Down the Tombigbee

         This river is exceptionally winding.  One minute we’re heading south, the next minute we’ve switched to northwest, another bend and we’re heading east.  No engineer has come along to cut canals across the oxbows yet.  As the crow flies, we’ve been a hundred miles or less from Mobile Bay, but as the river takes us, we’ve been over three hundred miles.  Good thing it’s been very pretty!  We’ll pass some industrial plants or barge loading docks, and the occasional home, but for the most part it’s been moss-draped hardwoods and softwoods. 

        We’re keeping an eye out for alligators but haven’t seen any yet.  Perhaps the weather has been too cold.  It’s been getting into the 60s during the day, but it’s cold enough at night that we’re treated to sea smoke in the morning. 

We had a very quiet Thanksgiving, with the traditional fixings except the food came out of cans.  Turkey and potatoes with gravy, and butternut squash.  In Grafton we had found a sourdough bread mix - just add a can of beer! - and Dan made that to accompany the meal.  The bread was very tasty, and baking it warmed the cabin.  We spoke with both our sons and were treated to watching our grandson Leo crawl.  He’s growing right up!  He turned eight months on Thanksgiving day.  

Yesterday, (Sat Nov 26) we turned a bend in the river to encounter s/v Bullimundu, from Chicago, hard aground. Darius and his father had been stuck on a bar in the middle of the channel for about three hours, diverting the tow-and-barge traffic around them as they tried everything they could think of to get free.  We offered to help, and managed to get them off the bar.  This the fourth time Dan put his tug skipper’s hat on during our Great Loop adventure.  Bullimundu was very grateful, and followed us to our anchorage.  Their boat draws seven feet, and they have become well acquainted with the ground as they’ve made their way south.  Darius said he’s looking forward to getting to Florida (his destination) and staying put for awhile. 

Tomorrow we will enter Mobile Bay.  Looking forward to getting back into salt water!  

Alabama

         Well I have to say this waterway section of the Great Loop is very pretty.  And we are starting to see more and more birds.  The other day Dan spotted a woodpecker.  “It had a lot of white on its back and it was big!”  He said to me.  He is very good at spotting details quickly, whereas I have to look for several seconds with a pair of binoculars to notice the color of the legs or the presence of an eye mask. I didn’t see this particular bird but took his word that it was a woodpecker, and jokingly said “Was it an ivory-billed?”  He frowned at me.  “The extinct one?”  He said.  “It might not be extinct.”  I shrugged, and pointed to the habitat.  “This is where it supposedly has been sighted.”

Lots of research and some very granulated internet pictures and videos later, and Dan thinks it just might have been an ivory-billed woodpecker.  It flew like a woodpecker, it had lots of white on its back and wings but had black wingtips, and it was large and fast.  We may never know - it was the only sighting and it didn’t stay around long enough for us to get even a grainy photo.  But it could have been, and wouldn’t that be something to be able to claim?

We are traveling pretty much alone these days, taking our time.  The river system snakes back and forth, heads into a lock, and then continues on.  There have been many options for anchoring, all of them rustic and quiet, with turtles or egrets lining the shores.  We’ve passed a few houses, but much of the scenery is hardwoods and spruce, sitting atop eroding sand or clay banks.  Occasionally we come through a cypress swamp area that is reminiscent of South Carolina.  We crossed into Alabama yesterday (Monday Nov 20).  These last several days have been very peaceful, and just the thing we needed as we recover from COVID.  (We’re getting better, but it seems like a slow process.)

Tommie is basking in the sunlight.

From Kentucky through Tennessee to Mississippi

         We ended up staying two nights in Green Turtle Bay.  We hosted our friends for a waffle breakfast - Dan having mastered the waffle maker - and what with one thing and another, just decided to stay Sunday night and venture out in the morning.   Monday (Nov 13) we said “goodbye for now” to our friends on Hygge and Katmat and cruised into the Tennessee River for points South.  This is the beginning of a long stretch of waterway that makes its way through Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama and we’ve heard a lot about the scenic beauty.

