Loop Trip Leg 6: Tenn-Tom Bigby to Clearwater, FL

Nov. 24 - Wednesday

Clearwater Beach from ICW Channel

The sun came up at 7:00 – it was a great day. We were a little earlier than our scheduled time to arrive so I ended up on the bow watching for crab pots – Dave was looking directly into the sun and couldn’t see a thing – that was why you don’t want to leave earlier from Carrabelle – just off the FL coast are hundreds of crab pots. We arrived at the outer Clearwater light about 10:00 and headed into the Clearwater pass. Sometime in the early hours (I was on watch so it had to be between 2:00 and 4:00 a.m., I saw lights of more boats off the port side. It seemed that the boats that started to head east yesterday afternoon, didn’t go very far east before turning south – they were getting 2-4 footers on their beam and rocking something fierce. They were catching up with us. So as we entered the Clearwater Pass Hallelujah was once again the lead boat with a parade of about 8 boats behind us. We were tied up in our slip at Clearwater Beach marina by 11:00 – Tide’s In is next to us and other boats are in various places in this or another marina. Dave immediately went to bed – I had 6 hours of sleep last night so I took off to get information on transportation to our favorite restaurant in Madeira Beach. We used the public bus system (30 minute ride south) and took Pam and Stephen out for a grouper dinner. Everyone collapsed early after dinner as we will be moving again tomorrow – another front is coming in. We don’t want to be caught here for three / four days. The picture today is of Clearwater Beach from the ICW. It was a welcomed sight after many many hours of seeing no land at all. This ends another leg of our trip. We hope that you have enjoyed this fast moving part of the Loop. We had hoped to be here a little earlier to spend thanksgiving with family but that wasn't to be - way to many miles and weather systems to watch.

Nov. 23 - Tuesday

Sunset over the Gulf

We slowly prepared for leaving – we knew we would have difficulty getting off the dock with currents – and the tide was going out all morning. We needed to leave a slack tide and hopefully with little wind. This may be earlier than we are supposed to leave but we don’t want to be thrown into the bridge by incoming tidal currents. I have made the last of crossing food and we have stowed away a lot of items that usually sit out. The gulf has some waves so we don’t want things spilling or breaking. We are off the dock before 12:00 which means we will travel a little slower. This is about a 23 hour run for us – 175 miles directly across the gulf from Carrabelle to Clearwater Beach. We left East Pass (the inlet into St. George Sound) and headed 144° magnetic. The waves were 2 to 4 feet on the bow – of course we would go directly into the waves but we were told they would calm down in the next 12 hours. We were leading a group of 4 boats. We did hourly checks with the other boats – we all got onto channel 68 to check in and make sure everyone was ok and there were no boat problems. About 5:00, the waves started to subside – by this time Dave and I were into our routine of 2 hour watch / rest period. So much for our food plan – with the waves up I didn’t dare try and cook – way to much bouncing. The winds went down and it wasn’t a bad temperature – we have a heater for the flybridge and I took up blankets but we never used them. The picture you see is sunset on the gulf (about 6:50 p.m.). The water calmed down all evening and by midnight we were running in flat seas. The moon came up about 7:30 – what a beautiful sight! And stayed up all night so we never had to use red lighting in flybridge. We grazed on brownies – fruit and chips. Never did eat the chili but I did try some tomato soup. Dave couldn’t sleep during his rest periods, but I was able to stretch out on the main cabin settee and sleep for my two our rest periods. Not sure how it happened but on the four boats in our group the women had the same two hour watch shifts (channel 68 was going a lot), but the men just checked in and were done talking in 30 seconds.

