Oldsmobile curved dash from 1890's 
A long underwear day in southern Alabama!
Map of the Tenn-Tom and Tombigbee Rivers
Locking with a barge in the Coffeeville Lock, Southern Alabama
Elevation changes of the Tenn-Tom and Tombigbee in the locks to the Gulf(For all of these photos, double click on them to make them bigger, then to get back, click on the 'back' arrow upper left of screen)
Eagle spotted in the bayou of Aberdeen, Mississippi
Waverly Mansion, Columbus, Mississippi
Birthplace of Elvis, Tupelo, Mississippi
1983 Camarovett, the only one every made, Tupelo Automobile Museum
1934 Ford hot rod
Approaching Mobile Bay, Alabama!
Cruise Ships everywhere, loading up
A big boat being serviced (see cars in right corner for scale)Today is Saturday, November 22 and Charlie and I are at the Eastern Shore Marina in Mobile bay, AL in the city of Fairhope. We have made it to the Gulf of Mexico! We will leave tomorrow after a three day stay here and head southeast to the panhandle of Florida! Freedom’s Turn is getting her first taste of salt water!
A few days ago, we anchored in a small inlet off the Tombigbee River 100 miles north of Mobile with three other boats and experienced our first tidal change. One of the boats we are traveling with is from Traverse City, Michigan and named ‘Kismet’ (Jim and Lisa) which means ‘so be it’. The other two are named ‘Our Turn’ from Texas and ‘Roy El’ from North Carolina. Coming into our little inlet off the river, we had a minimal depth of 6.5 feet in the center of the channel, just enough to get through. The draft of our boat is 3ft. 9 in. but loaded down like we are, we think, are more like 4ft. Draft means the lowest part of the boat under the water. Jim pointed out that the water level on shore told him that it was low tide for the day in that area. This is all new to us! Good thing we came in on low tide! The next morning going out, the depth in our channel was 8.5 ft.
The weather has been the biggest surprise lately, getting down to 28 degrees a few of the nights. We experienced our coldest night on the trip last night, with the temperature dipping down to 25 degrees F. This morning it was 49 F in our state room and 46 F degrees in the salon. We were happy to make it through the night with what we had; enough layers to keep us warm enough to sleep. We have a portable propane heater but do not like to have it on while we sleep. We run the boat’s generator off and on a bit before we go to bed and a bit in the morning; not all night. This lets run the boat’s heat pump. From an economical point, running the generator means using about ½ gallon per hour of fuel.
The water temperature was about 55-60 F degrees which keeps the hull of the boat from freezing. The water lines inside the boat have been OK so far.
So as we peeked out our portholes this morning, at our flat, sandy shoreline, covered with still greenish cypress trees and saw that everything had a crystalline surface. The air was still and the cloudless sky was a bright blue. There was a low lying fog on the water. It was surreal like. The only thing moving was a long necked white crane flying by us. We turned our generator on to warm up and make coffee. Before we could pull anchor and untie from Kismet, we had to put our portable propane heater up in the upper helm to thaw the area out. It was the first time we had frost on our strata glass windows!
When we left to go out on the main river, the fog became apparent and the scene looked almost unreal with the coldness. We took a picture of Kismet ahead of us. Photo is at the top*
We both really love anchoring. (I confess I am proud I can handle this weather on the boat because it is awfully cold to get up in the night!) My Captain appreciates me going along with it all and knows that I will be really happy when we get to a marina in two days and can have heat continuously! He also knows I’ll be looking forward to some shopping wherever I can find some! (Boater women invented the phrase “retail therapy!”)
We see on the internet that everyone up north is experiencing a lot colder weather than we are. We appreciate our weather here for the most part and hope we do not come off as complaining (55-65 F daytime)!
We left the Tennessee River to go further south on the Tenn-Tom Waterway November 8. About 450 miles later we ended up in Mobile Bay. The 10 day journey took us in remote areas and offered a few marinas and fuel stops. We mostly anchored out. The facilities are minimal everywhere we stopped. We have had a few days with no cell phone or internet coverage and that is why we travel with at least one other boat!
