The Pond at Midway Marina

We stayed at the Midway Marina near Fulton Mississippi.  They have a pond on the property that was very cool.  It was stocked with Blue gills, catfish, and Marilyn's personal favorite, turtles.

Here are some the pictures we took.  The yellow and orange puffs in the water are the food that is provided to feed the critters.  (it sure look like dog food to us)

Largest Lock at Whitten Lock and Dam

Well, we made it through the largest lock of the trip, it is 84 feet deep and pretty intense. 



         This is the front gate of the lock.  You can see I am standing on the side of the boat, so that gives you an idea on the size of the lock itself.

This view is toward the back of the lock.  The large part up above is the doors and they are sitting on the sill which is a cement wall.  This boat is 39 feet long, so you can see it is a large chamber.

  

                                                Here is a view of the front gates opening.

This is the view as you leave the lock.  Check out the full stairways on the left of the pictures, it will give you and idea on the mammoth size of these lock chambers.

Tenn-Tom waterway

This is a cotton field that we saw along the road when we drove to Nashville. 











We went to a visitor center along the waterway.  Here are some of the pictures and facts we gathered on our visit.



Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway is where we are traveling now. This waterway is man made and is 234 miles long from Yellow Creek, Tennessee to Demopolis, Alabama. It has 10 locks along the waterway. The first lock is the Jamie Whitten Lock and it is 84 feet deep.



There are 3 sections to the waterway; they are the divide section, the canal section, and the river section. This waterway is called the Tenn-Tom. The name Tombigbee came from two Indian names. The Choctaw Indians called the river “Itomba Igaby”, roughly translated as box (or coffin) maker. The initial “I” on each word was not emphasized in the Choctaw dialect; hence the French settlers called it Tombeckbee.



The total lift of the Tenn-Tom is 341 feet from one end to the other and is more than 3 ½ times that of the Panama Canal. It took 12 years to build the Waterway, from December 1972 until December 1984. It cost over $2 Billion dollars and took more than 25 million man-hours.



This waterway saves users and companies over 800 miles between the Tennessee River and the Gulf of Mexico and saves them $130,000,000 annually. The average 8 barge tow can move as much freight as 120 rail cars or 480 tractor trailer trucks. That is a lot of material! It also can move over a ton of freight twice as far as a train and 6 times as far as a tractor-trailer on the same amount of fuel. It is efficient also.



It takes 46 million gallons of water to fill the Whitten Lock while the average lock holds about 14 million gallons. It takes on average 12 to 16 minutes to fill or empty the lock.





 



This is a model replica of one of the paddle wheelers.

This is a tow boat and barge that is inside the lock (84 feet).  We were standing on the access road by the lock.  The tow and barge disappeared as the water went down in the lock.

This is the sign board along the waterway.



Side trip to Nashville

Side trip.  We received a call from our wonderful daughter-in-law and she was in the airport in Atlanta (she originated in Seattle) and she was headed to Nashville for a conference.  So we decided to get a slip for the boat and rent a car.  Our great traveling buddies, Larry and Dorothy assisted us by taking us to the rental car place in the courtesy car.  We drove 3 ½ hours to Nashville.   We had a lovely dinner with our daughter-in-law, Lynette.  We also gave her copies of the pictures and talked her ear off all night with our stories of the last few weeks.  It was wonderful for us to see family and to catch up with her.  We stayed in Nashville and then drove back to our boat.  It was a great change of pace for us and a delightful surprise to see her.

Another frog

This is our second frog visitor on the boat.  He is much smaller than our first frog visitor.  He was only about an inch or so and really wanted to stay with us.   Erwin tossed him over after this pic and then later that evening I found him hiding between the davit and the davit bumper.  It took a couple of tries but I think Erwin finally got him close enough to shore with his toss that he swam to land.  I think we may have to rename the boat, FROGGER.

Tennessee River part 2 plus a side trip

We are enjoying the vistas along the Tennessee River.  It is a beautiful stretch of water.  The rock cliffs and the way that mother nature as carved the river into this winding body of water is totally amazing.  It is really hard to do justice in the photos, but here is our try at it.

Here are some of the pretty houses along the river, interesting as they are either built on rock or are up on stilts to accommodate the changing heights in the river.



This is a bluff called Lady Finger



This is a side trip on land that we took, we started at the marina (here is the name board)

We hiked a mile or so up into the high hills (like mountains for us flat-landers), there was this great state park.  We have discovered that the state parks (including marina state parks) are really great in both Kentucky and Tennessee.  Here is what we found-----

Yes, it is where a battle was fought between the north and the south.  We found the civil war redoubt, which we looked up later.  It is the earthen embankment where the soldiers took cover.  It resembles the bunkers of world war I.  We hiked into a cemetery and found several of the folks from this area that were born in the mid 1800's lived to be 60 and 70 years old.  We both thought this was quite a long life span for that era.

