The Canal Section

Our stuck-anchor follies yesterday had an unexpected benefit—besides saving our $300 anchor, chain and nylon rode, we connected with a group of four Canadian boats at our alternative anchorage and arranged to go through the next three locks with them. The Lockmasters prefer groups of pleasure craft rather than individual boats and make every effort to prioritize a flotilla. We set our alarm and were ready for the 7:00 AM departure. After waiting for a northbound tow to exit, we entered Whitten Lock for the 84-foot drop, the largest on the Tenn-Tom. The Whitten Lockmaster called ahead to the Montgomery Lock five miles downriver, and it was ready and waiting for us with the doors open and the green light flashing. After a 30-foot drop, our flotilla continued on to the Rankin Lock, which knew we were coming, but had to finish some maintenance before getting us through. Another 30-foot drop and we were on our way, until Dragonfly stopped for the day at Midway Marina in Fulton, MS, while the Canadians continued on to go through one more lock before anchoring for the night. We had a lot of fun traveling with this group—who called us their “+1”—and were grateful that they let us join up with them to get through the three locks more efficiently.

 

This part of the Tenn-Tom is called the Canal Section, a 48-mile chain of man-made lakes connected by straight canals. The Tombigbee River is so narrow and windy here that the Corps of Engineers chose not to use it, and created an artificial waterway instead.  The screenshot below shows some of the lakes and canals that we’re traveling on, with the natural river to the north and west.

We had a late lunch at Guy’s Place, the marina restaurant, then took a long walk along a local country road and enjoyed the 75F weather before the 4:48 PM sunset. We’re still getting accustomed to the shorter days of fall, and are always surprised and disappointed when the sun disappears so early in the evening. The shadows were already descending on the marina when we finished our walk. You can see Dragonfly in the bottom right of the last photo, framed by the boat hoist.

The Ditch

Today was our first full day on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, another engineering marvel that you’ve probably never heard of (before reading this blog). The Tenn-Tom is 234 miles long and as its name implies, connects the Tennessee River to the Tombigbee River, with 10 locks and dams to manage the 340-foot elevation difference. The Tenn-Tom is the largest earth moving project in history, requiring the removal of 310 million cubic yards of soil, considerably more than the Panama Canal (210 million yards) and Suez Canal (105 million). Completed in 1985 (two years ahead of schedule), it shortened the water route to the Gulf of Mexico by 800 miles, compared with taking the Lower Mississippi River.

Today we traveled on the 30-mile Divide Cut, a man-made, 280-foot wide canal that connects Pickwick Lake to Bay Springs Lake. Known as “The Ditch,” it has no marinas, anchorages, docks, ramps or stopping unless you break down. It does have these interesting baffled spillways that enter into it periodically.

It was overcast with a high of 61F as we made our way through The Ditch, which was somewhat relaxing—it’s mostly straight with no channel markers and easy to navigate. We kept Dragonfly right in the middle, except for the one time we passed a tow and had to briefly slide to the right. 

Once on Bay Springs Lake, we chose an anchorage close to tomorrow’s first lock. The swing room was limited, and as we were setting our stern anchor, we noticed that the bow anchor rode didn’t look right. Upon further investigation, we discovered that it was fouled around a large submerged tree branch. After multiple attempts—and with both of us hauling—we finally freed it, retrieved both anchors and moved to another anchorage. We are currently by the Bay Springs/Whitten Lock Visitors Center with three other boats. It was warm enough to grill and eat in the cockpit, which we haven’t done in a while and are enjoying the evening sounds of nature as we close out the day.

Shiloh Take 2

Greetings and salutations from Iuka, MS where Tony and I are staying for a second night.  We decided to remain at the Grand Harbor Marina so that we could take their courtesy car to see the Shiloh battlefield.  If you are regularly reading the blog you will recall that on October 18 as we were traveling north on the Tennessee River, we passed by Pittsburg Landing which was where General US Grant, and then General DC Buel landed their troops for this epic Civil War Battle fought April 6-7. 1862.

The Shiloh National Military Park is an outstanding, educational park and WELL worth a visit.  After a 30 minute video at the visitor center we set out on the 12.8 mile driving tour of the main battle lines of this two day blood bath.  The entire area was well marked with monuments that indicated the headquarter positions of each of the groups of soldiers on both sides and also numerous and very informative signs that showed troop positions clearly marked as to the day of the position (since the fortunes reversed for each side on the second day).  This is a huge improvement from previous visits to battlefields over the years where there were a few key placards but the battlefield was mostly peaceful preserved park land.

This battle was named for Shiloh Church which was located in the area of the battle.    A replica of this first church is shown here and this is surrounded by several Confederate burial trenches.  

There is also a modern church on the site that is currently used as a place of worship.

As we continued on the trail we could see the incredibly rough conditions that these battles were fought in, through woods and steep hills in the muddy spring.  It was staggering  to imagine that there were 65,000 Union Troops and 45,000 Confederate troops engaged in this battle!!  Trying to imagine this many soldiers in active combat in the area we traveled and all the logistics involved in housing and supporting 110,000 troops in an area of 7.8 square miles was mind blowing.  And, just as sobering, were the casualties: 13,047 Union and 10,669 Confederate.  

Also in the park is the Shiloh Indian Mounds Historic Landmark which is a walking tour of a pre-historic Mississippian Native American village that thrived there between 1100-1300 AD.  The mounds were homes and burial mounds for this group of Mississippian peoples that led an agricultural lifestyle.  

We could have spent much more time in this area as there is also extensive material to see related to nearby Corinth Unit which was the site of later battles in 1862 but we had to return our vehicle.