The barge traffic is heavy at times and makes up for the lack of commotion otherwise. From our vantage point, seeing our country’s southern bayou is amazing. This part of the country looks much more flat than we have previously seen on the river. The banks are somewhat wild and rugged; a Jurassic Park look with heavy, jungle vegetation, vines and strange animal sounds! (Or maybe I have imagined them to add to the intrigue!)
When will I see an alligator? I ask anyone who will listen. Too cold, I have been told by the locals. If it warms up to the seventies, they say I might see ‘em! I keep my eyes glued to the shoreline, especially when we anchor in a small bay or inlet. One night, out at anchor with those same three boats I mentioned before, there was a boat landing with a garbage container. Charlie volunteered to do a dinghy run to the other boats to pick up their garbage and take it all to shore. It got dark before he came back, and even though I knew he would be ok, I kept on the lookout with my flashlight for an alligator head to pop up! Anecdotelly, after Charlie made the garbage run, one of the boats, with 3 retired FBI agents, called him G-man and Charlie thought this meant Government man. Later at ‘happy hour’ they explained it meant ‘garbage man’!
The river turns and twists every mile it seems. One day we were in Alabama, the next few days in Mississippi, then back into Alabama again! (Navigating around several bends each hour with the big barges coming at you makes one stay on alert) As for the twists and turns, yesterday we took on a river bend shaped like a U that was three miles long before it was over. The distance on land between the U was only 1000 yards! (Quote taken from “The Tenn-Tom Nitty Gritty Cruising Guide” by Fred Meyers.)
A few days ago, we anchored in a small inlet off the Tombigbee River 100 miles north of Mobile with three other boats and experienced our first tidal change. One of the boats we are traveling with is from Traverse City, Michigan and named ‘Kismet’ (Jim and Lisa) which means ‘so be it’. The other two are named ‘Our Turn’ from Texas and ‘Roy El’ from North Carolina. Coming into our little inlet off the river, we had a minimal depth of 6.5 feet in the center of the channel, just enough to get through. The draft of our boat is 3ft. 9 in. but loaded down like we are, we think, are more like 4ft. Draft means the lowest part of the boat under the water. Jim pointed out that the water level on shore told him that it was low tide for the day in that area. This is all new to us! Good thing we came in on low tide! The next morning going out, the depth in our channel was 8.5 ft.
The weather has been the biggest surprise lately, getting down to 28 degrees a few of the nights. We experienced our coldest night on the trip last night, with the temperature dipping down to 25 degrees F. This morning it was 49 F in our state room and 46 F degrees in the salon. We were happy to make it through the night with what we had; enough layers to keep us warm enough to sleep. We have a portable propane heater but do not like to have it on while we sleep. We run the boat’s generator off and on a bit before we go to bed and a bit in the morning; not all night. This lets run the boat’s heat pump. From an economical point, running the generator means using about ½ gallon per hour of fuel.
The water temperature was about 55-60 F degrees which keeps the hull of the boat from freezing. The water lines inside the boat have been OK so far.
So as we peeked out our portholes this morning, at our flat, sandy shoreline, covered with still greenish cypress trees and saw that everything had a crystalline surface. The air was still and the cloudless sky was a bright blue. There was a low lying fog on the water. It was surreal like. The only thing moving was a long necked white crane flying by us. We turned our generator on to warm up and make coffee. Before we could pull anchor and untie from Kismet, we had to put our portable propane heater up in the upper helm to thaw the area out. It was the first time we had frost on our strata glass windows!
When we left to go out on the main river, the fog became apparent and the scene looked almost unreal with the coldness. We took a picture of Kismet ahead of us. Photo is at the top*
We both really love anchoring. (I confess I am proud I can handle this weather on the boat because it is awfully cold to get up in the night!) My Captain appreciates me going along with it all and knows that I will be really happy when we get to a marina in two days and can have heat continuously! He also knows I’ll be looking forward to some shopping wherever I can find some! (Boater women invented the phrase “retail therapy!”)