Nov. 22 - Monday

St. George Sound looking towards Gulf

We pulled anchor early and were back in the ICW by 7:30 – we were anchored a couple of miles up Saul Creek. Most of the run today would be in St. George Sound which is a wide open water way that inside a barrier island that cuts off the gulf from he Panhandle. We didn’t want to be out in the open water in the afternoon when the wind would pick up. We started across the sound from Apalachicola to Carrabelle at 8:00 and arrived in Carrabelle at 11:30. It wasn’t a bad run and the winds didn’t pick up till later in the day. We again had difficulty docking. Our slip was the furthest up the Carrabelle Channel. The only thing beyond our slip was a launch ramp and then a low bridge. The tide was coming in so we were pushed towards the bridge. Dave gave up on stern in and just put the bow in – we had to climb over the bow railing to get on and off the boat. We met up with a number of Loopers in this harbor. There was a buzz about how to cross the gulf on Tuesday so at 5:00 there was a meeting to discuss the crossing. About 15 different boats were represented. Some people had information that to go east and then turn south would give a better current – but this was about 60 miles further. Dave contacted he Looper weather person (Tom Conrad) and he said it was a waste of time – go straight across to Clearwater Beach. Everyone left the meeting with different ideas on what they would do – Tide’s In and Hallelujah are going straight across. We have about a 24 hour weather window that starts later tomorrow afternoon. We retired early but didn’t get a lot of sleep – there was a very bright light that shown in the front windows that lit up the inside of the boat – in hind sight I should just have closed the door to the aft stateroom but then we would have less ventilation – the nights are not really warm.

Nov. 21 - Sunday

We are doing a short run of 25 miles today to an anchorage in Saul Creek – a swamp area in the interior of the Florida Panhandle. The run all the way to Carrabelle is very long and we have a day to spare. The trip was interesting as you can see by the pictures. The ICW heads inland and then again turns south at Apalachicola. The morning was windy but not to cold (57°). The main event of the day was getting anchored. Saul Creek was deep – more than you want for anchoring (50 feet in some places). We found a 15 foot ledge but it didn’t look like much swing room so we had Tide’s In raft off us stern to bow so we each had out a bow anchor – Stephen didn’t have a stern anchor as he had to cut it up a couple of days ago. We sat out 25 mph gusts all afternoon – and dashed inside at sunset because of bugs. The only disturbance we had was fishermen coming by. This is a great fishing area – they expect us to slow down so we throw no wake when passing them, but when we are at anchor they speed by so that we rock (not very courteous people). One person actually zoomed by and made wolf calls as he went. The night was quiet after the sun set so we did rest well.

Florida Swamp

More Fl swamp

Nov. 20 - Saturday

We stayed in Port St. Joe today. We needed to do some laundry – did it in Orange Beach but I wasn’t sure when next opportunity would be. We also did final shopping. I made a lot of food for the gulf crossing – coffee cake, chili, brownies – and also purchased some extra munchies at a Piggly Wiggly (apples, grapes, etc.) We again had cocktails with Loopers but ate aboard tonight. We made plans with Tide’s In for travel tomorrow. We were not going far so didn’t have to leave early – but did get up to say good-bye to other Loopers who were moving head to Carrabelle – the crossing point.

Nov. 19 - Friday

Up early and heading out as we are concerned about Hallelujah’s hull and what damage could have occurred all night with the electrical sounds we heard. We were actually off the dock at 6:45 as dawn was here – not sun rise but dawn. We were heading to Port St. Joe today – this is the last stop before we reach the point to cross the gulf. We were in the lead to day of a few boats. We knew we were ahead of Tide’s In but not that we were also ahead of Monkey Girl and other Loopers. There were a few obstacles today – buoys out of place in the channels so we were radioing all Loopers heading each to beware. We had a lot of thanks in reply. Of course we again had lots of dolphins and I was forever running to the side of the boat with camera in hand to get pictures. I got a head today as you see! Felt proud to get this much so if you put the tail from the other day with the head we have a whole dolphin – right? The other picture is of the channel that leads to Port St. Joe. Get out your map and see that it is on the gulf but we have been mostly traveling inland on the ICW. This is salt water area. We fueled (not an easy task as the winds were strong and of course not in a correct direction) and then docked the boat with no damage to the hull. We are still worried about what happened in St. Andrews. We don’t hear this clicking sound tonight.

There are a number of Loopers here – some we know (Blue Yonder, Heavenly Ours) and some we are just meeting (Salt Shaker, and others). Tide’s In came in and we learned that they had anchoring problems – Stephen had to dive (he has scuba diving equipment aboard) and cut the trip line that was wrapped around one of the prop’s. We had a great cocktail hour with many Loopers on the dock at Port St. Joe and then 12 of us went out to dinner. What a great day – sun and warm weather along with meeting new friends.

