Destination Demopolis

Sunday, October 26, 2014

The sun was just breaking through the early morning mist as we left Columbus marina. A 50’ Hatteras pulled out in front of us, along with four other fairly big boats so we were the little one bringing up the rear. The John C. Stennis lock and dam was right around the corner and was open and waiting for us. After the Tenn-Tom waterway was completed, many of the locks were renamed for various politicians who had worked for the funding and approval to have it built, Senator Stennis was a well-known advocate of bringing this waterway about, especially for the commercial traffic.
This marks our 8^th lock out of the 12 on the waterway but the others are a lot farther apart. Around this area of the waterway we found lots of water hyacinth. It is a very invasive plant native to the Amazon that was introduced into the US at the New Orleans Worlds Fair by the Japanese who gave them out as gifts. Within a few years the plants were choking the Louisiana waterways, upsetting the natural habitat and killing the fish.

Navigating a sea of water hyacinth
 

All of the locks have bollards which we tie up to with one line. John made me a helpful addition to my line by adding a piece of flexible plastic tubing which makes it easier to reach out and slip the line over the bollard. We are always amazed when we see someone going through a lock solo because it is sometimes difficult to position the boat close enough and then dash to the side to secure a line. Once the boat is tied it is usually a breeze to drop the 30 or so feet we saw in most locks.

Staring at the floating bollard helps it go down faster
 

At one spot along the way we saw what looked like a rookery of buzzards or vultures perched on the tower to hold high tension line.

Vultures - was it their home or were they migrating?
 

 

We rafted up bow to stern with Raydiance - it worked very well
 

We stayed in a nice calm anchorage that night and we were introduced to a technique of anchoring  with Tom and Linda on Raydiance, that we hadn't used before. Raydiance put out their anchor and then we came alongside in the opposite direction past them and dropped ours. When we pulled back we were able to raft up with them and we didn't swing a bit because of the two anchors...and no wind...and no current. It was a very quiet night.

Captain’s Log October 26, 2014

Departed: Columbus Marina, MS 7:05 a.m.
Engine hours: 7.7 hrs.
Actual hours: 8 hr. 35 min.
Miles covered: 57.74    
Arrived: MM 277 Cook's Cutoff Anchorage 3:50 p.m.
Departed cool, calm – no delay in 1^st lock (Stennis) 2^nd lock (Tom Bevill) there was a 20 min delay due to gate malfunction.
Wx: departed cool, calm winds and temp warmed up to 80s, skies clear, nice

Monday, October 27, 2014

After an early night - it was dark and we were tired - we woke up before daylight at our anchorage. John called the  next lock and they were going to hold it open for us even though we were more than an hour away. The sun was just rising as we pulled anchor and it was difficult to see as it was shining in our eyes and the fog grew denser.

Sunrise and foggy conditions - about to get worse
 

 

At times we could barely see Our Last Boat IX and Bodacious behind us
 

On today's journey we passed the white cliffs of Epes. They were very dramatic as we came around a bend, especially with some of the foliage in bright fall colors. They are chalk formations and they create a big bend in the Tombigbee River.

M/V Bodacious cruising along the white cliffs
 

We have completed ten locks in the Tenn-Tom waterway so far and are glad to reach Demopolis  where we will stay for four days. This is a bit of a milestone for us because we are almost past hurricane season and can now go down the last 200 mile leg of this part of the trip - the Black Warrior River, the last two locks of the river system and into Mobile Bay.

Captain’s Log: October 27, 2014

Departed: Anchorage at MM 277.9, Tombigbee, Cook’s Cutoff, AL 7:15 a.m.
Engine hours: 7.9 hr. – 61.43 statute miles
Actual hours: 8 hr. 15 min.  
Arrived: Demopolis Yacht Basin, AL 3:30 p.m.
Passed through Heflin lock, no delay –
Wx: Departed early, slight fog – clear, calm sunny & warm wind picked up from west 5-10 mph

 

Starting the Tenn-Tom

Sunday, Oct 19, 2014

This was a beautiful, cool day cruising down the Tennessee to familiar territory at Grand Harbor Marina where we had stayed before. This time we are right at the gas dock for the night and lots of loopers that we haven’t met yet are here.



