Aberdeen to Columbus, Mississippi.

 

Another beautiful morning...and it is Friday. We tend to forget which day it is! One day looks pretty much the same as the other, so keeping track is a bit of a challenge.
We had called ahead two days ago, to the marina in Columbus to book ourselves a berth there for the weekend, knowing that they might be full of Loopers. Nice to secure that space ahead of time. No worries.
We pulled out from Aberdeen after a breakfast of bacon and egg and bacon and sausage biscuits from their Delli. Rich and Pam helped us get off the dock. It was a bit challenging, considering the depth of the water and the fact that Waz would have to back out before turning. We did it right on the second try.
Pam and Rich were following us in their little boat. They are loopers too, and it was good to spend some time with them again. We made our way back along the channel with some trepidation.

 Lots of debris in the water, and we had to swing wide a couple of times to avoid logs like this one. Not much room to go around these, and we had given up looking at the depth finder, again. We knew it was shallow, so no point worrying further.

 The Coreopsis Daisies were everywhere and a glorious sight. We wonder if they are partly responsible for our breathing problems, right now. We seem to sneeze all the time and Waz is using his asthma puffer a lot.

 Nearly there....out into the River again....but...

 See that stuff in the water out there? Well, there is a sand bar right there which collects debris. Hmmm....

 Yes, this one here...and ooooooppppps!!! WAIT! take it out of gear...we are grounded!! BAH!

 Waz had decided to gun it to get through the shallows we experienced going in yesterday, but guess what...it just made us stick. We couldn't go further towards the red markers because of a tree trunk in the water there. After a few mins, he decided to gun the engines a bit more to see if we would move. We did...phew! Floating again, but we probably have nice clean props out of that one.


We made our way into the next lock, just a little way down river. The next two took us down 25ft each. We now only have four locks to go through before we hit Mobile Bay.

 Rich and Pam saw us ground and as they were behind us, were grateful that we dug them a channel:)

We are ready to get out of this lock.

 We saw this tow on the AIS screen and that his name was Jack Binion. We had an off channel conversation with the tug captain about the name. You see, the previous owner of our boat goes by the same name:) Strange coincidence.

I didn't take any more photos, after this. We were close to the next lock, and before getting there we were to turn to port, before the Cells, to Columbus Marina. I needed to get the ropes and fenders ready for tie up there, so the camera was secondary to my purpose. I didn't have it with me as we entered the marina either, so those pics will come as we leave.

We arrived to find a LOT of Loopers in the Marina. Good to see so many of them again.

We are here for the weekend, leaving Monday morning. It has been a difficult decision to make...leaving, that is....such a pretty place, and so restful. You see, the push to make the Loop is over. We are almost 'home'! Home being when we cross our wake on the ICW, at the bottom of Mobile Bay, Al. Our boat insurance doesn't allow for us to enter Florida until the 1st of November, so we are in no hurry to do so. We still have a good 7 days before we get there, which is about right, down you think? This being the 26th, October.!

We are thinking of taking the boat out of the water in Mobile, to give her a bottom job, redo the gland packing (you boat folks will know of what I speak!), which was so poorly done by the previous person who 'packed' them..aiee!! and any number of other little jobs that can only  be done when the boat is on the hard.

Sooo...there you have it!

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Five Finger Cove, Bay Springs Lake. A Day at Rest and South again.

 I love getting up in the morning to take photos at sunrise, or soon thereafter. The colors are fantastic, and the light is like diamonds on the water....after the fog disappears, that is:)

Today is one at rest for us. It is wonderful not to have to rush anywhere, and to fully appreciate the stunning surroundings we find ourselves in. We are fortunate that the weather is holding, although the temperatures are a little chilly, first and last thing.
We needed some more gas for the dinghy, and our home Marina of Bay Springs, Mississippi, was not far away. We decided to go and check the marina out and get gas at the same time. Crossing the main lake was a bit choppy, and Cooooold. The wind, that is. One boat met us on the way in...they were coming out...but otherwise there didn't appear to be anyone around. The young woman in the office at the marina said they were full of Loopers, but we didn't see anyone.
We bought the gas and departed. The wind had chopped up the lake some more, by the time we got back out there, and the chop was not much fun to ride back to Five Finger Cove. In the process I must have strained some back muscles, coz the next day my back was VERY sore. Despite trying to relax as we hit each wave, I obviously wasn't too successful!

 Nice to have full tanks for the dinghy. We forgot last time we filled up the boat.

In the meantime, the boat looked perilously close to the beach and the water looked Very shallow!! Waz decided to see if we had enough depth to make a move out of there. That wasn't necessary, as we had at least 8 feet under us, despite what it looked like.

