More Tenn-Tom and Mobile Harbor pictures

The last three nights on the Tenn-Tom were spent at beautiful anchorages.We'd pull off the main river onto a small creek and ease back in until the creek opened into a big lake.The stillness was amazing...there were no houses or no sign of people except "Cloud Nine" and our friends Mike and Cindi on "Double Adventure"This is the most remote part of the trip so far..no marinas, cell phones or inter net access on this part of the river.My overall impression of the waterway is one of rural beauty and I have an appreciation for what went in to creating this wonder...more dirt was moved to create the Tenn-Tom than was moved to create the Panama canal.When coming in to Mobile the scenery quickly changed and flatened out as we are at sea level.Mobile is the 12th busiest port in the country.I loved all the different types of commercial boats we saw, including the proud looking shrimp boats.Speaking of that, I'm waiting for a shrimper to pull in at the dock..he sells huge shrimp right off the boat for $4.00 a lbs.

Picture This

Eureka!!!!Finally the pictures are published...the ones below are
Pam and Kodi in the engine room...the headset is so I can tell Tom (who is pumping fuel) how full the tanks are getting..

Wilson Lock...this is the 2nd highest lift in the United States at 93'....pretty amazing when you look down on where you've been

Looper boats on the wall at picturesque Aberdeen, Alabama

The Bates "Boat-el"

Tom and I are currently in Mobile Alabama waiting out a tornado with a whole dockside city of "Loopers"...
As we made our way down the 450 mile Tenn-Tom waterway we were under pressure to get through the coffeeville lock before November 14th...because of our hurry, we pressed pretty hard one day trying to get through three locks in a row. We made it through the first two and as we were motoring toward the third, at about 4 pm, a sudden fog started dripping down on us and soon we realized there was no chance of making the third lock before we were completely socked in by fog and dark .To make matters worse, there were no suitable anchorages on this part of the river and no marinas....But wait! What's that? Out of the mist arose some rickety looking docks protruding into the river...we checked our guide books and found this boat "camp" listed without recommendation.We called the "camp" on channel 16, and were answered immediately by a very calm voice saying "come right in, there's plenty of water, I'll be at the dock to meet you"....As we approached we saw the usual roofs that marinas in these parts have over the docks...however the roofs were all caved in and torn apart, as if a huge storm had crumpled them like a piece of scrap paper.
We then saw the outline of a man motioning us forward as our prop stirred up river mud the closer we got to the dock.The man, "Bo", was all alone...He had no front teeth and sucked on a cigarette as he pulled on our lines...almost hitting the boat in front of us in the process.He lived aboard his boat at the camp and looked after the "camp" for the owner.He seemed to be the only person there.We tied up and had a look around...the "camp' consisted of about 20 boats all in various states of disrepair...two once lovely sailboats sat at the dock with good equipment gone bad by exposure to weather...there were moldy lines, rusted anchors, cushions saturated by mildew and rain...a houseboat right next to us looked like the owner made coffee (we could see through the windows) and never came back...the table was set with plates and cups but the exterior of the boat looked as if no one had been there for years! Tom took Kodi for a walk while I stayed on board until Tom called to me to come see yet another "ghost boat"...this is the one Bo lived in...it had tape around all the windows, equipement and tools strewn on the decks and thick curtains pulled tight against the night. There was dirt and cobwebs on everything.An old de-stepped mast sat heavily across the whole boat leaving a huge dent on the cabin top. As I looked around I noticed that there was not one usable boat in the whole "camp" and no one there but "Bo".
I shivered and ran back to the boat...
For the first time we locked our doors that night, and as soon as dawn broke we were off to make that elusive third lock.
As we left, I thought I saw someone waving at me from the sailboat, but Tom said it was just my imagination....

Tenn-Tom Trivia

Before we knew about "The Great Loop" I thought the only way to go south from the Great Lakes was down the Mississippi...but, in 1985, after over 100 years of government wrangling,the Tenn-Tom waterway was officially opened.This waterway proceeds from the Tenessee river south and is the connection of many small rivers to create this wonderful gateway to the gulf.The Mississippi is NOT user friendly on the "Lower" (that's what Tow boat captains call the Mississippi south of Cairo, Illinois) so the Tenn-Tom was a boon to commercial tows and pleasure craft alike.We begin the journey on the Tenn-Tom today (we're in Iuka, Mississippi).This is a very remote area where in some places road access is 10 miles off the river.We will go through two towns,Columbus and Aberdeen and hope to have a look at the plantations and antebellum homes in the area. As we get south we'll be in alligator country...we'll send pictures but not "Closeups"...I will attempt to download some recent pictures of our adventures.Just a few "southern-isms" we've learned....We were in a restaurant and Tom had the server laughing and she said "Isn't he just a "meh-ess" (mess)...we were taken a back because Tom looked pretty clean to us...well in "southern-ese" "Meh-ess" means "funny"...so, of course Tom is "just a Meh-ess..Also when you place an order for a beverage the server will ask "do you want a coke?" Tom will say "yes please, diet" and the server says well, what kind of a "coke" do you want? Dr. Pepper, 7-up? Coke has branded itself well in the south...it is generic for ANY soft drink. Stay posted please!