Lovely harbor sunset crisscrossed by con trails
 

Captain’s Log October 19, 2014

Departed: Florence Harbor, AL 8:45 a.m.
Engine hours: 4.9 hrs.
Actual hours: 4 hr. 45 min.
Miles covered: 41.54     total miles so far: 2,539
Arrived: Grand Harbor Marina, TN 1:30 p.m.
Wx: nice morning, a little cool but calm winds and clear sky – cruised downstream – no issues  - refuel and pump-out  

Monday, October 20, 2014

The Tennessee-Tombigbee water was our next section and we were ready to go early in the morning, but the conditions weren’t right for an early departure. A very thick fog rolled in during the night and we could hardly see across to the next dock, let alone across the water. A few boats left, thinking it was rising but turned around and came back when they hit a dense bank around the bend. Finally the sun broke through and we were off.

This is one reason we didn't want to leave in fog - rocks on both sides
 

The Tennessee -Tombigbee Waterway is a 234-mile man-made waterway that extends from the Tennessee River to the junction of the Black Warrior-Tombigbee River system near Demopolis, Alabama, United States. Until this was completed in 1984, the only way to complete the great circle was to go all the way down the Mississippi to New Orleans and then along the Gulf Coast.

Grounded - going nowhere fast!
 

One of the first parts of the waterway is called the "Cut" which is about 25 miles long, entirely manmade and is lined by rocks on both sides. We met a Tow coming up with a huge load of wood chips or mulch. We passed him on the one whistle. A little later we passed the chipping plant - southern pine logs being shredded - sure smelled good!

Meeting a barge in the cut
 

 

Where a creek flows into the cut - baffles look like a lovely fountain
 

We stopped for the night at Bay Springs Marina with Roger and Mary on TA TA and Bud and Sue on When I'm Sixty - Four. It was an isolated spot and they had covered slips there.  When we gathered for docktails we had a small celebration for Sue's birthday. She surprised us with the announcement and a pan of fresh homemade cookies!

Captain’s Log: October 20, 2014

Departed: Grand Harbor, MI 9:15 a.m.
Engine hours: 5.3 hr. – 38.79 statute miles
Actual hours: 5 hr. 51 min.  
Arrived: Bay Springs, MS 2:20 p.m.
STBD eng got warm again as we docked – added antifreeze to engine
Wx: Delayed due to fog – once underway all went well

Tuesday, October 21

Serenity tied up at Midway - this is their fall color
 

When we were at Midway we were told that we were in a dry county. No one is allowed to sell alcohol or bring it into the county. As one of the dock hands put it - the county is dry but the marina is wet so we decided that as long as we were out on the docks in the water we were ok to imbibe a bit. This is a moot point because many of us drink water or soda but the "blue laws" are very controversial right now in the county. While we were there a local TV station was doing interviews because the whole issue is up for a vote in the upcoming election about whether or not to allow alcohol sales - some things take a long time to change, especially in the deep south.

Gathering on the dock - a looper ritual
 

Clockwise from far left: Roger, Sue, Mary, Kathy, Bob, Bud,
Martha and George from Aunt Aggie     

Captain’s Log
Departed: Bay Springs 7:25 a.m.
Engine hours:  3.2 hrs
Actual hours: 4hrs.  25 min
Nautical miles covered: 21.21
Arrived: Midway Marina, Fulton, MI 12:50 p.m.
Wx: A little foggy on departure but passable, locked through with 8 other loopers – 3 locks, not delays, no issues. Engine temps all normal. Happy Captain. Traveled with TA TA, When I'm Sixty-Four and El Nido

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

It was not quite such a rush to get off this morning because we didn’t plan to go very far and we just had three more locks to transit. John called before we even untied and the lockmaster said he was ready and waiting for us. We went through a total of three locks today as we go down the waterway getting closer to sea level.

