Total
Miles Traveled 435.2
We
left Aqua Yacht Harbor Marina on October 8th; we had a great time
visiting with our friends Charlie and Robin on the “Lower Place” and all the
new loopers heading south. We traveled
about 38 miles to an anchorage at Bay Springs, just before Whitten Lock.
As
we were passing through the Divide Cut, we saw this fox looking for a snack.
Our
plan was to lock through the Whitten Lock at daybreak with three other
anchored boaters, but we discovered an issue with our waste system. It turns out the sewer odor we experienced on
the way to Bay Springs was a leaking bellows on the vacuum system which moves
waste from the head to the waste holding tank.
I purchased spare parts for the complete system this summer so we were
prepared for a failure at some point. It
was not a pleasant 6 hour job but at 1:30 pm we were ready to contact the lock
for passage. I spared you any unsightly pictures of the waste system failure
:~).
Due
to our late start, we were only able to pass through three locks and anchor
just before the Fulton lock. It was an
awesome day of cruising and a great sunset at anchor.
On
October 10th we weighed anchor just after daybreak and passed
through four locks before arriving at Columbus, Mississippi. We
passed this tow on the way.
Our
good friends Randy and Sherri from “Priorities” were there to great us. We also caught up with several other boaters
we have met during our travels, especially one from our home town of Terre
Haute, Indiana. We met Steve and Libby
on “San Souci” the first time at Paris Landing, Tennessee; they have been
experiencing a few mechanical problems and will be here a few more days. We also met another looper from Evansville, Indiana, Norm and Vivian on "Quiet Company". You just don't see that many people from Indiana on the Tenn-Tom.
We
stayed at the Columbus Marina for a few days then locked through the Stennis
Lock on October 13th anchoring in an oxbow next to downtown Columbus. An oxbow is a U-shaped metal pole that fits
the underside and the sides of the neck on an ox. The term oxbow is widely used to refer to a
U-shaped meander in a river, sometimes cut off from the modern course of the
river that formed it.
We
anchored here a few days; there is a park and boat dock next to our anchorage. We dropped the dinghy one day and went to the
dock meeting Randy and Sherri for lunch.
We
shared the anchorage with a sailboat the last couple of days.
On
October 16th we traveled 55 miles to an anchorage at Cooks Bend,
near Panola Alabama. We usually stop
here on the way up in the spring or coming back down in the fall. It’s a deep, well protected anchorage that’s easy
to get in and out from the river.
As we traveled south, we noticed more debris in the waterway, those small limbs sticking up could have a 15 foot tree attached to them under the water.
We were gaining on this tow when approaching a river bend, we held back until he cleared the bend before passing.
We
continued on to Rattlesnake Bend near Demopolis Alabama for one night, then to
Demopolis the next morning to top off our fuel tanks. Demopolis Yacht Basin is a major fuel dock
for the tows going up and down the river; they sell a lot of fuel at a lower
price than Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and most of Florida.
After
our fuel stop we continued a few miles to an anchorage at Foscue Creek, just
before the approach to Demopolis Lock and Dam.
We anchored here for five days getting caught up on a few projects and
enjoying the scenery. Our boat insurance
prevents us from going any farther south than 32 degrees latitude until November
1st, their date for the end of hurricane season. Our anchorage is 32
degrees, 30 minutes north.
Our
anchorage is also close to a coast guard station which maintains the ATON’s
(Aids to Navigation) in this region. We
were entertained by the activity of them loading buoy anchors and buoys onto
the work barge.
This
anchorage is also just off the river; we can see tows passing close to the
entrance as they move through the lock.
The
only wildlife we have seen here were a few cranes and an Armadillo.
With
heavy rain and possible storms in the forecast we moved to the Kingfisher Bay
Marina at Demopolis on October 24th.
We’ll be here until November 1st before continuing our adventure
south. We met our friends from Green
Turtle Bay marina, Mike and Jan from “Trust Me” and several other boaters
heading to Florida. This is a good stop
to receive Amazon orders, mail, and use the courtesy car for provisions.
I’m
glad we came into the marina before the rain started; there is flooding north
and south of us causing a lot of debris to break loose from the shore and
create hazards on the waterway.
The
current forecast calls for the rivers to drop to a safe level by our planned
departure....... if we don’t experience more measurable rain. We plan to be in the Gulf Shores area during
the first week of November.