Demopolis, Alabama

We left our anchorage Saturday morning October 27th and continued down the Tenn-Tom Waterway toward Demopolis.   This section of the waterway has a natural chalk cliff formation that extends about a mile along the waterway.  It is called the White Bluffs of Epes.  The bluffs are located near the town of Epes, AL from which they take their name.  They were once called Ecor Blanc by 18th century French explorers and map makers that saw them along the river.  At the time the cliff was some 80 feet high.  After the building of the Tenn-Tom Waterway they were reduced to about 30-40 feet high.  This ancient chalk cliff formed around the same time as the famous White Cliffs of Dover in England which are also chalk cliffs.  The chalk is the skeletal remains of tiny algae that lived in the ancient ocean covering this area about 70 million years ago.   As the algae died they formed a muddy sediment on the ocean floor that was eventually compressed into the white chalk we can see today.

The Chalk Cliffs of Epes

Deer along the Waterway

We have been in Kingfisher Marina in Demopolis, AL since Saturday.

While in Demopolis, Captain Keith was checking things in the engine room and thought something looked odd in our Racors (fuel filters for those non-boaters following us).  There appeared to be sediment in them and so he took them off to get a look.  Sure enough, both had a large amount of black "gunk" (that is a technical term) material in the bottom.

Here is one of the Racors

Looking down into it

This is what came out of the Racors (the top pile from one and the bottom pile from the other)

The lesson boys and girls is be careful where you purchase fuel and always be vigilant about checking things in your engine room.

After cleaning out our Racors and some other chores we had a nice evening Tuesday with new friends Tom and Sue on "Bella".  We first met them at Midway Marina several days ago and hit it off.  They arrived Monday into Demopolis, so we got together Tuesday night for drinks.  They are from Minnesota and are just starting their "Loop".  Hopefully we will be able to connect with them throughout the winter as they are fun to be around.

The plan is to be moving south again on Wednesday, October 31st.  Hopefully we can reach Bobby's Fish Camp to overnight Wednesday and Thursday.

Sweet Home Alabama

We have been moving down the Tenn-Tom waterway for the last several days.  This is much prettier than some of the more northern rivers.  There are creeks and off-shoots along the waterway that look like they could be good areas for fishing and kayaking.

Views along the Tenn-Tom Waterway

This appeared to be a cormorant convention

The first lock on the Tenn-Tom Waterway is the Whitten Lock.  It drops (or raises) boats 87 feet.  It is the ninth highest single lift lock in the US.

Whitten Dam beside the Whitten Lock

Inside the lock with the doors shut behind us and water going down (notice the heron on the sill)

Soon at the bottom of the lock

Coming out of the lock

Passing more tows and barges along the Tenn-Tom

When we get a little bored, we see how many turtles we can count on any given log

We have a winner

 Friday October 26th we finally reached Alabama.  We stopped at an anchorage just about 60 miles north of Demopolis, AL in a little town called Aliceville.  It was a nice, little spot with protection off the channel and trees to reduce the wind.  We anchored in about 15-20  of water and the anchor held on the first drop.  The temperature was a bit cool and there was a good breeze with some drizzle, so I did not launch the kayak.  Had the weather been nice, I definitely would have paddled.  In the morning we are heading to Demopolis Yacht Basin.  We will spend a few days in the marina there getting ready to make the final push to Florida.

Iuka, Mississippi

Southern Style has spent several days at Aqua Yacht Harbor in Iuka, MS.  We have had our propellers tuned up which went well and while waiting for the work to be done, it gave us a chance to chill, do some grocery shopping and some cleaning.  Keith waxed some of the boat and I did some sewing (I am working on Semore the Seahorse, a wall hanging).


Monday October 22nd, we got our props back on and were able to do a quick sea trial on Lake Pickwick.  Everything ran great, so our propeller tune-up was well worth it.  We were back at the dock before noon so I made some corn bread for docktails with friends later and Keith had someone from the service department looking at our second water chiller (the heat and A/C unit).  It had been acting up a bit.


