The Tenn-Tom Waterway

The next leg of our journey was the 450 mile trip to Mobile, Alabama, via the Tenn-Tom (Tennessee-Tombigbee) Waterway, the biggest civil works project ever undertaken by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and one of only two man-made projects discernible from space (the other one being the Great Wall of China).  Through a series of rivers, connecting canals, and lakes, we would drop down 340 feet of elevation to sea level via ten more locks before reaching Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.

Along the first section, called the Divide Cut, we passed some interesting looking structures called “baffles” built into the canal walls to prevent creeks from rushing in.

Although most of the locks on the Tenn-Tom  lower the water level around 30 feet, the first one we encountered dropped us a whopping 84 feet, the deepest lock on our entire trip. By now, we were so accustomed to the locking through procedures, however, that this did not intimidate us.

On the second day of this journey, we were really on a roll and managed to make it through six more locks, thanks to the efficiency of each lockmaster contacting the next one of our imminent arrival, so we could just cruise right in without delay.

The trickiest part of this day’s route was the narrow approach channel to our marina at Aberdeen, where we hit a submerged stump as we weaved in and out among cypress knees.  Luckily, there was no apparent damage to our props.

Our original plan had been to try to make it to Mobile by November 1^st, but then we found out that the lower end of the Waterway would be closed while they replaced a railway bridge, just when we were planning to pass through.  So, we decided to leave the boat at Columbus, Mississippi for a couple of weeks,  rent a car, and drive back ”home”  to Columbia, SC to take care of doctors’ appointments and check on our condo.  It’s a good thing we did, too, because we arrived to find our heating/air conditioning system on the blink ($600 to repair it) and our car battery dead ($100+ for a new one). 

This also gave us the opportunity to drive our car down to Florida so it will be there when we arrive on the boat. While in Florida, we decided to buy a new computer ($1,000) to replace our old laptop which has been giving us trouble for quite a while.  Wow, life is expensive, even when you’re not living on a boat.   Anyway, we had a great visit with Ken’s brother and sister-in-law in Sebastian, Florida before hitting the road again to drive back to Columbus, MS to resume our cruise.

While we were away, the weather had turned colder, so now we would begin each cruising day with various layers of warm clothing which we could strip off later in the day as it warmed up.  The first day, November 1^st, we made up for lost time somewhat, covering about 50 miles, and anchored in a lovely park like setting at Sumter Landing Recreation Area, along with Rick and Pam on a Sea Ray called “Tourist.”

The next day, it was on to Demopolis Yacht Basin, another 40 miles away. Along the way, we passed some extraordinary scenery, including the spectacular White Cliffs of Epes.

At Demopolis, we fueled up and enjoyed a nice dinner at the on-site restaurant. Then, we braced ourselves for the next leg of our journey.  It was almost 100 miles to the next place we could safely tie up for the night, with only a few somewhat questionable anchoring spots along the way, and first we would have to transit one more lock.  Coordinating our efforts with other cruisers and the lockmaster, we were underway at first light the next morning and made it through the Demopolis Lock with four other pleasure craft.

We were travelling with Ed and Cindy on the “Ka-Dee-Anna,” and had decided to stop at Bashi Creek, about 54 miles down the Waterway.  When we arrived, they sounded their way in and found just enough room for their 37-footer to anchor with enough swing room to turn around.

We decided to anchor just out of the channel on the opposite side of the river where there was more room for our 47-footer, plus any other boats which might arrive after us.

Three sailboats joined us at this anchorage, but all of us were somewhat nervous about any barge traffic which might come by during the night.  We all had our anchor lights on so they would see us, plus our VHF radios so we could communicate with them.  It was unnerving to hear them coming around midnight, first from one direction and then another, and then to see their spotlights shining on us.  Sleep was pretty much out of the question.  Then in a thick fog the next morning, another tow approached.  We could hear him, but couldn’t see him until the barges he was pushing were almost on top of us, or so it seemed, but he knew we were there and managed to avoid hitting us.  

These guys are really skillful, by the way, and they perform a very important job transporting cargo that would otherwise need to be moved by trucks.  Think about it: 1 barge = 60 tractor trailer loads; 1 tow = 15 barges = 900 trucks off the highways.

 Anyway, what a relief when the fog lifted and we were on our way again.

This day we had just a short distance to travel to our destination, Bobby’s Fish Camp, which is the last “marina” (sort of) before Mobile, still about 120 miles away.  With 150 feet of face dock for boats to tie up (and fuel up), they try to accommodate as many boats as can possibly fit, with those arriving early securing themselves to the dock and those arriving later rafting out two or three deep from the first ones.

Bobby’s is pretty much a self-service place, whether one is  arriving to tie up at the dock overnight or just fueling up. All the cruisers just help each other.  Meanwhile, the staff are busy doing what they do best, cooking catfish for dinner at their restaurant.  We had the best catfish dinner ever, and then topped it off with a “to die for” hot bread pudding with whiskey sauce.  Yum!

The next morning, with our last lock just two miles away, we contacted the lockmaster and then all nine boats at Bobby’s Fish Camp beat a hasty retreat at 6:00 a.m. to lock through together before any barge traffic might arrive.  In our haste, Ken caught the rip cord on his life vest on something while preparing lines for the lock, and “boom,” it instantly inflated.

Once through the Coffeeville Lock, the water becomes tidal and somewhat brackish.  Before we realized how close we now were to the sea, we noticed seagulls following our wake.

That night we anchored off the Waterway, about a mile up the Tensas River with no barge traffic to worry about.  The next morning, November 7^th, we headed down the Mobile River on the last leg of this 450-mile journey, following fellow Loopers, Marc and Shelley on their catamaran, “Rock Chalk.” Cruising conditions were perfect to enjoy the lovely scenery along the way.

As we approached the 14 Mile Bridge, which had caused the delay in our plans, we first saw a section of the old bridge which had been removed and was sitting on a barge.

Then we went under the new structure, a lift bridge to replace the old swing bridge.

We were nearing Mobile now and the scenery changed dramatically, to more industrial, including a couple of barge loads of old smashed cars, now scrap metal for recycling into who knows what.

Then we were in the Mobile Harbor Channel, just passing through, because there’s no place to stop for pleasure craft such as ours.

On out into Mobile Bay we went, passing working fishermen and shrimpers on our way to Dog River Marina on the Western Shore.

We opted to spend a few days here in a working marina, rather than one of the resort type marinas on the Eastern Shore, because we had some boat maintenance to take care of before moving on.