77 Miles, 7 Locks and a Mega Yacht

Our journey last left off with us in Grand Harbor near Iuka, MS and at the beginning of the Tenn Tom waterway.  The Tenn Tom is divided into three sections.  The first 25 miles are the "divide cut". The next 52 miles are the "canal section" which is really a series of dams and pools.  The final 149 miles are considered "the river" with lots of Ox Bows.

As planned, we traveled the "divide cut" to Bay Springs Marina and enjoyed our first covered well.  The Tenn Tom is relatively desolate with few houses or towns along the way.  Below are some pictures from the "divide cut".

Beginning of the 25 mile "divide cut".
No stopping, no anchoring.

Left Descending Bank in the "divide cut"

Right Descending Bank in the "divide cut"

Baffles along the "divide cut" used to
prevent creeks from rushing in during
periods of high water.

Just scenery along the "divide cut".
No houses, no towns.

Being assigned a covered well has several advantages:  (1) no direct sunlight so the boat stays cool; (2) the boat stays dry when it rains; and (3) no dew on the windshield when you want to leave very early in the morning before the sun dries it up.  Well it rained for the first time in probably two weeks and it was nice to be in a covered well Saturday night.

Late in the day on Sunday, Freedom, a 150' mega yacht pulled in next to us for the night.  She is a beautiful vessel built in 2008 with a crew of five on-board who were all very friendly.  Freedom happened to be on the way back to Ft. Lauderdale, FL from a football game (Tennessee vs. Alabama) in Knoxville, TN.  Took the Plunge was dwarfed by her.  Freedom is so large, it was really tough to get any pictures of the entire vessel in the camera frame.

Port side of Freedom.
Notice how small Took the Plunge looks on the right.

Port side of Freedom.
The lines to tie her are as big around as your wrist.

Notice the size of the fender in comparison to the power pole.

Port side of Freedom with crew members.
Took the Plunge is on the left.
Freedom is taller than the building.

Shortly after Freedom arrived, Bliss, a trawler style vessel pulled into the marina too.  The captain of Bliss, Rusty, and Bert decided to go discuss morning departure time with Dan, the captain of Freedom so all three vessels could all catch the first lock together.  Because of the size of Freedom, there aren't many marinas large enough to accommodate her so Dan indicated they wanted to clear the first lock at daybreak because they had a long travel day planned to get to the next marina.  The decision was made to leave the dock at 5:15 a.m. - about 45 minutes before daylight.

The alarm went off at 4:30 a.m. and all three vessels departed in the dark promptly at 5:15 a.m.  Took the Plunge had a dew free, dry windshield from being in the covered well.  All three cleared the first lock at daybreak and were met with extremely heavy fog.

Freedom in the 1st Lock

We traveled about 400' behind Freedom for about an hour until the next lock in fog so heavy, sometimes we couldn't see her at all.  Thank goodness for radar.  Once we cleared the second lock, the fog dissipated and the day was going very smoothly.

Freedom in the 2nd Lock

Our original intention was to make a couple overnight stops and not arrive in Columbus, MS for a couple more days, but everything fell in place so well, we continued to follow Freedom past all our planned stops.  Nearly 12 hours (11 1/2 hours) after we all started this morning, all three vessels pulled into Columbus, MS just at dark having traveled 77 miles and passing through 7 locks.  It was an exceptional travel day!  Every lock we pulled up to had the doors open and the green light to enter the lock was flashing to proceed.  We've never had such good luck with the locks.  We dropped 252' total today in the 7 locks and have about 163' remaining in the last 5 locks until we reach sea-level at the Gulf of Mexico.

Upon our arrival at Columbus, MS, the crew member responsible for the engine room allowed us a tour of the engine room on Freedom.

Engine in Freedom's engine room

Freedom's Engine room

Engine Exhaust - so shiny!

Freedom's service panel for batteries

Tomorrow Freedom will leave before daybreak for Demopolis, AL, which is three locks and 118 miles away.  We however, will wait until daylight and anchor at Sumpter Landing Recreation Area tomorrow night after passing through two locks and covering 66 miles.  Sumpter is a popular anchorage and we likely won't be alone there tomorrow.    Sumpter is a nice protected basin and an excellent anchorage according to other loopers.  Hilary is tentatively looking forward to a peaceful night "on the hook" at Sumpter.  With luck, Wednesday evening we'll be in Demopolis, AL - in half the time we originally predicted.