We returned to the boat and with what little sunshine we had left, we started planning for our next travel days and played music together in the cockpit as we witnessed another incredible sunset.

Farewell Tennessee River

We woke up to a chilly 49F morning with fog, and took our time letting the mist and temperature lift before pulling up anchor.

Today (Monday) was our shortest travel day so far, only 5 miles, to Grand Harbor Marina in Counce, TN. We have been border-hopping the last two days, crossing between Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee waters. 

At Mile 215, we said goodbye to the Tennessee River and turned onto Yellow Creek, the beginning of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. After more than 700 miles, including our side trip to Chattanooga, it was a bittersweet farewell. We have thoroughly enjoyed cruising this beautiful river, but are excited to head south again, towards warmer weather and new adventures. 

We’re spending two nights at Grand Harbor, so this afternoon we relaxed, chatted with fellow boaters, did laundry and played music—Kathleen serenading the transient dock with her concertina, then a passing tow with her fiddle.

Florence, AL to Panther Creek

Our stay in Florence Harbor again coincided with a big fishing tournament—apparently there’s one just about every weekend. This was the morning scene at the docks:

Not wishing to depart in this madness, we borrowed the marina’s courtesy van and went out to breakfast at Big Bad Breakfast, a cool diner in Florence with a Cessna airplane body on the wall.

After breakfast, we got a few more groceries, filled up Dragonfly’s fuel tanks, said goodbye to Steve, Darci, Andrew & Susan and got underway. After so many nights in marinas, we really wanted to anchor out again and Pickwick Lake has many good options. Our first choice, Cooper Hollow, was crowded, so we ended up in Panther Creek at Mile 218, which was quiet and beautiful, and we had the eastern cove all to ourselves. We watched the sunset, cooked dinner, buttoned up the cabin against the cold, read and eventually fell asleep to the sounds of birds, frogs and insects.

The Shoals

One of the pieces of advice we received at the Fall Rendezvous was to slow down and enjoy the Loop rather than rush through it. We gave that a try, decided to stay an extra night in Florence Harbor and ended up having one our most enjoyable days on the trip. 

This area consists of Florence, Sheffield, Tuscumbia and Muscle Shoals, AL, but is simply known as The Shoals.  On Saturday morning, we went for a walk, then joined Pat & Gary from Nauti-Dog to drive across the river to the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, a small, unassuming building that is a monumental piece of musical history. Opened in 1969 by four local musicians, the studio attracted artists such as The Rolling Stones, Cher, Aretha Franklin, Duane Allman, Linda Ronstadt, George Michael, Wilson Pickett, Bob Seger, Rod Stewart, Helen Reddy, Paul Simon, Cat Stevens, Joe Cocker, Lynyrd Skynrd, Willie Nelson and more. The official name of the four musicians was the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, but they soon acquired the nickname “The Swampers” and became music legends. Bonus question: What 1974 hit song has an entire verse about The Swampers? (Answer at end of post). We had an excellent guided tour through the modest facility—which has begun recording music again—and definitely could feel the energy and magic that happened in this unique little building.

That afternoon, we paid another call on Steve & Darci aboard Balclutha Too, this time with our musical instruments. Their friends Andrew & Susan were visiting from St. Louis, and planned a dinner and jam session for the evening. Darci made us an amazing meal, and we sang, played and listened to music, including Susan’s own compositions. While not new for Kathleen, this was my first jam session, and it was a blast!

Bonus Question Answer: Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd. “Now Muscle Shoals has got The Swampers…”

Wheeler & Wilson Locks to Florence Harbor, AL

We had lovely weather while attending the Fall Rendezvous, and just knew that it wouldn’t last through our departure day. Sure enough, it was cool, grey and rainy as we got underway this morning from Joe Wheeler State Park. Kathleen and I have an informal agreement to avoid traveling in rain, but we had to pass through Wheeler and Wilson Locks and knew that our best chance of getting through both during daylight hours was to be in a group. Wilson Lock has become a major bottleneck on the Tennessee River after its upper guide-wall was damaged and sunk in a 2021 storm. This left commercial traffic without any assistance to steer long barge rafts into the lock, and without a convenient place to moor barges when splitting a tow, and has considerably slowed down throughput and created long delays. The 40 or so boats leaving the Fall Rendezvous divided up into flotillas yesterday and today to lock through together to reduce the demand on the locks.

Wheeler Lock is only three miles from the park marina, so our group of eight boats waited at the docks until the Lockmaster told us to proceed, then locked down 48 feet without any problems, despite the light rain.

Wilson Lock was next—the Lockmaster told our group that we could pass through after they finished with two tows. We stepped on the gas to cover the 15 miles to Wilson and hold our place in line, only to arrive and discover that the 12 boats from the flotilla that left Joe Wheeler marina three hours before us was still waiting to lock through, and we waited another 1.5 hours with them. In addition, there was a fishing tournament going on and ten bass boats were also in the queue. The Lockmaster said not to worry, there was enough room for everyone in the 600 x 110 foot chamber, and our 20 cruising boats and the ten bass fisherman fit into the lock with room to spare. Dragonfly was rafted up three-deep in the middle, and had a smooth ride down 94 feet to the bottom.

After exiting the lock, we cruised single-file down the three-mile approach canal to Florence Harbor Marina. The Harbormaster and marina staff had their hands full directing our flotilla to their slips in the midst of the fishing tournament based out of the harbor. After getting settled in, we had drinks aboard Wild Goose with Kim & John, the first Loopers we met and exchanged boat cards with back in Davenport, IA, then the four of us had dinner at the River Bottom Grill at the marina.