Monday was also the day COVID came to the Willie Dawes.  I started feeling congested and a little feverish in the afternoon.  Dan and I are - were - COVID virgins.  We’ve accepted every vaccination that has been offered and were not afraid or embarrassed to wear masks or stay away from gatherings for several years.  But this year we’ve let down our guard and have gone to grocery stores, antique malls, yarn shops, and museums of all sorts, and we have been out to eat with friends and attended other gatherings.  So it really was only a matter of time before we were exposed.  I tested positive on Tuesday morning and Dan started showing symptoms on Wednesday.  Fortunately for us, we’re well stocked with food, have been traveling in an area filled with beautiful anchorages, and aren’t in a great hurry.  Our symptoms - while aggravating as any head cold - could be worse.  Thank goodness for vaccines!  The friends we’ve left behind are now all a day’s travel or so ahead of us, but they check in every day by phone to ask how we’re getting along.  We’re on the mend.

It’s Saturday, Nov 18, and we are in the state of Mississippi.  We are on the Tenn-Tom waterway now, a connection of rivers, creeks, lakes and canals that eventually culminate in the Tombigbee River.  On the Tennessee River, we passed by many camps and vacation homes. This area is very rural; the banks are lined with trees, sedimentary cliffs and narrow, sandy beaches.  Lots of pelicans, bald eagles, and great blue herons.  We passed by Shiloh National Park, the scene of one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War, and we’ve come through four locks, including one this morning that dropped us 84 feet, the biggest drop we’ve had on this entire Great Loop journey.  Instead of interspersing pictures in this blog, I’m just adding a few here at the end.  

Sunset Monday night in Leatherwood Creek

RV camps on the Tennessee River

Lucy's Cove, our Friday anchorage

James Whitten Lock - 84' drop

Tommie enjoying some sun on the flying bridge.

    

To the Ohio River and on to the Cumberland River

         On Wednesday we left the Kaskaskia Lock wall as a group around 0800 and traveled as a group down the Mississippi River to our agreed-upon anchorage in the Little River Diversion Canal in Cape Girardaeu MO, all of us arriving and settling in by 3:00pm.  We had fought strong headwinds of 20+ knots all day, which created choppy water, and we were all grateful for the calm and sheltered canal.  We divided fairly evenly along each side of the canal, some of us throwing out stern anchors to keep us from drifting sterns into the center or into the bank.  It was a quiet night for all of us.  

Thursday (Nov 9) we headed back into the Mississippi and turned into the Ohio River.  We had been going with the flow in the Mississippi, which carried us along at an extra two or three knots, and now in the Ohio, we were going upstream, fighting a one to two knot current.  The faster boats started overtaking the slower boats, and we found ourselves toward the back of the flotilla.  They all got to the Olmstead Lock well ahead of us, and though we did our best, the lock had a schedule to keep and we saw their doors close as we got within a mile.  Most of our flotilla were able to lock through mid-afternoon.  Willie Dawes and Fika were left behind to anchor and wait the next lockage.  We were lucky to get through by 4:00 pm, but it was overcast and dusk was approaching, so we anchored off to the side in a spot called Bean Branch, while the rest of our flotilla decided to push on to Paducah.  We had a very nice, calm night despite the fact that we were in the Mississippi and not up the Bean Branch creek.

On Friday we had an easy morning run to the Paducah city docks, where the rest of our flotilla were waiting for us, apologetic for having left us behind.  (We assured them we were not the least bit upset - we just weren’t fast enough!) 

Paducah is a marvelous riverfront city with a lot of history which they depict in a mural on the wall that guards the city from the river.  This is where most of the tow boats that push the barges up and down the rivers are headquartered.  Paducah also produces a large percentage of the world’s supply of enriched uranium and is known as the Atomic City.  The city has many shops and restaurants, a performing arts center, and several museums.  One of the museums is a must-see for anyone in this area - the National Quilt Museum.  These are not your average bedspreads - these are works of art. We were quite impressed with the talents and designs on display.  