Dolphin head :)

ICW Channel

Nov. 18 - Thursday

We are again up early as today will be another long travel day – it is 250 miles across the Florida panhandle and we need to try and make the next weather window for crossing the gulf. Dave got a great sunrise picture looking over Santa Rosa Island to the east. As you can see we are moving as the sun comes up – not really into retirement mode here! We did over 60 miles today – Tide’s In wanted to anchor but Dave wanted a dock so we went into St. Andrews (west side of Panama City) to spend the night. This was a very interesting community – it was the first fishing fleet and shrimp were being sold at the dock. We again saw Monkey Girl (Laura and Bill) as they were getting gas at the gas dock of the marina but left to anchor out further east – more people trying to get across the panhandle as the next opening looked to be a few days out. We walked around town and found a fascinating part with lots of history – but of course I didn’t have my camera. The park had the only living four stem palm tree – really cool and a melting pot from the civil war. The south takes the war seriously and there are lots of places that demonstrate the participation of southerners in the war. We had a quiet evening but when we went to bed we heard noises on the hull. It sounded like electrical current running through the boat – very concerning to us both. But it was dark so we couldn’t move.
I again tried to get dolphins today as we had many running with us – some in pairs. They are big creatures but hard to capture on film. We again had sand dunes and lots of beautiful channels as seen in the pictures. We also had lots of towns and resort areas along the coastal islands – but didn’t take pictures of those.

Sunrise over Santa Rosa Island

FLSand Dunes

ICS Waterway

Nov. 17 - Wednesday

We were up early as we wanted to move before winds became to strong – it would be harder to get off the dock with strong winds. But we had to wait for the dolphins. They were right in the marina catching fish and you can’t disturb them. We also looked to see if there were any manatee around. If there are you must travel at idle speed – they are an endangered species and huge fines are doled out for injuring or killing one of these creatures – even speeding in manatee zones. We headed east today and finally arrived in FL! The ICW is a series of channel’s that connect bays (small lakes) and sounds (places that have openings into the gulf or ocean). The picture shows Florida sand dunes. The tide was rarely with us so our travel was slowed by both wind and oncoming tides. We did get to our designated anchorage by 3:00 and were settled in for the evening – swinging on one anchor. But we had lots of planes overhead and I’m sure lot of binoculars focused on us as the anchorage is in the middle of the Eglin Air Force Base. Stephen called to see if we could dinghy ashore and walk the outer island beach – but there was a definite NO from the Air Force.

We didn’t move from the boat and we actually didn’t really stay outside much this evening. It was a gorgeous bay, good holding ground, but lots of jets and helicopters overhead. 9-11 has really changed the area and there is more security than ever.

Ok, I tried so hard to get a picture of a dolphin today – as you see all that I got was a tail! They surface so fast that by the time I click the shutter the creature is already going down.

Dolphin Tail (left side)

Florida sand dunes

Nov. 16 - Tuesday

It poured all night – we didn’t get much sleep as the rain pounded the swim platform right over our heads. It was still raining in the a.m. with strong winds. The decision to stay another day was made by Stephen and Dave. Pam and I wanted to see some of the area – so we again got the courtesy car and the four of us took off to see some of the coast line by car. We headed west along the shoreline, had a great lunch at a small restaurant and then wanted to walk the beach. We didn’t get to walk the beach but did get to see beach cleaning – the storm kicked up a lot of oil and it was washing ashore. We spent about 20 minutes talking with a foreman of a huge crew that were using sand cleaners – very large machines, lots of bulldozers, and other equipment. They were actually employed by BP but were local residents. They were digging down 4 feet to get all the oil that had been coming ashore – we were told that they got over 3000 lbs of oil a day out of the sand. It was carried away for further cleaning and processing. We ever says the oil spill is cleaned up is very mistaken – each time there is a storm, more oil balls come ashore. This clean up was to be completed by March (and it is only Nov!) so that the tourist season could be opened again this next year. The area was really devastated and we were very welcomed at all stores and restaurants – business isn’t good and the area is hoping to recover this next year. It is a beautiful area and the beaches looked great. Of course Pam and I had to get our Publix fix so we stopped and bought nonessentials. If you have never been to a Publix, you need to have the experience. It is so different from Michigan Meijer’s in that it is only groceries – high quality and the employees really are there to help. We relaxed in the evening – and prepared to move tomorrow.

