Tenn-Tom

The Tennessee Tom-Bigbee (AKA  the Tenn-Tom) is almost 450 miles of rivers, lakes, streams and man made cuts that connect the Tennessee river to the Gulf of Mexico at Mobile, Alabama. Much of it runs down the dividing line between Mississippi and Alabama. The official opening date was June 1985 although it had been thought of and even proposed years earlier.  It was given a real boost in 1946 with the Rivers and Harbor Act but it was not until 1971 that the Corps of Engineers got the go-ahead. Mobile is mile zero and Aqua Marine is mile 448. The route was designed to keep traffic off the Mississippi.  The Tenn-Tom has commercial traffic but not like the big river.  Also, it is better for cruisers like us because of the lakes, cities and slower water.  The down side is a boater must traverse 12 locks to make the trip. As you may suspect by this long winded introduction, we are still at the dock and the mechanic did not show up until 5:30pm... we told him no thanks!!. Guess we weren't paying him enough. We will decide what we will do tomorrow. Meanwhile, I was able to do some maintenance work and Denniese washed clothes. Plus we had a great steak supper aboard our floating home.  So, soon we will be continuing the trip.  Tomorrow a front will pass and we will just wait till it passes before we venture down the Tennessee Tom-Bigbee.  The picture is one Denniese took from inside the boat of the sunrise in the fog.  The rail of the boat is in the foreground and the water drops are on the outside of the window.