Sunrise on the Tenn-Tom
We're off early as there are miles to go before we sleep.
Passing Miss Lilly
How's your Algebra? If Nellie is going 7.2 mph and Miss Lilly is going 6.2 mph in the same direction, how long will it take Nellie's bow to travel the combined 528' length of Miss Lilly and her barges? Answer, 6 minutes. It felt like an eternity though.
Roadblock Exiting Aberdeen Lock
Nellie gets no respect. Exiting Aberdeen lock our path was all but blocked by a huge fuel barge. I wanted to push it out of the way. Bicki suggested we go around it. We compromised by scowling at the crew as we skirted their bow ;-)
At the Top of Fulton Lock
There's a pecking order for who gets to go through a lock first: (1) military vessels; (2) commercial passenger vessels; (3) commercial tows; (4) commercial fishing vessels; and (5) recreational vessels. Like I said, Nellie gets no respect.
Entering Whitten Lock
The Tenn-Tom locks are 110' wide by 600' long. Most have a 30' lift except for Whitten which has a 90' lift. That makes Whitten's the forth largest lift in the US.
Closing Doors in Whitten
We quickly traversed seven locks today thanks to Bicki's expert communications with the (all male) lock tenders. We don't believe Nellie's expedited handling is in any way attributable to the fact that Bicki's was the only female voice on the Marine VHF for hundreds of miles around. But, just in case we're wrong, Bicki will now be handling all communications with tug skippers too.
We made 80 miles today and climbed 270' vertically. That puts the cruise's total at 1698 miles. Nellie's snugly anchored in the jaw-dropping-gorgeous Coot Cove, Bay Springs Lake, Mississippi. What a great culmination to a very interesting day on the water. DBH
