Safe Harbor Aqua Yacht in Iuka, Mississippi was our last marina stop before we ventured into the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, nicknamed the Tenn-Tom. There are two marinas in the immediate area where we stayed. The first was the Grand Harbor Marina for one night before we headed up the Tennessee River on our Chattanooga side trip. The second time round, we stayed at Safe Harbor Aqua Yacht so we could get some work done on our boat and we were glad to see that our new drive shaft had arrived in time for the service. We stopped first at the fuel dock to wait for our slip assignment and ran into our friends from Nice Aft. We were able to have a quick visit before they left on their side trip to Chattanooga!
The weather was warm here and we were back into shorts and t-shirts, which is novel for us in November. Some people call the Great Loop "Chasing 80", or for our Canadian friends that would be "Chasing 27". You basically follow the route to be in areas at the best part of their seasons. That doesn't mean that there aren't some chilly, or even downright cold days, but for the most part, it's quite comfortable. Someone told us that they had checked the Nebo app and there were 36 Looper boats in Aqua Yacht so they arranged a big Docktails on the restaurant patio. They dinghied around to all the boats and asked everyone to spread the word. It was great to see old and new friends!
Cam arranged for our boat service and then we were off on a guided tour of Shiloh with Don and Rachel from Beyond. Shiloh is the site of the bloodiest battle in the Civil War. Our guide was Larry and his family has several ancestors buried at Shiloh. Over 23,700 soldiers died in the two day battle! The Union, or North, won the battle due to a series of strategic mistakes on the part of the Confederates. At the end of the first day of battle, it looked like the victory would belong to the Confederates and they let their guard down. They did not realize that the Union had reinforcements arriving during the night. The tour was very educational for us since, as Canadians, we had not studied the Civil War in school and had not heard of the Battle of Shiloh. By chance, we took photos of three signs detailing the three different Union armies: The Army of the Tennessee, The Army of the Ohio, and the Army of the Mississippi. I noticed the name Brig. Gen. Thomas L. Crittenden on the Army of the Ohio sign so I sent the photo to our minister, Rev. Dr. Jeff Crittenden. He checked with his dad and learned that the General was indeed an ancestor. Cool!
When we returned from Shiloh, they were just starting the shaft replacement. We also replaced our AM/FM stereo and speakers with a set that fit perfectly into our existing holes. Our old one was broken when we got the boat so it had only been a placeholder for the last couple of years. Finally, we had a through hull bolt that was leaking so we decided to haul out and get that fixed as we didn't want salt water leaking in there once we reached the salt water in Mobile. Glad to get everything taken care of! This was a fantastic marina to get great service done quickly at a reasonable price. The staff thought it was funny that we called their marine store a chandlery. The name chandlery is likely of British origin and is a store that sells boat supplies. They asked us to write the word down on a post-it note and they stuck it up in the store on one of the support beams. So if you're ever there and see the note with the word "Chandlery", that's the story.
Saturday was rainy so we cleaned and vacuumed the boat and Cam did a modification to the battery system to take advantage of power from the alternators while underway through the installation of DC to DC chargers. For Docktails, we made our drinks and walked the docks. We ran into Jen and Elliot with their dog Ollie. We got to know them at the Rendezvous in Paris Landing. They have a great YouTube channel on their travels called Scho & Jo so be sure to check it out. Then we were invited aboard Volition with Rhonda and Eamonn. We had a nice visit, saw some of Rhonda's artwork in progress, and figured out that they bought the dinghy that was originally sold to us with Sea Clef. We already had a dinghy so we sold it online and never met the folks who bought it - until now! Small world! We made plans with them to travel the Tenn-Tom to our anchorage at Bay Springs Lake just before the Whitten Lock the next day. On this stretch of our travels, we would be transiting 10 locks! Check out our Locking Down video which covers this journey.
We got to the fuel docks early and discovered that they were already open! We were fuelled up and underway shortly after 8 AM. We really can't say enough good things about all the staff at the Safe Harbor Aqua Yacht Marina! It started raining soon after we got onto the Tenn-Tom. We had to stop our Time-Lapse photography of the journey so that our windshield wiper could work. Fortunately, the rain ended as we came into our anchorage. A couple of boats had trouble getting an anchor hold but ours caught first thing. It looks like we snagged a root but we were able to haul anchor when Cam powered the boat forward on it the next morning. Around Happy Hour, after the rain stopped, we put the dinghy down and went around to the other boats. We all ended up tied off of the sterns of Saltwater Express and You N Me. It was sort of like "Dinghy-tails" which was something we did during COVID. You N Me was from Halifax, Nova Scotia, and they had fender covers made with the Nova Scotian tartan fleece and they looked terrific, even after all of their travels. Cheryl made her fleece tartan fender covers and she told me how to make my own. Ours were really starting to suffer after all the locks so when we went home at Christmas, I followed her instructions to make our own replacement fender covers.
Ten Locks on the Tenn-Tom
Day 1: 3 Locks
We went through three locks on our first day. Volition called the Jamie Whitten Lock and they said they were locking through a "knock off". That means that they have to break up the load to get it in the lock so it has to be re-attached when they come back out. It was only about an hour and we were hauling anchor shortly after 8 AM. We managed to get nine boats secured in the lock and then waited about a half hour for another boat to arrive and that boat didn't slow down enough and ended up waking us in the lock! The Whitten Lock was about an 84 foot drop. Heather had to wear a raincoat in the lock because there were so many leaks that she was getting sprayed! Our neighbours on Volition had to do the same. The next lock was the Montgomery Lock and it was only five miles past the Whitten Lock so they were expecting us. This lock was about a 33 foot drop. Our final lock of the day was the John Rankin Lock, which was another 31 feet down. As we were approaching the Rankin Lock, we noticed a fender in the water. Cam radioed the boat ahead of us and they asked us to pick it up for them! Picking up a fender in the water can be challenging but fortunately Cam managed to get close enough so Heather was able to grab it on her first try. One of the odd things we saw along the way that day was a phone booth in the middle of no where. We were all having trouble getting cell service so perhaps that's why it was there, but we have no idea if it even worked. It was good for a laugh!