We walked a little further up the hill and this view of the river from on high was worth the exercise.

Tennessee River

Now we have entered a new state for us Tennessee and the terrain is changing as you can see by the high cliffs.  This is all new territory for Marilyn as she did not do this section of the trip in 1999.

We thought the barges would be smaller and fewer in number on the Tennessee, but you can see this one is still quite large.  This is 5 wide and 5 long.

Just as you go to the next bend, then the scenery changes again. Here are some huge stone walls along the river banks.








 
 
 
This is a interesting spot in the river.  It is at about mile 78 on the Tennessee River.  This was a railroad bridge that is now abandoned.   There is also one of the buildings from the town.  After the dam was built, then this town then was under water.
 

 
 

 
 
 
Here is another view of the bridge that can only take the train to the depths of the river. IE; the bridge to nowhere.








 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
This is another shot of the building which Erwin says is a warehouse depot on the river.  That would make sense as it is close to the railroad.  To me it looks like an old saloon that all of the locals would frequent.  You decide.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
So now we are waiting on a cold front that is coming through.  We are at a marina called Pebble Isle Marina, it is located between the towns of Paris and Waverly, Tennessee and not too far from Camden.
 

What do you do all day??????

Life on a Boat




Many times we are asked what are you doing all day when you are on the boat, so we thought we would explain. There are travel days and then there are non-travel days.



On the travel days typically we start early to catch as much daylight as possible and since the days are getting shorter we want to take advantage of the light. So we usually start our travel around 6:30 am. Before that we have to check the main cabin to be sure that anything that could roll or tip in waves (usually created on the rivers by other boats) and we have to assemble all of the charts and take them up to the bridge of the boat to assist us in navigation. If we are at anchor then we run the generator for a half hour or more to charge up all of the electrical systems. The boat has an inverter that is used when the generator is not running and during the day we have solar panels so we capture the sun to produce the electricity needed. This runs the two small refrigerators and computers, etc. After we pull the anchor then we begin our navigation of the waters. Usually one of us will drive and the other will keep up with the charts.



We compare the green buoys, red nuns, and day markers to the charts. Usually whoever is navigating using the binoculars to check the numbers on these items and compare them to the paper charts. We also have a chart plotter which incorporates a GPS signal to pinpoint our location. If we are going any distance like 60 miles (which is a typical travel day), then we are driving and navigating for about 8 to 9 hours depending on the current. So that can tend to be a longer day which is tiring as you have sun and wind most of the day. After you get to the next anchorage there is an hour or so to set the anchor and watch to be sure it is holding well. In between of course you have a bite of lunch and then prepare dinner and clean up. After that the chart studying is done by both of us and we also check the weather.



On those non-travel days, typically those are the days that we go into a marina. We like to anchor out as it is more peaceful but there are definite advantages to going to a marina. Usually we have many chores to do as we have to replenish our water supply and fill the water tanks, add diesel fuel for the engines, wash the boat with the fresh water, clean the cabin (as we can run the vacuum cleaner), catch up the laundry at the Laundromat. This is also a great time to locate the nearest store to buy the groceries needed for the next week or so. The trip to the grocery store takes two of us. It is usually a two block to mile walk and we have carts on wheels to lug the provisions back to the boat. You need to remember the amount you purchase may be determined by how far back you have to walk to get it to the boat. Then of course all of the groceries are put away. All of this work is also dotted with those folks on the dock who stop to talk and want to know where you are from and where you are going. Sometimes you meet other boaters and learn where they are going or where they have been. This can be a big advantage if they have been where you are going. The local knowledge of the waters can be invaluable to us and it is fun just to get to talk to many different types of folks.



So as you can see by the two typical types of days, there is not a lot of down time. When we do have some time and most of the work stuff is caught up, the captain has a ham radio on the boat, or reads, or maybe even takes a nap. I will read, do sudoku, or counted cross stitch.



There are also many chores which we add to our list which include maintaining the diesel engine to power the boat, the generator, and all the operating systems. So we have to do the oil changes, check the fluid levels, etc. There is not much time for getting bored and of course the adventure of seeing the United States and all of scenery is worth it. There is a challenge to this type of travel, but a great satisfaction from doing it well.

Tennessee River and Kentucky Lake

So we have been anchoring in many of the coves at Kentucky Lake which is part of the Tennessee River. This area was developed during President Kennedy’s administration. The lake is formed and regulated by Kentucky Dam which has a drop of 57 feet. There is a strip of land that is all wildlife preserve and parkland so there is no development at all. It is called the land between the lakes. It is very cool.

This is Dorothy and Larry, our new friends from
Florida.

