November 8, 2009

November 8, 2009

Midway Marina (Fulton, MS) to Columbus, MS

Another early morning that started again with fog. Nevertheless, we were off before 7:00 as we had 55 miles with four lock & dams.

We left our mark on Midway as we left. The rudder was in the far right position as we started to pull away. Unfortunately, as Mark put it in forward, we ran right into and rode right up on the post at the end of the transient dock. There was a loud crack and I saw that the post had been pulled away from the dock. Oh Boy, we felt awful…… We continued on our way, but called back to the owners for them to assess the damage and to give us a call. The whole while, I was worried about what the bow of Grateful looked like. By the end of the day, after being tied down in Columbus marina, Mark and I surveyed Grateful, and couldn’t find a mark – how does that happen? Also, the owners from Midway called us and said they believed that they could fix their dock so we owed them nothing. Whew! Another bullet dodged!

Speaking of bullets….. There are stories on the Tenn-Tom Waterway of local folks taking pot shots at passing yachts. This is because they consider big wakes as “downright mean and hateful”. Needless to say, not only were we on the lookout for floating debris, but also for fishing boats and hunting boats along the shore. We certainly didn’t want to find bullet holes in Grateful. Actually, the law enforcement agencies are linked into the lock & dam system, so if you do harm with your wake they will detain you at the next lock & dam and make you pay restitution. As we pulled into the first lock and dam, another boat joined us. They took the lead out of the lock and we were able to follow along at an easy pace. We were able to let Twocandu lead until the third lock & dam. We lead from there as they were going to stop at the Aberdeen Marina and fill with diesel because it was a savings of $.28 per gallon over the cost of diesel in Columbus.

In this part of the Tenn-Tom Waterway, the Army Corps of Engineers used part of the old Tombigbee River and also dug shortcuts across some of the bends. As a result there are many scenic oxbows visible from the Waterway. Also, you can see that the trees that were flooded have nearly decayed away, but have left areas with stumps and growth.

We made it to Columbus at 3:00.