We weighed anchor at 7:30 this morning, leaving Whetstone Creek -- with fishermen already there fishing in the fog. This area where Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi border Pickwick Lake is the turning point heading south off the Tennessee River into the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway portion of the Loop which leads to Mobile, Alabama.
I think I've mentioned before that our boat insurance restrictions prohibit us from having the boat South of Mobile, AL before November 1 and it must be North of Norfolk, VA by June 1 so we planned this trip accordingly. We also knew that it's best to be off the Great Lakes (namely Lake Michigan) by mid to late August and South of Chicago by Labor Day.
Today we traveled 49 miles on the Tennessee River part of the way with Alabama on one side and Mississippi on the other. We locked through the Wilson Lock -- a 94' elevation. I believe this is the highest lock in the river system. We locked through with Honest Bob, a tug with a tow which entered the lock ahead of us and tied off. Then, pursuant to the lockmaster's instructions, we came around his port side and tied up at the 50' mark in the front of the lock. This was to avoid unnecessary turbulence in the lock and damage to our boat. We have heard horror stories in our travels about pleasure craft, including a few owned by fellow Loopers, who have had their boats slammed against lock walls because of turbulence caused by the tug boats running their side thrusters or running their engines with the tug in gear. Ralph had several radio conversations with the tug captain and the lockmaster to ensure that a situation like this would not occur with us in the lock.
We had about a 20 minute wait for Honest Bob to arrive at the lock and while traveling through the canal leading to the lock, lo and behold, a buck leaped from the bank on one side and swam across the canal in front of the boat. When he reached the far shore, he hopped out and ran into the woods. Neither of us have ever seen a deer swim.
We initially planned to anchor in White Tank anchorage, but found the mud too soft and would not hold the setting of our anchor -- backing down at 1100 rpm. We gave it two tries and when a few other boats came in to anchor, we moved on. We're anchored now in Carter Branch in Muscle Shoals, AL. Here are some of today's photos:
I think I've mentioned before that our boat insurance restrictions prohibit us from having the boat South of Mobile, AL before November 1 and it must be North of Norfolk, VA by June 1 so we planned this trip accordingly. We also knew that it's best to be off the Great Lakes (namely Lake Michigan) by mid to late August and South of Chicago by Labor Day.
Today we traveled 49 miles on the Tennessee River part of the way with Alabama on one side and Mississippi on the other. We locked through the Wilson Lock -- a 94' elevation. I believe this is the highest lock in the river system. We locked through with Honest Bob, a tug with a tow which entered the lock ahead of us and tied off. Then, pursuant to the lockmaster's instructions, we came around his port side and tied up at the 50' mark in the front of the lock. This was to avoid unnecessary turbulence in the lock and damage to our boat. We have heard horror stories in our travels about pleasure craft, including a few owned by fellow Loopers, who have had their boats slammed against lock walls because of turbulence caused by the tug boats running their side thrusters or running their engines with the tug in gear. Ralph had several radio conversations with the tug captain and the lockmaster to ensure that a situation like this would not occur with us in the lock.
We had about a 20 minute wait for Honest Bob to arrive at the lock and while traveling through the canal leading to the lock, lo and behold, a buck leaped from the bank on one side and swam across the canal in front of the boat. When he reached the far shore, he hopped out and ran into the woods. Neither of us have ever seen a deer swim.
We initially planned to anchor in White Tank anchorage, but found the mud too soft and would not hold the setting of our anchor -- backing down at 1100 rpm. We gave it two tries and when a few other boats came in to anchor, we moved on. We're anchored now in Carter Branch in Muscle Shoals, AL. Here are some of today's photos:
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| Honest Bob tug and tow in the Wilson Lock |
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| In the Wilson Lock |
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| Power plant on the Tennessee River |
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| Many fishermen on the water today |
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| The current was running against us again today |
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| Homes on the bluffs |
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| Homes on the bluffs |
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| The buck that swam in front of the boat today |
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| The Tennessee River flows between Mississippi and Alabama |
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| The tug Honest Bob |
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| Not sure what was on this barge...but it was big |
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