Day 29 - Acceptance — Captain Father John

You Miles cruised 42, fuel purchased 79 gallons, fuel cost $194, cost per gallon $2.45, daily high temperature 70*F

We had a straight shot down the Tennessee River from Florence, Alabama to Luka, Mississippi. No locks today. We traveled with two other Loopers – Sadie II and Elizabear. We all went to the Aqua Marina. Aqua is two miles down the Tenn Tom so we are finally changing latitudes after seven days of changing longitude or sitting still. It is nice to go with the flow of the river and pick up three extra mph in speed.

We finally connected with a group of Loopers that have accepted us into their herd. We are tied on a long end dock with 10 other boats. We chatted up a few Loopers we had met along the way and some that were at the Rendezvous. This includes Panda Bear, Saddie II and Elizabear. They invited us for docktails and we discussed transiting the locks on the Tom Bigbee canal together. Saddie II and Elizabear have big dogs onboard so finding an anchorage with a boat ramp or dingy dock is imperative. We will depart with the herd at 9:00 am. They plan to anchor out for the next two nights. We will tag along. The slowest in the herd, Panda Bear, will lead the way at his top speed of 6 mph.

We borrowed the marina loaner car and went grocery shopping so we will have food while on our hook. Tom on Elizabear had gone shopping and bought three six packs of IPA beer but forgot to buy milk. We bought extra milk and dropped it off at his boat. The couples on Saddie II and Panda Bear wanted to go to dinner with us at Freddie T’s restaurant. We had a six passenger van so Dale and I dropped off Priscilla and Andy at the restaurant on the way back to the boat to put the groceries away. We picked up the other two couples and drove the three miles back to Freddie T’s. Of course on the way home we squeezed all eight of us into the van.

Some of our fellow Loopers that accepted us into their group.

We received a very simple but useful navigational aid at the Rendezvous. It is a tongue depressor painted red and green on each end. We keep this on the dashboard of our helm to remind us which direction to follow the navigational buoys. Down-bound is green on the right and red on the left. If the helms person has a momentary lapse of memory the answer is right in front of him. There are sections on the ICW where the direction on the markers changes at intersections of rivers and outlets to the ocean.

We will be traveling on the Tenn-Tom Waterway for the next several days. Our total trip distance to Mobile is 450 miles of which 234 miles will be on the Tenn-Tom Waterway.

The Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway (popularly known as the Tenn-Tom) is a 234-mile man-made waterway that extends from the Tennessee River to the junction of the Black Warrior-Tombigbee River system near Demopolis, Alabama. The Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway links commercial navigation from the nation’s midsection to the Gulf of Mexico. The major features of the waterway are 10 locks and dams, a 175-foot deep cut between the Tombigbee River watershed and the Tennessee River watershed, and 234 miles of navigation channels. Under construction for twelve years by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway was completed in December 1984 at a total cost of nearly $2 billion.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began work on the project in 1972. During the construction process, land excavation reached about 175 feet (53 m) in depth. The Tenn-Tom is the largest earth-moving project in world history, requiring the excavation of nearly 310 million cubic yards of soil. (This is the equivalent of more than 100-million dump truck loads and more dirt than required in the Panama Canal.) The project was completed on December 12, 1984, nearly two years ahead of schedule.

View of the Tenn-Tomm from our windshield.

I received an inquiry into the identity of Carl (Chef) Wooden the contributor to the quote of the day. Carl and his wife Mariko, daughter Jenny and dogs Shockolate and Tiara live in Tokyo, Japan. Carl was born in Sydney, Australia and moved to Japan more than twenty-five years ago. Carl was the managing director of Rust-Oleum Japan for many years. He now owns and operates a successful food import business bringing in specialty food products from Australia to Japan. Carl’s nickname is “Chef” from the movie Apocalypse Now.

Sorry for the blurry photo of Carl and Mariko.

Chef – Played by Frederic Forrest A saucier from New Orleans who just wants to go home. Chef seems doomed from the start and escapes mentally by smoking dope. He is prone to emotional breakdowns and has a hot temper, fueled by resentment for the war. An eccentric, Chef appears to be more educated than the rest of the crew. He is also the crewmember with the most anger: he emphatically does not want to be in this strange land.

Carl (Chef) Wooden - quote of the day."The right of way goes to the vessel with the least competent crew" - Mike Baiocchi