Great Loop Overall Statistics to date:
Statute Miles: 5162.9
Average Miles/Day: 50.6
Total Hours Underway: 686
Average speed (mph): 7.5
States Transited: 19
Total Days: 218
Travel Days: 102
Locks: 74
Fuel Purchased: 1351.3
Miles / Gallon: 3.5
Nights at Extra Days
Marinas: 57 104
Anchor: 31 6
City dock: 6 1
Free Wall: 9 4
Mooring: 0 0
Travel Day 96 Leaving Iuka, MS
Left at dawn since we had a lot of unknowns today (current, 3 locks, lots of other Loopers) for the 50+ miles to Midway Marina near Fulton. We got lucky at the Whitten Lock since they were locking up a tow (45 minutes) and the faster Loopers had to standby anyway while we were about an hour away. Experior, Stress Relief, Phoenix, Chasing 90, Flying Colors, and Chequamegon Ark all waited for the slow-poke, SCOUT to arrive at the lock and go through. The rest of the day was uneventful and we got to Fulton quite early in the afternoon. Midway is a nice marina, super staff, and a great on-site restaurant.
Travel Day 97 Leaving Midway/Fulton
We left very early again to try to get to the first lock when there was no traffic. 6 other boats had already called the lock to tell them they were coming this morning, so even though we got up early and got to the lock, we had to wait for all the other boats anyway :(. Such is life traveling with the looper “pack”. The next three locks were miserable, waiting for upbound tows and still more "straggler" boats to catch up. All in all, the waiting at today's four locks added over 5 hours to our travel time. Because of this, we didn't make it to our intended destination, Columbus, MS. We anchored instead about an hour short of there in a small creek just off the main waterway, which has active barge traffic through the night. The creek is quite narrow - we also set a stern anchor to keep from swinging into the bank on either side. Rain throughout the night.
Travel Day 98 Leaving Waverly, MS
Woke to a soggy boat this morning. Counted only three barges that passed overnight. Pulled the stern anchor first and it came up with no trouble. It had kept us pointed out the creek towards the Tombigbee waterway all night and off of the nearby banks. Pulled the main anchor after the boat swung into the current and the engines warmed up. Easy departure. We left very early to try to get a better jump on the locks than yesterday. The first lock went extremely well - we skated right in with no delay along with 2 other boats. We had a mild 1/2 knot current with us all day that was a good help for covering ground. We weren't sure how the locks would go, so we had 2-3 anchorages in mind, any of which would be good for us depending on how much distance we could cover. It turns out we made it to the furthest of the anchorages, Warsaw Cutoff, in 8-1/2 hours. We anchored in a spectacularly peaceful spot with wildlife all around at about 3:30 PM.
Travel Day 99 Leaving Warsaw, AL
Cool morning at 48 degrees. Turned on the diesel heater in pilothouse to take the chill off. Our destination was Kingfisher Bay Marina in Demopolis, AL for a boat wash and a bit of maintenance. The 50 miles there were uneventful with a single lock passage at Heflin Lock where we slowed on our approach to wait for 2 other boats, in order to go through together. We passed the infamous "white cliffs" of the waterway in the afternoon and arrived at Demopolis at 2:30PM, averaging a good 7.3 knots of boat speed.
Travel Day 100 Leaving Demopolis, AL
We departed with 5 other boats 6:30AM in the dark, headed for Demopolis Lock, 3 miles away. - It was foggy & cold again and the diesel heater was in action. Another boat joined us just before lock gates closed. Again, we had ½ to 1 knot of favorable current just outside the lock which decayed as we progressed further downriver. We are now on the Black Warrior river section of the Tombigbee Waterway. Fog held on for an hour or so after the lock, then lifted and we could get back up to our normal cruising speed. We had debated about anchorages, which are few and far between on this section of the river. With so many "looper" boats this year competing for the scarce anchorages, we chose to continue on for a long day to a somewhat remote anchorage at Okatuppa Creek. After an 11-hour day we were anchored safely in the creek just as dusk came over us. Quiet here.
