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