Epic Fail

When we started to talk about "doing the Loop," Roger made the case that "It's great, you're always in T-shirts."  Leave from Rhode Island in mid-May. Spend the summer in Canada and the Fall on the rivers getting down to the Gulf.  Stay clear of Florida until the hurricane season is over and then hang out in Florida for the winter.  No matter where you start the Loop, that's the basic plan for 95% of the Loopers.  

As you can see from the following national weather map, the best-laid plans don't always come to fruition.  

Our Epic Fail

Actually, we aren't strangers to cruising in cold weather.  When we cruised on our sailboat Sanderling in 1999-2000, we had frost on the cabin top in the Dismal Swamp (Virginia), and we had to stuff our socks in the vents to ward off the cold during late October/early November. But who would have thought that we would encounter 30º temperatures in the middle of the Mississippi in November?     

Chrisy and Millie fighting the elements.  Poor Millie just got her summer cut.

Chrisy on duty in the lock.

The Pickwick Lock tender has a Facebook page and posts pictures of all the boats coming through.  

We are the second boat on the right.

... and the third boat on the left.

The Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway

The Whitten Lock is one of the tallest locks east of the Mississippi - a drop of 84 feet.

Baffles on the creeks that feed the Tombigbee to prevent creeks from "rushing in" and 

they also help to keep the logs out of the river.

The levee portion of the Tombigbee River

The Tenn-Tom Waterway - 253 miles - connects the Tennessee River at Pickwick Lake (gorgeous lake which is located in 3 different states: Tennessee/ Mississippi/Alabama) with the Tombigbee River at Demopolis, Alabama. It joins the Tennessee and the Tombigbee Rivers. Work began on the waterway in 1972 and it took 13 years to complete, spending close to $2 billion. Construction of the canal moved more earth than was moved in the construction of the Panama Canal and is relatively unknown throughout the US to the public. 

Moving southbound, we will lock down 341 feet over 11 locks. We currently are in Columbus, Mississippi, having gone through 7 locks so far on the Tenn-Tom Waterway. Fortunately for us, we have timed the locks well and have not had to wait very long for a lock opening. However, fellow Loopers have had to wait up to 3 hours at times for a lock to be available for them. Timing is everything.