SMELLIN da ROSES, Part 2-w.
Monday , 15 September (continued). Howard and Maggie took the courtesy pickup truck into town to stock up on some groceries in the morning. After lunch, John and Judy visited Waverly Mansion. Waverly is an antebellum plantation mansion which used to have 50,000 acres and was totally self sufficient, including a cotton gin, leather tanning shop, brick kiln, lumber mill, hat manufacturing, the first saddle blanket shop and had over 1,000 slaves before the Civil War. The guide at Waverly was very knowledgeable since he and his wife live in an antebellum mansion in town (Columbus) that has been in his family for 4 or 5 generations. They also stopped at the grocery store on the way back for some last minute items. When J & J returned, Howard and Maggie took the truck into town to a mall for a couple of hours - visited a book store, had coffee and stopped at the WallMart for a couple of items. The courtesy truck does seat 4 persons, if those in the king cab jump seats are tiny, which explains why we did not go to places together.
Tuesday, 16 September. We left Columbus Marina and were at the Stennis Lock less than a mile away at 8:15 AM; finished locking down and on our way down stream by 8:45. We arrived at Marina Cove Marina at 11:35 after a 29 mile cruise. The reason for the short day after such a long layover is two fold. There is a Army Corps of Engineers visitors center which was designed and built to resemble an antebellum mansion and also the Montgomery, a double deck, 176 foot long and 34 foot beam snag boat is berthed here. After lunch, we took the marina's courtesy car and drove over to visit the visitors center and the Montgomery.
The visitors center was very well done with lots of great exhibits and beautiful period furnishings from the Civil War era. Unfortunately the Montgomery was closed for visitation because they are constructing a dry dock on land (completed) and will soon lift her up into its new museum berth. The Montgomery, which was retired in 1982 is the last of the steam powered, stern wheeler snag boats. For more than 60 years her crew of 12-14 men used the grapple suspended from a huge boom on the front deck to haul dead heads, sunken logs, trees and tree stumps (snags) out of the water to keep the shipping channel open and clear of debris which might obstruct commercial river traffic. We did get to see the Montgomery fairly close up, but could not go aboard. However, there was a model and exhibit explaining her history in the visitors center.
We were back at our boats by a little after 3:00 PM which gave us time to rest, relax (take naps and read) before dinner. We will get to bed early tonight, because we hope to do a 91 mile run with two locks tomorrow, so we will have to leave at the crack of dawn if we hope to make the next marina before dusk. The only place recommended as suitable for anchoring out is about one fourth of the way in between, and a little early in the day to anchor unless we leave later in the morning.
Wednesday, 17 September. Wow, the green light was on and the gates were open at both of the locks we traversed down today. We cruised a whoppen 90 miles today - over two times our average for this year! We were up and ready early and waited impatiently to leave as soon as it got light enough to see the channel markers from the marina out and into the main channel - that was at 7:45 AM (central daylight time). The day started out cool (even John had a on sweatshirt); it remained overcast, but warmed up to the mid to high 80's in the afternoon. The scenery consisted of lots (90 miles) of meandering river, trees along mud or rock banks and an occasional summer home or cottage built up on stilts and a couple of camper parks. There was a tow boat with 6 barges filled with ground up wood (very coarse sawdust) for making paper, a dredge working on deepening the channel, one large pleasure craft (who passed us) and three fishermen in small boats. The highlight of the day was seeing the huge white limestone cliffs of Epes (section of state) that were at least 80 feet high and more than a half mile long. There aren't many towns along the waterway or even at the locks and dams, nor have we seen much industry.
