Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Departure -- At Last!
Wednesday, October 25, 2006: Departure Day finally arrived! We were up and at ‘em by 8:15 a.m., along with Jane and Paul Cowhig on Happy Destiny. We had been mentally prepared for a 3-hour wait at the crippled Wilson Lock in Florence, AL, but luck was with us. We zoomed right through the old double lock system. . . an auspicious beginning to our adventure. Of course, I was a bit rusty on my locking skills, but we made it anyway. I’ll have to admit that the clunky headsets that Bob insisted on buying came in handy. He was able to coach me in a calm, clear manner so I didn’t panic and bash us into the lock wall while tying the boat off. As we continued down the Tennessee River in the very cool wet weather, we were amazed to see a guy canoeing upriver, skirting various barges.A number of trawlers were also on the river; most were on their Loop trip, simply biding time until insurance companies allowed them to arrive in the Gulf Coast area. We are spending the night at Grand Mariner Marina, at the mouth of the Tenn-Tom waterway (Iuka, MS at Tenn-Tom mile marker 450). We went with the Cowhigs to a really good restaurant – Freddie T’s. Tomorrow is another day! Too bad the forecast is for more rain and cool weather. Thank goodness we added the flybridge enclosure and aft bimini; it has made driving from the flybridge very doable! WooHoo, we're officially on our way.
