From Iuka we start south on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway (Tenn-Tom). There is Northbound traffic to contend with in a light fog.
Some 11 locks from Iuka to Mobile drop us over 400' down to sea level.
The waterway is beautiful in the afternoon sun. What a life! God is so so good!
One lock we went through at night, either we are crazy, stupid, foolish . . . or good at what we are doing.
After the last lock we entered this channel at night to overnight at the Aberdeen Marina. It was fun in the dark, tough in the daylight. On down the waterway.
In the mornings there was often a fog on the waterway; as one tug Captain put it, "about barge high."
The clearing fog would reveal a beautiful morning on the waterway.
Frequently leading to a beautiful afternoon sunset.
Before you arrive at Demopolis, Alabama, you pass the White Cliff of Epes . . . a spectacular and unusual view . . . agreed? After passing so many brown clay, mud, banks.
Just after we left the dock at the Demopolis Yacht Basin we were engulfed in a thick fog. From our continuious monitor of Channel 13, we knew we had one up-bound tug and barge, one down-bound tug and barge, and, a lock to go through. We communicated with the two tug Captains and everyone agreed that while the tugs were stopped in the fog, we would go between them and on to the lock. Bonnie was on the bow trying to see past the burgee . . . and said to Charlie . . . go ahead, thread the needle. ... We did!
We went into the lock, radioed to the Lockmaster that we were secure and then were lowered. The downstream doors opened and we proceeded out of the lock. A few minutes later the Lockmaster called on the radio to determine our location . . . were we out of the lock for he could not see the bottom of his lock. We responded in the affirmative and the Lockmaster then secured the lock until the fog lifted later in the day.
After the Demopolis Lock you go past the remains of the old "Rooster Bridge." Some may remember the pictures on the internet in 2002 of a tug going under this bridge, and I do mean under.
See: http://koti.mbnet.fi/~soldier/towboat.htm for the pictures of this very unusual event! A must see!!! April 19, 1979, when the river was at a record level of 24 feet above flood stage the tug captain approached the bridge with his barge on the nose. He signaled for an opening which was acknowledged . . . and he continued on. The bridge did not open fast enough, the current was too strong for his to stop; the pictures tell the story. The tug continues in service out of Charleston, West Virginia. Alternative site for pictures: http://web.archive.org/web/20080504230717
As we proceed South there are many bends in the river. The course in one area takes us about 1,000 yards south after we travel in snake bends for almost three miles. With the waterway containing such short straight-a-ways and the many curves and bends, Charlie was on the radio, Channel 13, before each bend announcing SONATA's location and intentions, a "security" call. After several hours of southbound travel we received a response from a northbound tug and barge and agreed on a port-to-port passage in a bend. After a safe passage the barge captain asked that we shift to a separate frequency . . . we did. The barge captain wanted to thank Charlie for his continuing commnication coming down the waterway . . . he always knew were we were and knew that SONATA knew where it was. He was confident of our boating skills and asked that Charlie give an instructional course to recreational boats on the waterway on the proper was to come down the river letting others know were you are and your intentions . . . a very pleasant and rewarding conversation.
All this twisting and turning to arrive at "Bobby's Fish Camp" where nothing is offered but a dock. On Thursdays there is a catfish fry . . . we did not arrive on a Thursday.
Bobby's is a true South desolate location. A place to stop going South rather than riding the anchor.
You never know what may be around the bend. Here we came up on some beach combers frolicking in the water. A couple sat back and rode our wake into the beach with joy.
Continuing toward Mobile after a night on the anchor, we rounded one bend and found ourselves in the fog . . . and communicating with an up-bound tug. We agreed on a one-whistle passage (port to port) and then hugged the right-descending-bank to let him pass.
Soon thereafter we saw the Mobile Skyline and continued on to the Dog River Yacht Basin and two overnights so that we could restock, change the oil and the oil and fuel filters. Some catchup engineering work that just seems not to get done while traveling. Next is the Mississippi Gulf Coast and New Orleans.
By car from Madisonville to the River, the West side of the River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Two nights at Oak Alley Plantation. Oak Alley Plantation rests along the banks of the mighty Mississippi sixty miles above New Orleans. Built in 1837-39 and famous for its alley of 28 evenly spaced giant live oak trees, believed to be a century older than the mansion. See: OakAlleyPlantation.com
Our favorite plantation tour was of Laura Plantation (see: lauraplantations.com). This Creole habitation began as a Colapissa Indian village. In 1804, Gillaume DeParc, a French veteran of the American Revolution, set up his plantation in sugarcane and it remained in his family until 1891 when his great-granddaughter, Laura Locoul, sold it to the Florian Waguespack Family. The Waguespack family ran resided on and lived at the plantation until 1984. Today 12 original buildings, including slave cabins, still stand on this National Register site. In the slave quarters at Laura and neighboring plantations were recorded for the first time in the U.S. the west-African folk stories of "Compair Lapin," better known today as the tales of "Br'er Rabbit."
Slave cabins behind Laura, now in need of repair.
Up on the levee in front of Oak Alley Plantation was the American Queen. Riverboat tours up from New Orleans.
The tugs and barges were also ever present on the River . . . passing in front of the Riverboat and our bed and breakfast . . . .
We became students of sugar cane.
A stop by the Cora Texas Sugar Cane Refining Plant . . . and online research into how "they" refined sugar cane in the 1800's.
Our last stop was at the Nottaway Plantation. One of the largest in the United States, some 65 rooms. All the crown moulding around the walls/ceiling was made from a combination of horse hair, spanish moss, and Mississippi River mud.
