We have traveled the Tombibee up and down from the Tennesee River and on the way down we moved along right smartly. It took seven days. Heres the deal. It is hard to have a tight schedule on a boat and not invite trouble. You seem to be tempting the fates with your schedule. Can you do it? Yes. Will you get away with it is the question. The locks usually take 45 min to 1 hour to get in and get out if all goes well. But if there are tows, they have priority and the wait can be, though not usually, up to three hours. We ran into a problem with a lock door that took the lockmaster 8 hours to get us through at one lock. If, Fred Myers, the author of the guide books for the river system, is monitoring, I am sure he can make some suggestions that may be helpful. Use his book. They are conservative and right on for every anchorage, which he checks personally for each new publication. Since your tone sounds newbie, I would encourage you to call out on your VHF every 1/2 or on the hour, depending where you are, stating you are a pleasure craft downbound at marker #___, followed by a landmark name and state your speed over the ground. The tow drivers have the charts, but they know the landmarks by name. They will not answer you, usually, but they do like knowing where you are and will typically respond or make a general call out when they are approaching your location. This requires that you check where they say they are so you know if they are just around the next bend. Always do what they tell you to do. Always. Do not call them barges. They find that an insult. They are tows even tho they only push. We suggest you not travel at night on the river system as it is extremely difficult to see floating debris that occasionally lunges seemingly intended on challenging your propulsion system. If we may be of further assistance, you may contact us off-line, anytime.