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Great Loop Travel Days (GLTD):
096: Fulton MS from Iuka MS
097: Waverly MS from Fulton MS
098: Warsaw AL from Waverly MS
099: Demopolis AL from Warsaw AL
100: Coffeeville AL from Demopolis AL
Map of our Overall Great Loop travel:
GLTD096 Fulton MS (from Iuka MS): Anticipating a high-mileage day with 3 locks, we set the clock for 6:15 and left by 6:45 – about first light. It's another grey, cloudy day – and getting colder -- 53 degrees.
🔺New inland river: Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway
We started the long downhill run to Mobile Bay on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway (Tenn-Tom). We will lock down 341 feet over 450 miles. Any currents will be favorable, and all locks will be downbound! 😊
Tenn-Tom - Divide Cut: In the first 30 miles of this section of the waterway, the water is over 400 feet above sea level, and some stretches of this portion of the waterway were cut as deep as 175 feet.
🔷 Boater Tip: SKIPPER BOB guidebook "Cruising from Chicago to Mobile" was a great reference for running the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway (Tenn-Tom). It provides tips about possible anchorages – and any warnings about where not to anchor -- along the way.
About an hour into the cruise, there is zero current. Bummer! I was looking forward to a little push.
Several erosion-control spillways created diamond-like waterfalls.
From my nav seat, I saw an eagle dive down and catch a fish. Wow! I grabbed the camera and went out to the bow.
In the top photo, you can just make out the fish tail near the clutch of the eagle’s talons (especially if you zoom in). Then, 2 other birds began stalking the eagle with his catch: another Eagle, and what I think is a Cooper’s Hawk making U-turn! -- when he smelled fish 😊.
🔺Tallest Lock on Traditional Loop Route: Whitten Lock (84-ft).
⏱ Lock Delay: ~40 min: Whitten Lock (84-ft). Almost an hour before we arrived at the lock, mv Phoenix hailed us to inform us that Whitten Lock was processing an up-bound tow and it is estimated to take 45 min to complete. They also informed us that 2 looper boats are already waiting at the lock.
We were the last of 8 pleasure craft to arrive at the lock, and the rebuilt tow was just exiting the lock, northbound. This photo of the nav chart shows AIS positions of the 8 boats: Phoenix, Chasing 90, Chequomagon Ark, Experior, Flying Colors, Stress Relief, Next Chapter.
Whitten Lock has to be the prettiest lock on our great loop! It was also tall, speedy, calm, and quiet.
Being last in the pack was advantageous for photo ops! I like this photo of the 7 boats ahead of us about to pass the tow. Although it was a gorgeous day, my first thought was, “OMG! I’m glad we got through the lock before he got here!”
🔷 Boater Tip: Gauges on the lock walls usually report water depth (left) or depth of sill—the wall beneath the water’s surface (right). Generally, loopers don’t need to worry about sill depth. I guess if the water dropped below the sill gate height, no vessel is going to pass through. 😊
Tenn-Tom - Chain of Lakes Segment: After exiting Whitten Lock, we were travelling the 2nd section of the Tenn-Tom -- the Canal Section, or Chain of Lakes Segment, where there are 52 miles of 9-ft deep waterway with 6 locks, dams & pools.
⏱ Lock Delay: ~20 min: Montgomery Lock (33-ft).
As soon as we arrived at the lock, the green light was on, and we went straight in.
⏱ Lock Delay: ~55 min: Rankin Lock (31-ft)
Ray really appreciated the mid-ship cleat on our Great Harbour N37. Easy does it!
The sun was perfect for photographing the few spotty areas of fall foliage (we’re early), as well as the bright greens.
Cypress, sandy marshes, and blue water were unexpected sights along the inland rivers.
The river was lined with miles and miles of undeveloped, diverse forest.
By mid-afternoon, 7 boats began docking at Midway Marina. We were docked by 4:00 pm. This was a nice quiet marina with a good on-site restaurant, nice boaters lounge, covered deck with patio furniture, and 4 sets of coin laundry machines.
