Clifton, TN to Columbus, MS

Total Miles Traveled 312

We have been making good progress, but the cold weather is still on our heels.  When we left the Clifton marina, the fog wasn’t too bad, but as soon as we entered the river we had almost zero visibility.  We traveled at idle sounding our fog horn until we could duck behind an island where we anchored until it lifted. 

We continued south through the Pickwick Lock & Dam and reached Aqua Yacht Marina on the Tenn-Tom waterway.  This waterway connects the Tennessee River at Pickwick Lake with the Tombigbee River at Demopolis, Alabama.  The waters from Demopolis to Mobile are called the Black Warrior—Tombigbee Waterway.  More earth was moved during the construction of this project than the construction of the Panama Canal.

The first lock we encountered was the Jamie Whitten Lock; it has the largest drop of the nine locks we will pass of 84 feet

We met two other boats heading south, and are traveling with them so we can have a smooth transition through the locks. 

“Portofino”

“Further”

Making our way south……..

This area is experiencing drought conditions which are affecting lock operations.  Each time the lock is drained for southbound vessels, the pool level between dams drops.  We were informed by the Fulton Lock this morning that a tow was northbound and the only opportunity we would have to lock through today was now, before the tow arrived.  Although it was still a little foggy we all cast off our lines and slowly moved toward the lock.

After four locks and 60 miles we arrived at the Columbus Mississippi marina about 45 minutes before sunset.