Cruising the Tenn-Tom

Iuka, Mississippi to Columbus, Mississippi –

The three man crew aboard Now or Never enjoyed our two days stay in Florence at the harbor. It was just what we needed, a great marina, surrounded by new friends, and a little down time after our whirlwind week at rendezvous. Remy remembered the park and pranced along the waterfront in pure joy of returning to a marina and park she loved. She also has met a lot of new friends and thrives by the attention she is receiving. A friend of hers from rendezvous arrived at Florence and she and Guinness had a great time.

The first mate, reprovisioned in Florence, as they have great stores and all the features of home. Outside of Nashville and Knoxville, Florence has had the best stores with the biggest variety. Courtesy cars are now a cherished treasure, and it is quite hard to get your hands on them with the southern migration down the rivers. Third time was a charm for us, as others runneth over their time allotment – one into all of ours, and we weren’t willing to infringe upon the next guy following us so we forfeited twice until we could get the car. All was good in the end. The first mate was not going to leave Florence without getting our supplies.

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We returned to Aqua Yacht Harbor, where we had purchased our boat four years ago and where we had had the bottom painted in early August. It was hard to believe that we departed Aqua two full months ago for our trip up the upper Tennessee River. Pulling into Aqua Marina we concluded our voyage on the Tennessee River, one that started on July 16^th near Grand Rivers, Kentucky.

Here are some statistics from our upper Tennessee run:

Total number of days – 63 days

            60 nights paid marinas, 3 nights free docks, Tasha off the boat 3 days for trip home

Miles from Aqua Yacht to the Little Tennessee and Tellico and back – 859 miles

Waterway – upper Tennessee

Locks – 14 (7 up and repeated back down)

Cruising Days – 20

Total Loop statistics thus far:

Total number of days – 128 days     

102 nights paid marinas, 9 nights free docks, 17 nights in boat yard for planned maintenance

Miles – 1810 miles

Waterways – 3 rivers, Ohio, Cumberland, and Tennessee

Locks – 24

Cruising days – 41 cruising days and different ports

Gallons of fuel – 1282 gallons of diesel fuel

During our two days stay at Aqua Yacht, we caught up with laundry, cleaning, and cruise planning for the next leg of our trip, the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway and the Tombigbee / Black Warrior Rivers which will eventually lead us to the Gulf of Mexico at Mobile Bay.

The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway (also known as the Tenn-Tom) is a 234-mile man-made waterway which connects the Tennessee River to the Tombigbee and Black Warrior Rivers to lead us to the Gulf of Mexico. Funding for this waterway was initiated in the 1940’s and the waterway was completed in the mid-1980’s. The significance of this waterway for loopers, is that it helps loopers avoid the Mighty Mississippi while cruising America’s Great Loop.

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Why avoid the Mighty Mississippi? We want to avoid the lower Mississippi. Unlike the upper portion, the lower portion has no locks and dams, making it flow like the wild west. It is traversed heavily by commercial traffic, has few marinas, and fuel availability is limited, making it undesirable for pleasure boating. We will traverse the upper portions of the Mississippi River from Grafton, Il to Cairo, Il, then merge onto the Ohio River at the very end of our great loop journey.

The Tenn-Tom connects to the Tombigbee and Black Warrior River which runs 217 miles and dumps into the Gulf of Mexico. We will take advantage of the four marinas along this route and will need to anchor 3 – 4 times. – Yikes!

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This leg of our trip is 448 miles overall and should take us about 10 days. We will need to anchor out 4 or so nights as after Columbus, Mississippi (mile marker 334 – 334 miles from the Gulf) there is only one marina at Demopolis. Anchoring would be wonderful if we weren’t responsible for our 14-year-old, 75# pup getting to shore several times a day. And with it getting dark by 6 pm, it will be an early night for her. We also may have to try the Astro turf mat on the bow of the boat. Wish us luck!

We drove friends to Corinth, Mississippi from Aqua to pick up a rental car for their brief hiatus from looping. While there, we thought for sure we would continue our streak of good eats at gas station / bait shop / shanty dining and drove to the legendary Abes, only to find out they were closed due to a doctors appointment. Having read other blogs, this seems to be a regular closing line. They have great reviews and we were so disappointed they were closed. We found another little hole in the wall diner in Corinth with no sign – just a sandwich board that read plate lunch. Looking at the captains plate, they delivered a great plate lunch.

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The first day on the Tenn-Tom was a beautiful cruise from Aqua to Bay Springs Marina (35 miles and no locks), we almost didn’t schedule this stop as the next day cruise is only 19 miles and a must stop due to mileage, but we are so glad we did. It was a small, clean, very nice marina on a quiet bay. The people were friendly, the grounds decorated for Halloween and a wonderful park for us to walk.

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Having just loaded up on supplies, we grilled on the boat and enjoyed the bay view and sunset. Little did we know this would be our last warm/ non rainy day this week. We enjoyed this little stop. We were the only loopers at the marina and visited with one other transient which was a transport captain.

The following day we cruised to Midway Marina (19 miles & 3 locks), in Fulton, Mississippi. The first lock was a wet one. Our coldest day yet cruising and this lock has lots of doors in the walls of the lock and they all leak. The first mate is on the bow during locking and she was wet, rather soaked. Had she known, she would have gone out decked in a rain hat and coat! Tasha was prepared for the next lock, but no leaking walls.