 We took the dinghy over to the beach...could have almost stepped off the boat onto the beach, but... There was a small matter of the MUDDDDD! Yes, I got out first, as I always do, and slipped my feet into about 6 inches of orange mud. Oh joy:) Kinda nice, actually! except that it is slippery. Thankfully I hadn't worn my shoes!

 The beach was also muddy....a long way up!

 So...we went for a walk along the beach and looked at all the animal tracks..the dominate ones being Raccoon...lots of Deer, also..both big and small...and a print we couldn't figger at all.

These little coves are just stunning, and I couldn't photograph them enough...so let me know if you want a gazillion pics of coves, in Mississippi.

 You can see how close we are to the beach, in this one. But not in any danger...truly! I could have gone for a swim, had I felt inclined...well, I did, just for a moment. The water was quite warm, which is why we have so much fog in the mornings.

 We got the oars out for a bit and rowed our way around the local coves, then Waz had to go for a blatt...read...fast spin around the water. Not sure what part of "lets do this thing quietly THIS TIME" he didn't understand, but I guess it is just a GUY THANG! lol. We were so fortunate to have nobody else around. Lovely!

 As I said...color, coves...who could wish for anything more??

I sat upstairs on the fly deck in the hot afternoon sun...out back on the deck chair..then migrated inside when the cold wind arrived, and the sun went down slowly, before I decided that it might just be time for some dinner prep. Before I went downstairs, I had to take some more pics of this very picturesque setting. Forgive me!

 I turned this reflection of trees, upside down to get his effect:)

Thursday Morning.

As you can see, it is 7.01am...We have the engines going, and Waz is hauling in the anchor, on the bow. I am watching and doing as I am told to get us out of this little cove safely. He will be back in as soon as he has washed the chain and the anchor. It came up cleanly, thankfully, without too much mud attached.

 We had heard the chatter on the radio of five other boats entering the lock, and we high-tailed it to the Lock, being the last ones in the to tie up.

 This lock took us down 84ft. We are almost at the bottom, in this photo.

 ...and the last to come out. Our idling speed is a bit faster than the crowd were going, so they let us pass, once out of the lock. We hadn't thought there would be so much fog around down here, but it made perfect sense, when we stopped to think about it:) That black thing over the top of the boats is a road bridge.

 Looking back at the lock, as we left. Those are the doors, with the X on them.

 The fog rolled back in, as we made our way south.

So..Now we are in front of the pack, simply because we go faster, but we held back because we had four locks to go through with everyone....for economy of locking purposes.  They retired above the 5th lock, and we locked in with two sail boats who accompanied us on the two further locks. They were slower than this crowd, but we just waited in the lock, put the genset on and made a cup of tea...or on one case, made lunch!:)

 The Tombigbee River is dirty, low and with lots of debris. The debris isn't much fun, and we hit things a couple of times, with the props. The colors along the side of the river are lovely, however.
You know you are getting to THE SOUTH with the appearance of Swap Cypress, again. That and marshlands.

 

 This home in the trees looked rather idyllic!

 The day was warm, then cold. We alternated between down jackets and hats/scarves and none. Aieee!

 We love seeing bird nests...this one took our fancy.

We had three anchorages marked out, but the first one demanded two anchors...not looking promising there, and there was a boat with two fishermen at the entry to it, so we passed (not good in retrospect) and on to the next choice. This one proved unviable too. We went into the anchorage, but when the depth finder got down to 5ft, we called it quits there too. There was too much debris around us and the way in was challenging.
The 3rd choice of anchorage wasn't viable either, and we opted to go into Aberdeen Marina. We knew this was under new management and that the way in to the marina was an adventure all on it[s own. We were to find out very fast, how much this was true.
This photo is typical of the area...and yes, that black spot on the left side is on the camera lens...again! Canon have already heard from me...this camera is a second one! Im not happy about this. What to do?

 One of the anchorages we discarded...as you can see there is too much debris.

 and now we have to make it down the narrow and VERY shallow channel into the Aberdeen Marina. Once we started, there was no place to go but forward. No space to turn, just go ahead...between the markers. We stopped looking at the depth finder when we got down to 3.8ft. Ouch! We were in 8ft one moment, and then nothing. Waz took her out of gear and allowed our forward momentum to carry us beyond (hopefully) this place we could be grounded. It happened, and we were back in gear and gingerly feeling our way along the channel.

 the red poles were on our right, and green on the left, obviously.