Nov. 15 - Monday

We got the courtesy car early and went to West Marine first – Stephen and Dave both had a small list of items to purchase. Then Dave and I headed inland – we have given up on our Sprint air card and found a Verizon store about 15 miles away. We are now using Verizon smart card which is giving us much better service. Should have done this long ago as everyone we talked with had Verizon with very little interrupted service. Dave also bought me a computer – our older computer is very slow and running out of storage room so this will be our second computer. The afternoon was spent uploading and initializing the new computer. The weather wasn’t good today - the winds have come up. I did take a walk in the a.m. and also located a beauty shop to get a hair cut.

Nov. 14 - Sunday

We were up and moving early this a.m – 7:10. We wanted to move south and into the Inter-Coastal Waterway (ICW) before the winds picked up. We also wanted to be out of the marina we were in – it wasn’t a very good slip or marina. We headed south on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay. We say our first dolphins about 8:30 – they came to play around the boat – diving and swimming alongside. This was a great sight to see – but getting pictures was something else. We turned east at marker 120 (took picture to mark the occasion as this is a big step for us). We were starting a new leg of our adventure today – doing inter-coastal cruising. It was a beautiful day! We passed many exciting sites like Lulu’s (see picture) – this is Jimmy Buffet’s sister’s restaurant (he comes in when in town), lots of birds, and a different type of waterway (the picture sure looks like river – but it is narrow with tide and what you don’t see are the homes on the right side). We were heading to Orange Beach, AL. Just before we arrived, Dave took a buoy on the wrong side and we found ourselves in skinny water (that means we were going aground). Fortunately, we were able to get ourselves off the sandbar and back into the channel. The Orange Beach Marina was a very welcomed sight after our anxious moment with sand. We arrived to find more Loopers – there were three DeFevers on our dock.

ICW channel marker in Mobile Bay

Lulu's Restaurant

ICW Channel

In the afternoon I took a dinghy ride with Pam and Stephen (Tide’s In) out to the gulf and walked on the sand. What a beautiful area. We will be staying here a couple of days to let another front pass.

Nov. 13 - Saturday

Cold last night! Actually got down to freezing! We wanted to get an early start so the outgoing tide would help push us along. Also the winds were to pick up in the afternoon so we wanted to be across Mobile Bay early. Stephen found the front deck of Tide’s In had a layer of frost (ice). He pulled out the hose and washed down the deck – Dave asked what he was doing and he explained that the deck was slippery so he used the warmer river water to melt the frost so Pam wouldn’t slip while pulling up the anchor. I grabbed our hose as our deck was also slippery – sprayed the deck and then got things ready for departure. Not a good idea – when I returned to the front deck to pull up the anchor I had about half an inch of ice! So I had to carefully move around the deck and hold onto handrails really tight – so much for Stephen’s good idea. We completed the last 12 miles of the Tenn-Tom and were in Mobile Bay by 9:00 a.m. Our first sighting of the Gulf was exhilarating. We couldn’t believe we were here! We were thankful that we were crossing the bay on a Saturday as we had been told that during the week the barge – tug traffic was very heavy. We had only one small barge moving north today. We arrived in Fairhope, AL about noon. The crossing of Mobile Bay was easy – the waves were down and winds mild. Dave had his first experience of backing into a dock today – he did very well. You have to know that he can’t see backwards from the fly bridge – I have to stand on the back deck and direct him.

March norht of Mobile Bay

Dave on Mobile Bay

He has to do everything backwards – which isn’t very simple. It isn’t like backing a car into a garage. We had heard about this marina at the rendezvous – it was supposed to be a lovely town and a good marina. We found the marina to be very rustic – and we never got into town. We did take the courtesy car to go into a Publix Grocery Store (love Publix!) and Scott told us of a meat market – he actually went with us. I picked up some fresh meat and crab cakes (which I cooked for dinner). I also got shrimp which we had for cocktails to celebrate our gulf arrival. We had planned on staying here a couple of days to relax, but the decision was made to push on tomorrow. A front is coming through and if we stay, we will be here for about 4 days. So we turned in shortly after dinner to get some rest and start fresh tomorrow.