We see on the internet that everyone up north is experiencing a lot colder weather than we are. We appreciate our weather here for the most part and hope we do not come off as complaining (55-65 F daytime)!
We left the Tennessee River to go further south on the Tenn-Tom Waterway November 8. About 450 miles later we ended up in Mobile Bay. The 10 day journey took us in remote areas and offered a few marinas and fuel stops. We mostly anchored out. The facilities are minimal everywhere we stopped. We have had a few days with no cell phone or internet coverage and that is why we travel with at least one other boat!
The barge traffic is heavy at times and makes up for the lack of commotion otherwise. From our vantage point, seeing our country’s southern bayou is amazing. This part of the country looks much more flat than we have previously seen on the river. The banks are somewhat wild and rugged; a Jurassic Park look with heavy, jungle vegetation, vines and strange animal sounds! (Or maybe I have imagined them to add to the intrigue!)
When will I see an alligator? I ask anyone who will listen. Too cold, I have been told by the locals. If it warms up to the seventies, they say I might see ‘em! I keep my eyes glued to the shoreline, especially when we anchor in a small bay or inlet. One night, out at anchor with those same three boats I mentioned before, there was a boat landing with a garbage container. Charlie volunteered to do a dinghy run to the other boats to pick up their garbage and take it all to shore. It got dark before he came back, and even though I knew he would be ok, I kept on the lookout with my flashlight for an alligator head to pop up! Anecdotelly, after Charlie made the garbage run, one of the boats, with 3 retired FBI agents, called him G-man and Charlie thought this meant Government man. Later at ‘happy hour’ they explained it meant ‘garbage man’!
The river turns and twists every mile it seems. One day we were in Alabama, the next few days in Mississippi, then back into Alabama again! (Navigating around several bends each hour with the big barges coming at you makes one stay on alert) As for the twists and turns, yesterday we took on a river bend shaped like a U that was three miles long before it was over. The distance on land between the U was only 1000 yards! (Quote taken from “The Tenn-Tom Nitty Gritty Cruising Guide” by Fred Meyers.)
To add to the local flavor, it was fun to read the charts and find interesting names of places along the river in Alabama such as Choctaw County (wasn't there a song about Choctaw Ridge and the Tallahassee Bridge?) Other names I remember were Liberty Landing, Wildcat Landing, Mitchell's Woodyard, Bobbie's Fish Camp, Christmas Landing, Lover's Leap, and Promised Land Landing. I bet there is a story behind everyone of those names.
I recently read in one of this area's local magazines called "Life on the Water," Fall 2008 issue, about the deep south's orgins of state names by the Native Americans that lived here years ago. For example, "Alabama" is a Muskogean Indian word meaning "campsite" or "clearing." "Mississippi" was named for the Mississippi River from the Chippewa Tribe meaning "large river." "Tennessee" was named for a Cherokee community in the region, 'Tanasie." And "Kentucky" comes from the Iroquois Nation word for meadow lands.
The information I have written below is from an article “Going South” and the book “Honey Let’s Buy a Boat,” both by Ron and Eva Stob.
The Tenn-Tom (combination of Tennessee and Tombigbee) Waterway is man made and begins in the northeast corner of Mississippi for 234 miles and travels to Demopolis in western Alabama, where it joins with the natural river named the Tombigbee River. We have included a map for you above. The dotted part is the Tenn-Tom Waterway.*
The Tenn-Tom (combination of Tennessee and Tombigbee) Waterway is man made and begins in the northeast corner of Mississippi for 234 miles and travels to Demopolis in western Alabama, where it joins with the natural river named the Tombigbee River. We have included a map for you above. The dotted part is the Tenn-Tom Waterway.*
From there, it covers 217 more miles emptying into the Gulf of Mexico. There are a series of 12 locks total that all boats have to go through; keeping the water levels fairly consistent. At our last lock before Mobile, we were granted permission to lock through with a barge which doe not happen very often rom what we have heard.* Sometimes a pleasure boat has to wait 1-2 hours before it can go in. We were lucky! There is a 341 ft. drop in elevation from the beginning of the Tenn-Tom to Mobile Bay. *
The Tenn-Tom is actually a man made project; the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers cut out a channel 300 feet wide and a minimal depth of 9 feet. Nothing else man made except the Great Wall of China can be seen from a satellite.
