Leaving the River Systems Behind, Welcome to Mobile, AL

After leaving Lake Michigan and Chicago on August 31, we have traveled south on the inland river systems of this great country. From the Chicago River, to the Illinois River, to the Mighty and Muddy Mississippi River, then on into the Ohio River, the Cumberland River, the Tennessee River, the Tenn-Tom Waterway, the Tombigbee River, the Black Warrior River and ultimately the Mobile River. Counting all the locks we have transited on the east coast, Canada and now the river system it is well over 100! (Before this journey is over, I will have the exact total compiled)

Finally, the last of the locks on the river system. Once through the Coffeeville Lock and Dam at MM 116.6, the river flows freely to Mobile Bay and the Gulf of  Mexico.

Our friends Carolyn and Harry on POURHOUSE in the Coffeeville lock.

After anchoring off the Tenn-Tom Waterway for the night, we awoke to a cold, 42 degree, rainy day that persisted the 55 miles to the mouth of Mobile Bay and beyond. Though it is hard to see through the rain splattered isenglass, this is the I 10 bridge going across the bay in Mobile.

Downtown Mobile.

Though it is difficult to make out, these two ships tied up at the Austal Shipyard are the Navy's newest and fastest ships. Classified as LCS, or Littoral Combat Ships, they are designed to operate in coastal waters at speeds of 40 to 50 knots and be almost invisible to enemy radar because of their stealth technology and construction.

As we approached Mobile Bay, the Coast Guard issued a Small Craft Warning for the bay and surrounding waters for winds of 20-25 mph and waves of 4-5 feet. With the wind out of the north and at our stern, the ride was not too bad until we turned west and headed to our marina. The last couple of miles to our marina, with beam seas pounding us, was definitely not a pleasure cruise!

Our welcoming committee of hundreds of seagulls and brown pelicans as we neared the marina.

Apparently our wake was stirring up the small fish in the shallow waters of the bay, thus attracting the seabirds by the hundreds.

Bobby's Fish Camp

After a long day of 97 miles from Demopolis, AL, we arrived at Bobbie's Fish Camp for the night. This is the last place to get fuel before arriving in Mobile, 134 miles away. It is also the last sign of civilization between here and Mobile, because there are only anchorages, no marinas, in that same distance.

Bobbie's was established in 1956 as a fish camp, and though Bobbie passed on in 2010, his daughter Laura Jane continues to operate the camp in her Fathers' memory.

The old floating wooden dock is only large enough to accommodate a few boats. Luckily, with a little creative arrangement, all four boats at the camp this night fit on the dock. One 50', one 45', one 42' and one 31' boat were all able to tie to the dock. Thankfully, no other boats arrived!

ITHAKA tucked in behind a 50' Nordhaven.

Our friends 31' Ranger Tug, POURHOUSE, tied perpendicular to the bank with the bow line tied to a tree.

The sun slowly sets on another peaceful night on the Tombigbee Waterway.

Bobbie's has a small restaurant on site but they are only open on weekends. Since this was Tuesday, November 11, we were able to sweet talk Laura Jane Into fixing her famous Catfish dinners for the eight hungry Loopers. With true southern hospitality, she opened the restaurant and put out a magnificent dinner. With Carolyn and Harry from POURHOUSE, Rick and Rose from GRAND FINALE, and Clayton and Deanna from TIVOLI, Sara and I had a great dinner and conversation. It turns out that Clayton and Deanna are both doctors and scientists that had just retired after 35 years from St. Jude's Children Hospital where they worked on the human genome project. One of the most significant achievements was increasing one of the survival rates of childhood cancers from 4% to 90%! It was fascinating to talk with two true scientists that have been on the cutting edge of cancer research and technology for their whole careers.

