Oct 27
We stayed at Joe Wheeler Marina an extra night since Saturday was just a nasty day - windy and rainy. Nice relaxing day on the boat reading a book and then watching college football on TV. It wound up being a good decision as there was a fair amount of damage in the surrounding counties from heavy winds as the leading edge of that cold front passed through.
Sun breaking through at nightfall after the front passed
Every once in a while you get really lucky with lock passages and yesterday seemed to be ours. We had a long day planned to travel back down the Tennessee river to Aqua Harbor Marina. About 65 miles plus we needed to get through 2 big locks - Wheeler lock (down 45’) and Wilson lock (down 93’). Made a call to the Wheeler lockmaster at 7:10 right after shift change and first light to discern the status. Said he had a tow coming his way upbound with about an 8:30 arrival and he could get us through if we got there by 8:00. So, we very quickly did our morning flybridge setup, got the engine checked and running and let go the lines. Arrived at the lock a few minutes before 8 and the gates were open, the green light was on and in we went. All our locks from here to the gulf will be downbound so virtually no turbulence in the locks – just a nice smooth easy decent. Quite the opposite of going upbound and the turbulence you get as water gushes in to fill the chamber. 15 miles down Wilson Lake we arrived at that lock where following a short 5 minute wait the gate was lowered and in we went. All alone again. Having traversed so many locks with multitudes of other looper boats rafted together I almost felt guilty making these locks transport us all alone.
Heading into the Wilson lock
Secured at the front of the lock
Hard to get a feel for the scale of this lock, but each horizontal line in the concrete is 5' apart
Finally opening the lower gates to let us out
As we exited the lock we noticed a large number of bass boats around. Even for a Sunday it seemed like too many and as we passed by Florence Marina we understood. Big tents were set up at the marina all covered with Bassmaster’s logo’s – a fishing tournament was in progress. We continued to see bass boats as well as have them buzzing around, behind, and in front of us for most of the day. Finally about 2:30 they all seemed to come flying back past us at once – I guess headed back to the marina for a 3:00 weigh-in. Other than passing an upbound 3x4 tow “on the two’s” not much else happened for the remainder of the trip. Weather stayed overcast and cool all day. Colors are starting to show along the shores of Pickwick lake.
Scenic little anchorage with a little waterfall
Back at Aqua Harbor Marina, topped off with fuel and tied to the transient dock by 4:00. Plan to stay a few days as Martha chipped a tooth and needs to see a dentist and then some more nasty weather with heavy rain, thunderstorms and wind expected for Wed. and Thurs. Things turn better but much colder starting Friday so that looks like our next travel day. That will start our next section - the Tenn-Tom Waterway - which will eventually drop us off in Mobile Bay.
Journey for Oct 27
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