We have now been in the river system for 11 days (9 of those days have been travel days, and 2 were for rest/boat repair). During that time we have traversed 12 locks, and our elevation has changed from sea level to 418 feet above sea level. We are heading for Chickamauga Lake, which is 682 feet (equivalent to the 57th floor) above sea level...so we still have several ‘elevators’ ahead. Of course I have a few lock stories, or lessons learned, but I’ll get to those a little later.
Entering Mobile looked similar to other busy harbor cities we have passed through, but I was surprised there wasn’t more barge traffic.
Here they are! Once we passed through the port area of Mobile, and got into the river north of the city the barge traffic became very heavy. However, this degree of crazyness only lasted for a few miles where they seem to be staging the barges for future use.
Once we got away from the heavy barge traffic, we could relax and enjoy the beauty of the river. For the past few months we have been mesmerized by the infinite shades of blue in the Bahamas. Here our visual senses are awakened to the greens. The riverbanks are densely forested with a beautiful variety of trees, displaying every shade of green imaginable.
Many people have questioned why it is taking us so long to travel up the Tombigbee River...this is why! At times, we travel about 5 miles of meandering river to make 2 miles of headway north.
The southern part of the river offered very few anchoring options. Our first two nights at anchor were spent in what felt like tiny streams, but what they lacked in width they made up for in depth (the more important factor). There is plenty of room to turn around here!
Once we got tucked into our skinny anchor spot, we decided to take a kayak trip along the river. This was an uncommon sight, but we were happy to see so many young people enjoying the river. This particular swing attempt did not end well, but thankfully the young man was able to walk away.
During that kayak trip we came across two, seventeen year old, young men on the other side of the river who had been fishing, but were now just waiting to be picked up. We started talking with them and ended up staying a little longer than we should have stayed. It was well worth the cleanup required (we had left all of the windows and doors open), because they were a pure pleasure to talk with. Keith and I were both incredibly impressed by the level of interest they had regarding our lifestyle. They asked us questions about where we’ve been, and what we’ve seen...what kinds of fish and where we caught them...what kind of mileage do we get...do we have TV? They were both so inquisitive and polite, it reminded me how much I miss working with teenagers!
Two hours after the downpour we were treated to a beautiful sunset, and just about that time a small boat came back to visit us. It was the father of one of the boys, and he offered us his catch from the day. He gave us a fabulous mess of fish, (including perch, rock, and crappies) that I immediately filleted and put in the fridge for the next night’s dinner. The people here are wonderful and the fish are delicious!
Not so happy about seeing so many of these! Now I really miss my sharks! One day, Keith heard a strange squeaking noise that he believed was coming from the starboard shaft. Once we were anchored he informs me that he was going into the water to see if anything was wrapped around the shaft. Is he CRAZY?? I didn’t think that was such a good idea, but instead of changing his mind he put me on alligator watch duty (he was kidding, but I was not). I took the duty seriously and stood on the swim platform with the pole spear ready to stab anything that moved (except Keith, of course...but he was a little worried). Each time he would ascend (with small bits of polypropylene line) he would roll his eyes at the sight of me standing guard. I was starting to feel a little ridiculous/over reactive standing with my spear.
A few minutes into this exciting activity, movement caught my eye to my right. A snake climbed onto the swim platform, from the kayak, and was heading right for me...YELP...be brave! Under normal circumstances I would have retreated to the cockpit and closed the door, but I was on duty, and Keith was underwater. My immediate concern was that he would surface and grab onto the swim platform right where the snake was taunting me. All of the thoughts bombarded my brain at once...is it poisonous, could I flick it into the water, could/should I stab it. It’s head was fairly small and narrow so I didn’t think it was poisonous, but if Keith’s hand came near I would have to act. Luckily, he came up a few feet away from the snake and followed my ‘serious voice’ instructions to swim to the other side of the boat. Once Keith was a safe distance away, I used the pole spear to redirect the snake back in the direction from which it came, and ‘gently’ helped it find its way back into the water, where it proceeded to move quickly away from us. Keith was happy to buy me dinner that night😁 and I have moved ‘snake identification’ to the top of my new knowledge priority list!
The topography is changing!
Let’s talk about our lock experiences, thus far. As I mentioned, we have been through 12 locks. I believe this is a picture of the second lock we entered. I will admit that the amount of water coming over that spillway caused me some concern about the currents in front of that lock I am trying to enter. It just so happens that I was at the helm for both the first and second locks, which was a good thing because I needed to redeem myself after our performance in the first lock!
Again, we entered the lock thinking we knew what to do. We had investigated the lock and learned that the lock would raise us 34 feet (which was certainly more than we have ever been lifted), and has floating bollards that will rise with the boat. Cool! This should be pretty easy! Keith was prepping the deck as we neared the lock. He attached bow and stern lines, and deployed three fenders. We entered the lock with confidence, planning to tie up on the port side. Immediately it was clear to us that our plan was lacking the basic understanding that these locks were designed for 200 ft long barges, which means the bollards are 200ft apart. Well crappers...how do we tie up to these?
