We began our southbound trip at 0730 Tuesday morning after anchoring at yet another beautiful, wooded site.


We are now travelling the Tenn-Tom Waterway. It is 234 miles long, manmade and connects the Tennessee River with the Tombigbee; making it possible to travel between the Midwest and the Gulf Coast. The suggestion to build a connection between the two rivers was in 1792 by French explorer Marquis De Montcalm. For years after, the talks continued and in 1946, the project was authorized. Finally, in 1971, the Army Corp of Engineers was given the go ahead to begin the project. It was competed in June of 1985. Total cost was 2 billion dollars.

The end of the Tenn-Tom Waterway is in Demopolis, MS, where we will continue on the Black Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway and travel the balance of our 540 mile trek to Mobile, AL.

meeting new boater's at Blue Bluff Landing
yearly blue's festival is held here

Friday, October 15, 2010 Location: Columbus, MS

We’ll leave the Columbus Marina later this morning and immediately pass through the 8th lock on the Tenn-Tom Waterway. That will leave us with only “4” more for this entire journey. Now, of course, we are pro’s and, Tony, you would be sooo proud of us (your boating children).

The weather is still great. Had a little scare there with “Paula”, but she looks as though she is no longer a threat. Hopefully, the remainder of the season is quiet and will not interfere.

We're in this great big tub all alone

Friday, October 8 Location: leaving Chattanooga, TN

We are beginning our 250 mile return to Pickwick Lake. There, we will head south on the Tenn-Tom river and begin our trip down to Mobile, AL where Blue Max IV and Duchess are waiting for us. We will all make the crossing of the Gulf of Mexico together.

 

 From our departure point at Aqua Marina in Pickwick Lake to Chattanooga, we traveled 250 miles and locked “up” at 4 locks – Wilson Lock, Wheeler Lock, Guntersville Lock, and Nickajack Lock - before arriving in Chattanooga, traveling against the current. On our return, we will lock “down” through the same 4 locks, all the while making better time due to the current. We’ve also crossed the time zone twice, going from CT to ET and back again into Central time as well as crossing back and forth between Tennessee and Alabama. Once we begin the Tenn-Tom, we will travel through Mississippi, then cross back into Alabama.


tug boat "Jack Walker"
just to make the bend and
before we passed him




zero visibility ahead moving toward us
 we tied up at the closest dock



We left early this morning, right after Mary Jo and John (Recovery Room) moved their boat to a different slip where they will be leaving it for a week as they return home to Jacksonville. We hope we will be able to meet up with them again on this trip. For sure, we will get together with them again as they pass through the Tampa Bay area.



the source of the smoke
can you see the helicopter?



An hour after our departure, we passed a tow with barges and then turned a bend in the river only to be met with dense smoke immediately up ahead. It was so thick visibility went to zero. We immediately tied up to an old dock on the bank and alerted the tow captain of “Jack Walker” to make him of the situation. He was able to stop as he caught up and waited for us to advise him when it had cleared and okay to continue. Later, after several turns in the river we were able to see the fire up high in the woods – helicopters circling to observe it.

The remainder of day one of our return went without further incidents, which is good. It was a longer than normal day for us, travelling close to 90 miles, but we had gained an hour on the clock , had the current pushing us, and felt we could put in a little extra time allowing us to make the next three days approximately 50 miles each. We should be able to begin our southbound trip on Wednesday.

Oct 8 Location: Chattanooga

Upon arriving in Chattanooga, I was finally able to check my email messages – and just in time. Phyllis and Charlie Ray Adams, Richard’s high school classmate, want to come visit with us while we were in Chattanooga. They’ve been following us on the blog and our stopping here made it perfect for them to meet up with us. Chattanooga was their home for 30 years, and the Univ of Tenn was Phyllis’ previous employer and is one of their greatest fans. We gave them the Tadpole tour, then, they treated us to dinner at Boathouse. Thank you, Phyllis and Charlie Ray, for your visit and for our dinner. Your visit was the “icing on the cake” to our trip to Chattanooga; and, as you already know, your picture is posted here.



"Boathouse" restaurant 




dinner with friends Phyllis and Charlie Ray- Richard's former classmate
so glad you could  visit



In Chattanooga, Recovery Room and Tadpole docked directly in front of the Tennessee Aquarium and spent 2 nights in the heart of the city.

Richard’s brother, Ken, and 2 of his grandchildren, the handsome 11 year old Brandon, and the very beautiful 8 year old Sydney, spent the day and night onboard Tadpole with us. What great kids they are, and what fun we had with them. On Thursday, we got underway for a short ride and they both spent time at Tadpole’s helm while cruising a portion of the river and driving under the bridge. Later, Tiki, Brandon and Sydney spent several hours visiting the aquarium. Their time with us ended too soon. Thank you, Ken, for driving the distance to visit with us and thanks for bringing Brandon and Sydney. We really enjoyed our time with the 3 of you; only wish it could have been a longer visit.



Sydney, Brandon and Richard's brother, Ken




these are the stairs to the aquarium
our dock is just below




Ken, Brandon, Sydney and Richard
we miss you guys