Traveling the Great Loop

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A summary: Retracing our steps to Grand River after leaving Chattanooga and Scottsboro on the Tennessee River: Nov. 15: Day’s run: 115 mi. to Florence including Guntersville Lock, Wheeler Lock, and Wilson Lock. Nov. 16, Day’s run 40 mi. to Zippy Branch anchorage. Nov. 17, Day’s run: 5 mi. to Grand Harbor (the above locations were covered in previous posts).

We Say Goodbye to the Tennessee River:

En Route to Fulton, (mile 394), Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, Mississippi.

Nov. 18, Day’s Run from Grand Harbour: 43 mi.

 The Divide Cut, a manmade 29-mile long canal connecting the Tennessee River and Tombigbee Waterway,  is approximately 280 ft wide. It was excavated to an average depth of 12 ft. Completed in 1984, it took 8 years to dig the trench for the canal. The entire town of Holcut, Mississippi, had to be demolished. Approximately, 1.5 times more earth was moved to make the canal than was dug out for the Suez Canal.

Most often, boaters communicate with lockmasters by VHF radio but rarely see the person behind the mic. Communication is direct and to the point. But sometimes we meet a personable lockmaster, like the man at Whitten Lock who apologized over the VHF to the boat who had the water spraying into his cockpit. Then the lockmaster set our minds at ease by confirming that we would all get to Fulton before dark. “Take it easy,” he encouraged. While the lock was in its first stages of filling, he came out of his control both, walked the length of the lock, and waved. Using the VHF, one of the boaters announced, “Well, you’re Mr. Congeniality! We haven’t seen a lockmaster since we left Chicago!” The lockmaster replied” Well, I’m glad you got to see my purdy face.”