First week!

November 20, 2015 Kentucky Dam Marina

We pushed off at 6:45 AM CST.   Tom helped us off and took a few photos as we left.  It did not take Boner as long to come up to the fly bridge as the last time he was on the boat in September.   It is a near perfect beautiful sunny day.  At bit chilly but manageable. Our target was Cuba Landing but we docked a bit short at Pebble Isle Marina with an arrival at 2:43 PM.  It is a nice marina and very friendly people.

November 21, 2015 Pebble Isle Marina

We pushed off at 7:15 AM – our batteries were low for some reason – we will keep an eye on the charger when we dock tonight.  The Tennessee River is narrower today.  The country side is very pretty we began to see a number of houses along the river on stilts.  We passed two on coming barges, it is easier to manage since we have our new AIS (auto id system) which maps commercial traffic movements.  We can see the barges coming 5 miles out on the map.  So if we need to hail them for passing instructions we can do that knowing their name. We were watching the weather also because a front was coming through.  No rain until about 1:30 PM.   We pulled into Clifton Marina about 2:15 PM in the rain.  This marina was newly dug out in 2003 and the current owners have had this since 2009. Everyone was very nice “Coach” gives the ladies hugs as a welcome not a hand shake.  We had some very good cheeseburgers and a number of beers while we watched college football in the store. Coach coached for Ole Miss. So guess what we were watching!

November 22, 2015 – Clifton Marina

We pushed off at 7:19 AM.  The front that went through brought some very cold air in behind it. It was 30 degrees F.  The batteries were OK this AM – the electric cable and ropes were very cold and stiff.  It took a few extra minutes to get ready to head out because of this.  Today we went through our first lock since Kentucky Dam Marina. We called ahead and the lock master was ready for us so we had no delay.  The winds were up so we had some challenge to get to the west wall of the lock.  Once we cleared, we then went to the entrance to the Tenn. – Tombigbee Waterway.  We stayed at Aqua Yacht Harbor and arrived at 2:35PM.

November 23, 2015 Aqua Harbor

Push off was at 7:20AM because it was foggy at 6:00 AM – We are trying to use the most of the daylight and travel 60 to 50 miles per day for an easy ride.  We entered the “Divide Cut” of the Tenn.-Tombigbee Waterway.  The next 25 miles were very nicely constructed canal with rock on each side and well maintained. The water is narrow but we had no barges until we reached the end of the Cut.  The first lock today was the James Whitten lock this lock has the largest drop at 84 feet! Again we called ahead and the lock was ready for us.  Therefore minimal delay.  In 6 miles we had lock two – Sonny Montgomery lock – We went right in on this one also.  The final lock of the day was John Rankin Lock – they were ready for us and it did not take long to get through the lock.  Janis had planned 1 hour for each lock so we were ahead of schedule when we exited the third lock.  The waterway is narrow but very nice and reminds us of the Ohio River north of Cincinnati.  We reached Midway Marina at 2:35 PM.  They helped us dock and get our electric set up.  Very good and friendly staff.  Now time to relax because tomorrow we will need to go through four locks!

Before dark another Great Loop boat came in “Spirit Journey” Ron and Michelle were very nice. They have a beautiful Kadey Krogen.

November 24, 2015 Midway Marina

We were up at 5:30 AM but had to wait on two barges to go through the Fulton Lock.  We pushed off at 7:45 AM with the Spirit Journey and went into the Fulton Lock with ease as there was no wind against us. SJ transmits an AIS position so barges saw us as well. We traveled steady at 8 knots and the next two locks were within 6 mile of each other.  We timed the locks well and they were ready for us to enter when we arrived.  The last lock was Aberdeen then we had 22 miles to the targeted marina – Columbus Marina – We arrived earlier than expected.

Ron and Michelle joined us for dinner and some Walmart shopping.   Tomorrow we only intend to travel 30 miles with one lock so it should be an easy day.

November 25, 2015 Columbus Marina

We were not in a hurry to push off.  We called Stennis Lock and they gave us 20 minutes to get ready.

The team locked through by 9:35 AM. It is 27 miles to Pirates Marina Cove where we planned to spend Thanksgiving.  No real issues, we had some barge traffic and also needed to wait on a tow boat moving barges around.  We arrived at the marina at 1:00 PM.  Paraiso and Spirit Journey took turns at the fuel dock to fuel up and pump out. The marina is small and reminds us of our marina at Big Bone, KY.  The local guy called it ‘a rustic patina’.  Now time to relax and prepare dinner.  We will sleep in tomorrow and enjoy the holiday.

November 26 Pirates Marina Cove

no travel today!

Happy turkey day!

Remember kids, watch captain ron, today!

We expect to start again 6AM Friday for a 90 mile trip to DEMOPOLUS, Al. Isn’t that where Superman lives?