Waverly, TN to Demopolis, AL

Sept. 30 - October 8
Walter Muff, D. R. Zaccone

9/30    Arrived at Cuba Landing Marina via Nashville.  Did cleanup and shared courtesy van with 4 boaters from Chicago for dinner at the Log Cabin Restaurant.  Catfish was again the entree of choice.

10/1    Departed down the Tennessee River under light winds and moderate temperatures.  Only a few tows on the river today.  Anchored for lunch just off the channel.  Some high bluffs along shore.  Anchored for the night at Swallow Bluff Island, one of the more picturesque of river anchorages.  Beautiful clear skies with millions of stars and a close at hand tow running up the river at night made for spectacular sights.  Grilled salmon for dinner.

10/2    Another great weather day.  We passed the Shiloh National Park in the afternoon, but there is no place to tie up for a tour.  Pickwick Lock was an easy up lock and the last up lock on the trip (up locks are more difficult than down locks due to the turbulence generated when filling the chamber on an up lock).  Good lockmaster - did not open the control gates next to the boat so did not get nearly as much side surge.  Pickwick Lake, which begins just below the lake is very scenic with lots of good anchorages.  Anchored for lunch in one of the many coves.  Nice upscale homes along shore. Overnight at Pickwick Landing Marina - very nice with covered docks and a courtesy car.  Borrowed the car that night for a trip to dinner at Eddie T's  which was one of the better shore side dining experiences.

10/3    Borrowed the courtesy van again for a trip to Shiloh, along with Steve and Charlotte from Cleveland.  Shiloh has a museum and a 10 mile historical drive where all of the events of the 1863 battle took place.  Nice park and very well maintained. The Tenn-Tom Waterway begins here - a 235 mile stretch connecting the Tennessee, Tombigbee and Black Warrior rivers. The project was completed in 1985 and is the largest construction project ever undertaken by the Army Corps of Engineers.  Shortly after leaving the marina we entered the "Divide Cut" a 24 mile long section cut out of rock and dirt that is 280 feet wide.  Not the most interesting scenery.   After the cut we entered Bay Springs Lake, a nice lake with many anchorages. Would have anchored for the night but we needed cable TV in order to watch the first presidential debate, so we went on to the Bay Springs Marina, Walter prepared an excellent meal of chicken in wine sauce and we watched the first debate, which we scored slightly in Bush's favor, although neither candidate engendered a groundswell of enthusiasm from the SeaBird crew.

10/4    Under clear skies and 60 degree temperature we departed and entered the first of six locks which we were to do today. The first lock (the Whitten) is also the biggest elevation change on the entire Loop with an 84 foot drop.  Like being at the bottom of a deep well.  Fortunately all of the locks are now down locks, so they are much easier to handle than those that lift as there is no surge created by the water entering the lock.  All of the lockmasters on the Tombigbee were very accommodating, the Amory Lock even put us through ahead of a tow, which saved us at least an hour. DR and Walter each took the helm in a lock docking and handled the job with distinction.  In the afternoon we did a bit of trap shooting from the aft deck.  Stopped for the night at the Aberdeen Marina just north of the Lock of the same name.  This place is really back in the bayou.  We took their courtesy car, a Lincoln, to the Town & Country Restaurant for a "typical" dining experience (deep fried everything).

10/5    A couple of locks only today.  Again excellent weather in the 60's.  River is sparsely populated in this section, mostly tree covered shore line.  Overnighted at Marina Cove Marina - a one dock operation just above the Heflin Lock.  Dinner at the Gates Lodge was comparable to the preceding evening.

10/6    Toured the visitor's center at the lock in the morning - a small museum featuring the history of the waterway.  The good weather finally turned as the day was rainy and cooler.  We anchored for the night in the old river channel just below the Heflin Lock - the last on this leg.  Nice anchorage, but difficult holding, had to set 4 times.  Grilled pork chops on board and watched "Meaning of Life" on the video.

10/7    A cold front passed during the night yielding 52 degree temperature in the morning - a bit brisk for this time of year!  Today we covered the last 50 miles to our layover port of Demopolis.  Saw a couple of vulture families dining and 3 deer swimming across the river.  Also ran into Steve and Charlotte on "At Last" (not literally).  Demopolis Yacht Basin is a busy place, it is rather strategically situated just below the point where the Black Warrior River intersects the Tombigbee so traffic between either Paducah or Knoxville and Mobile stop here to fuel up and overnight.  The shoreside dining experience was however not a highlight.

10/8    A cold 38 degree morning as we head for the airport in Meridian, MS for a weeks break.