Moondance has crossed her wake!

The last 200 miles on the Tenn-Tom have been completely rural.  We have been traveling 70 miles a day, and anchoring at night.  Besides being cold, the ride has been pretty, but somewhat monotonous.  We have been driving from downstairs in the comfort of our heating system.  Winter is early!  We have been travelling the last 200 miles with Todd and Debbie on Seaveyor, along with several other Loopers.  Seaveyor’s anchor winch has been on the fritz, so they raft to us at night, and we enjoyed their company on this lonely part of the Tenn-Tom.  Last night we watched Planes, Trains and Automobiles with them.  I had forgotten how funny that movie is. 

Today we passed through Mobile, AL where we crossed our wake in Looper parlance.  We have now completed the Loop!  Most of the Loopers will head east to Florida from Mobile, but we turn west to New Orleans and home.  It was refreshing to hit salt water again, and see dolphins, pelicans and sea gulls after being in the river system so long.  However, I can’t wash down the boat with the raw water pump any more!  We are excited to soon see family and friends again, but a post loop depression is upon both of us.  We are at the Grand Mariner Marina on Dog River just south of Mobile for the weekend, and then will head into Mississippi Sound toward New Orleans.  Dog River is off Mobile Bay, so we entered the bay after leaving mile 0 of the Tenn-Tom.  The wind was howling out of the north about 20 knots and we took spray for the first time in a while and I executed a really ugly docking on my triumphant completion of the Loop.  We didn't hit anything, but it was exciting.  Alexis and I use headsets to communicate to each other during dockings.  Loopers call them marriage savers as you are not yelling at each other for all to hear.  It is a good thing that only I heard what Alexis told me over the headset during the docking….  But, any docking that you don’t hit or damage anything is a successful docking!!

 We have a few stops left, and I will post our boating stats for all the boat nuts, so stay tuned. 

Traffic on the Tenn-Tom.

These bluffs were close to Demopolis.

Moondance.

Crews of Seaveyor and Moondance.

Seaveyor.

Our last lock!  Fruitcakes and Arevaderchi, both Loopers and Mainships, are in the lock with us.   

These Bufflehead ducks are striking, and winter arrivals in the south.  

Mr. Bones on front of Seaveyor.  Too much sun....

Moondance and Seaveyor rafted up for the night.  

Mobile is a busy port.  Are these stealth ships?

Mobile.

We entered Mobile Bay and crossed our wake (we had passed here on our way to Florida when we stared the Loop from Houma).  

Salt water and seagulls in our wake.  

We are now "Gold Loopers"!  The white Loop flag indicates you are on the Loop, Gold, completion of the Loop, and platinum, completion of successive Loops.  

Replacing our white flag with a shiny new gold one.  

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Columbus, MS. Slowly working our way down the Tenn-Tom.

We have been at the Columbus Marina the last few days, taking a break from constant running.  We have toured Columbus and Aberdeen, MS via a rental car, and the surrounding area.  Many old homes and that type of thing.  At least Alexis is enjoying it!  We did tour the birth home of Tennessee Williams in Columbus, which was interesting.  Also, we toured the Waverly Plantation Mansion, an interesting antebellum home.   There are about a dozen Loopers here with us, so that has been nice.   Todd and Debbie on Seaveyor arrive today, and we will go out to dinner with them tonight.  Tomorrow we head south.  Demopolis is the only city left before Mobile, so we will be anchoring out most of the five more days to Mobile.  We will spend some time in Mobile, and then start the trek to New Orleans.  The Tenn-Tom is mostly rural, and the anchorages have been secluded.  Great bird watching and star gazing opportunities.  The marinas along the way are nice, but remote.  Nothing like the east coast or Lake Michigan, where there were always towns next to the marinas with lots to do.  So very different, but relaxing, except when Alexis was watching LSU lose last night…..

Loopers headed down the Tenn-Tom.

The scenery is beginning to look like home.  

An Enterprise tow from Houma with a Cenac barge! 

Reportedly  Richard Burton wore this cross while acting in The Night of the Iguana.    

Headed south down the Tenn-Tom and a side trip to the Shiloh Battleground.

We are at Grand Harbor Marina at the top of the Tenn-Tom Waterway.  Tomorrow we head south.  Officially, the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway is only 234 miles long from the Tennessee River to Demopolis, AL.  The 217 miles from Demopolis to Mobile, AL is officially the Black Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway, but most everybody refers to the entire 452 mile route as the Tenn-Tom.  There are 12 locks on the Tenn-Tom.  The Tenn-Tom is an alternate route (the primary route is the Mississippi River) to the Gulf of Mexico, and is a primarily a slack water system, as opposed to the fierce current of the Mississippi. Besides Memphis, there are very few marinas south of Paducah on the Mississippi so most recreational boaters take the Tenn-Tom as it has many marinas along the way, although commercial tows use the waterway also. 

