Left Florence Harbor Marina @ 8:35am October 19.  Were traveling 8.5 knots burning 2.1 gph for a time which was awesome.  The trees have already changed from when we passed this way weeks ago.  Locked Down at Wheeler and Wilson Locks without incident.  At mile marker 215, we split off the beautiful Tennessee River and onto the Tennessee-Tombigbe at its mile marker 450.  There is a stunning house on the corner:

Right after you turn onto the Ten-Tom, there is the lovely area of Grand Harbor and its marina.

Shortly after this, we turned into Zippy Cove, a pretty little anchorage.  There was a sailboat already anchored, but plenty of room.  We dropped the hook at 1:30.  After ensuring our anchor was set, we jumped in the dinghy and cruised around the area.  In addition to Grand Harbor Marina, Aqua Harbor Marina is also in the area.  There are some stunning homes across from Aqua.

Once back to the boat, we were visited by some ducks.

Another boat came into the anchorage, and then there were three.  We hosted Gil and Loraine from S/V Los Nietos for Happy Hour.  They hail from Ontario, Canada.

Had a lovely, quiet evening at anchor and departed Zippy Cove @ 10:25 the next morning.  Had some beautiful scenery.

We went through 2 locks and had tentatively planned to anchor prior to the third.  On the radio, we heard Rankin Lock was open to locking down boats.  It was just before 6:00pm and I thought we’d have maybe an hour of some light left, so we decided to lock down and head to Midway Marina which was about 9 miles from the Lock.

Well, it got really dark really quickly.  The folks at Midway Marina were amazing and essentially got us through the navigation markers safely while Mike was on the bow with a floodlight trying to illuminate them for me.  We knew we were adjacent to a stump field and some shoaling, so did not want a hiccup.  We pulled in around 7:20 and they couldn’t have been nicer.  Had a cold beer and took a long, hot shower.  55 miles and 3 locks.  And, didn’t go aground at night.  A good day.

The next morning, there was a frost advisory!  It was 41 degrees out!  Brrrrrrrr.  That said, it was clear and breezy.  We took off around 10:15am.  As we departed, I noticed how very visible the navigation markers were in the daytime.  Also notice the stump field, which is much more daunting in person after you sailed past it the previous night essentially blind.

A funny note:  You may recall that Mike has been passing his ZS (homemade Honey-Chipotle Sauce, nicknamed “Zombie Sauce”) to the lock masters–and quite a few fellow loopers (he made about 100 jars!).  One particular lock master, Josh Kelley of Whitten Lock, walked over to our boat as we were securing for the drop.  We gave him a jar of ZS and before we even exited the lock we had the below email from him…he had devoured most of it in short order!

So…we ended up giving the next lock master a second jar for Josh.  Hopefully it made it to him!

We like to tell people that Mike just makes this stuff for friends and family, but I think he has a secret plan to seed most of America with it, thereby creating dependency.  He’ll then swoop in to the rescue, selling the ZS addicted populace their fix.  Oh well…could happen.

The next few videos show entry into a lock and positioning for tying up to the floating pin (bollard), the view from the bottom, and then the exit.  Mary driving, Mike on foredeck (with thumb occasionally over the lens).  This particular lock had an 85′ drop…quite a view from the bottom.

Three boats exiting…the sailboat is Los Nietos, Canadians Gil & Lorraine

It can sometimes be a bit exciting when meeting tows & barges on the river.  Occasionally the meeting spot will be that narrow place in the river, or in a nice bend.  Using our AIS targeting info, we are able to talk with the captains on the VHF–usually at least a mile in advance–and make passing plans.  Normally they like you on the “ones” (port to port); however, occasionally they want you to pass on the “twos” (starboard to starboard).  This occurs when the tow/barges are coming out of a curve, and they made need to swing wide to the left to negotiate the turn.  Whatever they say, we do!  They’re working–we’re playing.  ‘Nuff said!

Got through Fulton Lock, Glover Wilkins Lock and Amory Lock.  The locks all went smoothly, and the trees were beautiful.

About 3:15, we pulled into Canal Section Cutoff at mm 366.5 and went to the second bend.  Had great depth and beautiful surroundings.  Dropped the hook in 17 feet of water and were all by ourselves.  We went on the upper deck and had a cold beer.  It was beautiful outside.

It was 31 degrees when we woke up yesterday morning.  And, some fog on the water.

After it warmed up a bit, we dropped the dinghy in the water and took a ride up the canal.  There was good depth all the way up.  A stunning, isolated spot.  Absolutely loved it!  We decided to spend another night there.  Yesterday afternoon, Mike grabbed his fishing pole and his Kindle and made a go at catching a catfish.  He got a bite, but no fish.

 

Departed our lovely anchorage this morning at 9:25.  We only had one lock today!  An easy, three hour trip to Columbus Marina in Columbus, MS, birthplace of Tennessee Williams.  Took the courtesy car to town for some provisioning.  Defrosted the refrigerator and gave Mike a haircut.  Pretty place with super nice folks.  There are a ton of white pelicans around here.

Listening to the Dodgers getting drummed by the Red Sox; glad we couldn’t get the game on our little tv.  Hoping to see Tennessee Williams’ childhood home tomorrow, and some other touristy stuff.  Plan for Thursday is to rent a car and drive to Nashville to meet my sister and brother-in-law who are traveling there and to Kentucky for whiskey tasting.  Yes, my family travels across the country for good booze.  Don’t judge us.

Happy Tuesday!  M&M