Nov. 10, 2015

Leaving Wheeler Marina for Aqua Marina




WHEELER LODGE IN FALL

It was sunny and calm, just the kind of day we'd awaited for a 60 miles transit. 0800, a record early departure, sent us right to Wheeler Lock, then, ten miles later, Wilson lock. From there was just a nice cruise downstream, destination Aqua Marina at the north end of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. We had two days of boat repairs and BBQ ribs research here.  

NEON FRIES!

We also visited the Shiloh Civil War Battlefield twice, getting perspective on what had to happen to keep us one country.
 
While side-tied at Aqua the wind shifted at night to SSE and slammed us against the dock with great force. We were compelled to deploy all fenders and fender boards to protect the boat from the dock, as the surface is covered with jagged bolt heads.



WORLDS BIGGEST FENDER DISPLAY

 The Tenn-Tom is the largest project ever undertaken by the Army Corp. of Engineers.  It required moving 1/3 more earth than the Panama Canal and is 5 times as long.  It actually connects two separate drainages, that of the Tennessee River and the Tombigbee, sending Tennessee R. water down to Mississippi and Alabama. The politics had to have been convoluted, to say the least. The project, finished in 1984, took 12 years to build and was  over 200 years in the planning, starting with French explorers.

The Tenn-Tom cuts many days off the barge trip from the Gulf to Chattanooga and beyond.  An average barge "tow" carries the equivalent of 500 semi trucks.