Aberdeen to Florence, AL

Friday, May 4, 2018 -

Whew!  Left Blue Bluff anchorage at 6:30 AM.  Transited 6 locks and anchored in Bay Springs Lake near the top...same place we anchored as we came down in March.  All the locks went smoothly...until the last one, Whitten.  They were working on the lock and we waited an hour before we could enter.  By then we were joined by a john boat, a 45 ft. cruiser and a 125 ft. motor yacht (in every sense of the word, yacht). 

The "older" man (probably our age) in the john boat was traveling from Mobile Bay to Paducah, KY.  He dropped by the boat to chat when he came up to wait and we talked a bit.  Earlier in the day he had hit a stump and it threw him out of the boat and bounced the top off of his outboard motor!  Thankfully he had a kill switch on and a rather long rope that he used to get back into the boat.  He'd been on the rivers already for 4 days (making a lot better time than us!).  I couldn't help but wonder where he stayed at night...was he wearing the same clothes (ewwww)...what did he eat???  I should have asked him for a boat card and blog address.  [smile]

Saturday, May 5, 2018 -

Another long day on the water.  Left at 6:30 AM as the rain just started.  We traveled until around 1 PM in rain...varying from light rain to pouring rain.  Yucky. 

We traveled from Bay Springs up to the Tennessee River and on to Florence, AL, and Florence Harbor Marina.  We considered going up through the Wilson Lock and anchoring above, but we talked with the lock master and realized they had a big towboat bringing multiple loads through the lock.  It was 3:30 when we got to Florence and it would be at least 5 o'clock before we'd have a chance to lock through. 

We bailed out and decided to just go into Florence Harbor for the afternoon and evening.  Good choice!  I went out for a few fresh items, we walked Maggie...and had take out from the restaurant here.  We met the lock master from Wilson who works 6 PM to 6AM.  He'll be working tomorrow morning, but we'll probably go through a bit later in the morning.  Tomorrow we're settling back into leisurely cruising.  Really.