Day 14 Oct 28, 56 miles Midway Marina, Fulton MS

We departed Grand Harbor Marina at 9:30AM....full of fuel ($3.89 special to loopers)...Sunny...no wind...40 degrees...still in long pants, sweatshirts and socks

We are traveling the Tenn-Tom Waterway to Mobile AL.  The first time I looked on a map for the Tenn-Tom I expected to see a river....not so...looks like a creek.....so,  here is some history because some do not know it exists...

Construction on the Tenn-Tom project began in 1972, it would go on to become the largest civil works project ever undertaken by the Army Corps of Engineers, which spent $2 billion to make it happen.  More dirt was moved to build the Tenn-Tom than was moved to build the Panama Canal.  By connecting the Tennessee River in Mississippi and the Black Warrior River in Alabama, it provides a direct water route from the Tennessee River to the ICW and Gulf of Mexico at Mobile Bay.  In June 1985, the ribbon was cut and the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway was open for business.  When Rik brought the boat up the Tenn-Tom from Jacksonville FL in 2010 the 25th Anniversary was being celebrated.

Officially the Tenn-Tom is only the 234 miles between the Tennessee River and Demopolis.  The 217 miles between Demopolis and Mobile is the Black Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway.  Most boaters just call the entire 450 miles the "Tenn-Tom".

Once we passed mm 443.7 (Mississippi Hwy 25 bridge) we are approaching the 24-mile long Divide Cut.  The channel with rock riprap is 280 feet wide bank to bank.  To be specific the cut here is about 1,300 feet wide and 175 feet deep.  Every bit of what was once here, all 150 million cubic yards of it, had to be dug out and hauled away.  You can not anchor anywhere in the Divide Cut.

Approaching The Divide Cut

 

mm 427.5 - there is an orange and white marker that indicates the former location of Holcut, the only town that had to be moved for the building of the Tenn-Tom.

Straight

We meet up with Lady KK, Last Resort, and Boot Scootin and travel  with them the rest of the day. 

Lock One  was the Jamie Whitten Lock and Dam.  With a drop of 84 feet, it's the ninth highest single lift lock in the US.  We are going downhill from @ 414 feet above sea level to the Gulf of Mexico.  It takes eight flights of stairs to walk to the top of the chamber rim from the lower approach wall.  (Not me!)

Whitten Lock and Dam

Gates opening

Bit of trivia -- The first  10 locks are identical, the horizontal seams or joints in the lock walls in all of them are 5 feet apart.  Combine that fact with the depth of the lock and as you are being lowered you can easily calculate how much father down you must go before those big doors swing open.

mm 410.8 The Natchez Trace Parkway crosses over the Tenn-Tom.  I didn't what the Tenn-Tom even was when we crossed the bridge in the motorcoach.

 

Mulch and Sawdust Industry

Lock Two was the Montgomery Lock with a 30 foot drop.  This was easy...still have wind tho...

Lock Three was the Rankin Lock with a 30 foot drop.  Yes, the trivia information was helpful as we went DOWN.

J Ward Barge going upriver

We have reservations at Midway Marina(mm 394.0). All  four boats are going in. The wind is blowing.  We were met by several helpful hands to help us tie up and get Miss Saddi off the boat.  This was a 55 mile day.  We are looking forward to a catfish dinner at the local restaurant.  But NO....the restaurant is closed....amazing what one can do with frozen chicken breast, wild rice and carrots as long as the scotch and crown don't run out. 
You know it was windy...cold....no pictures of Midway Marina...