We are nothing if not adaptable! We said we were leaving Mon.Mar.2 to wait for the flooding and debris to clear. Then, big weather prediction on Sat.Feb.29 said severe wx [weather] starting Tues. Mar.3 w/ flooding anticipated across the SE region. Possible closure again of locks, etc so we made an executive decision to leave Sunday, Mar.1, as originally planned, but now to get ahead of the potential flooding, etc.

Had a 'Last Supper' with our local family Saturday and they drove us Sunday to the boat and we set off at 11:00 hr. [see photos] to cruise, at 10 mph, to Aqua Yacht in Iuka, TN, the top/beginning of the TennTom Waterway. Lots of woody debris on Wilson Lake [where our marina at Turtle Point is], but none after that; Wilson Lock was open for us so no delay there.

At Aqua, we filled our diesel tanks [237 gal @ almost $3/g !!] and 'pumped out' our waste holding tank. We have two x 220 gal tanks, so should be good for 300 miles [have to allow for reserve/emergency; unless we push the speed and then we consume more than a gal/mile - fuel consumption is exponentially related to speed once a boat goes beyond its 'hull speed' - which has a formula per hull water length and ours is 10 kn/11mph].

The Sunday and Monday were a bit hectic as we reacquainted ourselves to the boat and its idiosyncracies, so that's our excuse for not updating the blog until now [also, the internet and cell phone coverage down the TTW is sketchy, so we often can't be reached for hours sometimes].

Today, Tues.Mar.3, we are in Columbus, MS, having traveled 115 miles from Aqua, and locked though 7 of the 12 locks. We anchored out at mile 360 last night and had a quiet night [the TTW is measured from m.450 near Aqua down to 0 at Mobile, on the Gulf]. We were tired and knew we could not make Columbus by nightfall. It was our first night anchoring and fortunately went well.

We will be here now till at least Thursday due to raining and wind all day tomorrow/night. It will be good to reorganize a few things also now that we've had a chance to see what works best and is needed in certain areas - not much space compared to home!

Comments:

Janice  •  04 Mar, 2020: Great to hear your travel news. Lots of similarities to RVing .... except for speed/distance! Travel well, Janice