The idea of creating a way to connect the rivers in the Midwest with the Gulf of Mexico, and eliminating the extra 800 miles from going down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, dates back to 1874 when the U.S. government granted $1.7 million to create the new route. But it wasn’t until 1946 when Congress got around to authorizing it. (They usually take a long time but this was long) Construction did not begin until 1972. It was finally completed at a cost of $2 billion. It remains the largest project ever undertaken by the U.S Army Corp of Engineers. More land was moved for this project that for the Panama Canal.
In the past week, we have visited marinas with towns rich in southern history and hospitality. We stayed in Aberdeen, Mississippi where we entered the marina by going through a long and narrow moss filled channel with tree stumps close to us on either side. We got a good look at a beautiful bald headed eagle going in.* That was only the beginning of the adventure. Before we left the next day, we had eaten the best fried chicken ever (cooked right at the marina by the harbormaster’s father in law), got filled up with fuel (the best price of the trip by far, $2.69), shared moonshine with a local man, and had breakfast cooked by the same man as the night before. Mouth watering homemade biscuits, gravy, grits, eggs, country ham, and cinnamon rolls better than our favorite Cinnabon ones back home. It appeared that many locals come here to pick up food; we saw some taking out the bar-b-que. The truckers come here too because they have another set of fuel pumps on their street side plus eating the food. Always a good indication to eat at a place like that!
We toured the lovely Waverly mansion and cotton plantation grounds given by the current owner, (who lives there with her father) while we stayed at a marina in Columbus, Mississippi. It was built in the mid 1800’s by a Confederate war general and was completely self sufficient to sustain 1,000 people that worked and lived there.* The house appeared to be in great condition, being made of cypress wood we were told. Every room was furnished with the most beautiful antiques I had ever seen in one home, a fine example of old southern elegance. In the parlor, there was a niche carved out on one wall where the original owners displayed their deceased relatives as well as making it an altar for the family weddings.
Rock and Roll was born in the towns in this area. In Tupelo, Mississippi, Charlie and I, along with good friends from the boats Bella Luna (Louis and Diane), C-Life(Robert and Kay), and Wandering L & M (Larry and Margie) toured the small birthplace of Elvis Presley. * The house was built by his father Vernon Presley in 1934, who borrowed $108 to purchase the materials to build it. Elvis was born in 1935 and when he was 13, he and his family moved to Memphis, Tennessee. While still in Tupelo, Elvis began singing as a boy in his church choir. On his 11th birthday, his mother took him to the local hardware store so he could pick out his gift. He wanted a bike but his mother said he could get hurt. And then his mother told him no on the rifle because it was too dangerous (sounds like some friends we have!). The store owner suggested a guitar and Elvis said yes because there was nothing else he wanted in that store!
We toured the Tupelo Automobile where there are over 100 cars from the 1800’s to the 1990’s on display.* Linda liked the hot rods and Charlie wanted a curved dash Oldsmobile from the 1890’s. *
This area of the country has many bird sanctuaries where many species migrate from the north every winter. For the local birds, we saw many blue herons and white cranes on the rivers and now see many kinds of pelicans and sea gulls flying around our boat here in the Gulf.
Entering Mobile Bay was a milestone for us after hundreds and hundreds of miles of river traveling.* Everything is on such a large scale here it seems. We saw cruise ships getting ready to go on their trip.* The service areas for the big ships are huge.*
Since arriving here, we have taken the marina’s courtesy car into the city of Fairhope and shopped, have done laundry and gone out to dinner with boater friends. The fresh seafood is fabulous!
It is Saturday morning and we need to get chores done and get ready for another important thing we do on the boat. Make popcorn and settle in for the MSU-PSU game on ABC.
Oh, I will certainly let you know when I see an alligator.
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
We say a special thank you to Carrie’s in-laws Dennis and Teri for having Carrie and Jody and even our Christa over for their Thanksgiving dinner up in Farwell Michigan with the rest of their family.
