. Uh Oh – not Seagulls. I took a look and they are Terns. It is fun to watch them fish. They will fly along and all of a sudden turn and dive usually coming up with a small fish. We haven't seen any alligators yet although we have been told that they are around – not really looking forward to having them around either. Annie's swimming days are going to be very limited.

It has been a very pleasant day and I have warmed up nicely. We anchored in a small creek called Alabama River cutoff. Five boats in here. It is narrow and requires two anchors. The tide was out and when I took Annie to shore she jumped on to a very muddy shoreline. Fortunately she only got her feet muddy. It was harder getting the mud off my Clogs than it was cleaning Annie.

If I haven't mentioned it, the new Dinghy Davits are great. They make launching and retrieving the dinghy really easy, and the outboard is always attached so I do not have to carry it down and install it every time I launch the dinghy. Anchoring out is a pleasure even when I have to take Annie to shore on a very cold morning.

We had the group over for Social Hour this evening. Our new grill has broken its mounting plate. We can still use it on a table top. Magma says that West marine will replace it. Then while we were watching Television the generator shut down. No popcorn tonight! I had noticed no water flow earlier but it kept on going. The overheat emergency switch worked as it was supposed to. I will check it out tomorrow during, what seems to be, our daily fog wait.

Tuesday, November 9^th

Morning Fog again

Yes, we had fog again this morning. I used the time to replace the water pump impeller on the generator. It fixed the overheat problem and we had coffee. The tide was in when I walked Annie and we got no mud on either of us.

It is much warmer today and quite pleasant. We only plan to go about 35 miles so we are back to running at “Mitch Speed” - 2100 rpm – 7 mph in still water. With the current we are going 7 ½ to 8 ½ mph.

We are still seeing lots of Egrets and Terns and now we are seeing Seagulls – Herring gulls actually. I have also learned that Common Egrets are now called Great Egrets. I guess our favorite 1966 bird book is a little out of date.

Egret on a snag

There is house in there

The river is getting wider. Although we are only about 20 miles from Mobile, AL it is still quite wild looking on the shoreline. Carole spotted a raccoon on the shore and several otters in the water. Q's End saw a fox. We pulled in to Big Canot Bayou. Big only refers to its length it is fairly narrow. Q's End reported an alligator when they were anchoring. Annie is definitely on a leash. The alligator left the bank when we arrived. We anchored with a stern anchor to keep from swinging in to the bank. If I thought we were in “Deliverance Country” before I was way off base. A few fishing cottage houses only accessible by boat and a very narrow deep waterway. The banks are thick slimy clay/mud. I took Annie for a boat ride, drifting on a slow current part of the way. I could not find any place that looked solid enough to stand on. I drove the dinghy as far up the bank as I could and used the propeller shaft to keep it from sliding back into the bayou. When I got off I sank halfway up to my knees in the stuff. Of course it took my Clogs off when I tried to take a step. It took two hands to extract the clogs out of the mud. Surprisingly Annie went in to the water and then in to the Dinghy and was surprisingly clean. I think her webbed paws (and lighter weight) kept her from sinking in as far as my feet did. As for me it took half an hour to get myself and the dinghy clean.

You can almost see the house

Except for the occasional bass boat the only sounds are the Kingfishers and small fish jumping. I read some and wrote my notes this afternoon. Then before Social Hour I took Annie for another walk. She jumped ashore (I would not get out) took one look at the mud and jumped back in to the dinghy. I finally found a spot with Cypress Knees that she could get off and walk around on relatively dry land. I will go ashore there tomorrow.

The only sounds tonight are Owls hooting.

Cypress Knees and Palmetto

Carole's getting into the swing of things.

Drifting along the Bayou

Annie is in there somewhere

Wednesday, November 10^th

Not as cold this morning. In the 40's I think, and only a bit of Sea Smoke. I took Annie for a walk in the Cypress and Palmettos. Rather Annie took herself for a walk. I could not get through the palmettos the foliage was so tough – I can not remember where I left my machete. The Cypress Knees made for a mud free tie up so cleanup was easy today.

We got underway by eight and the railroad bridge opened almost as soon as we arrived. The river has widened even more. It is still running pretty fast. We are going about 9 mph now. It seems that this river does not reverse with the tides like the Delaware and Hudson Rivers that I am familiar with.

The river changes

I guess these two don't want to talk to each other.

I can tell we are getting closer to the city and bay. Radio traffic on channel 16 is getting heavier and I am hearing the Coast Guard a lot. We just passed what the locals call the "Dolly Parton Bridge" You can guess why.

We are entering the Mobile river working waterfront. Another change of scenery. A lot of working docks, many dry docks, and many working tugs and ships. 

