Midland not Milland! Now off to Columbus still in Mississippi

Hi F and F,  

We both slept really well last night thankfully.

Time to call the Lock master at the first of four locks today. It was only 3 miles from the Marina.We left on a misty drizzly day.

Hopefully the lock masters will be just as benevolent as yesterday. Turns out they were and we reached the first lock with the doors open and ready to go.Dont know why Skipper  Bob (our reference book for this trip ) was so specific about restricted  openings on the weekend. Not much traffic out there at all.

We think lots of the Loopers  are planning to attend the Joe Wheeler big rendezvous in October on the Tennessee River extension .we have seen very few pleasure boats since leaving Green Turtle Marina.

We have finally worked out the best lock procedure for us.

1. Always lock on the preferred side inside the lock , if possible.

2. Have one person holding the line at center side tie around the floating board and also use a boat hook nearer the bow to keep the boat away from the lock wall and the other person also uses a boat hook to keep the boat stern away from the wall.

That way you don't get the fenders all yucky with lock wall slime.Also we have Jim's ( CYC)  great fender boards as extra protection .They go over the top of the fenders So ends the lesson on locking!!!

It continued  to be very quiet on the water , very peaceful and picturesque and therefore relaxing , especially for the captain.

Lots of magnificent white herons perched on dead branches on the river side Also several grey herons flying about  as well.

We hit the last lock at 1 pm , then home stretch to Coumbus Marina . Strangely , it now became  busier and we started to see fishing boats and towboats with barges and even a couple of water skiers on the river.

We came off the river to reach the Marina at Columbus .We had to go carefully through some smaller buoys to find the entrance.Fortunately young Blade at the Marina guided our two boats through it all very well.

Lots and lots of water hyacinths were in the area, many in bloom.Gave off a sweet floral smell.

Problem is they are very invasive and a nuisance clogging up the waterways and lakes.

We arrived just in time and were settled in a nice big covered slip when the heavens opened and a big rain storm hit the area. 

After checking in, we took the courtesy car for a quick trip to see the town , surprisingly quite big and Graeme was able finally to purchase his Kefir yoghurt at Krogers supermarket.

Back for dinner on the boat and a relaxing evening.

It had been a 7and 1/2 hour trip today.The only  lock we had to wait for , at was the fourth one and that was a brief wait.Good day on the water !

Over and Out, 

E and G.

Down south to Milland , still in Mississippi

Hi F and F,

Time to move on so  we left early at 7.30 am. Going to be anther hot and sticky day, although stared with light rain and overcast skies.

This was to be a three lock day and with the weekend restrictions of opening only every two hours , some locks on even  hours , others on odd hours we didn't know what to expect!

When we had turned into the Tenn Tom waterway river system just before Aqua Marina,we  knew we had 450 miles to go before reaching Mobile Alabama and into the Gulf of Mexico.

Finally we are truly heading south with the red buoys now on our left , not on our right.  The countdown from mile marker 450 to 00! Also we are locking down now , not up which is much nicer.

As It turned out the lock keepers must have been feeling very benevolent as they , all three  locked us through on request, even calling ahead to the next lock to let us know that we were coming. It was a fairly quiet day apart from lots of fishing boats.

Some we would go past , then they would blast past us and find a new spot up ahead, lots of fast and slow going  for us all.

At the first Lock the Jamie Whitten our boating companions Betsy Marie from ou Pebble Isle and Clifton Marina stays joined us .It was the biggest Lock so far and was a drop of 84 ft..

On reflection , Erica made a silly decision to lock on the less preferred side.Fenders were already in place there! Consequently, too much water from the side was pouring out and swirling below us and Erica was not able to push the Lady Erica off the lock wall in time at the spot where the protecting fender was not high enough!So a couple of scrapes on the stainless steel rub rail , but fortunately no damage to the precious hull of the boat.Lesson learned! 

Arrived at the cute old Midland Marina right beside some old cypress tree stumps and was greeted by Tom the resident dock master plus his secretary ( his faithful dog. ) Both boats did a side tie up and were soon settled and we were all heading for to you guessed  it, a Walmart supermarket! Town iis interesting, they call the area Mississippi Hills here.About 17 miles away is Tupelo , the birthplace of Elvis Presley.

A poorer area and again the  Super Walmart  is the happening place.

