Regarding the locks, at this point, we had little to no wait time. When we left Joe Wheeler Park at 7:38 am, headed for Florence Marina in Florence/Muscle Shoals AL, we arrived at the Wheeler Lock at 8:35 am and were thru the lock by 8:42 am. One would say we definitely went through the Wheeler Lock expeditiously. The next lock, the Wilson Lock, is 14 miles downriver and known for it’s barge traffic and wait times. While we did wait at Wilson Lock for 90 minutes, the kind Lockmaster requested a tug change its moored position to allow us to tie-up to the lock entrance wall. We were happy with our wait time, as the Lockmaster took pity on us and squeezed our lock transit in between two barge tows, one upriver and one downriver. (Commercial traffic has precedence over pleasure craft.) As a note, it was 86 degrees and we were wearing full life jackets, as required at a lock. We were getting pretty HOT!
As a side note, because laughter is the best medicine…
Tying up to the first pin on the lock entrance required me (Suzanne) to toss a looped line around an 8″ round ‘pin’ recessed in a cavity about 30″ wide and 20″ deep. It is similar to tying to a bollard inside the locks, except the water is not protected and there was some pretty good wave action. Standing starboard mid-ship, fully clothed in my life jacket and wearing marriage-savers as Denis maneuvers the boat to the wall, I toss this looped line over the boat rail…and end up hitting a VERY LARGE wasp nest. Who knew?? It was tucked up in a corner and, hey, I was concentrating on lassoing the pin. Needless to say, the wasps now saw me as their enemy! I recall screaming, jumping back, swatting wasps and requesting an URGENT move forward on the wall to the next pin…Please…AND FAST! It was a blessing neither of us got stung and most of the wasps forgave me by the time we got to the next pin. All I can say is, I am SURE the Lock Master and Captains from the parked Tugs enjoyed the show! (Apologies for no photos of this…for obvious reasons!)
Our destination for the day was three miles down from the Wilson Lock at Florence Harbor Marina. A nice place with access to walking along a long river’s-edge park. It was easy to get a long walk in. While tied up, we met “Scratchy”, another Looper boat. Coming in from Knoxville, we were not really on the ‘Loop’. They had taken this side-trip and were heading to Chattanooga. They were planning to beat the lock closures on the Tenn-Tom and ‘cross their wake’ near Lake Okeechobee.
Unbeknownst to us, they took our picture and published it on the “Great Loop“ Facebook page. It is now the photo on our Boat Card.
Notice McFarland Park heading down river (to the right). It was a very busy park with families and groups cooking out and enjoying the day. Also, a great place to walk. Following downriver, beyond the park, is the McFarland Park R/V Campground.
The lighted tower just to our left is actually a pretty unique piece. It is the McFarland Lighthouse.
With our push to beat the lock closures, we did not stay to give justice to this amazing city. Crossing my fingers for a stay during our return trip to Knoxville.
The next morning we had a bad time getting our boat away from the dock when leaving. The wind was pushing us into the dock, and being very aware of the dinghy, Neeve, on our back platform sticking out, it made for a very nervous driver (Denis). We got out of there without any visible damage. Can’t say the old ego was at all buffed-up on that departure. There were comments made that might not have been complimentary from the First Mate (Suzanne), but the Captain did not quite register them as he was fairly discombobulated (a**holes and elbows, as it were) while trying anything to recover from a self-induced Bad Situation. What did we learn from this, boys and girls? Don’t do it that way the next time.
Now, the question of what to actually do, is still open to discovery.