This morning (Sat Nov 11), we left Paducah in the largest flotilla to date - eleven of us traveling in company to the Cumberland River.  Paducah is situated at the confluence of the Ohio and the Cumberland Rivers.  The Cumberland is narrower, and much more winding.  We ran into many towboats and could hear them calling ahead to warn each other of the fleet of recreational boats coming along.  I think they appreciate us traveling together, even if they’re not too enamored of recreational vessels on their river.  In any case they were courteous to us, allowing us even to pass them when we encountered them in a bend in the river. 

Dan navigates past a tow pushing barges filled with gravel.

        The swiftest of us arrived at the Barkley lock around 1:30 pm, and the lockmaster set the green light shortly afterwards so people could enter and get set while the rest of the flotilla came along.  Dan was still the acknowledged leader of the pack even if we weren’t among the leading vessels, and he smoothly coordinated who should lock on which side and in what order.  The last of our group, s/v Wayward Wind, ended up rafting to another sailboat and when the doors closed and the thirty-ish foot lift began, owner Jonathan pulled out his bagpipes and serenaded us with a medley of the military theme songs in honor of the veterans among us and Veteran’s Day.  The acoustics in a big lock are pretty impressive.  

After the lock we all turned into Green Turtle Bay Marina for the night, looking forward to hot showers and clean laundry.  Some of us will be staying here for side trips or maintenance or other reasons, some of us will be moving on.  We’ll be among those moving on.  

On the Mississippi River

         We decided, after one night in Grafton, not to stay a second night.  The festivities were fun, but there were too many party boats coming and going, and they were not playing country music, but treated us to very loud rap and lots of cheering.  The marina was very accommodating about refunding us the second night’s stay and the three of us (Hygge, Katmat, and us) departed late morning, after Dan and I had borrowed the courtesy car to make a grocery run to nearby Jerseyville, as Grafton has no grocery stores.  We made a short run into the Mississippi River over to Alton, where we spent the night in a covered marina.  Dan and I walked into town - a quaint river town filled with brick houses and sporting brick sidewalks and roads.  It was very hilly, but gave us some good views of the river.

Monday (Nov 6) we formed a new flotilla that included Grand Banks Vigilant, s/v Wayward Wind, and Cool Change (whom we’d met in Waukegan) as well as s/v Fyka, and left just before sunrise to get through the first of the two locks on the Mississippi River.  As we approached the locks, two more sailboats hailed us from their anchorage across the river and asked to join us through the locks, so we became a temporary flotilla of nine vessels. 

        We got through the Mel Price Lock by 0800, and soon after entered the Chain of Rocks Canal, a manmade channel that avoids the actual Chain of Rocks rapids.  We didn’t have to wait for the Chain of Rocks Lock at the end of the canal and then we were passing by the Gateway Arch of St. Louis.  We took turns passing by while someone else circled around to get pictures.  This one of the Willie Dawes  was taken by Kathy Murphy on Katmat.  

We had another fifteen miles or so to our destination, the infamous Hoppies.  We’ve been hearing about Hoppies since we started learning about the Great Loop.  It’s a must stop.  You need reservations because it fills up fast.  It’s the only thing around and if you don’t stop, it’s several miles to an next anchorage.  It’s a difficult approach and they will guide you in.  Don’t deviate from what they day.  And one of the guidebooks says Hoppies is the most interesting thing there, that the walk into the nearby town has nothing to offer.

Hoppies is literally a couple of rusty barges tied together and anchored to big logs buoyed alarmingly in the way of approach.  The River wasn’t running that strong, so the approach for us wasn’t a big deal, but we waited our turn as they brought seven of us in one at a time and listened to their instructions as they grabbed our lines and tied us in place.  The barges were littered with trip hazards and the offered electric hookups were sketchy and ungrounded, so Dan declined to plug in.  There were big gaps between the barges, which were all at different heights, and there were two lights - one at either end of the entire enterprise.  A partial trailer sits on one of the barges - this is the office and gathering place - and there are no amenities at all beyond fuel, which is a separate barge off to the side.  No water, no pump-out, no bathrooms, no showers, no laundry.  After Dan re-tied our lines, we walked into the town, which, though closed entirely on Mondays, was a cute little touristy/historical city of Kissimick, MO, with several nineteenth century log cabins and a historical museum.  Definitely worth a visit!  

