Grandpa said “There is always a bigger boat!!”

Another day means another Lock & Dam.  I haven’t said much about them in past posts but on the Tenn-Tom there are 12 Locks.  So the length of your day is not only gauged by ‘miles to go’ but also how many locks you must go through.  Most days it’s one (but sometimes 2-3) and generally the lock is less than a mile from the marina so you can call to determine if there is a Tow in it, or close, before you slip your lines.  Locking through can be as short as 30-45 minutes or you can wait a couple hours for slow recreational boat to crowd in to 3-4 hours for Tows to pass through.  The next lock is number ten.  Heplin Lock & Dam is about 4-5 miles for Sumpter so it’s kind of a crap shoot as to what you’ll find when you get there.  Luckily the only delay was waiting for a straggler slow motor/sail catamaran…us!

Bucket List

Gemini Dreams

Going down...again.  It gets a little repetitive...but it doesn't get old!!
I think it's kind of cool.

On the way you go through yet another topography change as the banks start to get a little taller.  A spectacular example of this is the white cliff of Epes.  The day we went by was cloudy so they didn’t show as well as I’m sure they do in the sun…but still a stunning change from low banks lined with trees.

Next stop…Demopolis.  Not to be confused with the home of Superman, Demopolis at mile marker 217 is the last marina till Mobile (mm 0) so everyone stops there.  Many boaters in the Gulf bring their boats here to escape hurricane season (and high insurance rates).  Might be the reason they’ve just put in a new 300-slip marina!  We saw many Loopers we hadn’t seen since the Rendezvous so it was a great time to get caught up.  So nice it was we stayed for three days!  We had a lot of catching up to do!!

First night in Demopolis this 125 ft yacht, named Freedom, pulled in at the end of our dock!  Huge!!!  So huge the damn thing blocked the sun from getting to Catmandu for much of the day!!!  After long discussion with the crew and captain we learned the owner was not on board…that they were moving the boat from LSU-Alabama football game (owner is a Bama fan and likes to tailgate with his boat) to Mobile then onto the Bahamas and islands South.  Incidentally how do you come to own a boat like this…he owns the “Books a Million” company and a bunch of fireworks franchises.  Anyway the Captain is from Grand Haven, MI!  And before you know it we are on board for a tour.   I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves but Chris was most impressed with the washer-dryers!