Brrrrr....we woke up to a chilly 46 degrees this morning with 88% humidity -- cold and damp.  This was a day for Cudd'l Duds (long undies for me). wool socks, Uggs and warm jackets for each of us.  We are on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway now.  We traveled 27 miles on The Divide Cut which connects the Tennessee River Basin with the Tombigbee River Basin and we locked through four locks today:  the Jamie Whitten Lock with an 80' drop, the Sonny Montgomery Lock, 30', the John Rankin, 30' and the Fulton Lock, 30'.   We have no idea who the namesakes of these locks are, but they must be important.  We think Fulton might be Robert Fulton of steamboat fame.  Total mileage today 60 miles. 

Once you get into sync with other vessels in a string of locks, you end up locking through  every lock with the same boaters. When we were about 5-6 miles from the first lock on the Tenn-Tom, we could see that we would end up at the lock about the same time as a tug pushing three empty barges. Ralph contacted the lock master and the tug boat captain to ask if we might lock through with them and got permission. Commercial traffic takes precedence to all other boat traffic in the locks and we have learned that the tug captain has the "say" on whether or not pleasure boaters may lock through at the same time as his tug/tow. On weekends these locks only operate on a 2 hour opening schedule. But since we were traveling at the same speed as this tug, and he is allowing us to lock through with him, we are going to get right through.

 When we arrived at the lock, we had to wait for the tug to enter and get secured and then for us to proceed into the lock. While waiting near the lock, a large Tiarra cruiser runs past us and threw up a very large wake only to stop in between us and the lock. He waked us so badly that one of our lunch bowls hit the deck on the fly bridge.  I was NOT happy. Boaters are always responsible for their wakes.  Ralph got on the radio and said “thanks to the white boat that just waked us and knocked our bowl to the deck” . No reply.

After the tug was secured in the lock, they called for the pleasure boats to come in. Ralph then called the white boat and asked if they wanted to go ahead of us into the lock since they arrived ahead of us.  No response after two tries, so we forged ahead into the lock. 

When we came out, Ralph called the white boat again and offered to allow them to do a slow pass and get ahead of us. When he asked them what the name of their boat was, a surly reply came back "We don't have a name and why do you want it?"  He told them its normal an proper protocol for communication between boats. As they passed they said on the radio “make sure you have all your bowls secured.” Ralph thanked them for their suggestion. He did pass slowly and then took off to the next lock

The unnamed boat was there before us, but this time we stayed well behind him so he could enter first.  They didn't handle their boat very well behind us in the first lock, so we'd rather have them in front of us than behind us and so it went for all the locks. He kept using his thrusters to keep himself off the lock wall instead of adjusting the line appropriately. After doing 148 locks, we have never seen that.

We've traveled 3,500 miles in two countries and we've come across only two discourteous boaters, so all in all, I'd say that's pretty good.

When we pulled out of the Fulton Lock, Ralph was thanking the lock master and the tug captain and we got a radio call from two sailboats we had come across on our way from Chattanooga and had chatted with on the radio.  They were anchored just a short distance from the Fulton Lock and invited us into the anchorage with them.  We've not met them personally, but they are traveling together doing the Loop.  The boat names are "Carina" and "Pogo Pelli" -- very friendly and courteous and this is a beautiful anchorage that we didn't know about.  How thoughtful of them to include us.

I have an update on Ralph's mom.  She is doing so well, the therapists and doctors are considering discharging her as early as next week.  She is overjoyed and so are we!  There is a hospital staff meeting this week to determine what in-home care and additional therapy she will need upon going home.  The accident occurred August 4, so it has been more than two months that she's been in the hospital and reahab facilities.  Thank you for your continued prayers for her.

Here are a few pictures from today:

Ooooo...not likin' this cold weather

The Joe Cain tug/tow

Tied up in the Jamie Whitten Lock with the unnamed boat behind us

Whitten Lock drops 80'

The unnamed boat in subsequent locks -- not secured properly

The Divide Cut

We saw trees like this before on the Tennessee River

It's an Uggs day -- so glad I packed them!!

These trees intrigue me