Back to the boat , air con on, We were feeling whacked so rest and then early dinner and bed.

Over and out 

E and G

Full day at Aqua Harbor Iuka Mississippi

Hi F and F, 

Well today we had planned a sightseeing day to the Shiloh battlefields.

Strange as it may seem,  although we were in Mississippi now, in just five minutes or less of leaving the Marina , we would again be back in Tennessee! We got the Courtesy car again no problem and after giving Mark the keys to the boat for the air con repair , we headed off to the Shiloh National Park which sits on the edge of the Tennessee River . This trip only took about 25 minutes. Everything is so much quicker by car!

This was the site of the bloodiest battle during the Civil War. More lives were lost here than in any other war in USA. As Graeme summarized it, the outcome of this war was like a football game , remember you haven't necessarily won at half time , there is still another half to go.

And this proved to be the case when after day one , Sunday April 6th in 1862 the Conferates thought they had in beaten the Yankees,  but on day two Monday April 7 th , the Union troops came back in force  and the Conferates lost and made a hasty retreat back to Corinith, further south.

It was hard to believe so many young men lost their lives here in what is now a beautiful and peaceful place.But then that is what war does  ! A waste of lives for sure! 

We started at the Visitors Center to get the driving map which takes you round the various monuments and sites .It is all well documented and had lots of plaques and descriptions of what occurred and when. We set off with the plan to be back at the national cemetery for a talk by a park ranger at 10.30 am.  That was most informative and then back on the driving tour again before the movie shown at noon.

The movie was very well done called Fiery Trail and  was a Remy winner back in 2013. ( whatever Remy is , we don't know)Then back to finish the remaining tour sites we had missed .

We then headed off for lunch at the Outpost restaurant  , a place recommended by Budd's friend Richard.  It was more great southern food.Forget about your cholesterol though! We also picked up some of the R&B BBQ sauce for Graeme on the way there.

Time to tank up at the Mobil gas station , pick up a few items at the Pickwick Supermarket and head back to the Marina.When we got back the air con was all fixed and running well.

Good thing with these mid 90 F temps. Later Ron came along to clean the hull of Lady Erica .Graeme assisted and it was soon done.

Time for  showers and dinner , left over pork and salad plus a to go dessert from Outpost.

A homemade  banana custard pie, made extra delicious by adding some rum to it!

End of the day we saw a full moon come out shinning over the water .

We get to enjoy nature at its best .Very blessed!

Over and out 

E and G.

P.S Freddy our frog on board ,has finally decided it's time to find another home, we think.

We didn't see him this morning .😪He was so cute , we were getting attached to the little guy,

Last Part of Tennessee River and back into Mississippi

Hi F and F, 

As we were planning to get some minor work done on our air con in the master cabin today, we left early, i.e. 6.30am , as soon as it was light!

We glided past the Pinta and Nina and the other  boats , their crews not up yet.

Out onto the Tennsse River with a gentle mist covering the water. Soon the sun was up , the mist disappeared and we had a good run for about an hour before we encountered more fishermen .

We wonder what these guys do? Are they catching to keep? or catching and releasing ?  Do they work or is this their career? They certainly didn't all look retirement age.Would love to ask  them someday! We also saw many small homes built up on top or just behind levees .They know the deal with these rivers and the dangers of rising waters!

At mm177 we turned a bend at the place where the first settlers arrived in Tennessee in1816.

Cotton and Lumber became main industries and these were loaded on to steam boats in this area.

Also saw cypress trees which grow on the banks of waterways with roots exposed.

After three hours we arrived at our only lock for the day. The Pickwick dam and lock.

Told to come on through but the process was longer than expected and we ended up spending  45 mins inside because there was a concrete company running supplies over the front of the lock area and we couldn't leave!  Once out , we entered Pickwck Lake ,a lovely big area with lots of nice homes dotted all around on the hillsides.

We were soon approaching mm 217 where the Tennessee and Tom BigBee Rivers waterway starts.

We arrived at Aqua Yacht Harbor fuel dock to find nobody at home.We had just called in about half an hour before ,  but now it was closed ! Long lunch hour!

Anyway,  we tied up there and walked to the service dept to find our air con repair guy. Mark came by at 1 pm and started work on Lady Erica.We found out we could just move along the transient dock which was attached to the fuel dock, so easy side tie up, once Mark had worked out the issue.