Coal dust spray Rainbow

  We watched a water sprayer used to keep the dust down on large piles of coal. It made for a very different rainbow.

 Six miles further down Mobile Bay we turn off the bay and in to the Dog River channel. We pulled in to Turner Marine and, as usual we took the courtesy car and headed for the market.

The marina is an older one. The finger pier is barely long enough for Carole to get off. She is ready to leave and move to a different marina. I added a rope railing and that has helped. The other marina would cost us almost $200 more for the month so I was reluctant to leave. Besides the finger piers there were only about 3 feet longer.

The Birthday Dinner - L-R Jay, Joan, Linda,
Tom, Carole and Mitch

We had a birthday dinner for Carole and Joan tonight. Good food and good company with Q's End and Windsong.

Tomorrow is Oil change day.

Thursday, November 11^th

We worked around the boat – changed the oil, did laundry and started to organize for the trip back to New Jersey.

We went to Wintzel's for dinner. The Oysters were only fair. Wing Report: Taste -4, Meaty -4, Heat -3, Crispy -0, total – 11

Friday, November 12^th

R & R Seafood

We picked up the car this morning. In the afternoon we headed to the Battleship Alabama Museum. We stopped at a small restaurant/bar on stilts for lunch. I had a really good oyster PoBoy and Carole had some excellent steamed shrimp. A real find.

The battleship Alabama is smaller than the new jersey. It was also decommissioned in 1947 and therefore the museum and battleship are set in the WWII era. The self guided tours covered every area of the ship including all of the living quarters, gun turrets, ammo loading areas, engine room and also the 16” gun ammunition elevators. The difference in the operating era's of the two ships shows up in the armament on them. The New Jersey had few guns other than the really big 16” guns and a few 5”guns, but it does have missiles and the high speed Vulcan (Gatling type) machine gun. The Alabama had, in addition to the 16” and 5” guns, 50 cal. gun turrets and 20 cal. Single and double machine guns spaced about every 15' around the entire deck.

The SR 71

The museum also has a number of planes including an SR-71 Blackbird. The CIA spy plane that is the fastest Air Breathing plane to fly. It could fly at mach 3.2 about 3600 mph.

We had dinner at the Yacht Club. Not much to tell about it.

Saturday, November 13^th

Today was pack the car day. Find all of the things that we took with us I June that we have not used and won't use on the boat. Stuff like duplicate tools - actually triplicate tools, coolers, electronic gadgets, etc. also a few items I can repair better in Leigh's shop than on the boat, puzzles, and other miscellaneous junk.

It is amazing – there is actually a bunk under all that stuff I had in the v-berth!

The three boat entourage – Windsong, Q's End and Serendipity is separated now. Windsong is getting work done and jay and Joan will not return until January. Q's End left for Fairhope, the Panhandle and the West Coast of Florida this morning. And we are heading to New Jersey for a couple of weeks tomorrow.

The journey will continue in December!

Tennessee River

Tennessee River and the Rendezvous

We are staying in Green Turtle Bay Marina, Grand Rivers, KY for a few days. The weather is beautiful and it is a chance to catch up with stuff. Carole with the ever ongoing cleaning project and me doing some minor repair work and installing the Dinghy Davit I bought. The Davits involve gluing pads on the inflatable tube and the glue requires several days drying time, it makes sense to do the gluing while in the marina.

We took the courtesy car to Paducah on a shopping mission with two other couples. It took 2 hours and $200 to get out of the Walmart, but we are pretty well stocked with food now.

Dinner at Patti's again (We ate there twice before). Carole wanted to try the 2” thick Pork Chops. I had the same and along with salad and potatoes – Ugh! I ate too much again. Between the two of we took home enough for another meal.

Thursday, October 14^th

The new 30 amp power plug arrived this morning and Canvas creations delivered our Spray Panels in the afternoon. The spray panels are actually for Annie's safety. They will cover the area at the side of the boat where the steps lead up to the flybridge. There are no coamings there and if Annie were to slip she could slide off the side of the boat. The panels will guard against that.

We all went back to town – more shopping. I had no luck finding the screws I need to install the spray panels, but Carole was successful in finding more stuff to buy.

After shopping the six of went to dinner at Rafferties in Paducah and had some excellent Ribs.

Tomorrow we head up the Tennessee River.

Friday, October 15^th

we left at 9:00 AM after I located the screws I needed at the store here in the Marina. The light wind out of the north is putting a 1 ft. chop on Kentucky Lake. Again these lakes are really part of the river and are named after the dam that creates them. The wind is behind us so we are making decent speed, 7 mph against a slight current.