 The creation of the Tenn-Tom was the largest civil works project of the time.  The first federal study was commissioned in 1874, the project authorized by Congress in 1971, and construction completed by the Corps in late 1984.  The system is five times longer and has a total lift 3.5 times greater than the Panama Canal.  Most Loopers utilize the Tenn-Tom instead of the Mississippi, because it is more user friendly than the Mississippi with its deadheads, divers and lack of recreational facilities.  If you will note the Looper map, however, either qualifies as a completion of the Loop.  Having already bent one prop on the Mississippi, we chose the Tenn-Tom.  The authoritative guide, Tenn-Tom Nitty Gritty, by Fred Myers, however, points out that even it has its issues.  These are his ten commandments for the Tenn-Tom (the comments are mine):

1.          Thou shalt hesitate to journey on these waters during times of flood.
2.          Thou shalt not bet strongly on where to anchor (water levels fluctuate).
3.          Thou shalt do whatever possible to get along with thy fellow man, especially those in small boats (Bubba gets upset when waked and the second amendment is gospel in the south!). 
4.          Thou shalt be wary of dredges.
5.          Thou shalt accept marinas for what they are, mostly simple places owned by friendly folks (we won’t be going to the opera along the way.  Houma is downright urbane comparatively). 
6.          Thou shalt honor approaching towboats, and keep them informed (if in a collision with one, you will lose).
7.         Thou shalt be wary of all debris and unexplained ripples of unknown size, lest they ruin your day (already violated this one).
8.          Thou shalt not cruise at night.
9.          Thou shalt watch your fuel gauge.
10.          Thou shalt not consider the scenery boring (see comment to number 5).

The entire trek will take us about 10 days.  We will stay several days in Columbus, MS (one of the larger towns along the way) and take in the Tennessee Williams house and museum.  Mobile has no marinas in town, so we will stay at a marina on Dog River off Mobile Bay to see the sites.  From there it is only a few days to New Orleans and the end of this journey.  To emphasize how bad things are, I just signed up for a continuing education class in December so I can keep my law license.  That was a truly revolting experience!  Well, I have a few blog posts left in me, so stay tuned. 

 

Loopers come in all sizes.  This 25' Ranger Tug is flying a gold flag, indicating completion of the Loop.  

Grand Harbor receives the warm and toasty award.  It is nice to feel wanted!  

A tale of two boats? The Bullish (the big one) appears in the beginning of this blog.  The captain helped us in at Highbourne Cay in the Exumas.  We meet again!  

These people were not at home, but I wonder about his spelling???

The battle of Shiloh (April 1862) pitted the Confederate’s Army of the Mississippi headed by General Johnston (44,000 men) against Grant’s Union Army of the Tennessee (40,000 men).  At the end of the two day battle, 23,746 Americans lay dead, wounded or missing.  More Americans died in those two days, than the combined total of all previous American wars.  The first day was carried by the Confederates, but the tide turned on the second day due to Grant’s leadership and the arrival of Federal reinforcements.  Most of the dead were buried in mass graves on site.  

The grave site was truly a somber experience.  

Many markers had no other identification, other than the number assigned to that grave.  

The Union troops landed via the largest amphibious assault ever in North America.  

There were many monuments throughout the National Park, which is very well done.  

General Johnston was the highest ranking officer of either army killed during the war.  

Many marinas have "courtesy cars" that we can use on a limited basis.  This is the one from Grand Harbor, and was one of the nicer, albeit conspicuous ones, we have used.  

General Prentiss was the highest ranking Union officer captured during the war.  

A Louisiana brigade fought here.  

Was Lt Gwin a relative?  Stanwood will have to answer that one.  

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The Shoals.

We are slowly working our way downstream on the Tennessee River to the junction of the Tenn-Tom Waterway.  We stayed two nights at Goose Pond Marina near Scottsboro, AL.  Not much in Scottsboro, but a real nice marina with a restaurant.  We had dinner with fellow Loopers, Todd and Debbie, aboard Seaveyor.  Scott and KC from Jetstream and Byron and Cynthia from Bright Angel were already there.  We had dinner with Todd and Debbie at Green Turtle, so it was good catching up.  They had been to Nashville and are on the way to Chattanooga. 

The next night we spent on the free wall in Guntersville, AL.  Guntersville, while small, seems to be quite prosperous from all the large homes that abound.  We went to dinner at the Rock House, a nice restaurant there that had a blues musician from Muscle Shoals playing.  Muscle Shoals, next to Florence, AL, is a noted music town complete with recording studios.  Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Rod Stewart and Lynyrd Skynyrd all recorded there.  A good night!

We anchored out again last night, and the temperature dipped below freezing.  We did not run the generator, so no heat, but Alexis has bought an electric blanket which runs off the inverter that kept us toasty.  Getting out of bed in the AM was a shocker though.   She made me get up first and start the generator and heaters.  

Today we are at Florence, Al (right by Muscle Shoals) and will go to a swank dinner/music place tonight for my birthday.  Alexis really likes this day, as I catch up to her in age (she is four months older than me)!  The “Shoals” area in northwest Alabama is a two county area of about 200,000 people.    Most known for its music and as the home of Helen Keller.

The Fall colors are here in force, and are beautiful.  We should enter the Tenn-Tom tomorrow, and start our trek south.  Only 12 more locks to go till New Orleans! 

Guntersville's new police boat.  I had a tour, and these boats are designed to do a 360 degree roll and survive.  Quite impressive, albeit a bit overkill for the river.  

Poule D'eau (Coots for non Cajuns) are arriving in force.  

The restaurant we are going to tonight is the dome in the center.  It is one of those revolving things.  

Remember I blogged about the blobs appearing on the boat at night.  This one is on the radar dome, and I didn't wash it off.  It now is growing a snorkel.  It looks like a brain eating bug from Star Trek.  If we suddenly disappear, you know why!