 We finally arrived.. No wonder we were stirring up mud...we draw 4ft 6 inches...!hmmmm!

 Look what we had to come through!!

Look what greeted us at the marina. Stunning, calm park-like setting. The place is in some disrepair, but the new owner is keen to repair and get the Loopers back. He will have to dredge his channel, coz half of them wont be able to get in there if it stays like that. Dredging will also be counter productive, as this is part of the Tombigbee River!...and silting is a way of life.

 We are tied up to the wall in behind the Gas station that is also part of the Marina. All plugged in, we opted to have Krispy Chicken Dinner, and then...don't hate me...we shared a whole tub of ice-cream! blech! did we really>>?  Well, I will say that I ate only 5 chicken wings, and you know how much flesh there is on those, but Waz managed to down two breasts. Hmmm....and still ate the ice=cream!

 We sat out under the cover at the table and ate. Pam and Rich, whom we first met wayyyy back in Delaware, helped us onto the dock and then we sat with them while we ate.

We didn't sit around too long, though. It got cold and we were all tired.
Another day finished. Moving on again tomorrow. Always south!

Shiloh Civil War Battlefield visit. Monday, 20th October

The Fall colors are definitely showing themselves here in Mississippi. We are on the border of three states here in Grand Harbor...Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama. These gorgeous trees were on our afternoon walk, on Sunday.
Monday morning we were ready at 9 to accompany Cindy and Grant to the Shiloh Battlefields. They had friends, Susan and Jeff, arriving at the marina, and we needed to wait for them to proceed. Easy!  Jeff and Susan had to contend with the heavy fog that morning, so they were a little late arriving. No matter, we were happy to wait...always things to do!

 Cold evening and morning temps coupled with warm lake waters was causing all this fog. The sun did burn it off pretty quickly though.

We finally left the marina about 10.30am. We borrowed the marina van, with Grant driving. We were supposed to be at the Visitor's Center for the 11am screening of the 45 min. movie of the Civil War battles at Shiloh. We arrived 10 mins late, but it gave us an opportunity to look through the museum exhibits and visit the bookshop.

 Pittsburgh Landing is on the Tennessee River not far away, and the gun ships delivered their precious soldier cargo to the road head there. Without the ships, it would have taken the soldiers weeks if not months to reach Shiloh and Corinth. The story is too complex to recount here, but you can click on the link below to read more.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Shiloh

Sorry to use Wikipedia, but I was looking for Brevity!

Suffice to say, the battles produced a bloodbath. It was horrific. The movie was excellent, and emotional. Such a tragic waste of life, War is!

There are only 35 stars (states) on this flag!

 An excellent diorama, below. It was necessary to be able to visualize this battle on the barren fields we saw later.

 One of the troop ships that landed at Pittsburgh Landing. This was a totally new form of warfare, including them.

I was haunted by the 10 yr old Drummer Boy. Drummers were essential to the communications during the battles.

There were originally 54 Canons in a row on this battlefield.

Shiloh Cemetery.

 A replica of the Original Shiloh church

Canon seen through the lovely Fall foliage

 Memorial stones and sculptures are all over the fields, and the car tour took in 13 miles of the Shiloh Battlefield Memorial Park. It was astonishing to think of the bloody battles that took place here, on such a fine morning with such natural beauty around us.

We were all pretty hungry, half way through the car tour, so we decided to go and find a restaurant on the other side of the Pickwick Dam and Lock, that had been recommended to us.

We found it, and ordered local delicacies (tongue in cheek there!)

The road over the Pickwick Lock and Dam, which we had come through on Wednesday night...in the dark.

Our lunch destination.

 A friend of a friend had recommended this restaurant, and though it was now 2pm, they were very gracious hosts, and the food was excellent.

 We sat outside on the huge deck, and looked down on the lovely garden.

 An outhouse, nearby:)

 And I forget what they called this, but it was decidedly yummy. I know it looks horrid, but....

I ordered the pulled pork over country fries with mild hot sauce and cheddar cheese, with a cole slaw on the side. There was SO MUCH PORK!! and the meal was inexpensive, as so many of them are.

We arrived back at the marina 1./2 an hour late...3.30pm. We are not making a habit of this, really!

We are lucky to have the use of the courtesy cars, and never want to take advantage of that.

Waz and I went for another walk, knocked on Bruce's boat and joined him on deck to watch the sun go down. We had insufficient clothing on so returned to our own, and I set about making dinner for the three of us. Bruce joined us for a steak and salad dinner and we learn a lot more about his fascinating life.  After he left, around 9.30pm we did the usual things to prepare for our moving on the next day (Tuesday).