By 2:00 PM we had the marina courtesy car and were headed to Shiloh Battlefield in Shiloh, TN.   The area around Shiloh and into Corinth, TN was a strategic crossroads for the western Confederate railroads coming between Memphis and Charleston and Mobile and Ohio.  Confederate Supreme Commander Gen. Albert S. Johnston began concentrating troops in the Corinth, TN area in February of 1862 to protect this railroad intersection.  About the same time Gen. Ulysses S. Grant positioned his Army of the Tennessee just 22 miles north of Corinth at Shiloh.  He planned to wait until Gen. Don Carlos Buell arrived with his Army of the Ohio and together they would attack the Confederate forces at Corinth.  Gen. Johnston however, marched north with his 30,000 soldiers to engage Grant's Union forces before the additional troops from Ohio arrived.    On Sunday morning April 6, 1862 Johnston attacked the forward Union camps at Shiloh Church.  At mid day Gen. Johnston was struck by a stray bullet in the right leg and bled to death.  This left Gen. Pierre G.T. Beauregard in command of the Confederate troops.  As darkness fell that evening both sides had dug in and the fighting ended for the night.  The Confederate troops pushed the Union forces back and thought they were in good position to drive the Union forces out the next day.

Overnight the reinforcements of Gen. Buell arrived unbeknownst to the Confederates.  On the morning of April 7th the fighting began again, however the Confederates were no match for the now combined armies of both Grant and Buell which numbered some 54,000 men.  Outnumbered and exhausted they were forced to retreat back to Corinth.  The combined cost to both sides during the two days of fighting was 23,746 men killed, wounded, or missing.  It was more important for the Union to control the region than decimate the Confederate troops retreating to Corinth so they did not immediately pursue them.  By May, the Union had entrenched 3 armies within cannon range of the strategic crossroads at Corinth, and Gen. Beauregard withdrew south to Tupelo, MS; abandoning the most viable east-west railroad communications in the western Confederacy.

Some of the many Monuments on the Battlefield in Shiloh

Pengi on a Cannon

The national Cemetery on Site

Our drive around the battlefield and the movie about the battle that was shown at the visitors center was really exceptional.  We wished we had a little more time to spend at the national park, but since we had a late start; we had to get the car back to the marina.

The plan is to leave Tuesday morning and continue heading south down the Tenn-Tom Waterway.

We are technically on Pickwick Lake and this is the northern start of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway (the Tenn-Tom).  This 253 mile long, man-made waterway is not well known except by people living around the area or boaters and tow/commercial traffic that use it.  The Tenn-Tom Waterway however is quite interesting in its history.  Back as early as the 1700s, French fur traders wanted a waterway to connect the Tennessee River at Pickwick Lake with the Tombigbee River at Demopolis, AL.  It took well over 200 years and many different proposals before the project was approved by Congress and funded.  Construction was begun in 1972 and after nearly 2 billion dollars the waterway was finally completed in 1985.  The project moved more earth than was moved in the construction of the Panama Canal and it shortened the trip for vessels going from ports such as Pensacola, FL to Chattanooga, TN by 720 miles.  It employed over 5,000 people during its construction and continues to provide jobs to the region.

We are expecting to be on The Tenn-Tom waterway through the remainder of October arriving in Demopolis, AL around the 1st of November.

Heading through Kentucky & Tennessee

On Sunday, October 14th we left Paducah, KY on the Ohio River and entered the Cumberland River.  This took us essentially east to the Barkley Lock and Dam.  This was completed in 1966 by the Army Corps of Engineers to impound the Cumberland River and thus created Lake Barkley.  We stayed at Green Turtle Marina on Lake Barkley Sunday and Monday.  As you can see in the picture below, it was a very grey day.

Barkley Dam

Waiting with several other boats to go through Barkley Lock

Tuesday we crossed a small canal that connects Lake Barkley to Kentucky Lake and cruised south on Kentucky Lake.  This lake was formed in 1944 when the Tennessee Valley Authority constructed the Kentucky Dam impounding the Tennessee River.  It is the largest man made lake east of the Mississippi.  There are 2,064 miles of shoreline along Kentucky Lake.  We are still seeing many eagles, sometimes 2 at a time.

Kentucky Lake Eagles

The 72 mile ride from the Green Turtle Marina south on Kentucky Lake was easy but somewhat long as we left at just before 8:00 AM and did not get into the marina until 4:00 PM.   Skies were cloudy, there was occasional drizzle, and it was chilly which did not help.  We spent Tuesday night at Pebble Isle Marina in New Johnsonville, TN.  Wednesday morning we had a fog delay but it cleared up enough for us to get going by about 9:00 AM and we had a nice sunny day to cruise.