Back at Hoppies, one of the owners came to the gathering place at 5:00pm to give us a talk about the river.  This was similar to the one we’d received from Jeremy at Heritage Harbor Marina after our first flotilla cruise, and covered much of the same information, but was still informative and a good refresher course.  The basic advice was to respect the River and be courteous to the towboat captains.  

We left Hoppies about 0900 this morning (Tues Nov 7) and traveled in company past limestone cliffs and fleets of barges and eventually into the Kaskaskia river to tie off for the night at the Kaskaskia Lock wall.  We will not be traveling through the lock, but will head back out to the Mississippi River to continue on between Missouri and Illinois.  

Sometimes Tommie helps Dan at the helm by keeping watch from his lap.

From the Illinois River to the Mississippi

         The four of us that now form the core of our flotilla (which Dan has nicknamed Herd o’ Cats) were up at day break to raise anchor at Quiver Island.  It was a very cold morning, and there was frost on the deck and cabin sides.  We attributed the high pitched whine and sluggish maneuvering of the anchor windlass to the temperature.  Until we raised enough anchor chain to see that we’d speared a log with the point of the anchor and then wrapped it securely with our chain presumably so it would hold us in place.  Ok then!  While Matt on Katmat hovered nearby to offer assistance if needed, Dan and I poked and prodded the log and shook the anchor chain and managed to free it off, sending the log back to the bottom for someone else to snag.  It actually didn’t take very long, but our hands were numb by the time we were done. 

For the rest of the five hour cruise to our selected destination, Dan fielded offerings from Gavin on Sol Maria up ahead of us, pointing out every log he spotted floating or resting on the shore.  “Good firewood to port, Dan!”  “Do you need another log to anchor on, Dan?”

We arrived at the LaGrange Lock and Dam about mid-afternoon and traveled through our last lock on the Illinois River.  We all settled in at anchor behind the dam and listened to its surf noises all night, rocking a little in its eddy.  

Friday (Nov 3) we were all up at dawn to divide the distance between LaGrange and the Mississippi River into one long and one short day.  This was the long day.  It was also the warmest day we’ve had in a while - the temperature rose from a chilly 39 degrees to an almost balmy 63 degrees and the sun stayed out much of the day.  Our flotilla had agreed to gather at the metal docks of Mel’s Riverfront Restaurant and go out to eat together that night.  During this day we started coming across the larger tow fleets - instead of three barges long and two across, some of them were now three to five barges long and three barges across.  We are in awe of their ability to pilot such monstrosities down or up river.  So far their captains have been very cordial, advising us whether to wait for them to round a bend or to pass.  We’ve heard the tows on the Mississippi will be even larger.  

We gathered at Mel’s and were joined by s/v Fyka, who had been part of the original flotilla.  All fourteen of us captains and crew enjoyed pre-dinner drinks on Sol Maria before descending on Mel’s for an excellent supper.   Mel’s was friendly and welcoming and the food was simple but very good.  They invited us back for breakfast at seven, and five of us took them up on that.  

Today, Saturday (Nov 4) we had a short and pleasant run to Grafton, which is the end of the line for the Illinois River, as it flows into the Mississippi here.  Fyka opted to push on, and Sol Maria only paused here at Grafton Harbor Marina for a few hours, but Hygge, Katmat and we will spend the weekend here.  We joined up again with Paper Sails, who traveled the first day with our flotilla and with whom we have been ‘Loop-frogging’ ever since.  This weekend is the first annual Country Music Festival in this one-street riverfront town, and the festivities are already in full swing.  We can take care of housekeeping matters (trash dump, laundry, grocery shopping) while we are here as well as doing some line dancing and participating in contests for best cowboy hat or cowboy boots.  We’ll see how well boat boots turn into cowboy boots.  

