Iuka, MS to Demopolis, AL

Total Miles Traveled 435.2

We left Aqua Yacht Harbor Marina on October 8^th; 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 10^th 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 13^th 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 16^th 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 1^st, 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 24^th.  We’ll be here until November 1^st 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.

Grand Rivers, KY to Iuka, MS

Total Miles Traveled 194

We have started our annual cruise south, leaving Green Turtle Bay Marina September 30^th.  We had a great summer visiting family and friends and cruising the inland lakes and rivers!

We were fortunate to avoid any damage to our boat or our marina this spring.  Kentucky Dam Marina was hit hard with flat line winds that broke loose three boat piers, damaging several boats and major damage to the piers.  The Moor’s Marina was hit with a tornado the following week, totally destroying the piers and several boats.  Both marinas are located only a few miles from Green Turtle Bay.

Having fun on the water…….

Brian skiing for the first time in over a decade.  Moni’s cousin Tammy and her husband Tony pulled Brian around Barkley Lake….until the big plunge.

I think he is still feeling muscle pains after two months.

Big fish catches and fish fry.

Yep, they get their fishing skills from their mother.

Dinghy poker run at Green Turtle Bay

Friends Dan & Deb

Attending my sister Edie’s 70^th Birthday party

One of our summer projects was to make covers for our exposed teak.  Moni did an awesome job sewing all of the Sunbrella covers.

Largest boat we’ve seen on Kentucky or Barkley Lakes.  This monster is leaving the Barkley Lock, viewed from the Thirsty Turtle.

Although we are heading south during the first week of October, we are experiencing temperatures in the mid 90’s and lows in the 70’s with very high humidity.  We decided to stay at marina’s cruising south until we get a break in the weather.  

Our first stop was Paris Landing Marina.  They have a unique lake water level indicator.  The top of the crossbar indicates the height of Kentucky Dam above sea level, 375 ft.  The top of the middle crossbar indicates normal summer pool of 359 ft.  It’s hard to see the bottom crossbar in the water because of the reflection but it indicates winter pool of around 354 feet.  The lake is down about 4 ft from summer pool.  Paris Landing is approximately 44 miles from the Dam.

Another project this summer was to get a precise measurement on our air draft, the distance between the water and the highest point on our boat.  Our friends Bob and Deb Williams helped us get a rough measurement while at Key West last spring, it turns out we were really close.     

With our antennas up, our air draft is 24 feet 10 1/2 inches.  This railroad bridge at normal pool is 24.6 feet above the water at normal pool.  Since we’re close to 4 feet below normal pool we won’t have to call the bridge for opening.  We had to request an opening when cruising north in June.

We passed this Coast Guard vessel pushing a barge of red and green buoy’s. 

Our first lock was Pickwick Lock and Dam; we arrived at the lock about 2:30 with a temperature of 95 degrees.  Luckily we didn’t have to wait as the lock was ready for us.  After raising us 55 feet to Pickwick Lake we continued to Aqua Yacht Harbor Marina, located at the beginning of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway (Tenn-Tom).

There are several Loopers here, and our friends Charlie and Robin McVey from m/v The Lowerplace.  Charlie and Robin just completed the Loop for the second time and now have their Platinum AGLCA burgee.  They purchased a house here a couple of years ago and invited us and several other Loopers to their house for a cookout.

We are staying at the marina until Tuesday October 8^th as thunderstorms are predicted for Sunday and Monday….and a big drop in temperatures and humidity.

 

The device I use to track our movement https://share.garmin.com/RickVicars is not working properly at this time.  I have contacted Garmin and they are working on the mobile issue.  The link works on a computer but not on some tablets and phones.

Columbus, MS to Grand Rivers, KY

Total Miles Traveled 3347

We departed the Columbus Marina May 31^st and to our surprise were not held up by barge traffic. Since the waterway was shut down for several weeks, we thought that once it opened we would be waiting hours at the locks.  This is the dredge at Aberdeen Lock and Dam.  When the river receded to normal levels, we were told you could walk across the river near the lock.

We spotted this alligator crossing the river in front of us.

We arrived at the Midway Marina on the 31^st, and then passed through our last three locks on the Tenn-Tom on June 1^st.  The last lock on this section of the river is the Jamie Whitten Lock.

After passing through the Whitten lock we entered Bay Springs Lake, this is a beautiful area with plenty of anchorages.  With temperatures in the mid to upper 90’s we decided to continue on to Aqua Yacht Harbor Marina for the night. 

When leaving Bay Springs, we passed through the Divide Cut; this section of the waterway was cut through the land here at a depth of as much as 175 feet for a distance of nearly 25 miles.  The first tow passed through the Tenn-Tom Waterway in 1985.  The construction of the Tenn-Tom Waterway moved more earth than was moved in the construction of the Panama Canal, and is relatively unknown throughout the US to the general public.

We departed Aqua Yacht Harbor Marina June 2^nd, leaving the Tenn-Tom Waterway and entering the Tennessee River on Pickwick Lake.  Once entering the lake, it’s only a few miles to the last lock that we will pass on the Tennessee River.  As luck would have it, our last lock would be our longest delay.  There are two lock chambers at the Pickwick Lock and the longest chamber is down for maintenance.  There was a barge leaving the lock when we arrived but another barge was approaching from the north and was too long to fit in the lock.  They had to break the barges into two sections and push half of it through on one lift, and the second half through on a second lift, then reconnect the load.  We dropped our anchor and waited a little over 4 hours for this process. 

As we traveled down the river from Pickwick Lake, we noticed debris strewn along the river banks from the previous flood waters.

And some rebuilding

There were a few nice places above the flood zone

After locking through, we arrived at one of our favorite stops at Clifton, Tennessee.  This is a small marina and under new ownership.  We have been traveling with “Trust Me” and we called ahead for transient slips.  Upon arrival, the docks were full of pontoon boats with nowhere for us to go, so we had to hold our position.  The outdoor restaurant was full of guests and everyone got up from their tables to move their boats around and make room for us.  After securing our boats to the dock, they invited us to join them.  This is why we like this place so much, great friendly people, and a good burger too!

Party Island along the Tennessee River

It is amazing to me how full they fill the barges, this on is full of sand and gravel.

With temps still in the 90’s and possible rain in the forecast, we decided to stop at Pebble Isle Marina on June 3^rd.  Are you starting to see a pattern here?  We normally anchor but have been staying at marinas almost since leaving Mobile.  Another reason for this stop is they have a nice bar and grill at the dock. Poor planning on my part though, it’s Monday and they are closed Monday and Tuesday.

Tennessee River

Passing a tow on Kentucky Lake

We arrived at Green Turtle Bay Marina June 4^th, a 73 mile cruise from Pebble Isle Marina.  There was a 80-90 percent chance of thunderstorms for the next several days so we decided to make a long day of it and get tied up to a dock.  Of course, the forecast changed and the rain stayed south of us, but it felt good to be back. 

This completes our 2018-19 cruising season since purchasing “Best Mate” in October 2018.  We started our journey last year at Fort Loudon Marina, near Lenoir City, TN 220 days ago and have cruised 3,347 miles.  Although this will be my last blog entry for this cruising season, we will continue to explore the inland rivers and lakes during the summer with family and friends.  We plan to start our 2019-20 cruising adventure around October 1^st this year.