Good Morning, Loopers.  Did you spy any little eye balls peeking back at you during the night?  I was on the lookout.  No alligators in sight.  Thankfully.   We are planning on a 65 mile day with 2 locks.  Seems doable.  The first lock is right around the corner from the marina.  A call was made to the Lock Master and he told us pleasure craft to come right away at 7am.  We cast off lines, went carefully around the floating plants, and out into the river toward the lock.  It is nice of the Lock Master to let us through this early.

Stennis Lock looking northward toward Columbus Marina

In Stennis Lock – going down 30 feet

Leaving Stennis Lock – it does look like we went down 30 feet, doesn’t it?!

Then we hit a patch of fog!!  We were hard pressed to keep our eye on the boat ahead of us.  By now, there were 5 pleasure crafts all heading south. Where did this come from?

Fog at 8am

Around 8:30am, the fog lifted and we were cruising our normal 8knots.

This barge was interesting because the scrap metal was being taken off the barge and placed into trucks.  Up to now, we had seen lots of scrap metal moving along the water way up and down the rivers.  This is the first destination location we have seen.

Scrap Metal barge

We had to overtake this barge pushing what looked like coal southward.  The tow was really moving and we had to really gun the engines to over come the tow’s prop wash and the tow speed.

The boat ahead of us going around the southbound tow

See that prop wash!? Lots of turbulence

Randomly….

Telephone Booth  – and it isn’t the Tardis

It was late morning and we were making good time.  The last lock for the day is the Tom Bevill Lock.  We are going down 27 feet.  Seven pleasure crafts at this point approaching the lock.  Several Loopers and the rest locals going southward.

Approaching the Bevill Lock

The first thing Wayne noticed is the green scum on the water.  Is it scum?  Fallen leaves from the nearby trees?  OR a new kind of floating plant?  It looks interesting.

Floating green layer of something in the lock

Still uncertain what it was.  It did look like fallen leaves.  It is fall.  So, it would be logical to assume these are leaves… or very tiny plants.

As you may note, there is less fall color the farther south we go.  We think we have missed the peak season by moving south so fast.  We see a bit of the reds and oranges.

Scenery along the Tenn-Tom Waterway

Five of the boats stopped at the same anchorage.  There was already one boat in the small cove.  We rafted with our fellow Looper “Penny Pinchin” for the night.  The other boats found spots around the cove.  There was plenty of room for everyone.  It was a quiet night.

Sunset reflections at anchor in the Sumter Recreation Area

Sunset in Aliceville, AL