What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been

Happy Halloween!

The Island Flag and the Pirate Girl!



Tricks for us with another early wake up only to be delayed by a tow boat, "Hazel", beating us to Fulton Lock.  Once we heard "Hazel" tell the lock master that they were secure, we called the lock master to let him know we would like to lock down when "Hazel" was done.  It was a drizzly morning with a 100% chance of rain predicted for the day. 

On the Tennessee River we went with Bill and Rita's technique of trading jobs in the lock every other one.  One tends the lines, the other drives obviously, then switch for the next lock.  First day of locks on the Tenn-Tom Linda decided it would be trade every other day of locking instead.  So far that has put Linda out tending lines when it was raining, freezing cold, and raining again. 

We pulled up anchor about an hour later than intended at 8:00 a.m.  A half hour later we were in Fulton Lock for 15 minutes.  About half way to Wilkins Lock we had "Hazel" in sight so we asked their opinion on us falling back or pulling ahead of them.  They were kind enough to suggest we get ahead of them, so we bumped up the RPMs for about an hour to overtake them and get some time between us so we did not delay them at the lock.  The winds were increasing enough to make about one foot white caps near Smithville, Mississippi, where the lake is only marginally wide.  This made driving the boat into the locks not the best of jobs either.  We were in Wilkins Lock at 11:00 a.m. and out in 15 minutes again.  Amory Lock is only about seven miles downstream, so we were in and out of there a little over an hour later with this lock running slower and the rain falling harder.  The Amory Lock master also failed to inform us that the bollard we were heading for was not there, so that took a few extra minutes in the rain and wind to find the next one.

We thought we were having deja vu in the time warp of locking.  About half way to Aberdeen Lock there was another down bound tow ahead of us.  This time it was "Mr. David", whom we saw on the Tennessee River and heard him behind us yesterday.  It is amazing to realize they travel 24 hours a day, yet we can overtake them after we have been moored at least 12 hours or more.  So again, we got permission from "Mr. David" to overtake them.  It was another hour of revved up RPMs, but so worth it after our delay yesterday.  The rain subsided, but the winds picked up just at the right time for our last lock of the day.  We bounced down the lock wall a few times but finally got tied in on our third attempt.  The rain and wind continued to pick up more than ever upon our departure.

A few hours more of traveling through these conditions made for an extraordinary long day looking through a spotted glass.  Not much to be seen.  About ten hours after we lifted the anchor we dropped it once again, this time at the Dewayne Hayes Recreational Area near Columbus, Mississippi.  This is one of the more enjoyable anchorages on the Tenn-Tom, but our late arrival and weather conditions forced us to stay inside.  We lit the jack o' lantern and sat her by the back door to enjoy since we were sick of sitting in the soggy sky lounge all day.  We are planning on going to shore in the morning, just not sure how long we might stay and enjoy it.

Why Get Up Early?

Sunrise this morning from the dinghy as we took it out just to get cell service

"The Second Noelle" at anchor this morning

Whitten Lock 84' drop

"Trident" and "Blue Moon"

As Bob on “The Bar-B” just informed us recently, the most dangerous thing on a boat is a schedule.  Every time we get up early with a plan, something goes awry.  This time it was not fog, it was Whitten Lock.  A tow just came up through the lock so we thought it was perfect timing at 7:00 a.m.  “What’s Next”, one of those three boats in the next cove informed us that he talked to the lock master via telephone and was told that the lock was closed until about 10:00-11:00 a.m. because of a pin stuck in a door.  Not sure if that is a correct diagnosis, but we confirmed that it was closed via VHF radio.

"Blue Moon" in Whitten Lock

At 10:00 a.m. of course we (pleasure boaters) hailed the lock to find out the status.  Still working on it.  Probably a couple of more hours.  In the mean time another pleasure boat "Blue Moon" arrived, whom we saw heading up stream to Chattanooga as soon as we left.  He was informed of the delay.  We knew a tow boat was making its way up the lock system so we thought for sure when it called Whitten Lock it would be allowed to lock through while us pleasure boaters kept waiting.  We were pleasantly surprised however when it called the lock master stated the maintenance issue and that the pleasure boats would be locked down first.

Check out that swim platform

All of the sudden the lock doors were open at 1:30 p.m. and it was a mass exodus of anchoring pleasure boats headed for the lock.  All except for "Lady Jane" who we kept in contact with via VHF, informing them earlier that we would not lock down after 1:30 p.m. for time and destination constraints.  They ducked into Bay Springs Marina for some reason and missed their opportunity.  They sounded disappointed that we were gone and Ray is worried about them, so we hope to catch up with them again soon so Ray can take them under his wing.
The three locks for the day took only about 15 minutes each for the four of us pleasure boats that did lock down.  The other three of those boats stopped at Midway Marina for the night.  We continued on for a whopping 21 miles of travel today in the 12 hours from awakening to anchoring.  We are near Fulton, Mississippi in almost the same spot we anchored in on the way up in the spring.


