Yesterday morning, we said goodbye to Eva, the Harbor Master at Florence Marina and arrived at Grand Harbor Marina in Iuka, MS at the beginning of the Tenn Tom waterway and today the river scene will be new to us once again. We were blessed with a great day for a boat ride and a beautiful sunset last night upon our arrival at Grand Harbor. Yesterday afternoon it was sunny, calm and about 70 degrees.
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| Grand Harbor Condo's |
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| Took the Plunge safe for the night |
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Seating area outside the marina office
for docktails and sunset watching |
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| A view of the river from the seating area |
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| Another beautiful Sunset - we never tire of seeing them |
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| So calm and peaceful to sit and watch the sunset |
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| We got a fellow sunset watcher to snap a picture of us |
A few weeks ago, we mentioned we had to detour off the looper route to attend the rendezvous. We were last here in Iuka, MS on Monday October 15th, before we started our detour. It is hard to believe two weeks has passed while we've lingered in this area of the country. It has been cool (sometimes cold) in the evenings, but still beautiful and we've had a nice taste of fall over the last two weeks. What is even harder to believe is that in approximately two weeks, we will reach the Gulf of Mexico which is our goal. From this point forward will will be heading almost directly south. Most loopers are in front of us at this point in the journey but a few are behind us because they detoured even farther up the Tennessee river to Chattanooga and thus have farther to re-trace their steps to get back to this point. Hilary has been reading the blogs of fellow loopers and some have already reached Mobile, AL. Swimming deer and alligators await us as we move farther south according to those that are a bit in front of us on the journey.
For the next 234 miles we will be on the Tenn Tom waterway which is a man made cut to connect the Tennessee River with the Black Warrior River near Demopolis, AL. Construction of the Tenn Tom waterway took nearly 12 years to complete and includes 10 locks. The project was completed in December 1984 and dedicated in June 1985. Interestingly, 1985 is when "doing the loop" started to become a reality. The cost of the project was nearly $2 billion dollars and more land was moved to create the Tenn Tom waterway than was moved to create the Panama Canal. As we've traveled down the river we are continually amazed at the massive projects the Army Corps of Engineers have undertaken over the years. The project was initially opposed by President Carter, but under immense pressure, he later changed his position on the project. The Tenn Tom waterway was widely criticized as an example of exorbitant government spending but congress supported it and no President has ever opposed the Tenn Tom waterway.
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| TennTom Waterway |
Over the next week, our planned route is as follows:
- 39 Miles to Bay Springs, MS - no locks
- 18 Miles to Fulton, MS - 3 locks
- 35 Miles to Aberdeen, MS - 3 locks
- 23 Miles to Columbus, MS - 1 lock
- 28 Miles to Pirates Cove Marina in Pickensville, AL - 1 lock
- 38 Miles to Sumpter Recreation area - 1 lock - will be at anchor overnight
- 53 Miles to Demopolis, AL - 1 lock
We have traveled just over 1,600 miles since we left Harbor Club North on Lake St. Clair and we have just about 500 to go to reach the Gulf of Mexico in Mobile, AL. Demopolis, AL being the half way point between where we are now and the Gulf. After Demopolis, AL there are no more marina's and we will be forced to anchor each night until we reach Mobile Bay. On the bright side, once we get to Demopolis, we will only have two more locks to go through.
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