We anchored out in Cypress Bay (Ft. Heinman Bay) and went for a hike on shore. There were several Cypress Trees with their roots popping up all around them. There was also what appeared to be the start of a development at the top of the hill. It looked as if it died after the first house was built. A couple of pads were started and they were overgrown with brush and a few small saplings. This is a very pretty, sheltered anchorage.

Saturday, October 16^th

A cold night last night, but the boat was quite comfortable. The water is still warm and it helps keep the boat warm. We woke up to heavy fog again and it did not burn off until 9 o'clock when we then got underway. There is no wind and it is a beautiful clear day.

The Tennessee River/Kentucky Lake is wide and mostly deeper than the Cumberland River. There are still the underwater canyons that were the old riverbed.

We Arrived at Pebble Isle Marina in time to join the annual BBQ. Pulled Pork and BBQ Chicken made by the marina with lots of side dishes as Pot Luck and a Country Music Band made for a fun afternoon. There was so much food that we only had a snack at dinnertime.

The marina has dish network at the dock. I tried to hook up our DVR, but since I do not have a current account the box would not work. The marina loaned us a box and we were able to watch the Phillies lose the opened of the LCS. Bummer

Sunday, October 17^th

We went for a walk to Johnsville State Park. Supposed to be a small museum and a Civil War Battlefield here. It is the location of the only defeat of a naval force by the cavalry. We walked all the way in to the park (about ½ mile) where we saw a sign that said: “Museum Open by Appointment”. When we got there and looked through the windows it appeared that it had not been opened in months. Dust and cobwebs everywhere. We did have a nice walk and Annie enjoyed it – lots of squirrels to chase & even (her new love) dead fish to roll in.

Back to the boat and we watched the Eagles win, had a good catfish dinner and then watched the Phillies win.

Pebble Isle Marina Restaurant Wing report: Crispy -5, Taste -5, Heat -2, Meaty -4, Total -16, the best this trip!

A good day overall.

Monday, October 18^th

Slight overcast this morning, cold but no fog. Heading “Up a Lazy River” no Old Mill Stream however.

The Tennessee is rather quiet. The river has narrowed a lot and the current is slowing us some, from 7 mph to 6.5 mph. That does not seem like a lot, but can add almost an hour to our travel day. The good part is that the narrow river puts us closer to the scenery, not only the rock formations, trees and hills, also the houses, turtles and birds on the riverbanks.

Even with the slowdown, we got to our intended anchorage so early we decided to push on. Our next choice was 3 hours away. We thought it was a bit small and it was deeper than we like so we moved on to our third choice which was a winner. We called ahead to Two Turtles (we knew they were going that far) to see if there was enough room for us. By evening there were five boats there with room for another four or five.

Bald Cypress Trees along the river

Eagles wading

Plenty quiet with a sandy beach where Annie got to jump in the water and roll in the sand for a change. There is nothing like a wet, sandy dog in the dinghy with me! Having a good washdown pump and being in fresh water is really nice. I know I am repeating myself, but I am really enjoying the fresh water boating.

The turtle is bigger than the rock

Tuesday, October 19^th

Cool, calm and clear again. I managed to keep Annie from rolling in the sand so cleanup this morning was fairly easy.

We are seeing more houses on the shoreline now. If this is redneck country they are doing very well! And what a great view they have. Some of the houses are immense with extra buildings for all of their exes and kids.

I watched two Great Blue Herons fighting over a “choice” fishing spot. Usually when one lands near another heron's spot there is some squawking and one of them levees. This time they faced off, held their wings out and leaped at each other. After a couple of these encounters one flew off.

Anchoring tonight behind Wolfe Island near Savanah, Tn. No TV reception so I do not know what is happening to the Phillies – bummer. I will have to check on the internet to see what I can find out.

There is only one other looper and a houseboat in here. There is a bout a ¼ mph current here keeping the boat steady, and another sand beach for Annie to roll on.

I climbed over the levee to see what the land on the other side was like. A big field of soybeans was being harvested.

It looks like we might get the first rain in weeks, and it started just as we started the BBQ – imagine that!

Wednesday, October 20^th

Cool, clear and calm, with a slight haze (sea smoke) on the water this morning.

We started out at 8:30. The current slowed us to 6.2 mph. As we got closer to Pickwick dam the current picked up and slowed us even more. At 2 miles from the dam we were slowed to 4.2 mph. If we keep slowing down we may never get there.






Well we finally did and only waited 15 minutes for the lock to empty. Entering some locks from the bottom sometimes feels like we are entering the “Gates of Hell”. The lock operator was nice to us and she gave us an easy slow ride up. If the water is let in fast it makes the lock very turbulent and the boats are tossed around and bang in to the walls in spite of the fenders.