As a side note:  while in one of the locks this afternoon, Ray realized that "Blue Moon" was from the port of Point Breeze, New York, one of the towns he grew up in.

Animal Food

After our late evening around the campfire, we didn’t get up very early.  About 8:30 a.m. we backed off the peninsula at the waterfall.  It was just a couple more miles of westerly travel before we turned south onto the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.  The fall colors are enjoyably different for us since we are later than usual, but left us wishing the sun was out more to make them more spectacular.  Most boaters seem to complain about the boring, fairly straight ditch which is the divide cut, but I enjoy being closer to the banks to see things.  Today’s sightings included a flock of turkeys and a skinny, sickly looking wolf.  The wolf made me wish I had kept the pumpkin innards to feed it, although I guess they are not vegetarians.

Just an example of the wondrous beauty of fall

We had a trawler named “Lady Jane” overtake us with a white “looper flag” asking our suggestion for today’s destination since they noticed our gold “looper flag”.  We told them of our normal anchorage in Bay Springs, leaving the Tenn-Tom locking to commence tomorrow.  They entered a cove downstream from our normal spot, which we mentioned we might try this time.  When we entered that cove we found three boats already anchored in there and no water shallow enough to join them comfortably.  So once again we backtracked to another cove to enjoy all to ourselves.

The view from tonight's anchorage

We did get the dinghy down to take the trash over to the Cotton Springs park.  Linda tried some fishing along the way for the first time on this trip, but without any luck on the short attempt.  Once back aboard “The Second Noelle” we decided to give her a lake water bath.

Bye Bye Cows

Once we departed our private little anchorage just after seven this morning we called Wilson Lock when it was in sight.  The lock master informed us it would be about 25 minutes for him to turn the chamber around and have it ready for us.  For some reason the 93 foot drop does not seem so ominous when you are locking down.  I guess because when you enter it full it looks the same as any other lock.  Entering it from the bottom to lock up however looks like you are entering a huge prison cell with no way to get out of there.  We got through just in time as once we were passing Florence, Alabama there was a tow going to lock up and we heard another planning to lock down after that.  Ray made a wonderfully big breakfast, leaving us no need for lunch before arriving at our favorite anchorage, the waterfall on Pickwick Lake. 

We forgot we carved our name in
"the fallen tree" a long time ago

A few miles before our destination we crossed into Mississippi leaving Alabama behind for a while.  Immediately after our 2:00 p.m. beaching of the boat we set out on the dinghy to collect firewood for the evening.  Once that was piled up on shore we took a break to have a little snack.  Then it was off in the dinghy again to collect water from the waterfall to fill the water tank on the boat.  Two trips of ten gallons each seemed like it would be enough to last until we make landfall at a marina sometime in the distant future.

The next order of business was for Linda to carve her pumpkin leaving the scraps on shore for the animals.  We tried roasting the seeds in the pie iron once the campfire was started, but neither of us were crazy about them so we left the seeds for the animals too.

Enough fire wood?

What is it about a fire that mesmerizes you?  We sat out there until quite late for us enjoying Reuben sandwiches in the pie iron and s’mores for dessert.  Spike also enjoyed nightfall as usual by jumping off the bow to explore.  We were tickled at him sitting high upon the fallen tree like he was king of the mountain enjoying a bird’s eye view.  We did not find a plank for him to walk back up this time though so Linda had to lift him back aboard when he was surprisingly ready even before we were.

More never hurts

Make Up Your Mind

Sorry to intrude on your water

The temperature was pleasantly warmer this morning.  We shoved off of the free dock in Decatur, Alabama at about 8:30 a.m., not in any hurry as we planned about a 36 mile day of travel.  Almost four and a half hours later we were in Wheeler Lock, leaving Lake Wheeler behind.  Wilson Lake was much calmer today than last year when we were coming down, so it was a much more enjoyable experience on it this time.  It was our original intention to anchor in Six Mile Creek which is an anchorage we found last year to get out of bad weather.  It was not the best of options as it is fairly narrow with lots of residential docks in it, but it held good in the weather.  Since it was still early and we would rather spend more time at the waterfall tomorrow, we decided to try anchoring in a cove just above Wilson Lock to get more miles behind us today.  We have anchored in this cove one time before when we had to wait several hours to lock down, but never overnight.  When we got in there it was too deep and narrow for comfort with residential docks scattered in this cove also.  There was a small dock at a park that caught our attention.  If the water was this deep, shouldn't it also be deep enough at the dock to bow into the bank and tie alongside it?  We eased up with Linda on the bow to watch for the shallow water that did appear before we reached the dock.  It was then decided to turn around and try the second cove back that looked good as we were passing it.  Just as we passed the first cove back, Ray liked the looks of it, though it was small and had some fallen trees in it.  We eased our way in to find deep water until we were close to the shore of the Y.  The setting was peaceful with cows to greet us.  It was a small cozy cove so we couldn't put much anchor rode out, but the most we could hit was some of the fallen trees before we hit shore.  It was so tight in there however, that wind could barely get us, and we hardly moved. 

