Rendezvous is over, onward and upward Tuesday, 10-21

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

The Rendezvous was over, the engines woes corrected and the new anchor and rode installed. Now it was time to head out again but at a much slower pace than the pre-rendezvous frenzy.

As we prepared to leave our home of 11 nights, Aqua Yacht Harbor in Iuka, MS, the temperature was 46 degrees, but promised a high of 76.  It was foggy. So we waited a bit until the fog dissipated and headed across the bay to turn south on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.



Sunrise at Aqua

Aqua Marina is on the corner of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama.  The houses that faced the marina on the Tennessee side, were HUGE.



House in Tennessee facing the marina in Mississippi

In previous posts, we talked about the friends that we met, and the tales of joy or woe that we embellished while talking over dinner, on the dock. And over time. It is common to ‘buddy” up with another boat or set of boats to go from lock to lock or anchorage.  We talked about our power boat friends passing us up, as they usually left a little later, but are so much faster.  It is kind of fun to be hailed by one of them on the marine radio: “Sea Fever, Sea Fever, this is Estralita, how is it going”.  Tim’s response is usually “Slow and steady.  See you in Mobile.  Have a great day!”

At Aqua, we met a couple, Jeff and Elizabeth, traveling with their 5 year old son, Daniel.  They are headed from Tennessee where they picked up their new boat to the west coast of Florida, as are we.  As a matter of fact, they are heading to Bradenton, Florida, as are we.  And they are a sailboat named Brisa. Brisa travels about the same speed as we do!  So we buddied up to head down the river.

One of the river highlights on today’s trip is THAT THERE ARE NO LOCKS!  YESSSSSSSS

Tenn-Tom map

This 450-mile waterway is technically divided into several sections.  The actual Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, from Tennessee Lake to Demopolis, AL is 237 miles long, and contains ten locks.  At Demopolis, the waterway joins the Black Warrior River and turns into the Tombigbee River which flows in to the Mobile River ending at Mobile Bay, a total of 213 miles. Most boaters call the whole section from Tennessee Lake to Mobile, the Tenn-Tom.

The first part of the Tenn-Tom is a 280 foot wide canal dug by the Army Corps of Engineers. It reminded us of the Chain of Rocks section of river before St. Louis, MO.  Straight and narrow with embankments on each side covered in rock riprap.  The guide books say that when it first opened, this section “was about as pretty as a strip mine.” Fortunately, Mother Nature softened the landscape since then. 

A few pictures from our short short short 34.5 mile trip to Bay Springs Marina in New Site, MS.

 

We don't know what his is, but it sure was prettyl

Tenn-Tom as a ditch

Narrow waterway, big damn barge