Great Loop Day 070 Nov 6, 2016, Smithville Wilkins Lock Anchorage to Columbus Marina
Smithville Wilkins Lock Anchorage to Columbus Marina.
“Friends... they cherish one another's hopes. They are kind to one another's dreams.”
― Henry David Thoreau, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
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Day 70 Sunday, Nov 6, 2016. Smithville, Wilkins Lock anchorage to Columbus Marina. 43.2 miles. 3 locks, Glover Wilkins Lock (mile 376.3), Amory Lock (mile 371.1) Aberdeen Lock (mile 357.5) done. That's 7 locks in 3 days. 3 more locks before hitting the Black Warrior River at Demopolis, Alabama.
This morning at the anchorage in the distance breaking the morning silence was a pack of coyotes howling at each other. Attempted to get a recording on my cell phone. Overall a cool crisp morning to get started.
Howling Coyote video
Going in at the top…
…coming out of the bottom
Found a new way to attach the line to the boat and I can sit in the cockpit in control.
This last section of the Tenn-Tom Waterway transitioned from the 'canal' to the 'river' portion. Most of this waterway was dug out to straighten the winding river leaving behind oxbows, some are good anchorages but many are not for they were dumping grounds for the straightening project.
I didn't see any 4 legged wildlife but did see eagles, herons, and egrets. I did get excited to see floating past me Water Hyacinths. Back home I would purchase them for my pond, fast growers they are. Here they're prolific but not hardy, they die off at the first frost.
Mostly wilderness lining both shorelines. Getting closer to Columbus, MS and I observed more signs of human habitation. Scattered among the pines there were homes and the Barton Ferry Recreation Area with a campground. Pontoon boats appear popular here as are fishing bass boats.
Made it to the Columbus Marina. Checked in for the night and got my slip assignment. On a long dock near the shallow end. No sooner I tied off the spring line I run into Beth and Dave from the Mystic. They have been here a while and will be leaving soon. They are going to dock their 35ft Alberg and head to NYC and Conn for business and Thanksgiving. They treated this simple sailor to a fabulous stove-cooked dinner aboard their boat. And I meant it when I said that the rice dish belongs in a 5-star restaurant.
Thank You!
Relaxing listening to WMSV 91.1 FM to real blues that only Mississippi can claim. The program broadcasts every Sunday from 6 pm to midnight and can be heard on the internet as well using a radio app like TuneIn. Played hits like, It's Midnight in Mississippi And I'm All Alone, Aberdeen Blues, and I Asked For a Beer She Gave me Gasoline. Thanks, Dave for the heads up on this.
It's been 9 straight days of sailing/motoring since leaving Green Turtle Bay Marina. Taking a rest day tomorrow to get some cleaning, laundry, gas, etc. 335 miles to Mobile ticking off one mile at a time. Fair winds and gentle seas.
Comments from 2016:
Leslie Rogers McCormick Straightening waterways may aid navigation, but it plays merry hell with the watershed. Ask Florida (re the Kissimmee River to Lake Okeechobee).
Edward Durma Coyotes?
Henry Krzemien RN Yes
Pogo Bob If you think that's scary, wait till you start hearing banjos...
Henry Krzemien RN
Don't tell that to Steve Martin! You're musically inclined can you tell me why the banjo being prominent here in the south is never heard in blues music? And is there such a thing as bluegrass blues?
Pogo Bob
Since you mentioned Steve Martin, he might be the one to suggest the answer to your first question:
Pogo Bob As to the second question, Here's a song my sailing buddy Frank, from Nova Scotia, wrote on that very subject. I recorded this in the saloon of Melodeon, the 47' steel-hull, junk-rigged ketch that he and his wife, Chris, built. As I recall, we were about 5 beers into the evening when I took this video:
Nancy Horvath: Cool. I've heard a deafening chorus of coyotes for a few nights in our backyard. I couldn't believe how loud they were.
Henry Krzemien RN It was my first time hearing them in the wild at Cumberland anchorage of the Ohio River. Today I saw a pack of wild wart hogs near the edge of the river. Got a pic of one before they scattered in the woods. It's so quiet now at this anchorage, all you hear are the crickets in the distance and the splash of fish in the water. I'm sure to be hearing the buzzing of mosquitoes soon as it gets dark in an hour.
Nancy Horvath Henry Krzemien Sounds wonderful!
Henry Krzemien RN This has to be what the early pioneers and the indigenous Indians heard also. No cars, no planes, No motorized anything. Wait. I hear rustling in the brush on shore, it's getting louder. It's one of the black wart hogs coming to the shoreline. He scurried back before I could get my camera, darn. Maybe in the morning, I'll get a better view.
Beth Dailey Rogers: COOL!!!
Bernie Sokolowski Get out of there now! The place is haunted.
Phyllis Lemasters Run henry
Bob Meredith, I DO believe in spooks!