Black Warrior-Tombigbee

Leaving Demopolis, we were now on the Black Warrior part of the waterway. 217 miles to Mobile Bay with not much in between. Parts of the trip was scenic, part boring. But winding and curving it was not ! It began to seem that there was nary any long straight stretches in this waterway. Many, many winding "s" curves and switchbacks. It was not unusual to go through a period of curves on the waterway, only to look at the big picture on the chart to find we were a mile away from an earlier point ! This first picture is the site of the infamous tow-railroad bridge disaster.


At this point, we began our alligator watch since they are found in this part of the country. We're now in Alabama.

This was the best I could do about something that might be an alligator. Gail and John on Our Time had a better one.

We anchored out several nights along this part---no other choice except the one night we wer able to tie up to the dock at Bobby's Fish Camp. We asked Bobby how far it was to Coffeeville--he said one mile on the gravel, 2 miles on the highway. After biking one mile on the uphill gravel, and 4 miles on the highway, we gave up. Never did get to town but we limped around for a couple days.

Ivy covered forest.

Bob takes a rest from driving.

Ther


There were interesting things along the way and a lot of wildlife which I would forget to take pictures of until it was too late. Deer which were smaller than the ones up north, pelicans, hundreds of mud hens which would fly in front of the boat.


Moss covered trees. Anchoring, there were 3-4-5 boats which rafted together. Dinner was usually the evening social on someone's boat with everyone bringing their own drink and something to share. It was a pleasant way to end the day and plan possible stays and alternatives for the next day.

Plan to be in Mobile on Friday.

Tenn-Tom Waterway

After leaving the Rendevous at Joe Wheeler Park on the Tennessee River, we headed back toward the beginning of the Tennessee TomBigbee Waterway. Officially, there are two parts- the Tenn-Tom which is 234 miles from the Tennessee River to Demopolis. The second half is the Black Warrior-Tombigbee from Demopolis to Mobile and is 217 miles. The landscape varies from being pretty to to being pretty desolate and sometimes boring. There are many marinas in the northern part of the waterway and some anchorages. The waterway was officially opened in 1985 at a cost of 2 million dollars. As we neared Columbus, MS there were many of these planes flying overhead. This is the base for the jet trainers.

In many of the locks, the bollards to which the boat lines are tied to keep the boat stable are decorated with decals and graffiti. This one was stamped with stamps from the St. Paul Carpenters Union and the Local Electrical Union 110. -


There was a fishing contest going on with 140 contestants. I think all 140 of them passed us going 90 miles an hour (aat least it seemed like it). Many of them were wearing crash helmets and you can understand why because they would veer past our boat into the wake sometimes being as close as 10-15 feet off our bow !!!


Here is one of the many spillways along the way.
This stone monument is a memorial to the town of Holcut which is the only town which had to be moved to build the Tenn-Tom.

One of the more desolate looking places-but pretty in its own way. How do you think that boat gets in to shore with all those tree stumps?




This is the Tom Bevill Visitor center and the snagboat Montgomery. We anchored here one night with Gail and John from Our Time and Jim and Judy from Wanderlust. We dinghied to the dock the next morning and toured both
which were very interesting. The house actually was built in the 1980's to commemorate the building of the Waterway and has a replica of it on display. The house is decorated in period antiques of the 1800's. It was worth waiting for the doors to open.







One of the displays in the center and the garden view overlooking the Bevill dam.

This is the entrance to Aberdeen Marina. The entrance wound its way through the cypress knees into a nice harbor which had the least expensive fuel on the waterway.

These are the white cliffs at Epes-----------

And here are pictures of the dam at the Demopolis Lock early in the morning. The lockmasters were all very nice and there was little to no waiting on the Tenn-Tom. In all, we have gone through 27 locks. This is the last one and actually is on the Black Warrior part of the waterway.

Tennessee River

Going down the Tennessee was absolutely beautiful. It was hard to decide which pictures to put in. There were miles and miles of woods and inlets, then miles of beautiful homes and I've put in a couple of those pictures too.


The sun was setting as we were pulling into the harbor at Florence, TN

Here we spotted goats-both black and white coming down to the water.

The decks on these homes were spectacular !

Bob likes to keep busy all the time...and the fly specks on the boat just bug him !

This lock was the biggest yet with a lift of 93 feet. First picture just before it began filling....second one just as the filling completed. The next three pictures show the front of the lock with the gate being lowered so that we could exit...

The very last picture is of our group of Mainship owners who were attending the AGLCA Fall Rendevous at Wheeler Park in Rogersville, AL. This meeting was one of 3 that are held throughout the year. There were over 250 attendees with some by boat (80 transient boats) and the others staying in the lodge or campgrounds. It was a great time visiting with other loopers Seminars were held covering the next segment of the loop--from here to the Gulf and around Florida to Charleston where the next Rendevous will be held in the Spring. Because Mainship boats were the most represented, we thought we should show our numbers ! On Saturday, October 20 we plan to leave here and begin our trip back on the Tennessee about 70 miles to the Tenn-Tom waterway. We figure we have about 800 miles to get to Burnt Store Marina so we should get there about mid-November if the weather stays good !

Cumberland River to Kentucky Lake

Here we are entering the Cumberland River. Although it's about 20 miles longer than going straight down the Tennessee River to Kentucky Lake, it's recommended because there are fewer tows on it--mainly because it's so curvy.



This is the historic town of Smithville and this gazebo was built on the site of a huge old tree that was lost in a storm or something. Next to it was an old house dating from the 1800's which I admired but forgot to get a picture of until we were past. Supposedly, many famous people in our history stayed there.



This limestone plant was really the only big industrial complex on this river and it was soon after the start of the river.























All in all, the trip down the Cumberland was the most relaxing by far and the prettiest overall. We only met 2 small tows on it and there was not the debris or the strong current to deal with like on the Mississippi or Illinois. We enjoyed the scenery and saw many blue herons. I finally got the picture I wanted of one....












Here We're approaching the Barkley Lock which was the highest one till now. There was one other boat in with us, so you can see the size of the doors as they were closing. It raised us 53 ft to Barkley Lake.,


After emptying us into Barkley Lake, we took a 1/1/2 mile canal over to the Kentucky Lake part of the Tennessee River. This was REALLY pretty with woods, hills, etc. We found this little cove to anchor in. When we got all settled at anchor, the man from this houseboat came over in his fishing boat. Bill Jorgenson, and he brought us crappie fillets he had caught and cleaned !! So, October 12, we ended here at anchor---a nice finish to a nice day.