9 Nov 17

We listened to the owls until late into the night, at least until the rain started around 03:00 and drowned out all other sound. The alarm went off at 06:00 and we got up to a cold (50F), rainy morning. We let go our shore, released the rafting lines, hauled in the anchor and were off down the river by 06:30, in the pouring rain. It was 25 miles to the Coffeeville Lock and we passed “Crimson White” pushing 8 loads about 1.5 hours before the lock. Fortunately, we were far enough ahead by the time we made the lock that the lockmaster ushered us straight through; the last 34 foot drop down to tidal waters. This was our last lock of the American Great Loop and hopefully our last one forever, or at least a very long time. We have locking through down to a fine art, but if I never have to go through another one for as long as I live, that’s OK with me. It is the waiting (and even more so, the uncertainty of whether and for how long one will be obliged to wait. Since we got through this last lock so promptly, we immediately decided to push on beyond our original target of Upper Sunflower (at mile 79) and head for either Three Rivers Lake at mile 64, or if we got lucky, Alabama River Cut-off at mile 53. The rain stopped about 10:00, just as we cleared Coffeeville Lock. We are completely finished with the canal now and are on the route of the Tombigbee River. Being 116 miles from Mobile Bay and only a few feet above sea level, the river meanders a lot. As shown on the photo below, at one point we went through a huge double-horseshoe bend that took us 5 miles along the river to make one mile of forward progress; during this manuever, we went through all of the cardinal points of the compass. As we came up to the turnoff point for Three Rivers, it was obvious that we would not make it to Alabama River Cut-off until 10 minutes after sunset (or 17:05). It is still heavily overcast and yesterday, under similar conditions, it was pitch dark by 17:20. Plus, at Alabama River Cut-off, it is advisable to set a stern anchor to keep from swinging into the channel. So, we decided (for once) to be prudent and stop at Three Rivers, where we were anchored and settled in by 16:45. To get to this anchorage, you have to go about half a mile up a very narrow channel, with trees overhanging from both sides, almost to the middle; a little bit strange, but we never had less than 9.9 feet coming in and it was 15 ft deep where we anchored. No other boats in here, but there appears to be a cabin or trailer a mile or so away on the lake. This is our last anchorage west of the Mississippi after 4.5 years of trundling around the eastern half of the USA. The next time the hook touches bottom, it will be in the Pacific Northwest. Only 71 miles to go to Turner Marine in Mobile; we should make that tomorrow. We had a quiet evening alone and were in bed and snoring by about 20:30.  

31-17.310’N, 087-57.940’W; Log = 66.5, Sum (2017) = 3339.5 N-m