TENN.-TOM TO DO



  We were delayed in leaving Patterson for our Tenn.-Tom Waterway and

HELLO ALL STATIONS, HELLO ALL STATIONS, HELLO ALL STATIONS, TENN.-TOM TO DO We were delayed in leaving Patterson for our Tenn.-Tom Waterway and Tennessee River trip due to Lili!! In fact the broad showed up on the projected date of departure. The power was off in Patterson so we had to empty the refrigerator and freezer at home , this while trying to get the last of the supplies and clothes on board. The power came on literally as we were walking out the door. We headed for the Berwick Lock and waited abt. 4 hours with a number of tows and offshore boats for the Atchafalaya and Bayou Teche to equalize as one lock gate was broken and the part had been sitting in New Orleans for months but the Corps of Engineers had not seen fit to get it installed. Your TAX DOLLARS at work. By the way Pat and I spent the storm on an offshore survey vessel, about 130ft long, tied to the dock in Patterson. Had a nice bed room , a/c plenty of good food and company. The only way to do a hurricane. For the storm I tied CCRIDER to a friends shrimp boat just down the river from our home. After the storm he had a lot of shrimp and his ice was melting. Hmmmm. He gave us more than we had freezer space available. What a revoltin' development! ( You must have a few years on you to remember that phrase. Do you?) William Bendix---Life of Riley. Upon arriving at the infamous locks in New Orleans we called Harvey Lock and were ushered right in. From the time of calling Harvey , through the 5 mile trip to the Industrial Lock on the East bank and exiting it was a total of ONE AND ONE HALF HOURS. This has become no aberration as our last 3 times through this lock system have all been less than two and one half hours. Hey, and with no problems from the lock keepers. What is this world coming to? Mississippi Sound advisory: AVOID Point Marina. It is no longer the inexpensive boater friendly place it has been. They are making a ton of money from leasing space to a casino and now feel they can charge top dollar for a slip. Couple the high slip rent and the fact that just to get to the marina office you must walk behind the casino by the garbage dumpsters and then around the front of the casino it aint nice. We spoke to a couple who are living aboard a CHB sistership of CCRIDER at Point Cadet and they agree that the quality of the place has really deteriorated including the management. On the 6th day out we were at Dog River below Mobile the real jumping off point for the trip. Friends drove over to see us off. The next day we passed the mouth of the Alabama River that we did the length of last October where we took the left fork into the Tombigbee---new water! At this point we started anchoring and have had quite a few very nice ones and a couple not to write home about. So far the most consecutive nights at anchor is 5 and then a marina break. We have the Captn charting program for the laptop but our charts ran out at the Tennessee River. Man we are spoiled. Spent the night at Goosepond Marina a municipal operation in Scottsboro, Al. ( Tennessee River) and it is one fine set up. Very reasonable in price and nice nice people operating it. All municipal employees too! Had a problem with the engine-coupling alignment on one engine that I just could not get right. I worked on it 3 times. The mechanic there and I got it all lined up and no more sound from the Cutless bearing. The Tennessee River up here is just great, deep, clear and wide. Mountains all around and don't forget the dead leaves. We will anchor tonight above yet another lock . Only 4 more to go before the turn around point at Knoxville. One thing about these lockkeepers they are so polite and helpful it is unbelievable. They will ask if you are going through the next lock and then THE LOCKKEEPER will call ahead to advise that lock to get ready for you. Several of the lockkeepers refer to pleasure boats as "RV's"!! For instance they will call the next lock and advise that " Four RV's are headed your way". We are the only boat headed North as all are going South for the winter. Makes it nice at the locks as there are no stragglers to wait for. We are meeting e-mail friends all along the way and that is fun. Will see several in Chattanooga and Knoxville. These along with MTOA ( Marine Trader Owners Assoc.) , TWL, ( Trawler World Listees). and Chubbies ,(CHB's or CHUNG HWA OWNERS) whom we have met a number on the river through recognizing boat names from the net. Two big differences up here from the Gulf Coast is the gross lack of towboat traffic, as in one or two per day and dozens of pleasure boats per day, just the opposite of the coast. A word from THE WIFE: Just thought I'd take a few minutes and give MY update of things on the river. Today, I have not been off this boat since Columbus about 5 days ago. I have been preparing all the meals since Demopolis (which doesn't really count because we had pizza there) We have anchored out every night which has really been nice but I long to walk on ground. I like anchoring though, for one thing it saves all that docking trauma, which is more complicated on this river because people help here, and they put their lines on backwards (meaning they put the eye on the BOAT and throw the end of the line to whoever is on the dock. So whenever I throw the eye to people and they are actually able to reach it, they pause and look at me because they think I've given them the wrong end. The river is gorgeous, it starts getting pretty once you go thru the Fulton Lock, the river gets really wide, the water is clear and you can see mountains . The fall colors are really just beginning in the area we've seen thusfar, Charles says not to worry more leaves will die soon! I think I'm surprised that we'll see more of Alabama than we will see of Tennessee. We're actually still in Alabama and won't be in Tenn. until almost Chattanooga. When we reach Chattanooga we'll be 1,000 miles from home, most of it accomplished at 7.5 mph. Charles is writing all over the chart book, a moment ago I noticed that he actually noted the call # for an oldies radio station! This may be a case of be careful what you ask for! ( This chart book was borrowed and its owner wants navigation notes entered). We met a couple in Demopolis who spent the summer on the Tenn. River so Charles had him write all over the chart book too. He put in lots of anchorages, etc.They also did the Great Loop 2 years ago, they are from Slidell, La. of all places. The anchoring has really been easy except for one time when Chas. needed to set a stern anchor and couldn't get it to hold, it took over an hour! Usually it takes about 10 minutes. I think we've done 18 locks since we left home, We have 4 more to go, then we get to turn around and do them again. One thing of note , we normally only use a bow line in the lock, but we've started using a stern line as well, it keeps the stern from kicking out (way out) day before yesterday we went through the Wilson Lock it was like being on an express elevator, we had to stay really close to the lines and fenders as we locked up over 100 feet....A few days ago we had a great lockkeeper and it was a lovely slow ride. Another thing ,lots of people here turn off engines in the Lock. Charles said to mention we are now 595 feet above sea level.... Chas. has begun to tell people that he expects to do the Great Loop in 3 years or less, now that will be a big trip. ^From the "Men are from Mars" file: Definition of "Full Service Marina" Man-- Has fuel, water, electricity and a mechanic on premises Woman--Has book swap, laundromat, courtesy car, RESTAURANT and TV cable or movie rental That's it for now. CCC and THE WIFE LETS ROLL Charles and Pat Culotta Patterson,La. Web Page: http://www.geocities.com/charlesculotta/