We had to anchor out for the night and there was a convenient location in an old channel of the Tombigbee river that was protected and out of the way. We rafted up with When I'm 64 and another Mainship, Aunt Aggie, dropped her anchor nearby.

View from our boat while we were rafted up with When I'm 64
 

 

 

Aunt Aggie at sunset
 

Captain’s Log: October 22, 2014

Departed: Midway Marina 8:25 a.m.
Engine hours:4.2
Actual hours: 5 hrs.
Nautical miles covered: 28.11
Arrived: Anchorage at mile 366.62 – old channel of the Tombigbee River, 1:25 p.m.
Wx: cool, clear, on departure, all three locks went smoothly – wind picked up a bit around 11 :30, north at 5-10. Engine overheating is solved – needed more antifreeze

Thursday, October 23, 2014

One lock to go through today - beautiful and sunny. By midday we were approaching the Columbus Marina near Columbus, Mississippi. We decided to stay here for three days and one of the highlights was visiting Waverly, an antebellum home which was once part of a 4,000 acre cotton plantation. It had fallen into disrepair after the last heir died and the remaining family squabbled over what would be done with it. It was finally purchased by the Snow family in 1962 and they have been lovingly restoring it ever since.

We were asked not to take photos of the interior but it was full of period antiques and the amazing thing was that original light fixtures, mirrors and woodwork had not been vandalized over 50 years of neglect.



Cupola on top of Waverly mansion
 

Lovely entry and balcony in this 4 over 4 home - the front has been
scraped in preparation for painting this fall
 

Miss Melanie, owner on the left, gave us a wonderful tour -
Bud and Sue from When I'm 64 went with us
 

Captains Log: October 23, 2014

Departed: MM 366.6 Anchorage at 8:25
Engine hours: 4.2
Actual hours: 4 hrs.  25 min
Nautical miles covered: 32.27
Arrived: Columbus Marina, Columbus, MS at  12:50pm
Wx: cool, clear, very little wind, sun warmed us and hot by the afternoon no issues

 

 

Rendezvous and Retracing our Path

Friday, Oct 10-17, 2014

Because we arrived at the site of the AGLCA rendezvous a few days early, John was able to change the oil and I caught up on laundry. The state park was a beautiful place with a large lodge and meeting place, a pool and plenty of room for the nearly 50 boats that gathered there.
The conference started on Monday and we met lots of our friends, new Loopers just starting their trip, former Loopers and hopeful future Loopers. The seminars were very informative as we focused on the southern part of the loop that was to come.

We were tied up right in front of the lodge in the middle - by the time the
conference started, every slip was full
 

Joe Wheeler was an important man in these parts
 

Before the rendezvous even came to a close, our friend Roger from TA TA was doing an expert job of organizing the 20 or so boats leaving after the last day. We had wanted to leave on Saturday but we got the word that part of the river would be closed that day due to dragon boat races to be held just south of the last lock. Roger had each boat numbered and in the order that we would tie up in the lock. It was a great plan and we were all ready go by 8 a.m. on Friday morning.

Panoramic view of the waterway in front of the state park taken by the AGLCA on the morning as we left
 

 

Our spot in line was number seven, just behind Meander and Bodacious
 

The General Joseph Wheeler lock was the first one and everything worked like clockwork as we took our spots next to Julie and Stu on Meander and rafted up to them. When we exited the lock, it had only been an hour to load and go down the 58 foot drop. As we went the 15 miles across Wheeler Lake the boats stretched out into a long line resuming their order. The wind started picking up and by the time we got to the Wilson Lock it was pretty gusty. We entered slowly because people were having a difficult time tying up to the floating bollards. The water was what John calls "squirrely" between the wind and the current as we were entering.

