Mississippi!!!

Yesterday we said goodbye to Tennessee and hello to Mississippi.  However, we will only be in Mississippi for a short time and tonight we'll be in Florence, Alabama.  For the remainder of the trip to the Gulf of Mexico we will keep crossing back and forth between these two states.  Currently we are in Pickwick Lake and at this point in the trip, we are supposed to leave the Tennessee River and transition to the Tenn-Tom Waterway.  However, today we will detour off of the Great Loop route and stay on the Tennessee River for about another 65 miles in order to attend the Great Loop/Cruisers Association Rendezvous which is held at Joe Wheeler State Park in Rogersville, AL.  Below is a picture of the river route we've been on for the past few weeks and a big red dot in the center of the picture shows where we are now.

 
For the past couple weeks, we've been traveling with a rather large group of looper boats.  Yesterday was a long travel day which included locking up 55' to Pickwick Lake so everyone decided to get a very early start and by 7:10 a.m. most of the boats were already on the river.  Well it turned out to be a bit too early as within 30 minutes, we were surrounded by fog!  Fog is something you don't want to be in on the river because there is always the concern a barge may be coming at you.  Bert turned on the radar and drove by radar for about 30 minutes until the sun got high enough over the river to burn the fog off and it did turn out to be a good travel day once the fog lifted.

One of the boats we started with yesterday morning is a catamaran, Catmandu (Chris & Bill), which is pictured below.  Catmandu travels a little slower than the rest of the group and they have learned to leave last in order to not get passed by the group.  Last week they were still leaving first since it takes them longer to get to the next stop, but then Chris commented that when all the other boats in the group catch up and pass Catmandu she feels like she is getting chased down by a large pack of white dogs.   This group of boats use radio channel 72 to talk to each other throughout the day on the trip and as the boats passed by Catmandu last week, some of them barked at Chris on the radio after hearing her story.  The group does have a good time moving down the river.  Yesterday we brought up the rear of the white dog pack.  We all struggled with the current yesterday as we have continued to go "up river" with the current reaching about 4 MPH against us yesterday.  Our speed has been running about 9 or 10 MPH but yesterday at times were were lucky to stay at 6 MPH.  It made for a long, slow day.

Fog!  This is never good.

Catmandu - Bill & Chris

Took the Plunge - courtesy of Bill (Catmandu)

Took the Plunge - courtesy of Bill (Catmandu)

The pack of White Dogs ahead that we traveled with yesterday

Nearly 4 MPH current against the bouy

On the Tennessee River many houses are built high on the hills.  We passed one yesterday that had severe erosion and looks to be in danger of falling into the river!  Part of the retaining wall has already crumbled down the bank.

House on the TN river in danger of falling due to erosion

This part of the country is very historic and yesterday we passed by Shiloh National Park, which is the historic site of a bloody Civil War battle in April 1862.  We are not visiting this park, but many other loopers are making this a "must see" on their trip.  We also passed by Cherry Mansion which is significant because it served as headquarters for General U.S. Grant in the spring of 1862.  General Grant was having breakfast in the mansion when it was interrupted with news that the Battle of Shiloh had begun.

Cherry Mansion on the TN river - headquarters for
General Grant in the Spring of 1862

Upon our arrival at the marina last night, we were pleasantly surprised to see two familiar boats - Loopy Kiwi (Phil/Carolyn) and the sailing vessel Northern Spirit (Ron/Lynn).  He hadn't seen either boat since Green Turtle Bay a couple weeks ago.  We all shared a nice meal together and visited last evening.  In this marina, Aqua Harbor, boaters own their slips, much like buying a condo.  Once owned, anything can be done with the space.  On the particular dock we were all assigned to, many of the owners have built decks and installed very elaborate outside kitchens and seating areas for socialization.  With permission of the slip owner, we enjoyed one of these patio areas for our meal last night.  During dinner, Ron impressed us all when he folded his napkin into a sailboat.   Ron and Lynn are from Canada and referred to the napkin as a serviette.  It is very interesting to talk to folks from different places and have our horizons expanded to so many new things.

Dinner last night at outdoor kitchen built in the boat slip

Another view of the elaborate outside kitchens.

Serviette that Ron folded into a sailboat