Getting even more ready!!

I spent 12 days helping a friend from our local sailing club (Bill) move his boat (a Benteau 50) from Mobile to KY Lake.  Bill, Julia, Captain Mike, and two of Bill’s brothers sailed the boat from Ft. Lauderdale to Mobile (leaving Ft. Lauderdale Tuesday, May 12 and arriving in Mobile Sunday, May 17).  I was not able to make the first part of the trip so I joined in at Mobile and one of the brothers and Captain Mike left on Monday after I arrived.  My 12 days were enjoyable and help me prepare for my eventual journey along the same rivers.

The first 5 days were spent at Dog River Marina trying to get the mast down.  The marina told Bill it would be no problem to lower the mast, but when they looked at it on Monday morning, they said they did not have a crane large enough to handle a 67’ mast.  So we spent the next four days hearing “tomorrow, tomorrow we will have a plan”.  We lost another mate on Thursday night.  Finally on Friday the crane showed up and we lowered the mast into the cradles we built for the trip.  We strapped it down, took showers and headed for the Mobile River.  We passed through the ship channel and saw some of the new aluminum ships being built for the Navy.  Other ships were being loaded and unloaded and tows were milling about.  We anchored at the head of 12 mile island for the first night.  Being at anchor for the first time in the middle of a channel, even though it is not a navigation channel, is a little strange. But we settled in and slept well. 

The next day (Saturday) we headed up the river.  I am not exactly sure where the Mobile River turns into the Tombigbee/Black Warrior River, but it was smooth sailing (well motoring) to the next anchorage at MM105.  The river is sparsely populated so there is a lot of potential to see wildlife. 

The next morning (Sunday) we were up early and heading for our first lock at MM116.  We overtook a tow with 8 barges connected on the way to the lock.  I am sure he was laughing his head off when we passed, as he arrived at the lock about 10 minutes after us, but got to lock through before us.  The priority order for locking through is Government Vessels, Passenger Vessels, Commercial Vessels, Rafts and then Pleasure craft.  So of course we had to sit on the side and wait for him to lock through.  It took us 2 hours at the lock.
Now that we had two anchorages and a lock under our belt we were feeling a little more confident about the trip.  We were cruising at a nice comfortable pace.  We saw an eagle swoop down and pluck a fish right out of the river. We saw a deer swimming in the river one day.  I decided that there is nothing that you could take a picture of and say this is why it is a great trip, it is just the sum of the parts that make it an incredible journey.  That night we anchored at MM201.  The next day (Monday) we went through the Demopolis lock and stopped for fuel and provisioning.  North of Demopolis heavy rains had moved through in the early morning so the river was filled with debris and the current was getting strong, this slowed our pace considerably.  We made it to MM274.

On Tuesday we experience some rain, but it was mostly light rain.  We made three locks and got along quite well all things considered.  When we anchored just above Aberdeen Lake for MM361 the night in part of the old river. 

On Wednesday we had to wait out a little fog before we got started.  The day started out nice after the fog lifted, but we experience those torrential rains that sent so much debris in the river in the afternoon.   At one point we turned around and went back for about a mile to let the storms ahead pass to the east.  I was glad to have my First Watch coat, which is a combination coat and PFD.  After the severe storms and six locks, we were both glad to find a nice little protected cove to anchor in at Bay Springs Lake (MM419).

We started out with the divide cut on Thursday.  This is the man-made channel that connects Bay Spring Lake on the Tenn-Tom to Pickwick Lake on the Tennessee River.  For the first 200 miles of the Tenn-Tom the channel cuts are to primarily straighten out and deepen an existing river, it is still very natural.  This 25 mile cut is clearly a manmade channel with rocks lining each bank.  The good news is there is no current so you make good speed in the cut.  And then you come out into Pickwick Lake.  I thought Pickwick Lake and the Tennessee River was the most scenic part of the journey.  There are undeveloped areas as well as many beautiful homes lining the River.  We saw five eagles gliding on the wind.  The miles start counting down now, we joined the Tennessee River at MM217 and stopped for the night at MM140.  We had been having a little trouble with the transmission jumping out of gear since Monday.  As we pulled into the Mermaid Marina Thursday evening, the transmission refused to go into forward.  We finally got it in gear and to the dock, but try as we might with transmission adjustments and a fluid change, it would not go into forward, so we pulled the transmission, phoned home for a ride and left the boat behind for a week or so.  I likely will not be able to rejoin the trip but I had a great experience with this taste of the Great Loop Cruising.  I am still looking forward to starting my own trip.
Click HERE for a map of the trip.