Nov. 12 - Friday

This will be a shorter day run but because there are boats ahead of us, we are up and moving early. We are going about 40 miles today. The scenery is marshier the further south we travel. We were anchored by 1:00 in a hurricane hole used by Mobile Bay pleasure craft and fishing fleet. This is a beautiful anchorage and we could swing freely. Old friends arrived later in the afternoon – Freedom, singing sailor, and another couple of boats – the anchorage had a line of boats one behind the other and we were the second in the line furthest in. We spent the afternoon relaxing and reviewing the charts for the run across Mobile Bay tomorrow.

River Scenery

More River Scenery

Nov. 11 - Thursday

We were off the Dock at 7:30 this morning with the last lock on the Tenn-Tom to complete. This lock would put us into tidal brackish water. So Dave and I will have another new experience – low and high tide. We had planned on going about 40 miles to an anchorage, but when we arrived it was to shallow to enter, so we continued on downstream. The second anchorage looked to narrow so there would be no swing room and it also looked like the entrance was silted in – so we continued on. Our Turn said they were headed to the Alabama Cut anchorage and could guarantee it would be ok. They were in the lead so we followed them. We again had multiple boats going into this anchorage – Our Turn and the 50 foot houseboat were the first in – this anchorage is much like Bashi Creek so we had to raft off – and not swing. Tide’s In rafted off of us – we did a bow in and they did a stern in so we had anchors at each end of the boat.

River Scenery

Tide's In going down river

Then two more boats came in to anchor behind us. It was another long day – we arrived just before sunset (8.5 hour run). We were tired and so retired after dinner. The pictures today are some of the varied scenery along the way.

Nov 10 - Wednesday

Up to find fog again. Also another powerboat had pulled in and anchored at the entrance – couldn’t get any further in. We were not going far today – Bobby’s Fish Camp and we had to wait for all boats behind us to move out. One boat got his stern anchor stuck so it took him more time to move out. We were on the river by 9:00 a.m. and with a good stern current, we arrived at Bobby’s Fish Camp at 12:00. Bobby’s is an interesting place. It is a dock with no power or water. It has a history and the original owner passed away a few months ago. Lori (his daughter) was running the Camp which did have gas/diesel, a restaurant, and some cabins. Because of lack of dock space we rafted off of Tide’s In. I had been promising Pam a short kayak lesson and with us on the outside, it was easier to get the kayaks down from the upper deck. So after lunch Pam and I took off in the kayaks. She did great with directions – I found a small bay about one quarter of a mile upriver (yes we paddled into the current going upriver) that was a bird sanctuary. We entered the bay – very beautiful and full of water plants and trees. Pam was busy taking pictures of fauna and I was taking pictures of her – Stephen wanted pictures of Pam in a kayak for family. As I paddled further in, I looked up and saw a very interesting log – no it moved! I was about 15- 20 feet from an alligator and the head was at least 12 inches long. It went under water and I turned my kayak around quickly and in a soft but forceful voice called to Pam to turn around and move back into the river quickly. Only after she was ahead of me heading out did I tell her about the alligator – she paddled even faster. We were back aboard the boat within a matter of minutes. The guys didn’t want to go out and try the kayaks.

Pam and I then went up to explore the museum that the guys had been poking around in. We told Lori about our kayak ride and she shared a picture of a 14 foot alligator that lives in the area. She also explained that they like to lurk around fishing boats – good thing we moved quickly!

Because it was Wednesday the restaurant (known for catfish dinners) was not supposed to be open, but as Pam and I were exploring the museum (pictures and photo albums in the restaurant area), I asked if there was a possibility of getting dinner.Lori said if we could get a party together from boats on the dock, she would cook. There were 12 of us for dinner and the dinner was great – a little expensive, but really good – baked catfish, fries, hush puppies and the best coleslaw we have had. We met up with the 50 foot houseboat – we found out that he lost his anchor and chain in the Bashi Creek anchorage – and now had only a small anchor with line. He couldn’t get it set and had to come into Bobby’s fish camp for the night. He was trying to figure out some set up as there are no more marinas till Mobile (118 miles south). We gave them 20 feet of old chain we had onboard – traded for 2 bottles of wine (we were almost out). They were so very happy! And I got rid of rusting chain. Nice group of 4 people aboard. Then there were two sailboats – one had a very interesting couple (Scot and Cindy) who run a marina in northern Michigan in the summer and then performed in the south during the winter months. He played guitar and sang for us all – sold CD’s of his songs. It was a great evening with 12 around the table talking about their trips south.