What are you looking at?  Ever seen a cow before?  Ever seen a boat before?  Probably not in this tiny anchorage.

Decatur

Guntersville Lock?

Halloween decoration?

As usual, when we plan for early departure it is foggy.  Our seven a.m. intention turned into 8:20 in reality.  Even that was too early in someone's opinion, but we found Guntersville Lock through the drifting fog at a slow speed 15 minutes later.  The lock master informed us it would be 20 minutes for him to get it ready but it was barely over 10 minutes.  Thankfully in that time the fog pretty much lifted.  At first we thought there was a Halloween decoration hanging from a light pole at the lock, but come to find out it was a dead bird hanging there.  It looked like it must have gotten tangled in fishing line and met its fate.  That was just the beginning of the bird watching for the day.  We spotted a pair of bald eagles in a tree and two large flocks of white pelicans circling and flying very high.  There was no wagon train to be found this year like there was last year on the way down, but there were campers and rowers near Huntsville in this chilly weather. 


Painted Rock seemed extra spectacular with the morning sun shining against it

Pair of bald eagles

We had to wait at the Decatur railroad bridge for just a short time while a train went by, but by 3:00 p.m. we were pulling into Ingalls Harbor where we were not sure if we could stay or not.  The mate, Jeremy, on the Pickwick Belle paddle wheel tour boat here immediately came out, invited us to pull in, and helped us tie up to the dock.  He and Captain Mike told us it would not be a problem to stay, that it was very secure here, how to get to town, and offered their vehicle.  The restrooms were nice and extremely warm which would have been even better if there were showers in there.  There is a twice the ice machine here too so we filled up the cooler before heading off to find Mellow Mushroom on our bicycles.  We went over the railroad tracks on a cool pedestrian bridge and through some great neighborhoods with old beautifully restored homes.  Next time we should take the time to do a historical home tour as there were many signs in front of them.

Flocks of white pelicans

We still get confused with this Central Time Zone thing and were surprised when it was already half time for the Tennessee/Alabama game when we arrived at Mellow Mushroom.  It seems we can make friends anywhere so got to talking to John next to us at the bar all night.  He was a Tennessee alumni and there was another table of Tennessee fans so there was a little bit of cheering when Tennessee scored some points in the second half.  John offered to give us a ride back to the boat, but we had fun finding our way back on our bicycles.  We took a little shorter route getting back than we did getting there with different old homes and church buildings to fascinate us.  The trains must be almost constant around here as there was another train below us when we crossed the railroad bridge again.


Decatur railroad bridge

Sunny

The sun was a welcomed sight this morning as it warmed the helm station quite nicely.  We gave it plenty of time to radiate itself before we departed Jones Creek around 8:45 a.m.  There is always a first time for everything.  Upon pulling up anchor Ray discovered a rope about the size of a clothes line attached to it.  Linda was wondering why she could not turn the boat towards the channel.  Ray cut the line and we were on our way.  The cloudless sky made for extra beauty in the colorful leaves, and also awarded us the chance to turn off the generator much earlier than the last couple of days.  It even got warm enough to open one of the side windows of the enclosure with the north wind mostly behind us on Guntersville Lake today.
We only passed one up bound pleasure boat today, and the VHF radio was extremely quite.  We traversed through what is probably the most residentially populated area we encounter on the river system, but the Tennessee River is so wide here that seeing much requires the use of binoculars.  Just about the time we reached the amenities of Guntersville, we heard some comical chatter on the radio.  It gave us something to do in predicting their whereabouts and destination.  We finally saw four vessels coming under the Highway 79 bridge and heading towards Guntersville Marina.  Listening to other folks on the radio makes you wonder what people think of our senseless chatter at times.  Just after all of that excitement Linda was unable to capture a picture of the bald eagle flying over the trees near Guntersville, but as Ray said later in the day, "They never come out as good as it is in real life."
After another six hour travel day we pulled into a First Class Harbor just prior to Guntersville Lock.  We will be monitoring the radio for any activity in the morning and hope we can get through soon after sun up.  Tomorrow's plan is to try docking at the 1000 foot floating dock at the public access area boat ramp in Decatur, Alabama.  We have never attempted this, although we tried getting proper permission today from the city and the parks department.  From there we are hoping to get to the Mellow Mushroom via bicycles since we have never been to this one.  We got the bicycles prepared this afternoon by pumping up the tires in anticipation.