Day 27: Fulton (Midway) to Columbus, MS

No boring photos of Locks today. You've (almost) had enough. The scenery along the waterway is pretty much constant, and the industry we see is still huge heaps of woodchips and a damp, mulchy-looking shredded material.

We're still in Mississippi. On a cool morning, in the rainy darkness, Rosie helps Preston get us off the dock and away from Midway Marina. It's only a few miles down the Fulton Pool to the Lock, for a 23-foot drop (measured by Rosie from the depth scale in the chamber). Two other bloopers have gotten an early start and follow us into the chamber. We're about to drop, when our nemesis, "Perfect Seas" calls from 2 miles back and cries "wait for us". So, as we did at Whitton yesterday, we--and the others--do again.

Out of Fulton, and 15 miles to run to Wilkins Pool and the Glover Wilkins Lock & Dam. But first, we have to pass two barge tows. The second is on a curve and its captain co-operatively puts the head of his tow to the right-hand bank and holds position while we four PCs slide past on his 'One'.

A light fog drops upon us as we motor down towards Smithville and the Glover Wilkins Lock. "Perfect Seas" is perfectly positioned right with us (for a change) as we get the green from the Lockmaster and motor straight in. When the Lockmaster gets 4 calls that 4 boats are secure on the floating bollards, he sounds the horn and it's "Dive, Dive, Dive!" We dive down 24 feet. The Amory Lock & Dam (the 'Thad Cochran') is 5 miles ahead. Most of the Locks have been named to honour people, usually politicians, who've had something to do with the creation of the Waterway. In this case, the honoured person is Mrs Cochran's little boy, Thad (actually, 'William'). He was an attorney and politician who was a senator (R) for Mississippi from 1978 to 2018. He previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1973 to 1978.

Once again, we're in luck. There's nothing coming up, and the Lock is ready for us. We sail in, secure (as do our accompanying three vessels), and are dropped 23 ft.

We depart, and 4 miles later pass the confluence with the Tombigbee River. This is where the 'Canal' section of the T-T Waterway ends and the 'River' section begins. The Tombigbee River course winds sinuously through a marshy land, but the waterway cuts through the crazy curvature, and we come along Aberdeen Lake, to the Aberdeen Lock & Dam, 11 miles down from the Cochran. Again, our luck holds. The Lockmaster has the gates open and we have a green light so straight in we go.

Time for a stocktake. Today, I'm 4,460 miles into my Loop, so I'm beyond ¾ of the total distance; Hobe Sound, FL-to-Hobe Sound. The weather has been good to me/us (except for when I returned to Georgia and South Carolina in the depths of their summer... that was a challenge). I'm well, no colds or flu. Just a couple of brief bouts of hayfever. Lorraine had left me some tiny magic pills for that, that work like magic, so I'm good if it ever recurs. I've driven around 10,000 miles in Enterprise rental cars without any dramas--from sea-level to 11,000 ft asl--(so that I'm now a Gold member), except for one infringement for passing a school bus in upstate NY when it was stopped (which I cannot remember doing, but which the rental car agency paid and deducted from my credit card weeks later). My left elbow got sore and still is... maybe 'tennis elbow' (it happened while I was lifting hand weights in a hotel gym), my new knee is holding up and my other one only reminds me it's there every now and then. I've lost some weight and maybe I might lose a bit more. So, this extended trip is going well for me (taps fist against skull).

We arrive at the Columbus, MS, Marina at 1500 and get tied up in the rain with help from the marina staff. The free marina car is booked out, so we won't get to shop until we reach Demopolis, AL, in two days. But we'll make it... even if we're down to our cans of baked beans.

We'll have a more leisurely start tomorrow (and maybe a leisurely breakfast) and go 50-odd miles to anchor near a wee place called Warsaw.Read more