Fog again delayed our departure from Aqua Marina on Sunday. This didn’t seem to bother my crew too much. The three of them slept the morning away, happily. When the fog began to clear at 9:00 AM or so, I had been up for a few hours and had to make a lot of noise in the galley to try and raise them. My First Mate was the first to appear. We had breakfast and got ready to depart. About 9:30 Katie stumbled out, followed a few minutes later by Kyle. By then, Carrie and I were slipping the lines and idling out of the marina. Our guests were left to fend for themselves regarding breakfast. So much for the big tip I was hoping for when they depart.
Anyway, we headed south (finally) chasing our geese friends. There was no sign of any geese; lots of heron (or are those egrets, I never can tell) and a few deer along the banks, but no geese. It was chilly, but not near as cold as our previous day’s cruise. We actually began to warm up around noon or one, and the four of us sang along to some Willie Nelson tunes as we cruised the Tenn-Tom Waterway. We passed several Looper boats, although I was warned NOT to mention who we passed. (OK, it was Salt & Sand who swore me to secrecy). Sorry Rich, I just can’t be trusted.
These deer swam right across the channel in front of us!
We arrived at Bay Springs Marina and fueled up (ouch). Several Loopers besides Salt & Sand straggled in also (Kismet, My Way, Glory Days, Mary Francis IV). Bill and Mary from Harbor Reach had been here for a day or two and organized a docktail party followed by a pot-luck for those who could stay.
Katie relaxes in the afternoon sun at Bay Springs Marina
Joe from Glory Days was really concerned about coordinating our departure in the morning, so Rich from Salt and Sand volunteered Joe to be in charge. There were something like eight boats who wanted to transit the lock that is immediately south of there. By cocktail time Joe had it all figured out and assigned us all our position in the lock…no kidding. I was assigned the #2 spot, with a starboard tie. There is a very evil part of me that wanted to get on the radio early that morning and ask Joe at the last second, “So which side is starboard?” But, I behaved myself.
You see some of the darnedest boats on the water
Katie and Kyle cruising the Tenn-Tom
Yours truly, with the "marriage saver" headphone on
We ran with the group of seven for three locks. They were all staying at a marina between there and the next lock, so we pulled away, did our fourth lock of the day, cruised another fifteen or so miles and pulled into Smithville Marina. This marina has had some tough times recently. One of the tornados that seem so distant when we watch on TV from California hit here with a vengeance, and the owner was killed. His son, Scott, met us at the dock and is doing his best to make a go of it. He appreciated our business and offered to loan us his car to go into town for dinner, but we decided to hang out and relax there.
A couple of the tennants at Smithville
Katie liked this one the best
Tuesday morning we called the lockmaster at the Smithville lock, which was a few hundred yards from our slip, and asked how the fog was below the lock. It had lifted where we were and he told us we would have about a half a mile visibility on the lower side. DIDN'T HAPPEN! By the time we locked thru we were in pea soup at the bottom. Luckily, there was no other traffic and we made our way down the channel with radar and our chart plotter slowly and without incident. The fog was gone within an hour. We had a sweet run all the way through the next few locks and into Columbus Marina in Columbus, Mississippi.
The fog shrouded bank as the fog begins to lift
Katie and Kyle spent some time in Columbus many years earlier. Kyle was in the Air Force and Katie took her first nursing job in the hospital here. They enjoyed revisiting their old apartment and stomping grounds. They had visited the Waverly Mansion, an old plantation home, back then. Kyle took a picture of Katie in the precise spot he had taken one 37 years earlier. We enjoyed the tour of the mansion and grounds and headed into downtown Columbus to see the sights there as well.
The Waverly Mansion
We took a tour of another pre-civil war home guided by an eighth generation member of the family who built it. It is the Love Home, and although it is not nearly as impressive a structure, the story of the family who built and retained it all these years was fascinating.
The Love Home
Thursday we drove Katie and Kyle (in a downpour for part of the trip) to Jackson, Mississippi to catch their flight back to Sacramento. Carrie and I enjoyed their weeklong visit. They were willing crew who experienced a rather difficult section of the Loop, especially weather-wise. I know they got a flavor of what life on the Loop is like…you’ll have to ask them if they would do it again. I guarantee it was a vacation like no other for them!
After returning from Jackson, we took care of the usual details readying ourselves for the remaining 336 miles of the Tenn-Tom: Laundry, groceries, Mrs. Howell’s nails and returning the rental car. The weather is supposed to clear by morning, although it will probably be pretty chilly. Nevertheless, we plan to accompany several other boats through the first lock that is right here in Columbus at around 7:00 AM. Many of them are only planning on going about 30 miles tomorrow, but the Admiral and I hope to go about twice that distance if conditions at the other locks work out. We hope to make the town of Demopolis on Saturday or Sunday.
RAT brothers...do you believe this?
No comments:
Post a Comment