Nautical miles: 32.6 nm
Docked at: Smithville Marina, Mississippi
Locks today: James Whitten 84 foot drop
Sony Montgomery 33 foot drop
John Rankin 31 foot drop
Fulton Lock 30 foot drop
James Whitten Lock
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| After the Trent-Severn Zeke looks for treats at every lock! |
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| A little mist still on the water this morning. |
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| Biggest drop of the loop, 84 feet! |
The LOCK GODS were with us today, we entered the first lock right off the bat and from there we only had one five minute wait all day. Four locks down and eight more to go!! These locks are a breeze compared to the dreaded Erie Canal System. They have floating bollards and all you have to do is lasso one and bring the line back to the boat and then wait .....we have had the locks all to ourselves today.
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| Well, we did have company in the Rankin Lock |
Marinas are few and far between on this stretch - although we still had another few hours of daylight there was no way we could make Columbus, so we stopped. We were warned not to try and get into Aberdeen Marina so this was our only choice.
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| Cruising down the Tenn-Tomm |
In April of this year an EF5 Tornado (winds greater than 200 MPH) went through this town, according to our waitress at Mel's Diner there were 17 people killed, 14 of the 16 businesses on Main Street were wiped out, 5 churches destroyed and 150 homes flattened. She told us that the tornado sirens had been going off and on for two weeks prior to that day and that nobody really thought it was such a big deal. She was at work - the old Mel's Diner, someone looked out the door,saw it coming and they had time to run into the freezer. The marina owner was killed in the tornado and now his son is running things.
Mel's Diner just reopened on Tuesday of this week, the other places that are open are conducting business from trailers on concrete pads left behind. Wow, it is so sad to see such devastation and destruction.
The courtesy car for the marina survived the tornado, unfortunately -
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| Rear view mirrors are optional on marina courtesy cars in Mississippi! |
