May 19, 2013 - Clifton Marina, Tennessee, Mile 158.5

Sunday:  We got going by 06:30 and met up with Roy El when we entered the Tennessee River at Mile 215.2 where we had 7 miles to go to the Pickwick Lock.  The lock was ready with doors opened when we got there.  The main lock was closed down for some work so we had to go through the auxiliary lock and use a starboard tie.  All that worrying about the back up of  tows at this lock and it turned out to be a piece of cake.  This was the last lock of our trip for a total of 13; 12 on the Tenn-Tombigbee Waterway and one on the Tennessee River.

It was another pretty day with the temps in mid 80's.  The Tennessee River is as beautiful as ever and it was a very relaxing ride to our marina in Clifton, TN.  This is the first time we have been to this marina and it is really a quaint little place.  We got here early and had a cheeseburger in their little cafe, very good.

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CO's comments:  We encountered 4 tows today.  Only one would respond to my call and give me an indication of which side to pass him on.  This is the first time that we have encountered tow captains that would not speak to us.  We have met in our travels over 900 tows and they have all been very courteous and appreciative of our calls.  Maybe it was because it was Sunday and they did not want to be working.  This is 180 degree turn around from the tow we met yesterday.





5-19-2013:  Many beautiful homes along the river.  We liked this one.

5-19-2013: Both Roy El and Kim Jo IV tied at the transient dock at Clifton Marina

5-19-2013:  Clifton Marina at night

Saturday, May 18, 2013-Grand Harbor Marina, MS

Saturday:  There was rain and thunder storms predicted for the area but we thought we could get ahead of them and we did.  They all went south of us.  We had 3 Locks to go through today: Rankin, Montgomery, and Whitten.  The first 2 we had to wait 45 minutes at each lock on a slow sail boat.  The 3 lock we waited 3.75 hours on 3 Tows.  We finally got through the last lock and we took off in a hurry so we could get to Grand Harbor before they closed at 18:00.  We needed fuel and our slip.  We made good time and got here by 17:05.  We met up with Sam and Cheryl, the people we bought the boat from last September.  They were having a cook out at their boat so we went down there for dinner.  All of K Dock was there.  It was good to see some of the people we met last fall.  Had an enjoyable evening.

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CO’s comments:  A Tow had to blow his horn to get some bass boaters out of the channel so he could pass through on the channel and he also had to slow down because of wake boarders in front of him in the channel.  How stupid people can be.  Tows can not stop on a dime and they can not swerve to miss people. If someone fell in front of him he would run over them.  It doesn’t make any sense to me.

5-18-2013:  Roy El in the Whitten Lock.  We went up 84' and even though we had to wait almost 4 hours to get in there, once we were, the Lock Master locked us up really fast.  We were in and out within 20 minutes.

5-18-2013: Pass Christian Tow

May 17, 2013; Midway Marina, Fulton, MS

Friday:  Happy Syttende Mai everyone!

It was raining at 06:00 but we decided to go for it and see how far we get so we left by 06:10.  We had 4 Locks to go through today: Aberdeen,  Amory, Wilkins, and Fulton.  It rained in the first 3 but just before lock 4 it stopped; perfect timing.  We locked through the Amory Lock about 12:00 and I watched a bird (I think it was from the Heron family of birds) sitting on the inside edge of the lock doors.  The doors had little pockets in them that caught water and fish; at least today it did.  The bird ate 3 fish while we locked through, a nice little lunch.  We got to Midway Marina by 15:10 and by then the sun was trying to come out.  We ate dinner at the little restaurant near the marina.

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CO's comments:  With rain all day long it sure was nice to have a hard top.

5-17-2013:  The heron eating lunch in the lock.

May 16, 2013: Columbus Marina, MS, Mile 335.0

Thursday:  It was another beautiful day on the river system.  The Tenn-Tom is exceptionally beautiful this time around.  Today, unlike the past few days, we had a lot of debris again in the water.  At Mile 316.5 we hit a log that was underwater.  Luckily we have no vibrations.  We had 2 locks to go through today and we hit both good with no wait.  In the last lock, Stennis Lock,  when he started to fill the chamber we could see all the debris and junk that the stirred up from the bottom. Upon exiting the lock we heard another thump and we hit another underwater log.  Thank goodness the marina was just around the corner.

Our generator was not producing 120 volts again this morning; only 90.   I brought our coffee pot over for Elvie to make coffee.  We got underway by 06:40.  We had T at Columbus check out the generator and it worked just fine for him.  It seems that it only works sporadically.  T called an expert on Onan generators and he said that the only other thing it could be were the brushes so I guess we will try that next.

Everyone went to lunch and I stayed on the boat while T checked the generator and I did a load of wash.  After lunch Elvie, Pam, and I went to Walmart to stock up.  We were on our own for dinner.

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5-16-2013:  Kim Jo IV tied up Columbus Marina, MS, after sun down

CO's comments:  None at this time; missed the deadline.