Mount Vernon to Elberta, AL

We cruised down the Mobile River into Mobile Bay. We passed by the impressive AUSTAL shipbuilding facility and admired the Navy ships docked there. 

We spotted the USNS Harvey Milk, still with that name on its stern, despite recent changes. Ben recognized the USS United States, which he remembered seeing in Philly during our 2023 leg of the Loop. It’s since been towed down here, where it's awaiting sinking to become an artificial reef.

Container ships lined the bay, stacked eight containers high. It was fascinating to watch the giant magnets unload them with precision. Our eyes were glued on this as we passed by.

We also took care of some boat chores. We defrosted the fridge, one freezer, and the ice maker. Monthly defrosting is a must or things get soggy fast, and we noticed that was starting to happen.

The highlight of our day was when we spotted our first dolphin in the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GICW)! Still, no matter how many times we have seen dolphins, we all rush to look for them as we pass by. This time, Hattie had to join in on the fun. She gets excited and runs out to the boat deck with us as we all run to see the dolphins.

Pickensville to Sweet Water and Mount Vernon, AL

We knocked out a few more locks today, but not as many as yesterday. Our day started at Bevill Lock & Dam. Then at Heflin Lock & Dam, we were flying out of the gate at 10.7 knots thanks to the current. 

At Demopolis Lock & Dam, Ben asked the lockmaster what the water level was compared to normal levels. He told us the water is 15 feet higher than usual. Ben told me that explains all the trees and debris we’ve been dodging. We clocked 10.7 knots through there, still moving strong. 

We averaged 11 to 11.5 knots most of the day, which was a nice change after so many slower days fighting the current. Having the current with us today helped make up some of the time and distance we lost yesterday from all the locks. 

We anchored for the night on the river, off to the side of the channel.

Locks today: 3

Locks of the summer: 41

Locks of the loop: 155

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Coffeeville Lock & Dam was our last lock until the Okeechobee Waterway in Florida!

While we were waiting at Coffeeville (we had to wait for a barge to go down, pleasure craft to come up, and then our turn to go down), Roo spotted the first alligator of this trip right outside the lock. She was so excited to have spied it first! A little further along the route, we spotted another gator. 

We wrapped up the day by anchoring in David Lake off the Mobile River. Tucked inside was a barge marina of sorts. I worried we would have a ton of barge traffic in the middle of the night, but thankfully it was smooth!

Locks today: 1

Locks of the summer: 42

Locks of the loop: 156

Dennis to Pickensville, AL

This morning started off with a bit of urgency. We didn’t have cell service in our little anchorage, so Ben hailed Whitten Lock & Dam on the backup VHF radio. The lockmaster told us we’d better hurry or we’d have to wait for a barge to come through before us. Ben told them we’d be right there.

Once we got into Whitten Lock, it became clear why you don’t want to anchor just below it. The force of the water release from that 80-foot drop would make for a rough night.

Between Whitten and Montgomery Locks, things got interesting. There were two barges that had gotten into trouble, one being the one we’d have had to wait for before going through Whitten. Both barges, drafting 8-10 feet, ran aground while trying to pass each other in a super narrow section of the channel. One was heading upriver, one downriver, and it was just an overall bad spot to try to make that pass.

Ben, being Ben, knew how the barge thrusters kick up sediment, which causes shoaling, and he knew how to navigate the channel safely with our 3.5-foot draft. He got permission to pass the first barge and eased us by.

But when we got to the second barge, we had to wait for the green light from the captain to proceed. Just as we were passing the tail end, we ran aground. Ben had to spin us off the shoal, carefully maneuvering us free.

As we went aground and Ben started spinning us, I was convinced we were getting way too close to the barge, so I went downstairs to my room to quietly freak out (without annoying Ben). When we were finally free, I told him the whole thing felt like an icy road pileup but on water. I asked how he stayed so calm as we got so close to the barge and he calmly replied that we were never even that close to it. Ooof. I’d be totally fine if we never had to do THAT again.

We kept moving through the day, locking down in Montgomery Lock & Dam and Rankin Lock & Dam. We stopped at Midway Marina to fill up with diesel and water. (I really liked the cute trees growing in the water, just outside of the channel.) Then it was on to Fulton Lock & Dam and Wilkins Lock and Dam.