Tuesday morning. A bit of fog, but nothing to worry about. We didn't have far to go, so we didn't rush out of the slip.

There was a row of these rocker seats, at the back of the boat, along the dock. We had sat in one of them and enjoyed a cuppa, and then were asked to join the rest of the Loopers on another larger seat, for docktails, around 5pm,Sunday night. Most of them were leaving on Monday.

 We have just left the marina with no sign of the fog, now.

 Bruce was going to come and help us off the dock, but each time he appeared, we weren't ready. I had gone to say goodbye to Grant and Cindy, and the other Loopers on that dock, and then we cast off the lines around 9.40am. We went back towards Pickwick Lake to see if we could find him...he came walking down the dock and took photos of the boat as we were leaving, with his I-pad.:) We enjoyed his company, and look forward to running into him somewhere else.
We are now on the Tenn/Tom River. The Tennessee, Tombigbee River system. One leads into the other.

 I am sure we will be back. I am so sad to leave this lovely place. So much more to explore.

 Looking forward...

and to our starb'd side. Some lovely homes here on the lake and river...we wish!

The rock is very crumbly, and sits in layers which are fascinating. Later we had a chance to see just how crumbly it is and marveled at those who built their homes on top of some of these seemingly tenuous cliffs and rock faces. Are they nuts??

 Not long after leaving Grand Harbor Marina. Pickwick Lake is bottom left.

 This rock is different, and appears much harder. We didn't think it was granite, however.

You couldn't find a more beautiful spot for an RV park, seriously!

this green marker sits high and dry on a rock pile. The lake/river is at Winter height, which isn't good for us, for the most part, though there is generally enough water, as the tows come through these parts, and they need 9ft.

We passed this coal tow, early on in the piece. The large building at back right is a NASA facility we believe.

The little 'lake' we were in initially, soon turned the corner and took us down a 25 mile manmade canal. You can see this at the top of the screen. Obviously it wasn't very deep, at 14.7ft, but sufficient for our needs.

The canal started just before this bridge. It gave us a rest from following red and green markers, for a bit, and we could take time out to let our minds wander and consider what we are going to do when we have completed the loop. Stand by for more on that...we don't seem to be able to think much beyond the bottom of Mobile Bay, Alabama, lol. There are just too many options, and we want to do so many things in the future to be tied down to any ONE thing. Such is the life of a pair of gypsies.

The grounds on the side of the canal and the bridge were well groomed.  It was pretty and obviously well cared for, which is always cheering.

 These water races are attractive and Waz got a bit creative with the camera...I was driving!

As you can see, we are headed due south at this point.

The light was perfect for taking photos of the water race...which he did....LOTS of them:)

 The shallow walls of the canal soon turned to higher ones, and they have been stepped. In some places they were as high as 175ft above the canal. The cut is 1300ft wide. They dug out 150 million cu. yards of dirt to create the waterway. This is supposedly more than was dug to create the Panama Canal.

 The cold snaps are encouraging more of the trees to turn color. I have to keep reminding myself that color in trees is just the leaves dying, or winterizing. I would like to think there is life there, but unfortunately, it is a sign that colder things are on their way. Brrrrr. The day might be bright and sunny, but the temps are in the high 60's, and the wind we generate is cold! We are often bundled in down jackets and hats, at such times.

 Eventually we came out of the canal into Bay Springs Lake. WOW! This is another man-made lake, with tree stumps sticking out of the water, and one has to be careful...extremely careful, not to get too close!

 We originally tried to anchor just off the Lake in Five Finger Cove, but the anchor didn't take the twice we tried. We were hailed on channel 16 by another boat we had seen way up in the cove, and they invited us to either raft or anchor in their vicinity. We made our way further into the cove and chose a little horseshoe to set the anchor. Here, Waz is giving me the signal to reverse to help the anchor dig into the orange mud. He has a line with buoy on it set above the anchor, in case we get the anchor stuck under a tree trunk or something we cannot see, and this would allow us to pull the anchor from the dinghy, if necessary.

 Our neighbors! Yes...there are none!:)

We took the dinghy off the back and made our way to the boat that had hailed us. They were a little further into the cove, and we took our cooler with a bottle of wine, with us. It was around 2pm.

 This place is simply stunning! Our boat friends had spent the last three nights anchored where they chose, and were getting ready to move on the following morning. We hadn't come across them before, but we spent a very pleasant 2 hrs in their company, and enjoyed the wine and their boating stories too.

I was up at 7am the next morning, in time to see them disappear into the sunrise...with just a little bit of fog