This is Judy and Woody, they are from Maine and are part of our new friends also.

This is us, three weeks out and still loving it!

Here is a typical anchorage on one of the coves off
Kentucky lake.

View from the shore.

This is a typical houseboat.  There are many of
these on Kentucky Lake and the Tennesse River.
You can see they raft several boats together of all types.

This is non-typical boat with an attached bar which is complete with a canopy and speakers.
Of course this was Labor Day weekend and everyone was enjoying the beautiful day.

                  After the party, everyone went home and we were back to our peaceful anchorage.

Lock and Dam Editorial (Barclay Lock and Dam)

We thought it would be a good idea to give all of our followers and idea of the lock experience.  To clarify, the last pictures we sent were of a much smaller chamber and Erwin is NOT wearing a hard hat.  The lockmaster does require everyone to were a life jacket.

So this Lock and Dam is several hundred feet long and wide.  The dam is on the left side of the picture and the lock is on the right.  We are traveling up river so the lockmaster will raise the water level for us a total of 57 Feet.  Yes, it is a lot of water dumping in or out of the chamber.  The boat going into the lock is about the same size as our boat.

This is inside the chamber, keep in mind the boat in the chamber is almost 40 feet long and at least 13 or 14 feet wide.

This is the view at the back of the chamber, those are the large doors that close behind you.  There are floating bollards or large cylinders that you tie your boat onto.  As you can see all of the boats go up to a wall and latch a line onto a bollard.

This is the large gates at the front of the locks.  After the water level has reached the correct height, the lockmaster will open the gates for the boats to be able to leave.  You do not let go of the line until the gates are open and the lockmaster blows the all clear horn.

Ohio River and Cumberland River (sidetrip)

Well, we turned out of the channel (frog channel) onto the Mississippi River and went very fast to where the Mississippi River and the Ohio River meet.  So we were traveling at 12 knots of speed downriver on the Miss and turned up river to the Ohio and started to crawl at top speed of 5 to 6 knots.

This is a picture of the anchorage off the Miss.  This is where the encounter with the frog was.














The Ohio River has a lot of commercial traffic, we were fairly lucky the day we were on it though as there was not too much, but enough to keep us on our toes.

There is no facilities on the Ohio river like marinas or docks for any of the pleasure boaters like us.  We anchored right on the river and enjoyed this beautiful sunset.

This is a huge mining (lead) operation on the Cumberland River.

Check out the full size dump truck backed up to the barge (and held by extreme blocks) and dumping the load into the barge!  My grandsons would all love to watch this operation.

This is the Cumberland River which was certainly worth the side trip.  We did not turn onto the Tennesse River but went just a little further up the Ohio and into the Cumberland.

Side line adventure on the Mississippi

Afterr many folks have listened to my escapade on the boat, they encouraged me to write about it here on the blog.




We were at a quiet anchorage on the Diversion Channel just off the Mississippi River. It was a hot, sticky day, and the evening brought some showers. We closed up the windows and went to bed. I had set the alarm for midnight as Erwin has some meds he has to take (temporary). After the alarm went off and he took his pills, I climbed back into my bed (we were in two different beds because it was so hot), I moved my left leg over to the cooler sheets and felt a cool, and wet spot on the bed. I was afraid that when I slid the window open there was rain on my bed. Wet inside the boat is never a good thing.


As I turned on the light to check the bed, much to my total shock there was a 3 inch green frog that jumped from the bed onto the wall next to the bed and stuck there. I did not want to scream as there were two other boats anchored quite close to us. I muffled my sheer horror and tried to speak but I basically just babbled about, frog, bed, and help to my husband. He explained later that the total panic on my face was something that he was not used to seeing. Well, hello, a frog in my bed is a new experience for me too!




He picked the frog up with a piece of paper towel and tossed him off the side of the boat. We figured this common tree frog (which can scale tall buildings) swam over to the boat, climbed up the side and wiggled in between the screen which is snapped to the outside of the window casing and the window. I think when I slide the window open it must have startled him to jump on the bed. Well now that was two of us that were more than a little surprised me and the frog. I am not sure if my husband was surprised or not.



The rest of the night I did not sleep all that well as I wasn’t sure if the frog brought a friend or what. The next day at breakfast we chatted about the crazy night. Then I was moving a small rug outside the main cabin door and sure enough that frog had crawled under it. It might be that my husband thought he went back to the water, or he did have a friend, or he liked the boat and climbed back in. So now my hubby jumped into action and was going to chase down the frog. Wrong again, that frog could jump a good three feet and he was on the go. My husband did not catch him and we could not find him, so we may have a mascot or he may have jumped ship.



All and all that is my story. It is not something that is common with anyone even the many folks we have met in the boating community.