We were glad we made the trek to Bay Springs Marina prior as we got held up at the locks with the tows and the trip was longer than we planned. The transport captain had inquired if we wanted to travel together but we decided not to since he wanted to travel at a faster speed than we normally cruise. Turns out it was a good decision. More to follow in a moment. For us it was a slow, leisurely cruise (we cruise between 9 – 11 mpg). Midway is a must stop for us due to the location (regarding amenities down river) with a great restaurant. We were reunited with looper friends from the rendezvous, and later that afternoon a flotilla of 6 more looper boats arrived that we had not met before. We met around a campfire and shared stories. We spoke with the transport captain whom we assumed would be further down river and discovered that due to some missing buoys he had grounded the boat and did enough damage that he wouldn’t be able to continue the delivery until the boat was pulled and repaired. Had we gone with him perhaps we would hit the same thing! Another boater at the campfire told of limping in on one engine because while in a lock one of his propeller shafts snapped sending it and the prop to the bottom of the lock a couple of weeks ago and they were stuck waiting for parts to arrive. We are keeping our fingers crossed as anything can happen on the water to anyone at anytime.

Bay Springs and Midway marinas were the first marinas where dogs are celebrated rather than just tolerated. Just to get down the dock, we met and were greeted by multiple dogs. At Midway by the campfire all the dogs gathered. Remy had a ball with her new posse and ran, barked (she can’t run as fast so she makes a lot of noise) and played. We are encountering more four legged friends and it really seems to perk our girl up! (no pictures at the camp fire 🙁 as there was so much going on – her mom was smiling from ear to ear seeing her have so much fun!).

We frequented the marina restaurant, and it was very good. It was one of the best we have been to with very reasonable prices (a first!). We also discussed the following days cruise with two other boats who wanted to make the same trip. One looper took the lead and was to call the locks in the am, and report back to the captains on the VHF radio at 6:30. He reported that morning that the lock was open, one other pleasure craft was in the chamber, and if we came immediately, he would get us through. If not, it would be several hours before we could get underway. The three of us pulled lines (and Now or Never made a quick run up the hill to let Remy relieve herself) and made a run for the lock three miles away. One more boat joined us, the gates closed, and then a boat radioed the lock. He was a couple miles out. To our surprise the lock master opened the gates and we waited for him.

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The six boats would traverse the 4 locks together the entire run. Of course, it doesn’t matter how fast you cruise, you wait for the slowest boat to lock through. It happened to be the original boat that had to wait for us, he cruised at 7 mph., a little slower than we like, a lot slower than two of the other boats, and it made for a long day. However, the locks were available each time we arrived, and we made the 60-mile trip with four locks in just over 7 hours. A good day.

We arrived in Columbus Marina in Columbus, Mississippi. There are many loopers here and some holding over as storms have riddled the area and the next run will require an anchor night before arriving in Demopolis. It’s a good place to lay down for a couple of days, 2 courtesy cars and lots of pup treats in the marina office. Remy made herself at home in the lounge and office and just might hang there all day! We want to give a BIG shout-out to Steve and his crew at Columbus Marina. Steve stands on a step stool on the front deck so he can see the approaching boats and talks every one in through narrow, skinny water. They also have a very informative briefing about marina amenities and the community. The boaters lounge is part of the marina office and a great hang out area. They go above and beyond to make every one feel welcome and happy that you are visiting. This has been by far our best marina experience and the most we have felt welcomed anywhere!

The Tenn-Tom has been a pleasant surprise. We had heard a lot about it being a boring ditch before opening to the winding rivers and lakes, but we have found it to be a quaint, beautiful waterway. There are so many different facets of it. The waterway is very narrow and shallow, and you never know when you will meet a tow around the bend. When one tow boat captain was asked by a vessel we were traveling with where he preferred we pass, his response was “You can go wherever you want because I am going to be in the middle because these waters are shallow!” The crew of Now or Never may have a different feeling about this waterway after the upcoming week as we will make a three-day run with no marinas, towns, or facilities. We may here banjos playing or be running from alligators as we anchor in the middle of nowhere!

The small town of Columbus, Mississippi has been a pleasant surprise also. We grabbed the courtesy car and headed into town. Seems the captain packed light for this trip, and since we are chasing warm weather, forgot his fleece, and only packed a couple pair of socks. The temperatures have dropped, it’s been rainy, and nippy. We headed into town to get him warmed up. We also hit the store (we just provisioned 5 days ago, as the first mate can never have a big enough pantry!) to gather comfort cold weather ingredients. We had enough time to frequent a highly recommended restaurant (Harvey’s) and we were not disappointed. It was fantastic! One of the best and neatest restaurants we’ve been to in a long time. Wish our Columbus, Indiana had something like this. They carried about 50 bourbons! Too bad we were in a time limit courtesy car and the first mate doesn’t like bourbon. It was very impressive, and we received terrific service.

Columbus is home of the Columbus Air Force base. Pilots have trained here since World War II. Fighter jets were training above as we cruised down the Tenn-Tom on our journey. The marina is just above the next lock we will traverse through. It appears there was a great restaurant here at one time, Woody’s, but it has seen its finer days and in disrepair. It would certainly be nice to have a restaurant on site, rather than stocking those returning with the courtesy car.

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We returned to Harvey’s again and were delighted with the warm southern hospitality. And the food is so delicious! If you are ever in Columbus, Mississippi, visiting this place is a must! By far our favorite place on this journey!

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Columbus Marina is our home for three nights (anytime we have good tv reception and the captain can get Sven on Saturday night – we stay!) and then we will make our way to Demopolis, Alabama. Between Columbus, Mississippi and Demopolis, Alabama we will traverse through 3 locks and cruise 117 miles. We will need to anchor one night, our first. This is also about the area that the alligators start to show up. Momma will be carrying a big stick! We’ll let you know how that goes!

Cheers! D, T & R

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