Serenity rafted up to Meander in Wilson Lock - going down
 

A couple of boats did 360s and tried again. Finally everyone was secured after over an hour of intense effort on everyone's part and we started lowering down the 94' drop.

That last boat looks like it is getting a little shower
 

When we reached the bottom the huge gates in front of us started to open
 

Quite a trail of boats behind us as we leave the Wilson Lock
 

We pulled into Florence Harbor, the same place we stayed on the way up the river, but many of the boats travel faster and they passed us on their way to the Tenn-Tom waterway - our next great adventure.

Captain’s Log: October 17, 2014

Departed: Joe Wheeler State Park 8:20
Engine hours: 4.0 hrs.
Actual hours: 5 hr. 10 min.
Miles covered: 20.62
Arrived: Florence Harbor, Florence, Alabama 1:30 p.m.
Results of oil analysis shows both engines are just fine. Happy Captain.
Wx: calm morning 60 degrees or so, sunny. Wind picked up so 2^nd lock was very interesting.

 

Tennessee into Alabama

Saturday - Tuesday, Oct 4, 5, 6, 7

Just off Pickwick Lake we stopped at Grand Harbor, a big marina which straddles Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama, as mentioned before. There were a lot of Looper boats pulling in on the windy afternoon when we got there. They had to park us at some remote dock near the condos, but we were glad to be tied up and out of the wind. We enjoyed the golf cart that they gave us to use to get around and it felt a little bit like being back at our home in Florida!

 

Our docking spot at Grand Harbor was so far from the main office that
they gave us a golf cart to get around. Just Us with Michelle and Dave
 is behind Serenity

  

While we were at Grand Harbor we were able to take the courtesy car with Bud and Sue, more Loopers on When I'm 64, and tour the Shiloh National military park. We watched a very well done video when we first got there and learned that during the two days of fighting between the Union and the Rebel armies over 23,000 men were either killed, wounded or missing. We were surprised that such a big area was involved and hadn’t realized that many of the men and supplies from the North came by steamboat down the Tennessee River. Regiments from Iowa, Illinois and Ohio played a large part in the battle.

Old house of worship at Shiloh

 

At the landing on the shores of the Tennessee River
 

One evening we went with a group to Freddy T's restaurant which is owned by the same person who owns the marina. This was certainly a change of mood for us because it was decorated in a quirky Key West style with a pirate theme - evidenced by their courtesy van.

Aarrrgh!
 



With new friends every time we go out - not counting the shark! John,
from Last Mango, Connie and Jim from Patriot, Diane, Karen, & Henry
 

After four days at Grand Harbor it was time to move on. We got back on the Tennessee River and made our way to Florence, Alabama.

Captain’s Log October 8, 2014

Departed: Grand Harbor, MI 6:50
Engine hours: 5.4 hrs.
Actual hours: 5 hr. 35 min.
Miles covered: 41.33
Arrived: Florence Harbor, Florence, Alabama 12:15 p.m.
Starboard engine temp at idle is normal now after replacing raw water pump
Wx: 70 degrees or so, overcast

Wednesday & Thursday, September, 8-9, 2014

Florence isn’t really walking distance from the marina, so the second day we were there we were invited to go sight-seeing with Becky and Mark from Mara Beel who had rented a car for the day. We did some errands first and then drove out of town to see the “wall.” This was an amazing wall of stone hand built by one man over the past 30 years to commemorate his great-great grandmother.

A small part of the wall

Builder of the wall, Tom Hendrix, 86, shows us some of the unusual stones,
fossils and even a meteorite that have been added to the wall by visitors

This section of eerie looking rocks represents all of our ancestors
 

Tom's great-great grandmother was one of the native Americans who was forcibly removed from her Alabama home by the US government in the early 1830s and taken to Oklahoma to live on a reservation.  This journey would later be called the Trail of Tears and many of the native people died along the way. 

