Log 61; Day 166; Nov. 4th; Three Rivers Lake Anchorage

Log 61
Day 166
Tuesday, November 04, 2008

5:30 AM CST
Location: Three Rivers Lake Anchorage...68 river miles north of Mobile
Weather: 53* and clear...forecasted to be 79 and sunny

We are sitting in a very beautiful anchorage off the Tenn-Tom Waterway. It is a picture perfect morning...like it has been for 2 weeks now. There is a very light fog/mist on the water, and it’s like something out of a movie set. Very cool. Yesterday we took the dinghy and went exploring this great interior lake and saw lots of wildlife...including a HUGE alligator

The last couple of days...we have been working our way down the last 218 miles of the Tenn-Tom Waterway. The section we are on now is officially called the Lower Black Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway. We still don’t have enough internet signal to send pictures, but when we do you’ll see some cool shots of this waterway. It is nothing like the Tennessee River, but still very pretty. We are still traveling with Andy and Mary on Good News, and it is very enjoyable. We leave at the same time...communicate a little as we travel the waterway...and then get together when we stop. We’ve anchored twice, once we tied up together, and last night we dropped the hook a few hundred feet from one another. The other night we tied up to a dock and rafted off one another. A couple of those nights we had a “captains meeting” which consists of a cocktail and discussing the next days travel plans. Last night we took our dinghy over for a meeting and dinner. This is the first time we have ever traveled with anyone...and we have really enjoyed the experience.

Today we travel the last 64 miles to the Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. We are now in tidal brackish water and will be for the next several months. While I have loved traveling the rivers, I am looking forward to the Gulf waters. The panhandle of Florida is very pretty with great cruising waters, and it has many great marinas that we plan to visit. We are also looking forward to have constant communication capabilities. Cell and internet coverage should not be a problem for most of our time now.

Well, the fog has set in since I started writing this log, so we’ll have to see how long it takes to burn off. We have a very narrow and shallow channel to go through to get out of this anchorage (and back on the river), so it will be impossible to do that in any kind of fog. We only have 64 miles to go today and no lock, so we have plenty of time. We should be in Mobile by mid afternoon.

I’ll keep you posted.

Bob