A Four-Lock Day

Yes folks, you read that right; we set a new record for our Loop by traveling through four locks today. Beginning at sunrise (6:30 AM), we left Midway Marina with Jeff and Melissa on Current Situation, who we met yesterday. On our way to the first lock, four boats anchored nearby joined the group and the six of us went down 25 feet at Fulton Lock, which was ready and waiting for us. Fifteen miles later, we dropped another 25 feet at Wilkins Lock, again with the lock doors open when we arrived. Five more miles and our luck held at Cochran Lock, where they held the lock for us and made the two boats already there wait for us. One of the two was Island Time from North Dakota, who we hadn’t seen since Paducah, KY. We were lowered 30 feet at Cochran, then all eight of us steamed 14 miles to Aberdeen Lock, entered the open doors and we completed the quadfecta with a 27-foot drop. The octet then split up, with some continuing on, some stopping at Columbus Marina and Island Time and Dragonfly heading to separate anchorages.

We are anchored in McKinley Creek, known as a cut-off. You may recall from our last travel day that we were running roughly parallel to the Tombigbee River, but separated by a levee. In this section, the canal regularly intersects the river, cutting off the oxbows to shorten the waterway distance (see screenshot), These cut-offs make lovely anchorages, and are welcome places to spend the night away from waterway traffic.