We have now been called Pleasure Craft, P.C's and today an R.V.( Recreational Vessels, we think that's what he meant) by the various lock masters. We are now at Demopolis Yacht Basin in Demopolis, AL and will stay here two nights because we worked so hard today and deserve another break. Since we arrived at 4:05 PM, fueled up and pumped out the holding tank and did not get into our slips and hooked up before 5:00 PM, we will eat out at the restaurant located on the premises - hopefully there will be something besides chicken, catfish and ribs (there was and everything was good).;
Thursday, 18 September. We stayed in Demopolis for another day to just rest, relax - no one seemed to have much energy, so we took naps and vegetated. However in the afternoon we went grocery shopping - but cheated and brought back roasted chicken for dinner. We didn't even feel like cooking.
Friday, 19 September. Another record breaker - 96 miles today. More of the same as the last travel day. We cast off our lines and were on our way by 6:30 AM, went right into the only lock of the day and out in 20 minutes. The photo op for the day was a beautiful spillway below the lock, with the water cascading over the rocks and ledges, which one would miss if they did not read the guide books and have their camera in hand and ready. Arrived here at Bobby's Fish Camp at 3:50 PM. It took another 45 minutes to get both boats fueled up - one at a time, tied up and hooked up to a single 15 AMP electric duplex shared by both boats (had to tape the receptacle together with electrical tape because it was cracked) - no dockside water hookup (all for 50 cents a foot). Fortunately it is only in the low 80's at 8:00 PM so we might get some badly needed rest before another long day tomorrow. Today the scenery consisted of a beautiful winding river with vegetation down to the water most of the way. In the 96 miles, we met one tug boat with barges and passed another; we saw and slowed down for about 6 to 8 fishing boats, saw only a few summer cottages along the river banks and only one commercial enterprise - a pulp paper mill. Mile after mile of the same old, same old, not only gets monotonous but downright boring, particularly in the heat of the afternoon which today got up to 94 degrees F with little or no wind (at 10 to 11 mph you do not generate much of a breeze).
Saturday, 20 September. Here we go setting records again. Today we went through one lock - green light on when we arrived and went right down and out within 20 minutes (our last lock on the Tenn-Tom). We covered 117 miles today plus two railroad bridges which were also open by the time we arrived at each bridges. One could not be more lucky if they tried! The Tombigbee River widened out and was very pretty - a couple of towns or clusters of cottages/homes, a few more industrial sites, and because it was Saturday, we saw and had to slow down for quite a few fishermen and launch ramps. We turned off the main channel at mile marker 8 and headed up Bayou Sara, a small winding cyprus creek for another 4 to 5 miles to Winters Marina. At one of the two railroad bridges that had to be opened for us to get here, the marina owner had called the tender of the bridge that was on his creek, to alert him that he had customers coming so he would work overtime if necessary for us to get here! This is a good old boy marina with twin 30 AMP electric (not necessarily at the same stand post) and dockside water a little further away. The personnel could not be more friendly or accommodating and the price is right - $20.00 for each boat.
It should be noted that while we are at mile marker 008 of the Tenn-Tom Waterway, we are actually on a tributary off the Mobile River. The most picturesque part of the day was going up the creek to the marina through the cyprus swamp - simply nature at its best (oh, John saw our first alligator out in the channel just before we turned off onto the creek). No restaurant here, and since we did not arrive until 5:30 PM and took some time to get settled in, no one felt like cooking and/or eating a regular dinner, in the heat, so cool refreshments and sandwiches were the order of the evening for both boats.
Tenn-Tom Trivia - It took 12 years to build the Waterway beginning with the Gainesville Lock in December 1972 and completed near Armory, MS in December 1984. The cost was nearly 2 Billion dollars and more than 25 million man-hours of labor went into its construction. Before the Tenn-Tom was constructed most basic forest products were shipped by rail or truck. Now companies that produce pressure treated lumber, utility poles, cross ties, ground up wood for pulp, or finished lumber products have markets available in the Midwest. Transportation costs for heavy wood products (trees and ground up wood for paper pulp) have been reduced up to two thirds when industries use the Tenn-Tom and companies locate directly on the Waterway.
TWO J's V -- John and Judy Gill
MARGE'S BARGE -- Howard and Maggie Daniels
Logs
Logs