Finally, the Tenn-Tom

We traveled in Alabama and Mississippi waters on Saturday, October 29.  The day was chilly but the sun was shining.

A different view of the Natchez Trace:

We are at Grand Harbor, a fairly new marina at the start of the Tennessee-TomBigbee Waterway.   The idea for the waterway was conceived by French explorers as far back as the late 1700's (maybe earlier, but there are no records).  Surveys through the years always showed the cost to be prohibitive until 1971 (evidently 2 billion was considered reasonable), when the first shovelful of dirt was dug. More dirt was moved to build the Tenn-Tom than ...  the Panama Canal (The Tenn-Tom Nitty Gritty, Fred Myers, 2005).  It opened in June, 1985.  Although designed to move commercial traffic more efficiently, pleasure boaters soon discovered it and today, here we are.

This marina has 3 courtesy cars.  The one we borrowed has only about 4,000 miles on it, so no warning lights were on.  We are in Mississippi, but if we go ashore, we're in Tennessee.

As we came into the marina, we saw what we thought was a duck blind, but it was moving:

A young couple built a raft, have added to it as materials come their way, and plan to travel to Moblie Bay.  They started in Pennsylvania.  They picked up 2 hens somewhere along the way, so have fresh eggs for breakfast.  The hens running along the docks provided another unexpected experience. The raft was gone when we got up Monday, but we passed it not far downriver.  

Waiting for the fog to clear in the morning will become a regular part of the plan:

Since locks are fairly close to each other, pleasure craft that start this section together stay together and all lock through each lock at the same time.  5 of us traveled downriver together at about 8 knots. The waterway is very narrow in places and there are many requested no-wake zones.  We are, however looking forward to traveling on plane once in a while, as Rich and Carol on Salt 'n Sand, a 540 Sea Ray, and Wayne and Francine on My Way, a 41 foot Cruisers,  have invited us to travel with them.  

It's a pretty, if slow, ride:

Here we are at Bay Springs Marina:

This is our walk to shore:

Mary and Bill on Harbour Reach invited loopers at the marina to gather for snacks and dinner. Mary made lasagna and key lime pie.  Yum!  

Tuesday morning, 9 boats gathered outside the Fulton Lock waiting for the lockmaster to fill the chamber, after a downbound tow had locked through:

Locking through:

After 3 locks, Mary Frances at Midway Marina:

Bill and Mary told us there was a Corp of Engineers campground close to this marina, so we took a nice walk, then climbed aboard Salt 'n Sand for snacks, drinks, and good company.