05 Nov Days 50, 51, 52 & 53 The Tombigbee Part1

November 2 was another cold morning. We were delayed leaving because of morning fog and then some engine issues. Those solved we left Aqua Yacht Harbour at 11AM and started into the Tombigbee Waterway.
At the start we saw a large flock of White Pelicans.

The Tombigbee is known as the “Ditch” and the first day was basically that. A canal dug with rock lined shorlines, barely wide enough to meet the passing tows.

The end of day 1 on the Tombigbee we anchored out in Bay Springs Lake, close to an office and information center of the Army Corps of Engineers. As usual for our trip so far, it was closed. We did find a nice park, beach and nature trail where we found a “Dog Trot” cabin in the woods.

It was basically a couple of log cabins that were joined together with a common roof and a passage in the middle that was left open. This one was built by settlers in 1860 and handed down in the same family until is was purchased in 1979 when they flooded the Lake.
We took a walk out to check out the Whitten Lock that would be our first lock the next day.

It was a big one with an 84′ drop.
Day 2 on the Tombigbee saw us through 4 locks before noon, arriving at anchor just above the Wilkins lock about 3PM

November 4th. Day 3 on the Tombigbee we made 3 more locks. We were held up a little bit waiting on a slow houseboat that was locking through with us.

We met them that night in Columbus. While not technically Loopers they were traveling the same route. They left Grand Haven MI back in August and are taking their homemade houseboat to the Tampa Bay area in Florida. They have a Youtube channel documenting their journey, “The Pirate and the Princess” check them out.
We stayed two nights in Columbus to rest, provision and do some sightseeing.
As usual sightseeing did not work out as I planned. I took the girls out to see the Waverly Mansion, a classic Southern Plantation.

Only to find it closed for roof repairs.
We ended up driving around Columbus to see some old mansions. The Town visitor center was the first home of Tennessee Williams.

They had a list of old Southern mansons that people would invite you in to tour.

Of course we couldn’t get into any of those either, but we did get some pics from outside…