It was a short trip from the lock to Pickwick State park for fuel. This would be a really nice marina if they would repair the docks. Seems that the transient dock repair has been on the to-do list for several years.

From there we are off and around the corner to Aqua Yacht Harbor. This is a really big marina. We met john from Emory El – a looper we met last year on the Erie Canal and several other places since. He finished the loop and this is his home port . He lives in Memphis and drove up here to Iuka, MS to visit and spend some time on his boat. We had Pizza and beer with him while we watched the Phillies lose again.

Thursday, October21st

Warm and sunny. Annie got to romp with Buster, a one eyed Golden retriever. They had a great time running back and forth along a grass berm. After 15 minutes they both had had it. Buster lost his eye when he jumped in to the water while BP was spreading dispersant early on in the spill. BP settled promptly for $72000 dollars. The owner said that Buster (who does not even seem to notice he is missing an eye) now has every toy imaginable. The owner now has the houseboat that he wanted.

I finished installing the dinghy davits while Carole did some laundry this morning.

John offered to drive us around today. We wanted to go to a museum in Savannah, TN and he had never been there so he went with us. The Tennessee Valley Museum is another well done museum. It documents the area history from prehistoric through the present. The self guided tour walks you through rooms starting with fossils, then Indian artifacts, the Trail of Tears, the first settlers, Civil War gun boats & cavalry, steamboats, mussel harvesting & the pearl button industry, and the current usage of the valley. They did not cover much on Shiloh since the Shiloh Battlefield National Park is only a few miles away. We did not go to Shiloh since Carole had spent time there while in the Park Service. It was a small museum, but we spent almost two hours there.

After a quick shopping trip we headed to the “Catfish Hotel”, a restaurant that Carole found online and John confirmed it was one of his favorites. The restaurant is near Shiloh, but way out in the woods along the Tennessee River. We expected a small low key shack type place when we were driving there. We ere really surprised to find an upscale building. The restaurant was full and it was a Thursday!

We sat down and while we were ordering the waitress looked up and casually said: “The helicopter is landing.” We looked up and an Army Blackhawk helicopter landed on the front lawn to everyone's (except the staff's) surprise. John said that he had seen it before. Four Army men got out and sat down for dinner next to us. They did let the kids that were there take pictures with them at the helicopter first.

The food was really superb. Onion rings that were freshly made for an appetizer. We all had fried whole catfish for dinner. It was all you can eat and was served family style. We could have gotten fillets, but we all opted for the whole fish. Salad, potatoes, and hush puppies were included in the meal. Along with a pitcher of beer the bill for the three of us was $58.00. We were very pleasantly surprised. This was the best catfish we have had.

We got back to the boat in time to watch the Phillies beat the Giants.

All in all a very good day

Friday, October 22^nd

Cool this morning. We pumped out and got underway by 9:00. The wind was in our face as we headed up Pickwick Lake which held our speed down a little. The first anchorage we had chosen came up too soon so we went on to our next choice. It was too shallow so we decided to move on to the marina in Florence, AL.

Good choice, the marina could not be friendlier. We had an easy evening & night. We grilled steaks for dinner.

The plan is to use the courtesy car to go to the art museum and visit a Frank Lloyd Wright house/museum in the morning and then head off to an anchorage .

Saturday, October 23^rd

Carole had a swollen painful toe for the last several days and we decided to have it looked at. The courtesy car was not available, so Eva the marina owner offered to drive us. Instead of the hospital we went to a clinic. It was going to be a while, so she loaned us her car. It turned out that there was something in her toe (maybe an insect stinger) and there was a slight infection. It was removed and an antibiotic should fix it up in a few days. It was really nice of Eva to go out of her way to help us.

We still made our reservation of the courtesy car and went to the Frank Lloyd Wright/Rosenbaum house/ museum. It is unique in that it is the only Wright house in Alabama and only one family lived in it from the time it was built in 1940 until the city of Florence bought it in 1999. They then restored it as it had deteriorated even though Mildred Rosenbaum was living in it. Like all of his flat roofed houses the roofs leaked. After it was restored she donated all of furniture, nicknacks and decorations to the museum. The furniture was also designed by Wright. The shows as though it were being lived in.

The art museum show was declared as only "so so" by Carole and we did not spend much time there.

We finished up too late to leave for an anchorage.

Dining area at the Wright/Rosenbloom house

We went to Rosie's, a Mexican Restaurant, and it was a hit! And I get to watch the Phillies game tonight.

On to Joe Wheeler through two locks tomorrow.

