Finally, the day has come. We are truly heading down the Tennessee-Tombigee Waterway!
Actually, we had planned to head east, back to Florence and Muscle Shoals to tour the area and Recording Studio. Since the Aberdeen and Stennis Locks were scheduled to be closed until October 4th and 5th, respectively, we figured we had a bit of time. However, the rain from Helene continued for days, and we didn’t want to run in the rain. No fun! So, we stayed under a nice covered slip until the weather in Iuka and South cleared.
At this point, no one knew just what a mess Hurricane Helene would leave in the Eastern Tennessee River and Lock system. I am sure you have seen many photos. Since we were south of the last lock prior to Yellow Creek, we knew it would be days before the run-off would affect the water on the Tenn-Tom. (If at all.) We did a morning pump-out and headed south at 10:19. Not exactly an early start, but we were only running 40 miles to Bay Springs Marina.
The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway connects the Tennessee River to the Tombigbee. It is a series of rivers, lakes and man-made cuts dredged deep enough (between the channel markers) to allow barges to easily traverse the waterway. Starting in Yellow-Creek, we first passed Goat Island, which is named for the wild goats which inhabit it. We didn’t stop – we had just started – but I took this photo. I don’t see any goats, but you might!
It’s very interesting to see the changes in the Waterway…from natural shoreline, to man-made channels. Once we were out of Yellow Creek, we got to see our first example of a straight waterway!
Something interesting is the concrete waterfalls created where the watershed from a creek goes into the Tenn-Tom. It certainly is a good way to 1) scatter the impact to the shoreline and 2) keep the flotsam and jetsam at bay.
Before we knew it, we were in Bay Springs. We filled with gas (to check our engine work…and are happy with the results) and decided to stay at the Bay Springs Marina. It is just outside the first lock (Whitten Lock) and we had a super tie up at the ‘T’ end of their largest dock. There were BIG boats on this dock, baby!!! It was a wonderful ending to our first day back on the water!