Having only snacked for lunch, we went for an early dinner at Guy's Place On Water Dining.
We enjoyed a nice sunset, then turned in early for a pre-dawn departure the next day.
GLTD097 Waverly MS (from Fulton MS): At 6:30 am, Ray called Fulton Lock -- our first lock for the day; he had an upbound tow 1.5 mi out and couldn't say how long it would be before he got us through. We waited about 20 minutes to leave, and then “slow-poked” down to the lock.
We enjoyed the predawn pinks and reds painted across the sky as we dropped lines from Midway Marina.
Even the colors in the trees came alive on the rosy canvas.
⏱ 1st Lock Delay: ~1 hr 20 min: Fulton Lock (26-ft):
By the time we got the green light to enter the lock, 6 looper boats were steaming down to make it, and 1 looper had just left the dock back at the marina, so the lock operator (and we) waited for that boat.
SCOUT was on the forward “pin” (floating bollard) this time, and our bow sprit and rail were protruding 3 feet into the gate opening area.
👍 Thumbs up: The lock operator assured us, over the VHF, that when it was time to open the lower gates, he would wait for us to back up a little to clear the gate. He also rode his golf cart around to personally reassure us (and another looper boat also on the front pin).
While waiting for the last boat to arrive, however, we decided to slide our lock line up to our bow mid-ship cleat, which enabled us to slide SCOUT back enough to clear the gate area.
Based on the non-turbulent lock-throughs we had experienced, so far, we did not anticipate any issues with this different holding point.
Flexibility: We made this change, not because we didn’t trust the lock operator, but instead as a prudent measure. Just as we lower antennas whenever possible to avoid opening a bridge, we thought eliminating the extra steps for the lock operator and the extra waiting by other boaters in the lock, sliding SCOUT back was a safe, reliable, and convenient option for all.
The line-handling and the resulting boat response were not much different from our usual locking.
The gate opening, on the other hand, was exciting (despite knowing we were behind the gate marker)!
⏱ 2nd Lock Delay: ~1 hr 35 min: Wilkins Lock (25-ft): 45-min for an upbound tow to arrive & lock through, then 35 min for 3 new boats to arrive & lock through after the original 7 boats were secure in the lock.
⏱ 3rd Lock Delay: ~30 min: Amory Lock (25-ft)
Tenn-Tom – “River” Segment: After Amory Lock, we started the last section of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway – the "River" section, which is about 150 miles long.
⏱ 4th Lock Delay: ~1 hr 30 min: Aberdeen Lock (28-ft), waiting for upbound tow to arrive & lock through
The “flotilla” of loopers called the lock about 1/2-hr before we would arrive. The lock operator advised they were locking through a barge, and it would probably be another 45-60 min, so we all throttled back, slowing our speed to try to better time our arrival at the lock.
While waiting, I got a photo of this Canada Goose fleeing from something that obviously scared him.
I also caught this egret in flight, and …
… this beautiful heron (again, while waiting).
I think we were all happy to see the barge finally leaving the last lock we all need to transit today!
📞 Same-day marina planning: Upon exiting our 4th and final lock for the day, our ETA to Columbus Marina was 6:30 pm, so we increased our RPM above our usual cruising speed to gain a little time.
🧭 Route Planning: Meanwhile, Ray began assessing Plan B anchorages.
📞 Same-day marina planning: After a cumulative lock wait time of nearly 5 hours, (only 1 lock today did NOT have an upbound tow that held us up!), we called the marina at 4:30 to let them know we would not make it there before sunset.
⚓Anchored. We decided to anchor at River Oaks anchorage (just upstream from Columbus MS) and were anchored by 6:00 pm – just about sunset time.
🔷 Boater Tip: Sometimes an anchorage is narrow, so you will need to eliminate swinging side-to-side due to wind or tide change pushing the boat into the bank.
In this case, Ray set an anchor off the stern, in addition to the bow anchor.
Another option is to tie the stern off onto a tree or other holding object; to date, we have never utilized that method on SCOUT.