We needed a small part which Mark was able to organize to be shipped overnight by fedex and be here tomorrow around 10 am! Great service .we also arranged to have the hull or the boat cleaned tomorrow.

Mid afternoon John and Sandy from No Schedule (we had met at IVY Club in Peoria ) came by .

They had just completed the Great Loop a day ago here at Aqua.

We arranged to go for a celebratory drink at the onsite Bar at 5 pm.

Then we headed off in the courtesy car to R& B BBQ restaurant just down the road.

Great fun real southern food , lots of pork, beans and coleslaw .

Back to the boat , tired after a long day, and early to bed.

Over and out, 

E and G

Last photo of the day at Clifton

Clifton Marina

Hi F and F, 

Decision was made by the Captain to leave early today.

We are certainly in a continuing hot spell of weather in the 90's and by mid afternoon it gets very humid and sticky. By running in the morning , you avoid a lot of that heat.

But first Erica went off  at 7 am to investigate the Johnsonville State Park .It was closed by the time we had finished dinner last night and we went for a walk.Actually it didn't open til 8 am this morning , but it was easy just to walk in. Very well maintained and signed it's plenty of plaques with trails and  the history of the area .

Would have been nice to spend a few hours there ,but time to move on!

We set off at 8 am and had a great fun . Water continues to be smooth , the river wide and deep and apart from lots of small fishing boats along the way which slowed us down in places , we were able to keep up a 15 knot speed.

Bit more barge activity, carrying coal and grain, but no big deal. Interesting to see how they couple the barges together. Sometimes if you throw a really big wake as you go the barges , they can become uncoupled apparently!

 The scenery was lovely, cypress trees growing at the waters edge , different colors on the rocks , some yellow , orange and grey.

At one bluff called Lady Finger Bluff  the  story goes that a young pioneer chose to leap to her death rather than be captured by attacking Indians.

Around midday, we decided to try running with the generator on so we could have the air con.

Must say it was very pleasant , and we wonder why we have never done it before!!

We got into the small Clifton Marina around 1.15 pm and there to greet us were the Nina ( smaller vessel) and the Pinta. The dock master, guided us into a side tie slip off B dock. Perfect spot as we got shade from the covered slips there.

After checking in , we took the old Buick courtesy car to check out Clifton town.

It is dead with a capital D! Most of the shops had closed down and the only restaurant in town is the Pirates  Lair which is open Fridays and Saturdays only! The only happening place is the big Dollar Saver store. So we went back and spent a nice afternoon on the boat relaxing in the air con.

Lisa and Tom who Erica had met briefly at Pebble Isle Marina came in on their catamaran mid afternoon also. Later had a chat to them , they are heading on south tomorrow also.

Cooked a nice dinner on the boat and then early to bed.

Longer day tomorrow forecast  and we will head into the Tennessee -Tombigbee Waterway. 

Over and Out, 

E and G.

Off to Pebble Isle Marina in New Johnsonville TN

Hi F and F, 

Yet another beautiful day ! Water still calm, and very little wind.

At 8 am we awoke to a big rocking motion.So guess what showed up , that caused it! A monster grey luxury yacht! About 120 ft long on its way south and it took about 1300 gallons of fuel at the fuel dock here.They try to run at 40 knots and plan to get to Florida in four days.

Erica went off for a walk after we chatted to the owner and crew , to get some exercise and check out the hotel and conference complex. Also got to see more lovely views of the Kentucky lake.

Once the grey monster had fueled up we followed them out back into the river  and they were soon out of sight.

On the way we did get up on plane but had to slow down on occasions for the fishermen and speed boats and also a car ferry that ran across the river between Danville and Faxon.

We saw an abandoned half complete bridge and an abandoned structure sitting nearby in the water.

That turned out to be a building used for shipping grain on the Tennessee  River.Story goes they tried to destroy the building but it was so well built they couldn't and decided to just leave it in place!

Shortly after that we turned off the river and came into a protected harbor and the Marina.

Fueled up and then later had dinner at the floating restaurant called Grey Heron on site.

Got our fill of fried catfish, fried shrimp and fried clams. 

Then went for a walk to find the Civil War  memorial which was shut , it closed at sunset.

Saw lots of trailers parked on the way, many looked very permanent with everything connected up for year round use.

Also saw a lovely sunset to complete the evening.

Over and out, 

E and G