October 31, 2022

Bay Springs Marina, New Site, Mississippi to Midway Marina, Fulton, Mississippi

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!  💀

We set the alarm for 6:30 a.m. because we are calling the Lockmaster to see if we can get into the Jamie Whitten Lock and Dam as soon as possible (to avoid tow and barge traffic).  The Lockmaster told us it would be 45 minutes before we could get in, so everyone was relaxing drinking coffee.  Suddenly we got a message for "anchors up" and we had to be at the Lock in 20 minutes.  The green light was on (telling us we could enter the Lock) and we went down 84' (the biggest lock we have ever been in).  

Heading toward the Lock and Dam

Going into the Lock with the other boats.  Notice where the wall is in this picture - the boats are right at the top.

Going down...  water was dripping off of the walls AND it was starting to rain!

Doors opening (notice how far down we are from the top).

These are pictures looking back at the boats still coming out of the Lock.

We were in a skinny canal and a barge went by.

The second lock was the G.V. Sonny Montgomery Lock and Dam.  This one lowered us 30'.  The third lock was the John Rankin Lock and that also lowered us 30'

When this area / lake was created they had cut trees down and left the stumps.  Some of the stumps decided that they were still going to grow, so there are trees growing out of stumps in random places on the river.

Here is our home for the night.  We found out that they are having a Halloween party to night, and everyone is bringing something.  We always enjoy walking to the towns close to the marinas, but the marina said that there are "vicious dogs" roaming the street and they have actually bit some people.  Ah, no thanks.  We tried to get a courtesy car, but they were already being used.  The only thing we could find on the boat was chips, used salsa, and candy (kind of lame, but we don't have much space).  

As we debated what we should do, we walked around a bit.  The marina has an outside wedding venue and cabins for rent.  The kitchen was open, so we looked in the fridge and there was left-over potato salad in there (we laughed at the idea of bringing leftovers from the wedding to the party but decided against it).  There is a pond with a swimming float and a dock.  We walked a bit further and there was a tire swing on a huge tree.  We had to try it out!  It was really fun.  

We ended up bringing a bowl of candy to the party.  The marina purchased chicken and pizza, and everyone brought things like salad, cheesecake, meatballs, brownies, and much more.  A few of the people even wore costumes.

We only traveled 28 miles today and went through three locks.  A short day, which is nice because some of our days get long.  Kip LOVES sunsets, so we will end the blog today with a picture of the marina at dusk.  

October 30, 2022

Aqua Yacht Harbor Marina, Iuka, Mississippi to Bay Springs Marina, New Site, Mississippi

Kip woke me up around 7:00 a.m. and it is raining and kind of gloomy outside.  There are other boats on the move as well.  

Several miles down the Tennesee - Tombigbee we received a call on VHF 16 - "This is Pamet calling the little boat in front of us".  Pamet are people we met earlier in our travels, and they are in a 49' Grand Banks.  Kip responded, "This is Kip's Ahoy".  Pamet responded "Oh, Kip, that's you!"

Today we are entering the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway (called the Tenn-Tom for short).  This Waterway is 234 miles long and 280 feet wide and runs from Pickwick Lake to Demopolis, Alabama.  It contains 10 lakes and 10 locks and dams that allow for a shorter navigational route to the Gulf of Mexico.  Below is a picture of us entering the Waterway.

Heading toward the entrance to the Tenn-Tom.

The Waterway has several methods of controlling the water.  This is a picture of a wall of baffles that re-direct the water, so it doesn't dump tons of water into the Waterway and one time and cause issues.

They also have several culverts that allow water to run into the Waterway.

It is still raining, but the Rain-x and squeegee work to keep the windows clear (better than the windshield wipers in this boat - they are pretty lame)!  

After traveling 25 miles, we exited the Waterway and entered Bay Springs Lake (where our next marina is located).  

When the lakes were created, trees were cut down, but the stumps remained.  They are everywhere outside of the channel.  There are white caution buoys all over the place.

The soil here is really red.  We aren't sure if it is clay or not.