This morning's sunrise, Illinois River

Traveling with the Pack...

         On Sunday Oct 29, our leader Dave on Hygge (pronounced Hewguh, Scandanavian for cozy life if you’re wondering) herded us all into the lock at Brandon Road at 0730, what he called “civil daybreak” - when it’s somewhat light out but the sun has not yet risen.  There were eight of us traveling in company - one of the vessels that had arrived in Joliet the night before decided to wait for friends on other boats before moving on.  We split up four per each side of the lock while the lock descended about thirty feet.  One lock down!

        At the next lock (Dresden) we ended up having to wait a couple of hours while many barges and a few tows moved through both upbound and downbound before they let us in.  Most of us just anchored off to the side while we waited our turn. 

        In the lock we all ended up on the same side, four boats along the wall and four rafted one each to them.  It was approaching late afternoon when we got to our last lock at Marseilles, where we split and rafted in a similar formation as the first lock.  By this time the baton of leader had been passed to Dan because he was literally leading the flotilla, and because he was at ease as well as familiar with communicating with the tows we encountered along the way.  We got through Marseilles, and as ‘civil twilight’ moved into night time, everyone headed over to Heritage Harbor Marina where Kristy calmly talk us into our slips with the friendly familiarity of someone who knows what Loopers go through moving from Joliet through those first three locks.  The Marina had many deckhands waiting to help tie us all up and help get our power connected; the end of this long day couldn’t have gone any smoother.  At 8:00 that evening, Kristy’s husband Jeremy, the harbor master, held a two hour seminar on what we needed to know about the next ten days of our Great Loop journey.  We sat with notebooks, busily taking in all the information about towboats and anchorages, towns and marinas, from Heritage Harbor all the way to Paducah KY.  Most helpful!  A big shout out to the folks at Heritage Harbor Marina for all they do for Great Loopers!

        On Monday, two of our flotilla decided to stay an extra day, and the one vessel who had considered joining us ended up staying behind as well to deal with some engine troubles, so we were down to six.  We were up and out at civil daybreak, to travel the six hour-ish journey through the Starved Rock lock to the small town of Henry, where we all spent the night at a rugged but very friendly little family-run marina that once was itself an old lock.  It consists of a small basin with several slips and a long concrete seawall. 

The smaller of our flotilla spent the night in the basin while those of us longer than thirty feet stayed along the rock wall.  Dan and I walked up the hill into the charming little town of Henry and had drinks and dinner at Grandma’s Bar and Grill.  (How could we pass up such a place?) We inquired after Grandma and were told she would be checking in at some point.  Expecting an octogenarian, we discovered the forty-ish woman who stopped at our table asking if we were boaters, was Grandma.  By the way, they had excellent burgers and fries. 

Tuesday morning (Oct 31) we were down to four vessels in our flotilla.  One stayed behind in Henry, the other opted for a different destination than the rest of of us.   Today was forecast to be the coldest day we’d all encountered so far, with not just freeze warnings, but very windy, and possibly accompanied by snow.  We all set off for Peoria, where a free dock with electricity for our night time heaters awaited.  The dock was indeed there, but none of the pedestals had working electricity.  What can you do.  Dan and I set up our propane heater and tossed another sleeping bag on the bed.  We went into town to take a swing through the Riverfront Museum and then the visitor center/museum of Caterpillar next door.  It was too late in the day to consider doing more than looking at what was free to peruse (the entrance lobbies and the gift shops) but it was a warm respite from the wind and snow flurries outside.  We went out to dinner that evening in a nice little restaurant right next to the river, along with Dave and Nancy from Hygge and Matt and Kathy from Katmat.  

Today we all traveled through the Peoria Lock and on to an anchorage at Quiver Island, near the little town of Havana, Illinois.  It was an easy day - a half-day’s cruise, and our first anchorage together.  Dan created a group text to brainstorm the next few days’ cruising plans.  I think we’ll be traveling in company for a while.  We are all looking forward to being in warmer weather, including Tommie.  Here she's found a warm spot on the dashboard.