The stretch from this point forward has little anchorages for us larger vessels. We will have to find what we can and drop the hook or stay in some interesting marinas with shallow depths.
The Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway links commercial navigation from the nation’s midsection to the Gulf of Mexico. The waterway boast 10 locks and dams, 17 public ports and terminals, a 175-foot (53 m) deep cut between the Tombigbee River watershed and the Tennessee River watershed, and 234 miles of navigable channel. Over 88,000 acres of land were reserved for public recreational use and wildlife habitat. Construction was completed in twelve years by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and opened on December 1984.
The Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway, often called the Tenn-Tom, is a 234-mile man-made waterway that extends from the Tennessee River to the Tombigbee River connecting major inland ports from Paducah, Kentucky to Knoxville, Tennessee and ultimately connects to the Black Warrior River to Mobile, AL on the Gulf of Mexico.
Earlier work of the Tennessee Valley Authority in improving navigation along the Tennessee River was instrumental in driving down the cost of the original project estimates. The outcome has been a system of navigation that serves multiple states and opens economic opportunities to rural river communities. The Carter Administration selected the Tennessee-Tombigbee as a national demonstration program of how large public works projects can favorably impact rural America.
The channel or canal as it is can be boring. As the canal weaves its way the scenery rarely changes. There seems to be no civilization along the banks and the barge traffic is minimal. We have been seeing some other Loopers and have met us with the vessel Oceanus. A much slower vessel than us however the lockmasters will not put us through with them on our tail. So we slow down to travel with them making our day an hour longer. We need a break in the mileage between locks to get ahead of them. We will do 3 locks today.
