Lock in - Lock out

(Mon July 6th)
We got an early start today knowing we expected to lock through 3 locks. Even though the locks we’ve gone through have been easy, we never know when it’s going to get difficult or the wait long. We’ve been so fortunate with our locking through; we knew it would not last forever. Our first lock through was Amory Lock & Dam with a lift of 30 feet. We were in the chamber, all tied off and the doors began to close, but then stopped and reopened. We waited for 40 minutes for another pleasure craft GemDandy to lock through with us. Even so, 40 minutes did not seem too long to wait. Just a short 5 miles up river was the Glover Wilkins Lock & Dam which we locked through together for a 25 foot lift. I have notice since we’ve been on the TTW that immediately following a lock the river widens and spreads out, almost like a lake. There is evidence of past flooding due to the numerous shrubs and trees sticking out of the water just off the main channel. Then eventually the water pulls back into narrow manmade channels.

Someone’s gone to a lot of time and trouble place birdhouses (with a shield around the base to keep critters off) throughout this area. With so much nature abound I can’t for the life of me figure out why birds would need special houses.

20 miles later and our last lock for the day was Fulton Lock and Dam which we raised 30 feet.

For most of the day the weather was pretty gloomy with threatening rain so we decided to cut our day short, in case it got worse. We docked at Midway Marina in Fulton, We used the Marina courtesy car to go to dinner at a local Mexican restaurant and hit up Walmart again. We even had cable TV so I was able to have a reality TV show fix.

(Tues July 7th)
We had not realized our travels up the TTW would pass so quickly, but here we are with only 3 locks to go before we’ve completed this portion of our trip. The weather is still threatening this morning however there is a promise of getting better as the day goes on.

5 miles up river the lock gods were smiling on us and we entered in John Rankin Lock, tied off on our starboard as we have in the other locks and rose 30 feet. There was some work being done outside the lock by the Corps of Engineers, which reminded me of what the US Snagboat Montgomery might have done if it was still in commission. Another 8 miles up river we entered and locked through the Montgomery lock and dam and rose another 30 feet. With just 6 more miles to go we anxiously looked forward to the grand-daddy of them all the Jamie Whitten lock and dam. Reading about this lock no way gives it justice, and I doubt my pictures will either – because it’s BIG. We entered into this huge empty chamber, walls rising more than 100 feet over our heads, with more exposed concrete wall under the gates than I’ve ever seen. This chamber has bolted doors scattered all over the walls, which none of the other locks had. Again, we were the only vessel in the lock which also emphasized its immense size. We figure it took over 20 minutes to rise the 85 feet to bring us to waters level on the other side.

We exited onto the vast Bay Springs Lake, no sunken trees or flooded areas, this looks like a real lake, even has a little beach area off on one side.

The homes along the river front continue to amaze me; some are enormous while others are mere covers over trailers. Some folks go to a lot of trouble to be sure the land facing the water is pristine and functional while others use the rivers banks for a place to dump their trash.

For 25 miles we tootled along what’s called the Divide Cut. This particular section of the TTW is a canal, a straight line with no stopping anywhere. It opened up into another lake with lots of comings and goings by all sorts of folks playing on and in the water.

When we came upon the Tennessee River we were both surprised at the sheer size of it. There was one tow way down river and dozens of pleasure craft of all shapes and sizes traveling in all different directions at the same time. I was even more amazed by the huge homes up and down the mountainsides. I can’t believe the number of steps they are willing to make just to get down to the water. We slowly made our way across the river into Dry Creek and anchored in about 6 feet of water at the rivers edge. This is one of the most beautiful coves we anchored in yet, so still and quiet. At the mouth of the cove a few pontoon boats full of folks are frolicking in the water and we’ve been joined by two other yachts anchored for the night.