Linda and Charlie
The idea of creating a way to connect the rivers in the Midwest with the Gulf of Mexico, and eliminating the extra 800 miles from going down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, dates back to 1874 when the U.S. government granted $1.7 million to create the new route. But it wasn’t until 1946 when Congress got around to authorizing it. (They usually take a long time but this was long) Construction did not begin until 1972. It was finally completed at a cost of $2 billion. It remains the largest project ever undertaken by the U.S Army Corp of Engineers. More land was moved for this project that for the Panama Canal.
In the past week, we have visited marinas with towns rich in southern history and hospitality. We stayed in Aberdeen, Mississippi where we entered the marina by going through a long and narrow moss filled channel with tree stumps close to us on either side. We got a good look at a beautiful bald headed eagle going in.* That was only the beginning of the adventure. Before we left the next day, we had eaten the best fried chicken ever (cooked right at the marina by the harbormaster’s father in law), got filled up with fuel (the best price of the trip by far, $2.69), shared moonshine with a local man, and had breakfast cooked by the same man as the night before. Mouth watering homemade biscuits, gravy, grits, eggs, country ham, and cinnamon rolls better than our favorite Cinnabon ones back home. It appeared that many locals come here to pick up food; we saw some taking out the bar-b-que. The truckers come here too because they have another set of fuel pumps on their street side plus eating the food. Always a good indication to eat at a place like that!
We toured the lovely Waverly mansion and cotton plantation grounds given by the current owner, (who lives there with her father) while we stayed at a marina in Columbus, Mississippi. It was built in the mid 1800’s by a Confederate war general and was completely self sufficient to sustain 1,000 people that worked and lived there.* The house appeared to be in great condition, being made of cypress wood we were told. Every room was furnished with the most beautiful antiques I had ever seen in one home, a fine example of old southern elegance. In the parlor, there was a niche carved out on one wall where the original owners displayed their deceased relatives as well as making it an altar for the family weddings.
Rock and Roll was born in the towns in this area. In Tupelo, Mississippi, Charlie and I, along with good friends from the boats Bella Luna (Louis and Diane), C-Life(Robert and Kay), and Wandering L & M (Larry and Margie) toured the small birthplace of Elvis Presley. * The house was built by his father Vernon Presley in 1934, who borrowed $108 to purchase the materials to build it. Elvis was born in 1935 and when he was 13, he and his family moved to Memphis, Tennessee. While still in Tupelo, Elvis began singing as a boy in his church choir. On his 11th birthday, his mother took him to the local hardware store so he could pick out his gift. He wanted a bike but his mother said he could get hurt. And then his mother told him no on the rifle because it was too dangerous (sounds like some friends we have!). The store owner suggested a guitar and Elvis said yes because there was nothing else he wanted in that store!
We toured the Tupelo Automobile where there are over 100 cars from the 1800’s to the 1990’s on display.* Linda liked the hot rods and Charlie wanted a curved dash Oldsmobile from the 1890’s. *
This area of the country has many bird sanctuaries where many species migrate from the north every winter. For the local birds, we saw many blue herons and white cranes on the rivers and now see many kinds of pelicans and sea gulls flying around our boat here in the Gulf.
Entering Mobile Bay was a milestone for us after hundreds and hundreds of miles of river traveling.* Everything is on such a large scale here it seems. We saw cruise ships getting ready to go on their trip.* The service areas for the big ships are huge.*
Since arriving here, we have taken the marina’s courtesy car into the city of Fairhope and shopped, have done laundry and gone out to dinner with boater friends. The fresh seafood is fabulous!
It is Saturday morning and we need to get chores done and get ready for another important thing we do on the boat. Make popcorn and settle in for the MSU-PSU game on ABC.
Oh, I will certainly let you know when I see an alligator.
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
We say a special thank you to Carrie’s in-laws Dennis and Teri for having Carrie and Jody and even our Christa over for their Thanksgiving dinner up in Farwell Michigan with the rest of their family.
Linda and Charlie
