Columbus Mississippi to Sweet Home Alabama

November 28 - December 1, 2016

We returned to Columbus, Mississippi on Monday, the 28th of November, ready to continue our adventure aboard sailboat Mystic. We arrived just in time to experience two days of stormy weather which included tornado watches! Scott and Rhonda, aboard Mucho Gusto, were at the end of the dock next to us, waiting out the weather with us. Over the next two days, we prepared Mystic for the storms and for the next part of our journey; the trip to Mobile Alabama. It rained hard, and the wind blew while lightening lit up the sky and claps of thunder took us by surprise. It was intense, but not as bad as we expected. The scariest thing was walking under the metal roof of the dock we are tied to. The heavy rain made such a racket that it sounded like a train. I didn’t want to be under it any longer than I had to. We heard that Midway Marina on the Tenn-Tom got hit hard with a tornado touchdown! One of the covered docks collapsed and twisted in the storm. They had to pull boaters from under the wreckage and out of the water! Thank God no one was hurt badly.

Mystic at Columbus Marina

The steel covered dock at Columbus Marina

Tornado damage at Midway on the Tenn-Tom
Photo by Christy & Jim Mitchell

Photo by Christy & Jim Mitchell

While we were in Columbus, we managed a quick trip to restock our pantry. While we were out, we drove past the Waverly Mansion which was built in 1852 by Colonel George Hampton Young. It was abandoned from 1913 - 1962 when the Snow family bought it and began renovations. It is said to be haunted by good ghosts with proper southern manners. They offer a 2.5 hour tour but we didn’t have time for that so we stood outside the gates and viewed yet another glorious historic piece of Columbus for just a moment.

Visit this link for more information and photos:

Explore Southern History ~ The Waverly

Wrought Iron Sign at the Waverly

The Waverly Mansion

Waverly Mansion Gates

Waverly Mansion Pond

Jim, a retired corporate guy who grew up in the hills of Kentucky, is our dock neighbor. We spent quite a bit of time chatting with him. He would stop us each time we passed his steel houseboat on our way back and forth to Mystic. Jim was kind enough to make us a mixed CD of music to take with us. I listened to the entire group of songs and was delighted with his choices. We really enjoyed meeting Jim and appreciate this thoughtful gesture.

While we were in New York City, Dave was contacted by a reporter from the Columbus Dispatch newspaper. She wanted to do an article about looping, featuring us. After it was published, I got an email from a local couple who had read the article. Kay and Dannie Hughes invited us to their home for dinner. They wanted to extend southern hospitality and learn more about our adventure. Although we were not able to make that happen, we were surprised and delighted by their generosity and kindness. Truly, the best part of this adventure has been the people who we have met along the way.

http://www.cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=54204

We were up early on November 30th, to prepare for joining the other boats locking through the Stennis lock located next to the Columbus Marina. A total of four boats were heading south. The Lock Master wanted us in the chamber asap. We all made a mad dash from the marina, got settled in the lock and waited to be dropped. While we were there, a gentleman in military attire came over to chat with us. He was young, handsome and friendly and asked us about our journey from Minnesota. Colonel James Delapp recently took over command of the Army Corp of Engineers Mobile Division. He is also in charge of South of America and the Panama Canal. He was in the process of visiting the entire section of the waterway which is under his command. He wanted to offer us his business card but realized he’d given them all away. He had more on the skiff he was travelling aboard and said that he would catch up to us and pass his card across the waterway. Sure enough, along came that the Colonel and his crew. The captain of the skiff came on the radio and requested that we slow down so the Colonel could have a word with us. He used a measuring stick with his card tucked into one of the telescoping sections which he reached out to us. I took the card and slipped ours into it’s place. We watched as he did the same for Mucho Gusto. We were impressed that he took the time for this friendly gesture. As important as his job is, he was interested in our journey and our experience going through the locks of the inland waterway. It was obvious that he loves his work!

Colonel James Delapp passing his business card to
Mucho Gusto on Tombigbee

The next lock was the Tom Beville. We arrived and got ourselves secured to the wall. The Lock Master told us we had to wait for a work boat. Who pulls up but Colonel Delapp! He’d made a detour between Stennis and Beville locks but caught up to us. We took some photos of him in the lock. We watched as the work boat exited the lock and noticed that they were being pushed sideways by a strong current from the dam. The Colonel came on the radio and warned us about the current, the strongest we’d seen leaving any other lock. It took concentration to counteract the push and pull as we exited. Again, we noted how kind it was of the Colonel to warn us of the danger ahead.

Colonel James Delapp aboard the Army Corp of Engineers Skiff

At mile 217 we entered Sweet Home Alabama, leaving Mississippi behind us. We traveled about 60 miles to reach our lovely anchorage at Cook’s Bend Cutoff. We entered following Mucho Gusto, then made our way about a half mile up the bend and anchored in a bay just off of several homes snuggled in the woods. Rafted to Mucho Gusto, we spent the evening enjoying the quiet and each other’s company. It was 10:30 before we returned to Mystic for bed. It is rare that we are up this late. The rigors of cruising make for exhausting days. 

Sunset at Cook's Bend Cutoff

Views along the waterway