Meandering Along the Tombigbee Waterway

Officially, the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway is only 234 miles between the Tennessee River and Demopolis, AL. The 217 miles between Demopolis and Mobile, AL is the Black Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway. However, most boaters refer to the entire 450 miles as the Tenn-Tom or the Waterway. However it is referred to, this waterway was originally conceived as early as 1792 by a French explorer, Marquis De Montcalm, as a means of reaching the Gulf of Mexico from the Tennessee River without having to go the longer route down the lower Mississippi River. Because of politics and lack of money, nothing was ever done until 1971. The Army Corps of Engineers started construction of the waterway and finally completed it in 1985. In the process, it became the largest engineering project in the world. More earth was moved to create the waterway than was moved to create the Panama Canal. NASA reports that the only two man made objects visible from space are the Great Wall of China and the Tombigbee Waterway.

One of the interesting features along the way are the White Cliffs of Epes, near Tuscaloosa, AL.

Located near Mile Marker (MM) 250, the changing colors of fall create a beautiful contrast against the white cliffs.

Many areas along the waterway are congested with the non-native, invasive Water Hyacinth.

The Water Hyacinth is the water equivalent of the Kudzo vine that is so prevalent throughout the south.

We stopped at Pirates Cove Marina one night and within walking distance down the road was the National Historic Landmark, the Snagboat Montgomery.

This 108' steam powered paddle wheeler is the last of its kind in existence. Designed to pull stumps out of the river and clear it of trees and other debris, this boat operated on numerous rivers throughout the south, until it was retired in 1982.

This boat and many like her were responsible for keeping all of the rivers in the U.S. navigable.

Located next to the Montgomery, is the Tom Bevill Resource Management and Visitor Center.

Designed and built with government funds to resemble a southern antebellum mansion of the 1850's, complete with spiraling staircases and chandeliers, it is considered by many locals to be just another "pork project" to memorialize one of the local Congressmen that was instrumental in developing the Waterway.

Midway Marina to Columbus, MS

As the previous blog showed, it was COLD, COLD, COLD when we left the Midway Marina. It was so cold that a hair dryer had to be used on the isenglass windows to melt the ice off of them and make them pliable enough to roll up so that we could see from the flybridge. Hopefully that will be the one and only time we will need to do that this trip!

With four locks to transit today and 60 miles to travel it was important that we pass through the locks as quickly as possible. Armory Lock, our third for the day, was just starting to lock through a tow and several barges when we arrived to lock through. Before the gates closed we talked with the lock master and requested permission for us and our traveling companion, POURHOUSE, to lock through with the tow. After several discussions between the tow Captain, the Lockmaster and us as to positioning and safety rules, we were allowed to enter the lock and tie up at the stern of the tow. All went well and we locked down with the tow and barges.

Carolyn and Harry in POURHOUSE, tied up on the opposite wall of the lock.

Spot the bird in the lock with us?

A Great Blue Heron looking for lunch as the waters in the lock recede.

We had to stay tied to the wall until the tow and his barges had completely cleared the lock.

Between the Amory lock and the last lock of the day, the Aberdeen lock, POURHOUSE had mechanical problems and had to stop at Aberdeen for the night. They caught up with us the next day in Columbus.

One of the sights to see in Columbus, MS is the old plantation house called Waverly that is located about ten miles out of Columbus. Built in 1852, the house has only been owned by two families since it was built. The second owner and his family currently reside in the house. The original plantation had 2000 acres, all planted in cotton, and was worked by 180 "field workers" and 20 "domestic workers". Apparently this is now the Politically Correct term for slaves, according to the tour guide.

The path leading out to the main gate.

The largest and oldest Magnolia Tree in the U. S. Estimated to be 250 years old.

One of the documented stories pulled from the original owners letters was the many balls that the Confederate owner held in the main foyer, while the orchestra would play from the balcony of the second floor. It was not hard to imagine the Confederate Calvary officers in their dress uniforms dancing with their ladies in the large foyer.

Baby It's Cold Outside!!!!!

We planned to spend two nights at Midway Marina in Fulton, MS. But, we stayed three nights, due to cold tempertures, fog, and high winds (15 to 20 mph). The temperature here is unseasonably cold. It is 20 degrees below normal.

We left Fulton on Monday 11-2-14 in a little fog, light wind, and a temperature of 28 degrees. The fly bridge seating was very, very cold.