Sunday October 24^th

The Phillies season is over – it was an exciting game but they lost.

The view as we enter

The view before the doors close

It's mild and sunny this morning. Annie and I returned from our walk and I checked Wilson lock to see what the traffic looked like. The lock is only 3 miles from the marina, so if we need to wait for tows to clear we may as well stay at the dock. The lock operator told me that if we hurry we can make the lock. If we miss it there will be a 3 hour wait. We quickly unplugged, took off our lines and hustled out. We ere doing 9.2 mph to get to the lock in the 15 minutes he gave us to get there. We made it and 4 boats locked up a 93 ft. deep lock. It felt like we were driving in to a box canyon. The lift proved to be easy. We tied up at the front of the lock at the operators advice. The middle was quite turbulent. The upper gate of this lock lowers down in to the water instead of swinging open.

Two hours later we were at Wheeler Lock. This one is only 46' deep. However there were two tugs, one going up and one coming down. It made for a 1 ¾ hour wait. There were 5 boats waiting now. The last boat is Dragonfly. A Narrowboat that is solar and diesel powered. It goes 4 mph on electric and 6 on diesel. I guess we have lost the “slowest boat on the loop” title!

Joe Wheeler State Park and the Rendezvous are around the corner.

Monday – Wednesday, October 25, 26 and 27^th

Some of the entourage
L-R  Brenda, Jay, Tom, & Linda

Sunday was the Rendezvous opening night. The tone was set with a wine and cheese reception. Rodgersville Al is in a dry county, so they can not sell alcohol, but they can serve it if it is given away. The AGLCA gets sponsors to pay for the reception evenings and we miss at not having Social Hours is more than made up for by the free wine (and beer if you were so inclined).

Joe Wheeler Marina in the Morning

The rendezvous consists of seminars covering the route we will be taking from here to Norfolk, VA the site of the spring rendezvous. For those who are still thinking and planning there are sessions covering electronics, saftey, buying the right boat, etc. Lots of information to absorb. I hope that I can remember, or find, or remember where I put, the important stuff when we need it. We started at 8:00 with breakfast and finished dinner at 9:00 at night. One afternoon I participated in a Kayak race. It was a timed race and I think I was next to last. I tried to get them to handicap it according to age, but I lost that argument.

Now we have to get ready to head out tomorrow.

Thursday, October 28^th

Used the morning to prep for the trip downriver after a 4 day layover. We planned to leave at noon until we got the word that if we waited until noon we would be waiting for another 3 hours at the lock until the tows cleared. Carole was doing laundry we really hustled to get going.... the information was wrong. The lock would not be available until 12:00 or 12:30 so we sat and waited for an hour for the lock. We then had to pour on the coals to beat the tow to the next lock so that we could lock down in front of him.  The last lock is Wilson lock and at 93' is one of the largest we will see. (I know I said this before) We made the trip down with Dragonfly (the Narrowboat). The videos will give you some idea of what it looks like inside.

Dragonfly exiting the Wilson Lock

We made it in time and pulled in to Florence Marina with 5 other loopers. A short “social hour” and 7 of us went to Dales for dinner. A pricey steakhouse with so so steaks. The catfish was good however.

Friday, October 29^th

The last 40 Bass Boats

We were awakened this morning at 6:15 with voices we thought were on the dock. I looked out the back stateroom window and and saw 20-30 bass boats sitting out there in the cold (34 degree) weather. Must be a bass tournament. I got up, went to the salon and looked out – there were boats all around us. 145 I was told. The one we heard was hanging on to our swim platform. It turns out that this is the last wildcard tournament of the season.

We headed downriver and with the current we were making 8 mph. An hour and a half later Carole discovered that we had left our folding cart and laundry bag in the laundry room at the marina. I made a call to the marina and then to a looper (to be) who had not left yet. They will be on their way shortly and will catch up to us this afternoon. We may do an “at sea” exchange. We shall see how it goes.

Along the way we passed a large Paddle wheel excursion boat that had run aground. They were unloading passengers and a passing tug with 9 barges was going to try to pull it off. We do not know what happened, but the paddlewheeler was definitely not in the channel.

With the cold and trying to meet up with Satisfaction for the exchange (and I wanted catfish for dinner) we decided to go to Aqua Harbor Marina again. I used the courtesy car to run over to Grand Harbor Marina where Satisfaction was docking to pick up the laundry cart and bag. We then joined up with Windsong and Q's End to go to the Catfish Hotel for another super dinner. Turns out that they make excellent ribs also as reported by Tom. On the way we stopped at The Pickwick Catfish Farm to buy some smoked catfish. We will report on it later.

Tomorrow we are on to the Ten-Tom Waterway