At Wilkins, there was a family of geese hanging out inside the lock. Roo and I joked about whether they’d stay the whole time or fly off, but they just stayed in, even after we left. Maybe they live there? We loved that little show while we locked through.

Onward to Cochran Lock & Dam, Aberdeen Lock & Dam, and we finished the day with Columbus Lock & Dam. At Columbus we had to lock through during a downpour. It is always interesting to wear a life vest with a raincoat- which one goes on top?!

We finally anchored in Pickensville, just a few miles north of the next lock where we’ll start in the morning.

Locks today: 8 (the most for this year!)

Locks of the summer: 38

Locks of the loop: 152

Shoal to Dennis, MS

Knowing Wilson Lock only allows pleasure craft through from 9-10 AM, we got ready for the 9 AM down lock. At 7:45, Ben called the lockmaster to check in and let them know we were approaching. He surprised us, saying we can go in now with 2 pleasure vessels locking up and swap chambers with them at the midway point. We had no idea that was even a thing, so that was a cool new experience!

We retied our fenders in better locations and both Ben and I got prepped for battle, remembering how rough the lock walls were when we locked up ten days ago. By 8:20 AM, we were tied to the floating bollards and ready, but had to wait a bit while an engineer inspected the lower gate, let the upbound boats in, and get tied up.

We started going down around 8:40 AM. As we passed the upbound boats in the midway point between the 2 locks, one upriver vessel asked if we were coming back from Knoxville. I said yes. He said that we were making good time. He saw us on Facebook. Not sure which group, but it always gives me a giggle when people recognize us like that. We were completely out of the lock by 9:40 AM and on our way.

Today, we reached the Tombigbee River and state of Mississippi. We are no longer backtracking and are in new waters for the first time in over a week. 

As we entered the new area, Grand Harbor Condominiums & Marina greeted us from our starboard side. We had read that it was massive, but didn’t fully grasp it until we saw it in person.

The canal here is lined with rocks and reminded us a bit of the Richelieu in Canada, just wider. Every so often, we’d pass these interesting-looking dams on the riverbanks. They were designed to help control the water flow into the canal, but looked more like a game of Plinko than your typical dam!

When Ben called ahead to Whitten Lock, the next one on our route, the lockmaster said not to go through and anchor between this lock and the next, as this one is tallest on this portion of the river (80 ft) and every time Whitten runs, it sends a massive gush of water that way, and it’s not a great spot to be overnight. Since we wouldn’t make it through the following lock before dark, we decided to call it quits for the day and save Whitten for first thing tomorrow morning. 

Anchored by 6:30 PM, which was the earliest in several days especially with the push to get to Pensacola. We’ve got about 450 miles to go and are hoping to make it by the end of our 5th travel day from here.

Locks today: 1

Locks of the summer: 30

Locks of the loop: 144

Guntersville to Shoal, AL

We started the day by locking down through Guntersville, then made a quick stop in Huntsville to fill up on water and get pumped out.

Our goal for lunchtime was Big Bob Gibson's Bar-B-Q in Decatur. It’s ranked #7 of the top 10 BBQ places in the US and it’s the only one accessible by river on our trip, so of course we had to go. We grabbed a Lyft and made our way there.

Moose and Roo each ordered two ribs, Bear had a pulled pork sandwich, I got a pulled pork plate, and Ben ordered a BBQ baked potato topped with pulled pork, similar to the one we had in Chattanooga, except the potato itself was literally bigger than my head. Not even exaggerating. We all cleaned our plates… except Ben, who apparently maxes out at half a giant potato.

Big Bob Gibson's is also known for their homemade pies, so of course we couldn’t skip that. We got a slice each of lemon, coconut, and peanut butter. The coconut and peanut butter pies were our favorites, but all three were excellent.

After lunch, we couldn’t find a Lyft to get back to the dock. Ben managed to find us an Uber. 

We pushed off the Decatur dock around 4:30 PM. Not long after, we hit a storm and ended up following it downriver toward Wheeler Lock. We had to tie up and wait about 45 minutes for a barge to come through before we could lock down.

