Thursday, October 29, 2015

Wednesday 10/28/15– in Columbus MS
Weather/Sea   Cloudy then Sunny, Calm, temp 50 to 75
   Captain - John C. Kwak crew Chuck Stuart and Greg Murphy
Dutchess and crew are in Columbus MS on the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway. We are in the Columbus Marina at mile 335 and staying 2 nights to take care of business and regroup. The cost is only $98.16 for the 2 nights. I needed to stop in good size town to replenish my pharmaceuticals. I was worried about getting them here but I called my Doctor in Modena NY and she emailed prescriptions to Walgreens in Columbus MS and it all took about an hour. We got the courtesy car from the marina and went to Walgreens and picked them up. That is how things work in the computer age, wonderful. Tomorrow we go to Pirate,s Marina Cove in Pickensville Alabama.
Tennessee River portion.
We left Green Turtle Bay Marina in Kentucky on the 19th and went to Paris Landing Marina in Tennessee. We tanked diesel ay GTB only 24.48 gallon at a cost of $67.89. GTB is of off Barkley Lake on the Cumberland River from which we took the Barkley Canal which connects Barkley Lake to Kentucky Lake. Kentucky Lake is a TVA dam and lake on the Tennessee River.  The Canal enters the Tennessee River at mile 25.4 and then we have to travel up the Tennessee to mile 215.1. Parish Landing is at Mile 66.1 and is a State Marina. The cost is only 1.00 per ft so $44.00 for Dutchess, no tax.
On the 20th we traveled for 8 hrs to Cuba Landing Marina at mile 115.5. We called them on the phone and VHF no answer but we entered anyway. The trawler “Crossroads” entered before us and left because the marina appeared closed. We proceeded slowly and tied up to what appeared to be the transient dock. We asked some fishermen about the status and they said that it was closed on Monday and Tuesday, since it was Tueday we decided to stay and pay on Wednesday which we did with no problem. They only charged $33.00 for the night and they were happy that we stayed.
On the 21st we ran for 6.7 hrs to Clifton City marina at mile 158.5, dockage was $48.29. Gregg bought a 6 pack of Shark Beer and we relaxed under the porch roof. Then we ordered burgers, Sonya the dock lady and only one there cooked them and they were delicious. We took the courtesy car to town but only found a Dollar Store to provision the boat, very small town. The boat was visited by a small Raccoon during the night. It was only 3 feet from Gregg and trying to steal my Oreos. Gregg chased him out and we closed the boat up more tightly. He tried to come back twice which kept Gregg up for hours.
On the 22th we cruised to Grand Harbor Marina which is on mile 449.7 on the TennTom Waterway. This was a 10 hour run which included the Lock into Pickwick Lake. We had to wait for a Tow to lock out and then we into a very deep 55’ lock and rose up to Pickwick lake level, easy lock with floating bollards. This is the highest level on the trip all the locks are down from here. Pickwick is another TVA power lake but also is the start of the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway, known as TenTom. We stayed at Grand Harbor Marina for 3 days because they had good WIFI and Gregg needed to do some computer work for 2 days. Nothing to do here, because it is an isolated resort community  and large marina with no facilities. We were picked up by a local Restaurant for free, I had shrimp and catfish. That is 3 small shrimp and 2 small catfish fillets. The fish was undersize and should have been thrown back Ha! The other days we cooked on board. The 3 days cost $141.24, we also tanked diesel 27 gallons for $76.62. On the way to the fuel dock I lost reverse gear and every time I pushed it into reverse the boat went faster forward. Within seconds I could not steer away from a dock and smashed into it with the bow. Dutchess has a clipper bow so it rides up on the dock and then slides backward off. Then using the bow thruster I managed to steer a large circle around the fuel dock at idle and then shut the engine off and coasted to the dock. While the crew pumped diesel and holding tanks, I jumped into the engine room. I found that the shifter control cable sheeth had jumped out of a clamp. I put it back in and safety wired it also, no more problem. Except that the bow now has a black streak from the docks rubber edging. 
On 25th we sailed down the TenTom to Bay Springs Marina at mile 412.2 a 6.3 hr trip. We have had excellent weather until this day and now the rain begins. We have seen many tows pushing barges with Benzene or Xylene before but now each tow seems to be Benzene. Yes they are called tows even though they are pushing.
On the 26th we traveled to Midway Marina at mile 393.8 which took 6.7hrs. We passed thru three locks Whitten Lock, Montgomery Lock, and Rankin Lock, in each we were joined by three other boats “Crossroads”, “Red Eagle”, and “La Luna”. We had to wait at each lock for La Luna because she is a smaller sailboat and slower than us three. La Luna is owned by a Dutch couple, they fly the Dutch flag, and I spoke some Dutch with them. I hope to meet them again. Dockage here is 58.85 for the night. I expected the Dutch boat to come in but they anchored out.

On the 27th we sailed to Columbus Marina at mile 335 and passed thru 4 locks. In Fulton Lock we had “Kristin Says”, Sales Call”, and “La Luna” with us. After this lock I slowed down to stay with La Luna and the Trawlers caught the next lock. La Luna and Dutchess went thru Wilkins Lock and Amory Lock then La Luna anchored and we went alone thru Aberdeen Lock. We entered Columbus Marina at 5:30 a 10 hour 58.8 mile run.

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