Wednesday, May 24, 2017

We pulled anchor this morning and were headed upstream again by about 6:30, after a peaceful night in our at anchor.

We played leapfrog all day with a couple of towboats and 2 sailboats, all of which were traveling about the same speed as we were. The 2 faster boats that we travelled with yesterday were able to break from the pack and get to the Beville lock ahead of the two towboats. We arrived about the same time as the tows, so we had to wait for them to lock upstream. So we sat, idled up and down and turned a few circles while we waited 2 1/2 hours for our turn. (Commercial vessels have priority).

The high point of the day was seeing the two adult bald eagles, who patiently posed for me to get good pictures before flying away.

As we got close to Columbus, there was a lot of river traffic and congestion. At one point, We were travelling between 2 sailboats, with a tow bringing up the rear. As we approached 3 stationary tows and several smaller boats on our right, another southbound tow radioed that he was about to meet us. The stationary vessels were laying a huge pipline, and were taking up half the channel. The southbound tow radioed that his barges were 110' wide. We ducked in between two of the pipeline tows, and let him pass. You can't win a right-of-way arguement with a boat that's pushing twelve thousand tons of cargo!

Here's a screenshot of our 58 mile route today:

   

We had originally planned on making it through the Columbus lock today, but after our delay at Beville lock, we decided to anchor South of the Columbus lock. My chart showed an anchorage at the North end of an oxbow that was close enough to town to walk from shore. After weaving through a tight passage at a barge loading dock, and passing under 3 bridges, we were rewarded with a great, calm anchorage at the edge of Columbus's Riverfront Park. There was even a modern, floating dinghy dock for us to use! 

Glenda says:

There are always interesting things to see along the river.  

Maybe i should get one of these for my grandkids.

After we finally got through the lock we past the last working snag boat on the tenn-tom.  I think it retired sometime in the 80s.

We pulled into our anchorage about 5:30.  We had both already cleaned up so we got into the dinghy and rowed to a very nice river walk area in Columbus.  After a short walk we found Harveys and had a delicious dinner.  

We walked along the park after dinner.

This little critter was enjoying his dinner on the bank near our dinghy.  He did not appear to be disturbed by us.

The real fun came as we attempted to get gracefully from the dinghy back into the boat.  We were successful getting in, the graceful part we missed.  If anyone was videoing it will become a YouTube favorite.