River Scenery

Pam Kayaking

Nov. 9 - Tuesday

Tenn-Tom river erosion

Up early again but more fog. We did leave in the fog as we called the lockmaster and he indicted no fog downriver. We very slowly made our way the 1.5 miles to the lock. We picked up three boats coming out of an anchorage – one was a DeFever 44 (Our Turn). The lock was full of boats today but Hallelujah and Tide’s In were first out and the leaders of the slower boats – one powerboat took off never to be seen again (a delivery captain was aboard). We were making good time as the only possible anchorage was Bashi Creek. The current was with us and we were doing 9.5 mph for most of the day – and not using a lot of fuel. The river scenery today demonstrates the damage caused by flooding and large wakes from big boats. The river is continually changing course as shoreline is removed. We arrived at Bashi Creek at 4:00 (the sun set at 4:45). We were somewhat concerned as we knew that at least 6 boats had to fit into this narrow channel, but we had heard that a few days before there were 9 boats packed in the anchorage. We went in as far as we could without getting to tangled in trees – I had to lower the antennas as they were in the trees. Tide’s In rafted off of us. Then in came Our Turn and insisted that they could anchor further in than we were – so they slowly pulled around us and anchored. The buddy boat traveling with them was a 50 foot houseboat. That boat got around Tide’s In and rafted off Our Turn. Then the last two trawlers anchored behind us and closer to the opening. Forgot to say that when we arrived there was a small sailboat anchored near the opening that we all had to go around – the only statement from the owner was that if we were going to run generators, anchor faraway from him – not a pleasant sailor. The evening was filled with boaters talking back and forth – until the mosquitos came out – then everyone dodged below. It was a cool night – in the 40’s so we ran the generator to get heat in the cabin. We slept under the quilt tonight – felt really warm.

Nov. 8 - Monday

Fog again this am held us up and also the unpacking of all boats rafted off. Another problem was that Heavenly Ours (a 49 Marine Trader) tied off of Tide’s In was sinking! There was three feet of water in the bilge at 7:00 a.m. Mark got the flow stopped but then the boat had to be physically moved so that Tide’s In could get out. Thanks to the crew on the tug this was finally accomplished. We were not able to leave the harbor until 9:00 and when we arrived at the lock, we were told it would be 10:00 before we could lock through. Pam (Tide’s In) called Demopolis and asked if we could return. We had to make a 70+ mile run to the first possible anchorage and we didn’t have enough daylight hours to do this. So we returned to Demopolis. We met Mark and Sylvia formally and I took Sylvia to find a one-way flow valve (we had installed these on our bilge pumps) as I knew what to look for. So off Pam, Sylvia and I went to three different hardware stores before we found what the guys needed. Then we did another trip to the grocery – Super Walmart. Just a word about groceries – there seemed to be Super Walmart stores everywhere we went. Dave preferred local groceries but often they didn’t have fresh fruits and vegetables. I have not had to purchase meat as I stocked my aft deck 5 cubic freezer in MI and then restocked it in Chicago. So we have plenty of good butcher shop meat. I also still have GFS frozen cookies to use up. The day passed quickly and cocktails aboard Tide’s In were good.

Nov. 7 - Sunday

Up early to get started on 56 mile run only to have heavy fog. We also found another boat had pulled into this anchorage – it was a good thing that we had moved farther into the anchorage last night – even though Dave was concerned that we would swing to close to shore. Our aft anchor isn’t holding very well – there is no weight to hold the fluke down when trying to set it. We did hear owls last night but never saw any. We had only one lock this a.m. but had to wait a long time as there was a single handed sailboat that had much difficulty getting set in the lock. It took him about 20 minutes to get to the wall and tied up. The lockmaster had to come out to help him. There is some current today that gives us faster speed going down stream and today was interesting because of the White Cliffs of Epes. These chalk cliffs are an important landmark on the Tenn-Tom as they are approximately half way between the Tennessee River and Mobile Bay. They are only found in this one area (see picture – I actually took many pictures as this is a spectacular sight and can only be seen from the water).

