Last lock at Coffeeville

November 11, 2001 - Last lock at Coffeeville

I had gone to bed at 9:00 last night, so we were up at 6:00 ready to go. Miss G was trying to figure out an engine concern, so we waited to see what they decided to do - whether to go or not. All decided to go, so we called the Coffeeville Lock and were advised that they had just locked a boat from Bobby's - probably Buddy. He was gone by the time we got up. They said it would be 45 minutes. Thinking that it wouldn't take that long for them to ready the lock, Miss G., Mistletoe and Rendezvous untied lines and filed up to wait for the lock. Well, they did take 45 minutes, just as advertised.

Coffeeville Lock is out LAST one of the 12 on the Tenn-Tom. Some have called them the dirty dozen. They really weren't as bad as all that. But, of course, the wind wasn't blowing to cause us trouble and with our able bodied crews of Jo and Ralph and Joanne and Bert, they were a piece of cake. Now that we are through the lock we are less than four feel above sea level. There is a little turbulence due to the tidal effect here from the Gulf. That plus the amount of water being released at Coffeeville Dam is why they say not to bet the farm on how much water will be under your boat after anchoring out all night along this part of the waterway.

Our last lock. Yeh!

We are headed to Bates Lake to anchor tonight, about 54 miles away, leaving 54 more tomorrow to reach the Grand Mariner Marina in Mobile Bay. It will seem good to actually be tied up to a real dock again. We will have a couple of days to get organized to leave the boat for a week, as we will fly to Colorado on Thursday to see the kids and have Thanksgiving with some of them. I can't wait to see them all - hope I get my land legs back easily. Catherine and Mike are going to Hawaii leaving on Thanksgiving Day, and Dave and Pam and Family are driving to Iowa to be with Pam's sister's family. We will be with Amy, Jim and James and all of Jim's family, in Vail. Then back to Mobile on Friday, to leave on Saturday for Pensacola to meet my brother John who will be with us for a week or so to cross the Gulf and get to Tampa.

Well, here we are at Bates Lake. It is a real cute lake with a lot of little fishing cottages along the water. We entered and after looking it over, we decided to put down the anchor. It is mud again, and at first it didn't look like it would hold, but we put out 2 anchors and haven't moved, so I guess we are o.k. I must admit, it always makes me nervous until we are settled. I guess I should have more convenience in ole' Captain Bill. On to Mobile Bay tomorrow.