About five boats arrived at Midway Marina all at once. Fortunately, there were lots of other boaters around to catch lines and help secure all the boats. All but one of our packages arrived and Cam got to finish the DC to DC charger project . Our friends from Stay Cool were docked on our stern and we enjoyed a nice visit with Rachel and Malcolm. They also have a YouTube Channel covering their Great Loop journey that is worth checking out.
We were expecting to connect with our boat buddies, Karen and Rob from Off Leash. They had left their boat at Midway Marina to visit their family for a short break and their flight back was delayed so we stayed an extra day. Cathy from About Time was also there and she had a car so she very kindly drove us to Walmart for provisioning. We were happily reconnected with our boat buddies and got together to make plans for our upcoming travel and then enjoyed docktails with five other boats on the dock.
Our last package failed to arrive before we left. Once we were notified that it arrived, we asked our friends on JEMA, who were at Midway Marina, to pick it up for us, thinking that we would likely see them in a week or two. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like we were going to connect with our friends before Christmas. JEMA ended up staying in Scott Whalley's marina and he knew that we were travelling with a boat that Scott would be captaining for the Gulf Crossing so he passed the package onto Scott, who hand delivered it to us in Carabelle! It can be challenging getting packages when you're on the Loop!
Day 2: 4 Locks
We were up and ready to depart at 6 AM. Heather called the Fulton Lock and the lock master said he was expecting a northbound tow so we could lock through when it came out around 7 AM. Six of us headed south toward the lock and radioed as we approached only to learn that we would have to wait 1 to 1.25 hours because the northbound tow was late. We didn't get in the lock until around 8 AM! We had a similar delay at the Glover Wilkins Lock. This time we were able to drop anchor and Off Leash rafted to us for the wait. We had our second cups of coffee and tea and then put on the tunes. Heather and Karen even danced on the back deck! The third lock of the day, the Thad Cochran Lock (formerly Amory Lock), was a little better with less than an hour wait. Then we went at speed along with Off Leash and Marte E III so we could pass the southbound tow we'd been following all day. Finally, we got right into the Aberdeen Lock for a quick 28 foot drop for a total drop of 104 feet down for the day. When we exited the lock we were off at speed in order to arrive at the Columbus Marina before sunset, which we cut to the wire! We were greeted by many familiar faces, including Charles from Adagio who we first met in Gore Bay, Ontario. Charles and Kay had just completed their loop a few weeks before! We were invited to Docktails on the dock, which was a nice break after a very long day!
Day 3: 2 Locks
We planned on a 7 AM start, but all these early mornings had us both naturally waking up before 6 AM so we decided that we had time for a nice breakfast before we got underway. Cam was filling our water tank when he heard that one of the other boats had called the John C Stennis Lock and we could get in right away. Suddenly, breakfast was off and we were in high speed mode to rouse our boat buddies, get out of our slip, and get to the lock. There were six boats in the lock when we arrived. After the drop of 30 feet, two boats took off at speed and we settled into a flotilla with True North, Rose Cottage, and of course Off Leash. It was a beautiful day and we were running at a comfortable speed all day with pleasant company. Cam and I figured out that we crossed 2000 Nautical Miles on our Great Loop before we went through the second lock. Toot-toots all around! Our second lock of the day was the Tom Bevill Lock with a drop of 27 feet. Two hours after that lock and an hour before the next lock, we called ahead to the Heflin Lock. Unfortunately, they had two tows and we wouldn't be able to lock through until after dark, so we turned around and anchored at Cooks Bend. Cooks Bend is a loop off of the Tenn-Tom, about 4 miles around. We dinghied the full loop of Cooks Bend, but alas, we did not earn a gold flag for that! There were cottages and several docks and lots of floating vegetation. We were told that there were wild hogs on the island and that we would hear them squealing at night along with the frogs chirping, but we heard nothing. We had Docktails on the back of True North. We wrapped up the day with a barbeque. It was a beautiful anchorage and a perfect hold overnight.
Day 4: 1 Lock
We hauled anchor around 6:15 AM and became the lead boat for the morning. We had to wait for a northbound tow in the Howell Heflin Lock, but then we got right in. We locked down 32 feet with six boats, as we had picked up Armagone and Pub Trawler. One of the highlights of the morning was the White Cliffs of Epes. They were formed around the same time as the more commonly known White Cliffs of Dover. As we were slowing down to take pictures and video of the cliffs, there was a small boat in the middle of the channel. Heather was going to pass them on their port when they started flagging us to let us know that they had a rope to shore off of their stern so we had to do some quick maneuvering. Unfortunately, the maneuvering made it challenging for Off Leash to get our photo in front of the cliffs.
We got to Demopolis by 1:30 PM for a fuel up and pump out before heading to our slip where we would stay for two nights. Later, we went for a stroll around the marina to find Off Leash and our other friends who were scattered throughout the marina. On Saturday, we shared the courtesy car with Pub Trawler and got stocked up on supplies. We got our laundry done and went to a "Captain's" meeting at 4 PM. A local sailor led the meeting, telling us about the route and anchorages further south. Greg from MV Blue Moon also chimed in with his local knowledge. We settled on a time of 5:30 AM for Cam to call the lock in the morning representing four boats.
Demopolis, Alabama marks the end of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway and the beginning of the Black Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway. Remember that you can see a video of this section of our travels called Locking Down.
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