We arrived in Demopolis – fueled and then moved the boat to tie off of a 60 foot powerboat from Ohio – there wasn’t enough dockage for all the boats coming downstream. We were told we could only stay one night. Tide’s In came in and was tied to the pleasure craft fuel dock. This is a main stop for tugs as they refuel at this marina. Three different tugs pulled in between 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 am – they all took on thousands of gallons of diesel fuel, changed crews and the third tug also restocked the tug for the next three weeks. Barge crews work three weeks on the tugs and then get time off – they don’t just go home at night to family. Most of the men I saw were young strong guys.

Chalk Cliffs at Epes

More Chalk Cliffs at Epes

We had an interesting evening – we had a Valiant 42 Sailboat rafted off us – but his mast across the deck made him about 60 feet long. We had difficulty with electricity so Dave ran the generator. The sailboat could not hook up to electricity so Dave used some old sailing equipment we had aboard and we hooked the Valiant up to our boat. Our generator was powering two boats – didn’t know we could make so much juice. The men invited Dave aboard (I had the courtesy car and was off shopping) and he found the owner made his own merlot wine – Dave was in heaven! The wine was great and Dave was impressed. I returned to find him not on board but next door drinking wine (this wasn’t fair at all).

The night was noisy with the Tugs, fenders squeaking and the dock lit to daylight brightness – not a lot of sleep tonight!

Nov. 6 - Saturday

We are off to early this am – have another long day but today we are heading toward an anchorage. We traveled 66 miles, went through two locks and found ourselves the first of 6 boats out of the lock. Sumptner Landing was a very nice anchorage. There was room to swing on one anchor. It was cold at night so we started using our winter quilt. We did enjoy the wildlife in this anchorage – lots of birds. We were told there were also snakes and gators, but we didn’t see any. I carefully looked at the front deck before venturing up there as snakes could have crawled up the anchor chain and been on deck – but we were ok. I’m glad as I didn’t know how I would get a snake off the boat. The weather stayed in the 50 – 60° all day. We were bundled up even in the fly bridge. What was so interesting is the changing river – the picture shows how the shoreline is always being cut away. The charts can’t keep up with the natural course of the river. At times our charts show us on land instead of in the center of the channel – so much for watching charts and not the river.

Sumptner Landing Anchorage

River shoreline

Nov. 5 - Friday

Sights along Blackhawk River

We again did a long day (63.7 miles). We moved to Columbus, MS – there are few anchorages along this stretch and we were battling some winds today. This marina had a number of other loopers on the dock so we saw old friends once again. We did 4 locks today but none was very bad. The lockmasters knew we were coming and were ready for us. Most were short drops of 25 feet so locking through didn’t take long to complete. We really do know how to get tied up quickly in the locks. We again arrived at the marina just before dark. There is not much at this marina so stayed aboard the boat – except for cocktails aboard Tide’s In to talk about tomorrow’s run.

Nov. 4 - Thursday

We are off the dock early – I’m feeling much better today. We have a long day as we have to do 56 miles to the next stopping point. We can’t stop sooner because of the channel that has been cut through mountains and the three locks that we had to go through. The first lock was another tall lock – over 80 foot drop. We reached the next Marina just before sunset – the days are getting shorter so travel time becomes problematic. We are traveling with Tide’s In – a DeFever 48 from New Hampshire. Pam and Stephen are great people and easy to travel with. We are leading as we have AIS and can call tows about passing. We celebrated the first day on the Tenn-Tom by going out to dinner with 2 other looper boats – we had catfish (didn’t think I’d like it but it was good).

This was a very interesting run today. The Tenn- Tom is part river and part canal build as part of a government project to connect the Tennesee River with the gulf. To complete the connection, a 20 + mile canal was dug through the mountains of northern Alabama and Mississippi. The pictures don’t do justice to the amount of earth that was moved to create this canal. We continue to be awed by the ever changing scenery of our country.

Norther end of Tenn-Tom

Beginning of the Cut

The canal cut

Tenn-Tom shoreline