Sunday, August 7

To mile 331. Almost no traffic, nice contrast from Florida on a weekend. I anchored in old river cuttoff near downtown Columbus, Mississippi. Nice quiet anchorage, the town has a small floating dock. I walked downtown, about a quarter mile from the river, and it was almost deserted. Then I walked about a mile and a half west, and found a mall, where everybody was.

Tuesday, August 9

To mile 358. Nice day, not much traffic. Passed one southbound tow. Went through two locks, no waiting. Anchored in nice spot off Corps of Engineers park. About a two mile walk from downtown Aberdeen. Nice little town, the downtown looked a little more thriving than most towns this size, perhaps because there is no Wal-Mart strip mall just outside of town. It is not a dry county, but I couldn’t find any bars for some reason.

Thursday, August 11

To Mile 394. Got 27 gallons gas at Aberdeen marina, good price, the same as a regular gas station. Most marinas add 30 to 40 cents a gallon. Went through three locks. I got overly creative and tried a new way to rig my lines for going through locks, it was a total failure. Stopped at Midway Marina, one of my favorite stops on my last trip through here. Nice inexpensive restaurant nearby. 85 cents a foot overnight dockage. I splurged and stayed two nights.

Saturday, August 13

Went through three locks. My starter on my motor didn’t work when trying to leave the second lock, and I had to start the motor by hand. Went through the biggest lock so far, 85 foot lift. Anchored in beautiful bay in Bay Springs Lake. I checked the battery connections, and didn’t find any problem, starter still doesn’t work. It looks like I’ll have to find a mechanic. I went to the Bay Springs visitors center, and walked to the lock. You can’t get down to the lock like you used to, because of extra security. Last time I was here, you could walk down to the lock and lean over the railings to peer down into the lock. The Lockmaster even invited me up into his control tower.

Monday, August 15.

Starter worked fine, I don’t know what the problem was. Went to Mile 230, Tennessee River. Almost no traffic on Bay Springs Lake, but there was a little bit of traffic on Pickwick lake, but not too bad. Went through impressive divide section, where they cut a 175 foot deep valley into the hills.