This chart screenshot (left) shows SCOUT (red marker) on the creek, just off of the main channel (white). The photo of SCOUT (right) shows the stern anchor tied off on our stern cleat.
With both anchors down and holding, it was time for a hotdog!
Not long after sunset, Ray noticed the bright flash of tow spotlights on the main channel.
“Here it comes!”
“There it goes!” It was good to be tucked out of the way in the creek. We counted two more tows going by overnight.
🟠 Life Afloat: Both AT&T and Verizon service were very weak here. I could not stream TV, but it had been a somewhat long day and I was tired enough to hit the hay early.
⚡ Weather Afloat: We had heavy rain throughout the night (1.5 inches), but, thankfully, no wind, thunder, or lightning. Other loopers in the region apparently had severe weather.
The anchors held us in place well throughout the rains that passed overnight.
This screenshot is from the anchor watch app the next morning.
The black “squigglies” show that SCOUT “wiggled” a little but did not swing widely.
GLTD098 Warsaw AL (from Waverly MS): We hauled anchors and departed at 6:50 am. It was cloudy, so it seemed darker than usual for that time of day.
Ray called our first of 2 locks for the day when we were 1/4 - 1/2 mile out. 2 boats were already in the lock, but the lock operator was already waiting for another boat approaching from Columbus marina, so he said he would wait for us (we could be there in 15 min). Even so, Ray increased RPMs to gain a little speed.
⏱ 1st Lock Delay: ~20 min: Stennis Lock (30-ft)
Don’t worry! Just planning ahead; not making a brewery stop while cruising! It didn’t take Ray long to spot the “Destin Brewery” sticker on the top of the bollard pin. 😊
Downstream of the lock, we noticed about 0.5 kt of favorable current; it seemed like there was water being released from Stennis Dam -- probably related to the heavy rains that came through last night.
📞 Future stay marina planning: We evaluated travel options that would provide reliable internet coverage for Ray to make a presentation at the annual Great Harbour Trawler Owners Association (GHTA) meeting the next week (taking place in in Florida). We considered an additional +3 days in Demopolis to cover the meeting day, so he could “zoom in” for his presentation, but Kingfisher Marina was limiting transient stays to only 2 nights, given the high level of looper traffic passing through.
🧭 Route Planning: Ray reviewed nearby anchorages along the route south, looking specifically for reviews about cellular service, and selected a couple of reasonable options.
🟠 Life Afloat Tip: If you require reliable cellular service along the loop, evaluate service areas on the providers’ coverage maps, but keep in mind that service levels on the river depend on the height and density of land, buildings and trees surrounding the river. (Beware if the names of many noted landmarks on the map include the word “cliff”. 😊)
At last night's anchorage, we had almost no Verizon or AT&T coverage, even though the Verizon coverage map was showing 4G coverage in Demopolis AL all the way down to Coffeeville AL, and, specifically, 4G coverage in the area near our anchorage near Columbus.
U.S. Snagboat Montgomery: Built in 1926, Snagboat Montgomery was one of the last steam-powered sternwheelers to ply the inland waterways of the South, when retired in 1982. She is currently drydocked at Tom Bevill Visitor Center (beside the Bevill Lock) in Pickensville, Alabama.
⏱ 1st Lock Delay: ~50 min: Bevill Lock (27-ft)
While these cliffs are not that pretty, the 2 distinct types of soil layers are intriguing.
And within the bottom layer of this cliff, it seems there are horizontal lines. Ray wondered if they indicated the age of the land like rings within a tree trunk.
Back to the “beautiful” stretches…these red trees “popped” against the bright greens.
We were happy to see sunshine finally – even if just briefly.
This may have been one of the tightest turn tow-and-barge passes we have made! The tow pilots are great at communication and very friendly to “pleasure craft”.
⚓Anchored. By mid-afternoon, we arrived and anchored at Warsaw Cutoff anchorage. It was a quiet area with plenty of swing room, so there was no need for a 2nd anchor.