His ancestor, Te-lah-nay, which means Woman with the Dancing Eyes, was only about 18 at the time and was gifted in the healing arts using local plants. She felt a calling to go back so she left and walked the entire way, following the rising sun - a trip that would take five years.
Tom felt the need to commemorate her in some way and, on the advice from some elders, began to make the wall, using no mortar or cement. This has taken him over 30 years, lifting each stone himself using his truck, shovels and a wheelbarrow. 
As he told us his story we felt moved by his strength and determination. Thousands of people have visited from all over the world and it truly feels like a very spiritual place.

This circle was built to honor all women
 

The next morning it was time to move on to the site of the annual fall looper rendezvous and we continued to go up the Tennessee, through two very high locks, to Joe Wheeler State Park.

Captain’s Log: October 10, 2014

Departed: Florence Harbor, AL 6:55 a.m.
Engine hours: 3.2 hr. – 20.61 statute miles
Actual hours: 4 hr. 20 min.  
Arrived: Joe Wheeler State Park, Rogersville, AL 11:15 p.m.
Departed Florence after fishing tournament got underway at 7 am – 2 locks to transit, no delays  
Wx: Overcast, went through 2 locks, started raining just as we were in sight of park and lodge

 

Upriver to Pickwick Lake

Saturday, October 4, 2014

More and more Loopers were gathering as we get closer to the annual rendezvous at Joe Wheeler state park in Alabama. The people at Clifton Marina were very accommodating as every square inch of space was taken up, mostly Loop boats coming in to take shelter from the forecasted thunderstorms approaching.

We gathered every evening to share appetizers and stories. The marina manager, Miss Sonya, was a jack of all trades, including chef, and she ran a dinner special while we were there. One night she fixed a spaghetti dinner, the next was chicken and dumplings.


Waiting for one of Sonja's dinners
 

Against my wishes, John went under the boat to check a strainer to see
if it was blocked - I asked him if his insurance was paid up and took a
photo to remember him by.
 

 There was a change in the weather. After the warm temps of the past week we woke up to 38 degrees on the morning we were leaving. A wispy mist was rising off the water.

The sun came up just before we left
 

 

A barge approached us in the mist, coming down river - the captain called and
asked us to pass him "on the one"
 

As we passed an island we watched goats browsing along the shore
 



There was a lot of erosion along one shoreline - wonder how long this
house will be there

 

 

A boat house and cottage on the Tennessee
 

We took over the lead from TaTa - good to be traveling with our friends
from British Columbia again
 

 

 

In addition to some beautiful homes we saw many RVs, most with
roofs over them

 

As the day went on the wind started blowing stronger and stronger - and it was pretty chilly. Just north of our destination we cruised by Shiloh Battlefield National Park. Some of the other Loopers had stayed in Clifton to borrow the car to take the tour - and they happened to be watching us at the unloading spot for the Union forces as they came down the Tennessee in steam boats.

When we passed Shiloh battlefield we saw our looper friends on the
shore standing in front of the questionable Clifton marina courtesy
car waving to get our attention. Gus, Row, Al & Terri
 

The wind continued to pick up as we approached the only lock of the day which would lift us up over 50 feet to Pickwick Lake and our destination of  Grand Harbor Marina. You could tell it was windy because there were whitecaps on the river!

Friendly Cove, another boat with a crew from BC, Canada is in front of
us leading the way to the Pickwick Lock
 

A reassuring sign as we neared the lock entrance
 

Our trip so far has been mostly relaxing times of cruising and socializing punctuated with moments of "what are we doing here?" Angst! As the wind blew down the deep lock, we got tied up and we hung on with all our might to keep the boat from swinging away from the wall or banging into it. We made it and finally found our spot at Grand Harbor Marina which straddles the corner where the three states of Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama come together. But that is another story.

As I am typing this I am sitting in the ship's store where I can get a decent internet connection. The only place to sit was on a low shelf until the dock master, "Barry with a Big B little a," took pity on me and brought me a chair. I forgot John's logbook and so no skipper's notes at the moment. As one of our friends says on his daily Facebook vlog, "until the next time....