It was still raining as we got to our anchorage, but there was no lightning. The sun was long gone, so I had the headlight with me out on the bow to scan for logs in the water as we approached the site. We finally anchored for the night at Carters Branch.

Locks today: 2

Locks of the summer: 29

Locks of the loop: 143

Dayton to Guntersville, AL

Locked back down Chickamauga Lock and headed through Chattanooga. As we passed through, we saw boats from a rowing team practicing in the river, with their coaches nearby in smaller boats, megaphones in hand. We would've been able to see them from our boat if we were tied up at Chattanooga. This waterway is super busy with all kinds of water traffic!

Moose spotted the Ruby Falls building from the river. We were all looking and I had just given up because there were so many trees. He was so proud to be the one to spot it and point it out.

Once we got to Nickajack Lock, we had to wait for a bit, so we tied up to the lock wall. Ben started mounting the windlass switch at the helm while we waited. Roo was on helper duty, her favorite job. We hit 9.8 knots out the gate. We just love those current boosts!

We passed our first barge since... we can't remember when. Our best guess is June 20, so it has been about a week! It is funny because we didn't realize we hadn't seen any in a while until we saw this one.

It was another hot, hot day on the water. As we crossed back into Alabama and the Cartermaran ended her time in Tennessee, a curtain of rain was visible off in the distance. We couldn't wait for some reprieve from the heat. As we got closer, we tied down loose items and closed the windows in the cockpit just in time. The skies opened up and dumped on us for a good 15 minutes or so and then as quickly as it arrived, it was gone. Some of the clouds were laying low on the mountain, illustrating for us exactly how the Smoky Mountains got their name.

Our plan was to anchor at Guntersville in the same anchorage, where all the frogs were croaking after the beautiful sunset. It is so interesting to anchor in the same place twice because we had an easy time anchoring there the first time, but this time, the winds and current had obviously shifted and we had to drop the anchor in another spot in that area. This time, the sun had already set and the frogs were busy croaking while we anchored.

Locks today: 2

Locks of the summer: 27

Locks of the loop: 141

Knoxville to Dayton, TN

Ben and I had to make a decision- we could either stay and explore Knoxville one more day, which we all wanted to do, or we could pull some long days, hammer down, to try to get to Pensacola by the 4th of July. We decided that we wanted to try to make it to Pensacola for the fireworks. So, it’s time to cruise some serious miles with long boating days, fewer stops, as many locks as possible in a day, and not a lot of sightseeing along the way. Westbound and down, if you will.

Knoxville was the furthest we took the Tennessee River, so we started heading west again. That means we have to lock down at all of the locks we took up river to get to Knoxville and Chattanooga. 

At Fort Loudoun Lock, right out of the gate, we were cruising at 9 knots. A welcomed boost, once again, from the current. That will help with all of these long-mile days ahead of us. We will take the help from the current as long as possible!

Along the way today, I spotted a baby deer swimming in the water. We slowed down to get a closer look and searched the shoreline for its momma, but sadly didn’t see her anywhere nearby.

We were so glad to have seen this little deer, especially because a few weeks ago I spotted another deer swimming in the river, but that time I barely got a photo. I actually thought it was Hattie at first since it was so close to the boat and the same coloring as her. I was scrambling to check if she had somehow fallen in, and by the time I realized it wasn’t her, the moment to capture it close up on camera had passed. I felt a little sad then, thinking we’d probably never see a deer swimming again, but here we are with better footage this time, and both dogs still dry!

As if that wasn't exciting enough, we had a surprise in the sky today as well! Two C-130s flew low, hugging the corner of the river, just 300 feet off the ground, as they passed us. We heard them before we saw them and were shocked when we saw what was making that noise and how close they were. How's that for another unsuspecting event in the same day?!

Later in the day, we went down Watts Bar Lock and finally dropped anchor around 9:45 PM, after we were treated to one of the most beautiful sunsets of our trip so far. By the time we anchored, it was later than we should've been out and it was dark, but this was the closest, safe spot to anchor for the night. It was a long day, but we are one giant step closer to the Gulf of Mexico!

Locks today: 2

Locks of the summer: 25

Locks of the loop: 139