We learned a new term at this morning’s session. Please refer to Kona and me as extended cruisers, not live-a-boards. In Florida, live-a-boards are charged more, taxed more and even fined more often. It might even make sense to register the boat in Florida so that it blends in once we get there.
This is another beautiful spot located 5 miles from Rogersville, AL, and about 15 miles from the Quad Cities; Florence, Mussel Shoals, Tuscumbia, Huntsville. Joe Wheeler was a famous General in the CSA during the War Between the States. If you have never been to Alabama, or the Shiloh civil war memorial, you have probably never heard of Joe Wheeler until now, either.
The state park grounds are alive with the fall colors. The property has a state run hotel with restaurant, pool and meeting facilities. There are cabins for rent as well as some camps sites. There is also a nice sized marina that has been capable of accommodating, I am guessing at least 50 transient boats that have come for the information and fellowship the rendezvous is providing. While there was a lot of confusion regarding the number of slips that were reserved, I am not aware of anyone who arrived without a reservation, such as Sleeping Bear that was turned away. Furthermore, there appears to be at least 10 open slips and/or side ties that could be utilized if more folks show up.
The trip here on Sunday was only 21 miles. However, there were 2 locks and due to a delay at the second lock, it took 7 hours to reach the fuel dock at Joe Wheeler. Locks yesterday included the Wilson Lock, a lift of 96 feet and Wheeler lock, which was a lift of only 46 feet. I will try to describe the lift at Wilson and promise to follow-up with a slide show. Both will attempt to describe what not only the largest lift of the trip, but also the most spectacular.
Let’s roll the clock back to 6:30Am, Sunday morning. There was knock on the outside of the boat that awakened the sleeping crew of Sleeping Bear. It was Daryl, captain of Present Moments, the Holland based, 50ft Ocean Alexander, docked behind us in Florence. As he had promised, Daryl was up before the crack of dawn to contact the lock master. There were tows moving in both directions on Sunday. If we got to the lock by 7:30AM, the lock master said he would lock us ahead of the tows. Faced with leaving now, or waiting until noon or later, the decision for a quick departure became an easy choice. The brew button on the coffee pot was pushed as Kona was rushed to shore for her morning business. Sleeping Bear pushed away from the dock a little before 7 AM, making the 2 mile run up to the lock in 20 minutes. By 7:30 Present Moments and Sleeping Bear were waiting in position at the base of the lock. Just before we arrived two other boats apparently hearing of the pending delay at the lock until noon, called the lock master to ask if he would hold up locking us thru for the 20 minutes it would take for them to catch us at the lock. The lock master agreed.
At 7:50 the gates to the lock opened. The sun was up, but the height of the lock and the canal walls shaded us. It was as if the sun was taking its dear sweet time to rise that morning, in typical laid back southern style. The lock master advised us and the other two boats when they arrived 10 minutes later, to position ourselves at either end of the lock. He commented, “it can get pretty rough in the middle of the lock!”
We chose a floating bollard on the starboard lock wall at the entry end of the lock while Present Moment took position at the upstream starboard end. The two later boats positioned across from each of us on the port wall. After the gates closed, the lock began to fill. The water in the center of the section of the lock began to bubble and spin. It looked like water boiling in a kettle on a stove. About halfway up, the churning water tricked the depth sounder. The water was moving with such force that sensor believed that there were less than2 feet of water beneath it. The ride up was fairly quick considering the distance. As the water filled into the lock it began to get brighter and warmer as the boat approached the level of Wilson lock above. It was truly the most spectacular locking of the trip thus far. The slide show reflects pictures of some osprey that watched the event, and flew off as soon as the show was over.
On Wednesday our trip back down the Tennessee River toward the Ten-Tom will include Sleeping Bear’s locking down at Wilson. I can’t wait for the ride back down!
The link to a slide show is below:
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