Days 194–198 DOWN THE TENN-TOM WATERWAY

Thursday October 30-Monday Nov 3, 2025

THURSDAY

We left the marina and started down the Tenn-Tom waterway. The Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway (Tenn-Tom) is a 234-mile artificial waterway connecting the Tennessee River to the Black Warrior–Tombigbee River system, providing commercial navigation from the U.S. interior to the Gulf of Mexico. Completed in 1984 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, it includes 10 locks and dams. We found an anchorage just above the first lock, which is under construction and so often times boaters have been experiencing longs delays at this lock. By the time the sun was setting there were 3 of us in the anchorage, one boat is our good friends Goldilocks. Another looper that anchored a bit away came to see us so we could all make plans to go through the locks together. I agreed to call the lock at 6:30am. We were invited to go to Goldilocks for game night. Azul! It was very fun—I even won!

FRIDAY

Today we woke up to call the lock master at 6:30 to see what the schedule for us will be. He told us to be ready by 8am. So besides the 4 boats at anchor, there were another 3 at the marina close by. But guess what? We had thick fog! We were anchored here in a small cove so we couldn’t see if out in the channel was better.

Just before 8 and went out to check it out. The sun came out but the fog was still pretty thick. Goldilocks was with us, so we just hung out there for awhile. Finally the fog lifted enough that all 7 of us made it into the lock after an hour delay. The rest of the day went much smoother than the start. Just about every other lock was ready for us when we arrived. The 7 of us travelled through the first 3 locks together, then 4 boats went into a marina after that. The 3 of us continued on through 3 more locks then found a great anchorage for the night. We travelled just under 40 miles in 7 hours and went through 6 locks🥴 Tomorrow we will go at it again.

SATURDAY

Another long day. We found the lone freestanding phone booth in the middle of nowhere. The nearby homeowner thought it would be cool to put it here to let people know they are now in Alabama. We found a great anchorage in Pickensville just above the Tom Bevill Lock. We shared an enchilada dinner with Bonnie and Louis tonight on our boat, then a rematch of Azul…this time I came in last🤪. Loads of fun!

SUNDAY

Today was 36 miles in just under 6 hours. 2 locks, another nice anchorage. Tonight we went over to Bonnie and Louis and sang while Louis played guitar, very fun! Then, yes…they taught us another fun game. This time a fast paced card game our grandkids will love! Tomorrow it’s on to Demopolis for us!

Enjoy some wildlife photos!

MONDAY

On our 42 mile journey today to Demopolis we went past the white Cliffs of Epes! Very pretty! They are part of the Selma Chalk formations which were deposited at about the same time as England’s famous White Cliffs of Dover. A few tows and barges today! Made it to Kingfisher Marina around 2. We saw David and Candace from Too Nasty! We hadn’t seen them since St Ignace! Time sure flies! We are having them over for dinner tonight to catch up! They have their boat pulled out and are sanding and painting the bottom themselves! Brave souls❤️

We are officially done with the Tenn-Tom Waterway! Once we leave Demopolis, we will be on the Tom Bigbee River for 217 miles before hitting Mobile Bay!