On Friday, July 2nd, we got off to a slow start as the fuel dock didn’t open until 8 am CT, and we wanted to take on 100 gallons of fuel. However, it was all done in short order, and by 8:30 am CT, we were underway. At 3:30 pm CT, we entered the Heflin Lock, and by 4 pm CT, we were back underway. Making the most of the daylight, we ran until 7:50 pm CT and anchored at mile marker 293, below the AL Highway 17 bridge.
Underway at 5:55 am CT on Saturday, July 3rd, for our first lock of the day at 7:55 am CT. Less than thirty minutes later, we were back underway to Stennis Lock in Columbus, Mississippi. We knew that the next lock was Aberdeen and that due to maintenance, it was on timed openings, 6 am, 10 am, 2 pm, and 6 pm. Our goal was the 6 pm opening, so we slowed down to not have to hold for too long; however, we still arrived too early, only to be informed that a commercial tow would be locking down before we locked up. There were construction barges and workboats in the area, and the lockkeeper asked us to remain out of the way. So, I cruised a couple of miles back down the river, making my turn to arrive back about 6:15 pm CT. “The Best Laid Plans,” at 6 pm CT, we hear the lockkeeper tell the workboats he doesn’t know what happened to us, and they can go back to work. I made a quick radio call back to him, informing him we were ½ mile downstream and were currently letting the tow pass us and please lock us through. He laughed and told us to come up, the green light was on, and by 6:20 pm CT, we were tied up in the lock. After exiting the lock, we ran another hour and found a place to anchor for the night. The next day was going to be a workout.
Another early start on Sunday at 5:40 am CT for a day of locks. 7 am CT Amory Lock, 8 am Wilkins Lock, 10:30 am Fulton Lock, 11:40 am Rankin Lock, 1:45 pm Montgomery Lock, and finally, our last lock of the Tombigbee River, the Whitten Lock at Bay Springs. The lake at Bay Springs is beautiful, and being the July 4th was crowded, but our floating island just motored right through the crowds at a leisurely seven mph. At the upper end of Bay Springs Lake is the “Ditch,” officially the “Divide Cut,” a 29-mile section that has no place to anchor. The banks are lined by “riprap” or large boulders. Being a seven mph boat, Lollipop needed over 4 hours to do this section, plus time on the other side to find an anchorage. Unfortunately, time was not on our side, but Bronson and I made the call to Go For It. We arrived at the North end at 7:50 pm CT and quickly found a spot to anchor just before dark. All evening we watched folks in the houses around us shooting fireworks, and I fell asleep to the sounds of them. Tomorrow the Tenneessee River Awaits.