🔺Total Statue Miles = We’ve now travelled over 5,000 miles on the Great Loop. Wow! 😮
GLTD099 Demopolis AL (from Warsaw AL): As Ray hauled anchor and I powered up the navigator’s tablet, the zoomed-out view (below, left) reminded me just how close we were getting to the Gulf of Mexico!
On the right, another screenshot from anchor watch app shows how SCOUT swings a little wider on just 1 anchor when compared with the screenshot (above) when 2 anchors were deployed. The small amount of current here is evidenced by most of the “blob” being downstream.
It was grey and misty as we reentered the river.
We expected to see some loopers, since Nebo was showing several loopers anchored nearby last night. Before long, we slowed our speed to allow 2 loopers 3 miles behind us to catch up to us.
Just before arriving to our first and only lock for the day, we were granted a close pass of this tow & barge load.
⏱ Lock Delay: ~45 min Heflin Lock (32-ft). After 3 looper boats arrived and secured in the lock, the lock operator hailed on VHF ch.16 for “any southbound pleasure craft wishing to lock through”. We suspect she saw someone on AIS. We waited for a few minutes with no response, so the locking process continued.
After exiting the lock, with water flowing over the dam, our speed was up to 8 kts (9.2 mph)! 😮
By mid-morning, we had lost our favorable current, but we may have been slowed a little from the 18-mph wind on the nose!
As we neared the White Cliffs of Epes, it was already too cloudy to warrant flying the drone, now it was also too windy.
White Cliffs of Epes: Stretching for approximately one mile, this group of historic cliffs is made from layers of the Selma Chalk Formation. Over time, this natural wonder has become more and more exposed due to the rushing river water. Today, it stands about 30 feet above water.
One of the most interesting facts about the White Cliffs of Epes is that the cliffs were deposited around the same time as England's White Cliffs of Dover, which are approximately 70 million years old.
This photo provides a glimpse of how far the cliffs extend.
I’m left to only imagine how gorgeous these colors would have been with a bright sun shining over them.
A few hours down the river, we saw another set of interesting cliffs, which I coined “Sculptured Cliffs.”
🙏Thankful: As I write this, I realize how thankful I am for a captain who watches the helm nearly full-time, so I can spend so much time on the bow, watching for photo ops!
🙏 Thankful: It was still chilly and damp, so we ran the small diesel heater we installed in the pilothouse -- a real luxury for cool weather cruising.
Mid-afternoon, we docked at Kingfisher Bay Marina in Demopolis AL. (I forgot to get a photo of SCOUT.) This is a nice marina with a lot of covered slips and a large boaters lounge with 4 sets of laundry machines! There are no restaurants within walking distance, so it was nice to know we had plenty of food onboard SCOUT.
Upon check-in with the ever-busy dockmaster, we signed up to borrow the courtesy car the next morning. Time slots filled up quickly, so I’m glad we got to the marina early.
I did a couple of loads of laundry while Ray made dinner.
Next day, since we weren’t making any brewery stops in the courtesy car, I designated Ray the driver. 😊 Like many cruisers, we chose to spend our 2-hr car limit provisioning at Wal-Mart over sightseeing. 😉
We stayed here a couple of days to relax and get a few chores done.
The afternoon before departure, we attended the “standard” captain’s meeting that is publicized by the dockmaster. (It’s nice that no one has the extra chores of locating and inviting boats to the meeting.)
The next lock, which is just a few miles from here, likes for the southbound boats to coordinate their departure so there will be no more than 10 boats in the lock at 7:00 am.
Since the next many miles of travel have few to zero docking options, the conversation generally evolves to who is anchoring or docking where next, and their average travel speed.
GLTD100 Coffeeville AL (from Demopolis AL): We left on Halloween, so we missed the costume party at Kingfisher Marina later that night. 🙁 (Guess which one of us was more disappointed.)
NOTE: This was the marina we had asked to stay an extra 3 days (so Ray could virtually make a presentation at the annual GHTA meeting), but they were limiting stays to 2 nights, given the high level of looper traffic.
We departed with 5 other boats at 6:30 am, as planned, to get to the lock together. It was foggy & cold.