Fog in the marina Wednesday Morning (Have I mentioned how much I hate fog?)

Kentucky Lake and the Tennessee River are much prettier to me than the Illinois and Mississippi River.  The water is not so muddy and there is little debris.  The shoreline is more scenic as well.  There are still tows with barges and some industry, but it is much less.

Industrial site on the Kentucky Lake

Railroad Lift Bridge

Prettier sites on Kentucky Lake and Tennessee River

Coastguard Boat replacing Navigational Aids

Our stop Wednesday night was Clifton Marina which is still in Tennessee.  We needed to take on diesel fuel as we were almost empty.  This small marina did have enough fuel to give us the 1,000 gallons we needed, however their fuel pump was slow.  It took just over two hours to fuel Southern Style.  By the time we were done fueling, we grabbed a quick burger at the marina grill with a few other "Loopers" and called it a night.

Thursday morning at sunrise (7:00 AM) we were off the dock and continuing up the Tennessee River to the Pickwick Lock and Dam.

Sunrise Thursday Morning

Fellow "Looper" boat The Barb-B following us out Thursday morning

Tow pushing several barges out of Pickwick Lock.  We are next to go in.

After coming through the Pickwick Lock we were in Lake Pickwick on the Tennessee River.  About 8 miles up the lake we turned off the lake into the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway (the Ten-Tom).  If we had continued upstream on the Tennessee River we could go roughly another 430 miles to Knoxville, TN.  However, that was not on our agenda.  Aqua Yacht Harbor is located just as we turned onto the Tenn-Tom in Iuka, Mississippi.  This is where Southern Style had a reservation to be pulled out of the water and have her props tuned up.  After bumping several times in the Trent-Severn Waterway and then hitting something pretty hard coming into Heritage Marina on the Illinois River, it was time for some TLC for our propellers.

Heading into the Slings

Southern Style out of the water in the slings

Our Propellers in the propeller ambulance ready to go to the doctor for a tune-up

The guys in the service department were great.  They got Southern Style out of the water, the props off and the boat back in the water along the service dock so we had power and water; all in just 2 hours.  Believe me with a boat like Southern Style and her props which weigh in at 250 lbs each, it is not a small task. Kudos to them all.

One Year Aboard

For best efferct; view this blog entry while listening to Darius Rucker's song Southern Style.

It is October 14th, 2018 and it has been exactly one year since I moved on board Southern Style full time.  What a year it has been.  Keith and I have seen and experienced so many things this past year.  From spending time before heading south for the winter in what is still our favorite spot, Ocracoke Island, NC

Ocracoke Light

To wintering in Florida

And then making our way north up the East Coast

There were sunny days

And there were foggy days

And there were trying days

We had old friends visit ( the Terrys and the Toneys)

Captain Pete, Rachel, Wynn and Nancy

Captains Dave and Keith

Brad and Captain Keith

We caught up with some of the  family

We visited with friends along the way (Jeff and Barbara)

Tom and Jen

And we made new friends (Rob and Glenda)

Rose, Doug and family

We spent time in fresh water that was clear

and fresh water that was not

We saw open water

We squeezed through narrow water

And we saw locks and canals of all kinds.

Sometimes we were docked

And sometimes we were anchored

There was eating on board

There was eating out

And of course catching our own meals.

And our methods of transportation varied from boat

to rental car 

to borrowed car (thanks Max and Cathy)

to kayak

to bike

to horse drawn carriage.

The wildlife was really cool even if we did not see a wild bear.

We celebrated milestones with friends

Congratulations Commador Ray Batt

Congratulations Lacey and Davis

And Keith and I celebrated our silver wedding anniversary

Yes it has been quite a year.   It is a year we would not trade for anything, and we never forget how very fortunate we are to be able to have this experience.  Without the help and support of many people particularly, our parents and families, this would not have been possible.  There are also our good friends, some boaters and some land-lubbers, who have always encouraged us, been there to talk us off the ledge by phone when times are tough.  Probably the most difficult part of a journey like ours, is being away from family and friends so much of the time.  But we do our best to keep in touch and all good things sometimes require sacrifices .  Yes it has been quite a year.  We can not wait to see what the next year holds for our adventures.