LOCKS, LEAVES, LAUGHS AND WILDLIFE ON THE TENN-TOM WATERWAY

14 NOVEMBER 2021 MOBILE BAY, ALABAMA

We’re pleased to report that we have now completed the Rivers segment of our Great Loop Adventure! Since leaving Chicago on September 16, we have traveled over 1344 miles (a total of 236 hours of actual cruising, thus averaging 7.5 mph) on six different rivers—the Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio, Cumberland, Tennessee and the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. This last one, often referred to as “The Tenn-Tom,” wends its way 450 miles from the Tennessee River, through parts of eastern Mississippi down to Mobile, Alabama. It was completed in 1985 so commerce could avoid the treacherous lower end of the Mississippi River. Its 234-mile long “Canal” section took 7 years to complete and required the removal of 307 million cubic yards of earth—one-third more than the Panama Canal project!

There are 10 locks on the Tenn-Tom and we’re getting quite proficient at hooking S.L.O. Dancer up to the “floating bollards” that allow us to go up or down as the water rises or lowers. Here we are tied up to a typical floating bollard:              

We’ve traveled through 30 locks since Chicago and now find it quite easy to do. I was very nervous the first few times, but Captain Gary is very good at bringing the boat alongside the lock wall and creeping slowly up to the bollard so I can hook the line over it (most times on the first try). It’s usually an easy “chest throw” to get the line over the bollard then quickly shortened and cleated off to hold us against the wall (with fenders out and adjusted to keep the boat from scraping the wall—also part of my job as First Mate). We also wear high-grade headsets so we can easily communicate during this process. Some boaters call these “marriage savers,” because we avoid yelling at each other when reporting measurements and delivering instructions. There are more than 140 locks on the whole Loop—most of the rest coming next Summer—so we’re glad we’ve become quite the lock-through team! It’s all part of the dance!

The locks on the Tenn-Tom are all of similar design and the same size (600’ long and 110’ wide to accommodate commercial barge traffic), but they vary in height. The shortest drop was 25 feet, and the tallest lock we went through a few days ago lowered us a whopping 86 feet, so the gates were very tall as you can see below, with other “Loopers” leaving the lock behind us.                                   

AND, because it takes awhile for every boat to get “secured” and to get through these taller locks, sometimes I get out a long-handled brush and swab the decks!

Cruising through “America’s Heartland” has been a great joy…we really like river cruising. However, we’ve been a bit disappointed that this year’s fall coloring has been delayed. We’ve had some glimpses of gold, orange and red leaves among the greens and have found it all quite beautiful, especially near the White Cliffs of Epes, which are chalk cliffs said to have been deposited about the same time as the White Cliffs of Dover. (It’s amazing what one learns on these adventures!)                               

Herons and snowy egrets are drawn to the locks, especially when the lock operator sounds the horn indicating the gates are opening. For many weeks, we couldn’t figure out why this was so, but we discovered that these birds feast on the small fish that get trapped in the gates’ metal superstructure. Pretty clever! And here we thought they were hanging out to welcome us to their territory!                               

The lower end of the Tenn-Tom is supposed to have lots of other wildlife, including deer, fox, armadillos, opossums and alligators (yes, alligators!), but, all we saw were a few large turtles sunning themselves on the logs along the shoreline. We also saw our first kingfisher hovering over the water and catching a fish. Really fun!

Because we continue to travel with a very special group of friends who’ve been “Loop Frogging” with us as far back as Peoria, Illinois, there have been many nights when laughter rings out from our restaurant tables or our “docktail” parties. Of course we are meeting and enjoying other Loopers, but the love and laughter felt among this particular group is quite special and we feel very blessed.

Here’s something else that made us laugh: A phone booth right on the levy, out in the middle of nowhere!  Maybe it works, since there is rarely cell service (and no internet) on this Waterway!

We’ll now spend a few more days in and around Mobile Bay—2 more on the west side on Dog River, 3 on the east side, in a unique “intellectual and art” community called Fairhope and then a few days in Orange Beach (where daughter Carolyn and granddaughter Maya plan to join us for a few days right before Thanksgiving). Then we head for more adventuring along the Gulf Coast and the Gulf Intracoastal Water Way (GIWW) to and across Florida before heading back to California 12/15-2/1-ish.

We loved our travels around Lake Michigan, we loved our travels down all the rivers, and I’m sure we’ll love the next segments as well.

Sending waltzes and tangos and many blessings your way as we continue our delightful S.L.O. dance! Thanks again for dancing along with us!