Oct 29th - Nov 6: Down to Mobile Alabama

Finally !! We've made it to Mobile, AL.  Actually, we're a few miles south of Mobile on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay in a place called Fairhope, AL.


After our little engine maintenance in Midway Marina, we moved down the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway to Demopolis, AL where we joined the Lower Black Warrior Waterway which continues south to the Mobile River and brings you to - Mobile, Alabama.  


During the trip south from Midway, we stopped in order:  Blue Bluff anchorage, Pirate's Marina Cove, Sumter Recreational area anchorage, Demopolis, Bobby's Fish Camp (where we had to raft off another boat and had a great dinner - fried catfish, french fries and hush puppies), the Tensas River anchorage and finally Mobile.


This was not one of our favorite sections of the trip, but the cool fall added color to the trees and we met some really nice folks along the way.  A good time was had by all.


Tomorrow we we start heading east staying in Alabama for a short distance and than entering the Florida panhandle.

Fog made for a late underway from Midway Marina.
We've experienced lots of fog this trip.

GREAT ESCAPE along the free dock (no power)
at the Sumter Recreational area.  A great place for
the Boyz to go swimming and run around.

Is there room for one more ??

Getting ready to leave Sumter - more fog

Can you hear me now ??

This house needed more than this totem pole
to help with its landscaping.

Although it's hard to see, this is the MONTGOMERY, a steam powered
snag boat that was used to clear the waterway of underwater debris. It's now part of a display near the Pirate's Marina Cove.

Blue Bluff anchorage

Gettin' a little lovin'

The "White Cliffs of Eppes" - Eppes is the nearby town.
Sorry, we can't tell you what kind of rock we're looking at

Talk about a homemade boat!

At the Demopolis Lock, there were already 12 boats
when we arrived.  The Lockmaster said we could enter if
another boat volunteered to let us raft off.

Jim and Elle on their Tiara volunteered.  If they had not
let us tie off, we would have been delayed another two hours.

Not much expense in placing day markers along the waterway.
This shows 187.7 miles to Mobile

This Corps of Engineer boat was doing river soundings
with the device that extends from either side.

Anchorages are hard to find on the river.  These three decided
to try this small creek.  No room for anyone else.

Here we are at Bobby's Fish Camp, rafted off a 42 foot Silverton.
Later in the evening, a 46 foot Californian rafted off of us.

There were two boats already rafted off when we arrived.

A view of the dock at Bobby's.
GREAT ESCAPE is at the back left

The facilities at Bobby's

After a long day, the Boyz were just happy to
get their feet on solid ground.
(They are not devil dogs - 
it was near sunset when we arrived)

Dinner inside Bobby's

The food was very good and served family style

Some of the decor inside Bobby's.

This is actually a Looper - doing it in a Kayak.
The Gulf of Mexico should be interesting.

The waterway has many "switchbacks."  This is our GPS
navigational display.  We're going North to South but have
to travel about 8 miles around this loop to go 1 mile south

Sunrise on the Tensas River, about 40 miles north of Mobile

The Dolly Parton bridge

Sighting of our first pelican.

At 14 miles north of Mobile is a railroad bridge.  The old swing bridge,
pictured here, was removed and replaced with a new lift bridge.  The replacement process shut down the river for four days. We saw a lot of tow traffic that was delayed south of the bridge heading north after it re-opened.

The new lift bridge

Somewhere on this barge is one of my old vehicles.

A convention on the river.

Approaching the Mobile skyline.

Mobile is a very busy port with many large ships and barges
being moved around by working tugs.

This is a new Navy ship undergoing construction.  The twin hull
design is know as a swath ship. 

The bow of another hull protrudes from this construction building.

A smaller ship in drydock.

GREAT ESCAPE in the Eastern Shore Marina
on Mobile Bay

This is Chuck, the marina cat.
He actually has a Facebook page - Chuck Marina Cat -
if you choose to become his friend.  He already has about 300

Downtown Fairhope.  The town looked very nice
Unfortunately, it was locked up tight on Sunday when
we walked around

We told you this guy was doing the Loop in
a Kayak.  Here he is arriving at the Eastern Shore Marina

Oct 23rd - Oct 28th: Tenn-Tom Waterway

UPDATE - Port engine was repaired late Friday, Oct28th.  We are back underway.  Should be in Demopolis, AL on Tuesday, Nov 1st.  Will update than.


We are now on the Tenn-Tom waterway, heading toward Mobile AL.  You might wonder why there is no end date on this post.  It will be explained in a moment.


We stayed the evening of October 23rd at Grand Harbor Marina which is at the start of the Tenn - Tom.  A waterway from Pickwick Lake in Tenn/Mississippi/Alabama (the boarders of all three states meet here ) down to Mobile, AL.  The Tenn-Tom travels 450 miles and drops in elevation (heading south) 341 feet through 10 locks.  Although it had been proposed and studied over many years (starting in the 1700's), construction did not begin until 1972.  Completed in December of 1984 and dedicated in June of 1985, the construction moved more earth than was moved during the construction of the Panama Canal and shortens the water distance from Pensacola, Fl to Chattanooga TN by 720 miles since vessels do not have to travel the length of the Mississippi River.


The first night from Grand Harbor was spent at anchor in a nice little cove we had used during our 2007 trip.  Underway on the 25th, we noted the port engine was emitting a good deal of smoke.  After entered the first lock, we shut both engines off.  When we got ready to depart, the port engine would not start.  The next 18 miles and two locks were done on a single engine.  Teresa did a great job maneuvering in both locks and making the docking at Midway Marina in Fulton, MS, our present location.


After discussion with a diesel mechanic and looking at some other indicators, the verdict was blown gaskets on the engine cylinder head.  As our friend Larry Hayde would say - A trip stopper !!


The engine cylinder heads were removed by the evening of the 25th and are presently in the shop to be cleaned and checked for flatness.  We are hoping they will return tomorrow, the 27th and with any luck we will be underway again on Friday the 28th.   We'll keep you informed.

The Tenn-Tom still has a good deal of barge traffic on it, although the tows
are generally not as large as those encountered on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers

The northern section of the Tenn-Tom is quite similar to the Tennessee River and the fall colors are starting to come out

This is the third or fourth time we have seen eagles on the trip.  In this
case there were two in trees very close to one another

A majestic bird

A tow passing the Midway Marina.  When the Tenn-Tom was constructed,
the main channel was dug out, but many trees and stumps remain
just outside the channel

Midway Marina

This is what our normal engine looks like

This is the port engine with the cylinder head removed.  Don't worry,
I'm sure there'll be no bolts or washers left over when it's put back together.