The Bay Springs Marina is smaller than some of the others (but it is very nice - the people are friendly).  They even decorated for Halloween.  Kip took the garbage up to the dumpster after it got dark, and he said, "There's ghosts everywhere on shore, flying in the breeze, and they startled me."  

We got settled and took the courtesy car to see the Lock and Dam and to check out the area.  

The Jamie Whitten Lock and Dam is right by the marina.  This Lock drops 84'.  

We drove into town and noticed a few things:  1) almost all of the houses are made with red brick, 2) the roads are curvy and beautiful, and 3) there are a ton of Baptist churches in this area.  We planned to go to Walmart, but we drove into Booneville and went to a local grocer called Walden's instead.  

There was even a house that had white goats on a hill eating (you might have to zoom in to see them - we had cars behind us and had to hurry to get the picture).

We showered and were invited to join Rob and Karen (fellow Loopers - boat name "UnLeashed") for "docktails" (cocktails on the dock).  We sat in their boat and chatted about boating, families, etc.  

We had leftovers for dinner and plan to go to bed early (we didn't sleep that great last night - squeaky fenders, waves, rain).  Sorry, no stats tonight (I'm tired).

October 29, 2022

Aqua Yacht Harbor Marina, Iuka, Mississippi

We had a leisurely morning since we decided to spend another night at this marina and didn't have to get going so early.  

We did, however, borrow a courtesy car and drove to the Shiloh National Military Park.  What surprised us is how large the park was - it is over 5,000 acres!  We drove the tour in the courtesy car, but many people were walking.  There were signs, canons, gravesites, memorials, and so much information that we were overwhelmed.  It was definitely worth the trip to see it.  Kip brought the camera, but it was never taken out of the case, so we don't have any pictures for you.

We stopped and got fuel for the courtesy car and a few groceries.  Back at the marina we sat by the pool on some lounge chairs.  The pool was closed for the season, but we enjoyed the relaxation and the sunshine.  Kip even went back to the boat and brought back a "picnic" lunch for us.  

We walked a few docks to look at the boats, and it started to rain.  We went back to the boat and played Dominoes until supper (steak, baked potatoes, corn, salads).  Tomorrow we are off again to another marina. 

No stats today - but Kip's cellphone says he walked 5,000 steps.  We will have some tomorrow for sure!   

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October 28, 2022

Riverstone Marina, Clifton, Tennessee to Aqua Yacht Harbor Marina, Iuka, Mississippi

We both got up around 6:00 a.m. and took off as soon as the sun started to come up.  There is a slight fog again above the water.  We have a long day today!

We are really intrigued by these stilt houses.  They look like spiders.  Kip says they look "doofy".

We do, however, like the red coloring on this house.

One side of the river is flat and sandy, and the other side are the bluffs.

There are quite a few houses on the bluff, and many of them hang over the edge of the cliff.  Here is an example of one house where the ground caved in, and they lost part of their building.  Yikes!

To understand the scale of these bluffs / cliffs, here is a picture of men and equipment working on a new site for a home.  If you zoom in, you can see the three people and a dog standing there.

Further down the river there were stick house along with RVs covered with a building top.  It doesn't look exactly relaxing to us, but who are we to judge.

I was driving the boat and we heard someone on the radio say, "Thanks for the huge wake, River Rat."  Somebody was mad because the boat blew past him and caused a great big wake.  About a half hour or so later, the same boat blew past us, and Kip's coffee went flying all over the passenger seat area and into the glove box where there are electronics.  Since I was the temporary captain, I got on the radio and said, "Thanks for the waves, River Rat."  Kip had other fine words to describe him, which I can't repeat!

This is the house of my dreams!  My favorite place so far.

We got to Pickwick Lock and Dam and had to wait for 2 hours to enter.  The Lock is 55' and it uses bollards.  

On our way into the Aqua Yacht Marina, we caught the sun going down.  Tomorrow we are going to use a courtesy car and go to the Shiloh Battlefield.    

If you would like to see stats, here is the Nebo link.