Tennessee - Tom Bigbee River section

Tennessee - Tom Bigbee River section

Rivers cross our path 

We are now in a section of the Tombigbee waterway called  “the River Section”.  We have gone through the man-made canal and completed a series of 8 locks to emerge out into a wider lake area called Columbus Lake, near the city of Columbus, MS.     We are getting pretty good at this stuff, Dennis can now coast the boat into a lock with exactly the right speed and direction to put me (standing on the walkway) right in front of the bollard – where I, ever so expertly, toss the rope ring over the top and tie it off.  Today we were laughing about the fact that this no longer terrifies us completely.

Birds, enjoying the sunshine

A regular day on the boat – now that we are “old sea-hands” - includes shoving off from a pier with a minimum of fuss before 7:30 a.m..  Then an hour or so later one of us goes below and makes breakfast, which we eat up at the helm.   

Well, Dennis and the Auto Pilot do most of the driving!

Dennis does most of the driving, but I spell him for an hour or so, a couple of times a day.   I bring lunch up from the galley on a big bright colored tray.  We usually have cold meat, cheese, some chips, a salsa or dip, some fresh fruit, maybe some fresh vegetables or a salad.  There are some variations, but basically it’s cold lunch.  By dinner-time we have either decided to grill or cook on the boat, or go into a nearby town to a restaurant.  When there are other loopers around it is inevitably “docktails at 5 p.m.”.    Nine p.m. is known as “looper midnight” and social life has usually ended after a day of fresh air and brisk wind and a little physical labor.

The days that we stay in marinas are spent doing chores, cleaning bugs off the boat, fixing another piece of minutiae that must be fixed or relaxing, visiting, reading etc.  All in all, it’s a rough life.  Anytime you want to come join us just give us a call.  Not only do you get a boat ride and some sunshine, you will be given the opportunity to be our guest blogger for the day.

Info for following Loopers:  We stayed at the Smithville marina at mile marker 376 last night and it would have been a better choice to anchor out.  There were about 16 boats there, most of them were live-aboards and it was a strange derelict mix.  The Sheriff came by looking for someone- but nobody had seen her in days.  Enough said.

We did hear that the Midway marina at mm 393 was pretty nice.  The Columbus marina, right near the Stennis lock where we are staying tonight, is very nice.  Not fancy but good service and a well-maintained place.   The anchorage at mm 342, Barton Ferry Cutoff, looked like a very good option for anchoring out.

Classic abandoned railroad bridge