⏱ Lock Delay: ~35 min Demopolis Lock (40-ft). Since the volunteer “flotilla” coordinator had called ahead to the lock, it was ready for entry with a green light when we began arriving.
The sun rose as we exited the lock, and we hoped it would soon burn off some of the fog.
Downriver of the lock, we were gaining about 0.5 kt favorable current, but … we had to back it down for thick fog. Dang it! You may not see it right away, but our fellow looper sv Sand Dollar is behind us (right of center).
The flotilla of about 5 boats was in constant communication during this foggy period, and the entire group decided to throttle back a little. Although many of us have AIS and radar, there were a few fishing boats out on the river at that time, so we all kept a close eye out together.
Within 20 minutes, when the fog began to lift (a little), we throttled back up to cruising speeds, and now, we were getting ~1.0 kt favorable current! 😮
🔺Great Loop Milestone: New River: We were now travelling the Black Warrior River portion of the Tombigbee Waterway.
We passed more unique cliffs; they were not shown on the map, so I named them “Zebra Cliffs.” 😊 I would have loved to see them with sunshine and without fog. 🙁
🟠 Life Afloat: We were still deciding where to anchor that night but wanted to make as many miles as possible before sunset. We thought that getting closer to Mobile Alabama would improve our chances for a good cellular signal for the next day’s meeting presentation.
🔷 Boater Tip: In this stretch of the rivers, there are no marinas, the anchorages are few and far between, and many of the anchorages are small, shallow, and impacted the ever-changing water level.
At the time, the river looked low, which will further limit the available anchorage area.
Riding the Groove: By mid-morning, our speed was still averaging 7.9 kts; we were even getting 8.1 kts in the narrow portions of the river. Yeeha! Ray found the groove, and we hit 8.7 kts! Yes! Follow that sweet spot!
We seem to be entering a new type of geographical formation. Look at those white sandy beaches!
The bridge is up: Around noon, we arrived at the Meridian & Bigby RR Bridge, which was open, so we proceeded through. Surprisingly, when we got within 20 feet of the bridge, Ray saw a train moving slowly toward the lifted track! What?!?!😲 The bridge is up!
That was scary! After we passed under, the bridge never went down -- and the train never crossed, so we decided this must be what they do for fun on Halloween! Whew! Breathe! We guessed the train had stopped to load something in a back car with the engine just at the edge of the lower railway.
Our travel down this section of the river had been inefficient – when we compare miles and distance travelled. These charts look more like Grand Prix tracks than marine navigation charts.
🔷 Boater Tip: When travelling where cell service is very weak, you may not be able to transmit a group text or a text with an attached photo, but you may be able to transmit a text-only message to a single contact. (They each use different “paths” through the cellular network.)
📞🚩 We were basically off-grid all day – for both AT&T and Verizon service. When we hit pockets of cell service, late afternoon, we were able to get a text out to a couple of our float support team.
“Wild” life: We thought this group of water fowl were cormorants until we got closer. They are actually American Coots. Their white bills are vertically flat instead of horizontal like a duck’s bill. Ref: https://www.birdsandblooms.com/birding/bird-species/ducks-and-geese/what-is-that-black-duck-with-the-white-bill/
⚓Anchored. We anchored in Okatuppa Creek with one other looper boat just as the sun was setting.
We lost AT&T service mid-morning, and never regained it!
Verizon service was weak, and we lost it for long periods during the day. Thankfully, we had 2 bars of 3G at the anchorage to provide our normal status report to our float support team.
What’s next? This week, we celebrated 100 travel days on the loop, although the previous travel day may have been more memorable, when I sang (to the tune of 99 bottle of beer on the wall) “99 travelin’ days on the loop, 99 travelin’ days, ….” (Now that I think about it, I can’t believe we really sang this song as kids! 🤔)
🔺 Great Loop Milestone: 100 days of travel (218 calendar days).
In the next blog, we will continue down the inland rivers. Find out how close we will get to the Gulf of Mexico.
Click here to view our previous blog posts: https://n37scout.wixsite.com/travels/blog
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