I wore a T-shirt, a sweat shirt, a fleece vest and a jacket. I also had on gloves and the new knit hat, Jack gave me for my birthday. Oh, yes, two blankets. 

Frost on the fenders and the lines. 

ITHAKA performed like a champ!

Retracing our wake...

As we leave Chattanooga, we must retrace our wake back to Grand Harbor, where we will once again head south and start down the Tenn-Tom Waterway. Chatanooga was a great side trip!!! We highly recommend the boat trip down the TN "Grand Canyon". Beautiful! One of our best looper memories.

The morning we left Joe Wheeler State Park Marina it was cold and a heavy dew was covering everything, including some of Mother Natures handiwork.

Since it is almost Halloween, it's only fitting these be included.

The Tennessee River valley is just as beautiful going downstream as it was going upstream.

This is the Wilson Lock that we had to go back through. On the trip up it took four hours of waiting to pass through this largest of locks. Luckily, on the return trip we were in and out in fifty minutes. Considering this is a 95' drop in elevation and the largest lock of its type in the U. S., we were happy to get through in such a short time.

This is looking forward as we pulled into the lock.

Looking aft as a "Jackup Rig" pulls into the lock behind us.

The "Jackup Rig" is a floating work barge that is used in shallow water. It is used extensively in the oil fields of the Gulf of Mexico and many other places, the barge will arrive on location and then jack it's self up on the four long legs that are visible sticking up in the air. Once the barges' hull lifts clear of the water, it becomes a solid, steady work platform until the job is complete. Then, it jacks its self down and moves to its next job under its own power.

The rig is secured to the wall, waiting for the locks back gate to rise up from below.

The gate is coming up out of the water....

.......and up......

.......and up.......

........and up......,

The gate is up and locked and the water is being lowered down.......

.........and down........

........and down.........

...........and down........

........and down to the bottom.

The front gates start to open and we prepare to depart the lock.

Free at Last!

Free at Last!

A must stop for any history buff is the Civil War battleground at Shiloh, Tennessee. The Tennessee River played a vital role in this first major battle of the Western Theater. It was here that the Confederates ALMOST had their first major victory on the western front if they had just continued the fight until the end of the day. However, when the Confederate General Johnston was killed on the field, they stopped for the day, thinking they had the battle won and they would finish off the Union Army the next morning. Much to their surprise, the Union gunboats based at Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River bombarded the Confederates all night and Union General Grant reinforced his beleaguered troops with 11,000 fresh troops by ferrying them across the river at night and attacking and defeating the Confederate Army at dawn the next day. The 23,746 casualties over the two days forecast a long, bloody and protracted war that would drag on for three more years.

This is the military cemetary for the Union soldiers.

The Confederate soldiers were buried in three mass graves. No headstones, no markers, no identification.

One of the many monuments and markers dotting the three square mile battlefield.

Monument marking the location of one of the Indiana regiments that fought in the battle.

A monument erected by the Daughters of the Confederacy in 1890 to honor the Confederate war dead buried in mass graves.

Confederate siege line of artillery aimed at the Union forces at the "Hornets Nest" where the Confederates captured 2,200 Union soldiers on the first day of battle.

This is the largest collection of actual Civil War cannon in the U.S. This is the actual line of artillery, in its actual location, all 66 guns.

A reconstruction of the Methodist Meeting House (Church) at Shiloh from which the battle took its name.

The original was destroyed during the battle. The Shiloh Methodist Church is still an active congregation and is located a hundred yards from this log church.

The center of the Union line in the Hornets Nest where all the Confederate artillery was concentrated.

Confederate memorial.

Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River where the Union gunboats bombarded the Confederates during the night and where the 11,000 Union troops were ferried across during the night.

Despite the somberness of the Shiloh battlefield, Mother Nature can still brighten the place up with her colors.

The Captain and his beautiful First Mate (also known as the Una Bomber)😍 sitting at the helm, coming down the Tennessee River on a cold, frosty morn.