The lock tender told us to pick up the forward pin. So I moved to the forward pin and Keith secured the bow line. Keith yelled up that maybe he should try to also tie in a line to the midship cleat. Just then the lock tender radioed to ask if we were secure, and feeling a little rushed, I responded yes. I didn’t feel good about having one line on the boat (as we have always used two in other locks), but I thought the lock tender would have told us if he had concerns, since he watched us from his tower. Everything will be fine...right?...NO!! It was NOT fine! As the water flooded the lock, the stern got pushed out from the wall requiring a LOT of throttle action on my part to maintain a forward facing orientation. With the port engine in forward and the starboard in reverse, it took all our 240 horses could give to keep the bow pulpit from crushing into the wall.
In the end, it turned out fine...we didn’t touch the wall, but by the time the flooding stopped my system was in adrenaline overload (I’m sure Keith’s was too...and probably the lock tender’s as well). As we exited the lock, Keith returned to the bridge and said, “we made it through the first lock, but it wasn’t very graceful”. No title lost there, since I have never been accused of being graceful! Time to regroup and figure out how this works before we get to the next lock! Luckily, we spent the night at Bobby’s Fish Camp, and we were able to get the scoop from a couple (on HiJacked, out of Nashville) docked behind us. If any of you are planning to take a 50 ft boat into a 600 ft lock, please use one line to tie your boat to the floating bollard at your midship cleat. Looking back it seems ridiculous that I didn’t ask someone before we entered our first lock. Ken (Northwind) warned me that we would have to transit many locks...why didn’t I question him?? Because, you don’t know what you don’t know.
Transiting the next 10 locks went pretty smoothly. We almost had an issue in one when one of our fenders got caught in the bollard well, but luckily we freed it just in time. However, there was one more lesson to be learned in the last lock on the Tombigbee River. The Jamie Whitten lock raises/lowers a vessel by 84 feet. It had been a very long day with 4 locks to transit, and we were stuck behind a tug with 8 barges (which fills the entire lock) all day. The locks were too close together for us to be able to pass the tug and get to the next lock far enough in advance for the lock tender to justify us going first, as commercial vessels have the right of way. So we were resigned to the fact that we would need to travel at 3 mph or less to stay behind the tug, then still hover outside the lock for 30-60 minutes waiting for our turn to enter.
Keith had first helm shift that day and transited the first two locks. I knew the big lock would fall during my helm shift, but I wasn’t nervous about it because I thought everything would be the same as our previous 11 locks, with the exception of being in there for a much longer amount of time. During our previous 11 lock transits we were either in the lock alone, or with another pleasure boat. As it turns out...this time would be very different! We sat outside the lock for almost two hours before the gates started to open for us to enter. Just then the ‘Crowned Jewel’ radioed the lock to communicate his desire to lock through. The lock tender told him that a pleasure boat had been waiting for some time, but of course he had the right of way. The captain replied that he was only pushing 5 barges so we could fit with him. That was sooo nice of him😳
Ok, this will be fine...no problem...I can do this...be brave! The plan was for him to enter the lock first and get secured before we entered. I got out of the way and waited for him to arrive. Finally, around 8:00 p.m. we were cleared to enter the lock. I steered a little to starboard to head for our pin, traveling at idle speed. As we came alongside the barges, I used the twin engines to steer for better reaction. We approached our pin perfectly with about 6 feet to go laying one foot off the wall. With confidence and pride in my perfect approach I bumped the transmissions forward for a split second to gain the last six feet, AND THE BOW TURNED TO STARBOARD AND HIT THE WALL! It wasn’t a terrible hit, but any time a 58,000 pound boat touches something while moving it isn’t good! I realized immediately what I had done wrong.
We got tied up, and went up 84 ft without further distress. However, at the top they wanted me to exit first...oh that’s just great!!!! I was able to squeeze out of the lock without touching anything, but I was a little shaken from my previous stupid mistake. But just as I was beating myself up, I remembered something someone once told me, “if you never make mistakes, you aren’t doing anything worth doing.” I fall back on that advice from time to time, because if I want to have new experiences I have to go outside of my comfort zone, and outside of my comfort zone is where most mistakes will happen...but they are worth it, and hopefully the experience will expand my comfort zone.
The next morning while sitting on the bow eating breakfast, Keith innocently askEd, “so what happened in the lock last night? Did a strange current push the bow?” Oh how easy it would have been for me to say yes, but I didn’t. No...essentially neglected to follow rule #1 in close quarter maneuvering...I didn’t know where my rudder was!! I neglected to center my rudder before steering with the engines...a very stupid mistake! We both laughed a little and he agreed that he has done the same thing from time to time. We both walked up to the bow to see if there was any damage from the incident. The stainless steel part of the rubrail had a little mud and possibly cement dust on a 3-4 inch spot. He wiped it off with his fingers and the evidence was gone.
I’m not ashamed to discuss my mistakes. I feel it is important to share these experiences for several reasons. First, this blog is supposed to give you a realistic view of what this lifestyle is like (it’s not a Disney cruise). The second reason is that I hope others might learn from my mistakes to save themselves some trouble. Finally, I want people to realize that mistakes are OK, don’t let your fear of doing something new, stop you from doing something new!
It was dark when we finally exited that lock and got anchored, but look what we saw the next morning. This is what we have been looking for...welcome to Bay Springs Lake, Mississippi. The first of our ‘inland’ lake experiences...with many more to come.
Always know the position of your rudder!
