Sunday, October 15, 2017

Rain, Rain, GO AWAY–Midway Marina

Day 178 … Sun, Oct 15, 2017 … 19.7 miles; 6:15 hours

Bay Springs to Midway Marina

3 Locks today. The first is right by the anchorage, so somewhat easier to plan for … the other two will take as long as it takes depending on how many commercial vessels have to lock before us.

The first lock, Jamie Whitten Lock & Dam, is an 84’ drop!!! We went thru with 2 sailboats that anchored near us last night.

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Each lock has a stop light; do NOT enter when it is RED, even if the doors are open for you. When it turns GREEN, we can enter and tie to one of the floating pins on the wall.

There is also a wind sock, to help you know how to enter & tie up

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This lock has several places where it was leaking; Rip got wet hold the boat in place

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We are now on the Tennessee Tom Bigbee Waterway (AKA the Tenn-Tom); it connects the TennesseeRiver to the Tom Bigbee Waterway. The Tenn-Tom is a modern marvel … it cost more to build than the original Panama Canal and moved more earth than the original Panama Canal.

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By the 2nd lock, Sonny Montgomery Lock & Dam, 3 power boats joined us; making 6 to lock thru the 2nd & 3rd locks (Rankin Lock & Dam) of the day; each a 30’ drop.

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Doors open and ready for us to enter … see the waterway way, way out there past the closed front doors?

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Looking out the full lock … to the waterway below us

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Another lock looking out to the waterway below

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Rip handling the line to hold the boat in place

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Power boats entering behind us

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Power boats secure along the lock wall for the ride down

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and … down we go

See the doors at the top/center? that part opens and closes. the solid portion below the doors (the sill) is what boats pass over when the lock is filled and they are leaving having gone up to the next waterway level.

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Lab Partners secure along the wall; waiting to go down

We waited for the 1st 2 locks to be ready for us; the 3rd lock was open and ready when we arrived!!

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As soon as we came out of the 3rd lock storm clouds finally took over. The other 4 boats were going into a marina, so we called them & secured a spot for the night also.

Docking in a driving rain storm is NOT fun. Rip did a great job, though it was a bit ugly at times. This pic is seconds before the torrential downpour.

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We are docked, but you can see another boat coming in the channel to the marina

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That is the narrow path into the marina

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About 90 minutes after arrival, the rain finally let up and Cally could get to shore

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Sunset at Midway Marina

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