The Shakedown Cruise
Before boaters start the Great Loop, they’re advised to complete a shakedown cruise to make sure the boat runs as expected, to learn how to manage and live on the boat, and to practice skills. For our shakedown cruise, we decided to move the boat from Kingfisher Bay Marina in Demopolis, AL to Harrison Bay Marina near Chattanooga. We also wanted to move the boat closer to Atlanta as we continue to get ready for The Loop. Our journey will take us north on the Tombigbee and Tenn-Tom Waterway and then east on the Tennessee River. We plan to travel about 50 miles each day at an average speed of 9 mph. The trip should take about two weeks. We’ll anchor out a couple of nights and stay in marinas the other nights. We’ll go through 15 locks and also have our first visitors while underway. Extreme heat is in the forecast, so we plan to leave early in the mornings and cruise during the cooler part of the day. We also installed two 12vdc fans in the flybridge (the upper level where we drive the boat that has no A/C) in a feeble attempt to cool things off.
Day 1: Demopolis to Warsaw Cutoff anchorage
After months of repairing and preparing, we left early Monday morning for our first destination, Warsaw Cutoff (near Panola, AL). The morning air was cool and the waterway was like glass making for a smooth ride to the anchorage. For most of the day we had the river to ourselves and marveled at the mirror-like water and lack of civilization. Occasionally, we’d see another cruiser, fishing boats, tows (don't call them barge boats), light boats (tows without barges) and a couple of people out for a swim. Part of the beauty of the river is seeing different kinds of wildlife that live on the river, like herons, osprey, and white egrets. We saw our first bald eagle in flight along the bank. It looked like an osprey but you can’t mistake the white head and tail that is uniquely the bald eagle. Another part of the beauty is seeing the different landscapes as we moved along the river. Today we passed by the white chalk cliffs of Epes which brightened up the view along the bank. While there’s a ton of beautiful scenery there’s not much excitement (sometimes that’s a good thing!). The most exciting thing we encountered was a fellow, Michael Straub, heading downriver and doing the Great Loop on a jet ski. We offered him a cold bottle of water which he eagerly accepted. You can find out more about his journey on YouTube. We successfully navigated our first lock (Heflin) and successfully anchored out (spend the night on anchor, not at a marina) at the Warsaw Cutoff. It was the first night, of many, with a beautiful sunset. Even at night, it was sweltering hot so we ran our generator to power the air conditioning rather than enjoy the peaceful night sounds of the river.
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| Morning on the Tombigbee |
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| Michael Straub |
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| White Cliffs of Epes |
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| White Cliffs of Epes |
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| Sunset at Warsaw Cutoff |
Day 2: Warsaw Cut off to Columbus Marina
After an early rise, we set off for Columbus, Miss. It was another day of calm waters and having the river to ourselves. We saw more wildlife including a deer, a river otter, cormorants, more bald eagles and white pelicans. We passed through two locks (Bevill and Stennis). If we don’t have to wait on tows or other boats ahead of us, it usually takes 20 to 30 minutes to get through a lock. Once the lockmaster lowers the water level to where you are they give you a green light and open the doors so your boat can enter. Then you have to hitch your boat to a floating bollard. After your boat is secure, the lockmaster closes the door and starts opening valves to fill the lock with water to bring you up to the next level. During this process the water and the boat swirl and rise. When the water level is up, typically 30 ft, then the lockmaster opens the upriver door and blows the horn signaling it’s time to leave the lock.
On occasion we see random things in the river or along the bank. One of the more well known random things is the phone booth. (Is it still random if it’s well known?)
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| Bevill Lock and Dam |
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| Random Phone Booth |
Day 3: Columbus, Miss.
We spent the day at Columbus Marina rather than travel as Karen was ill. Later in the day we borrowed the marina car to visit a couple of tourist sites. Many marinas offer courtesy cars for transient boaters (boaters only staying a couple of nights). Our experience has been that these cars pass the lowest threshold for operability and we haven’t found one yet that had air conditioning. The worst one so far was the car at Orange Beach. It had an unreliable engine and a broken windshield that was replaced by a sheet of plexiglass. However, all the broken glass was still in the car! It had a misaligned steering wheel and no turn signal which made for intrepid driving and, of course, no air-conditioning. But ‘beggars can’t be choosers’ and we have to adjust to life without our own car. Back in Columbus, we were ready to ‘get off the boat’ and explore. Unfortunately, the sites we wanted to see were closed. Oh well, some days are like that.
Day 4: Columbus Marina to Midway Marina
Karen was feeling better so we decided to continue our trip to the next stop at Midway Marina in Fulton, Miss. As we headed out we saw several military aircraft fly overhead as we passed the Columbus Air Force Base. This is a training base and we’ve heard it has more take-offs and landings than Hartsfield-Jackson. At the first lock, we were joined by a powercat, Mystery Machine, who became our buddy boat for the next two days. Its crew kept us company up the river and through the next four locks (Aberdeen, Amory, Wilkins, and Fulton). With seven locks under our belt we have figured out how to successfully set up the boat to navigate them. It’s a joint effort by the captain and the first mate. The captain has to hail the lockmaster and maneuver the boat close to the lock wall to make it easier for the first mate to snag the bollard. The first mate has to set the lines and fenders, snag the bollard, make sure the boat stays secure, and stay with the line in case there is a faulty bollard and a quick release is needed.
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| Early morning on the river |
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| Mystery Machine and tow |
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| Midway Marina |
Day 5: Midway Marina to Grand Harbor Marina and Resort
Today we passed through three locks (Rankin, Montgomery, and Whitten). While most of the locks look and operate the same way, each has their own personality and quirks. Some have different birds fishing in them. Some have no birds. Some are slow and some are fast. Some have slimy walls and some have less slimy walls. Some have different style bollards. Some have debris, dead things, and bugs on the bollards which make the experience gross but interesting. The Whitten Lock has been the most memorable. It was the tallest one we passed through at a towering 85 ft. It was also the fastest, taking only about 15 minutes to get to the top. On our way up, we enjoyed watching ospreys, herons, and egrets fish in the lock. But this lock will be remembered for the gnats. At one point on the way up, the boat and the first mate were covered with gnats 😱😱😱. It was so bad that a number of them (a large number!) got inside the boat and swarmed as gnats like to do 😱. It made for a gross but interesting evening seeking revenge with the hand-held vac 😠. Most of them died by morning, which made them a lot easier to vacuum 🙂. The other side of the lock revealed beautiful and expansive views of Bay Springs Lake. After the lake, the rest of the trip was on the man-made part of the waterway. It was a straight part of the river and not very interesting. Once we passed through we reached Pickwick Lake and our destination, Grand Harbor Marina and Resort.
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| Fog on Tombigbee |
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| Serene morning on Tombigbee |
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| Whitten Lock |
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| Bay Springs Lake leaving Whitten Lock |
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