Columbus Marina in Columbus Mississippi to Sumpter Landing Anchorage in Gainesville, Alabama
Day #122: Up at 5:45 A.M. cloudy, cool and winds were gusting. Mike called the Stennis Lock we were told to head to the lock as there was no commercial traffic. We left the dock at 7:09 A.M. with the assist of Jay from "Tyche" saying goodbye as there is a possibility that we will not see them again as they are staying at Columbus Marina through the holidays. We left the dock with "Bay Tripper", "Island Girl", "Dash Away" and "Almost There". We were secure in the Stennis Lock at 7:25 A.M. with the other four boats. Then the lock master called and we were told that we would need to wait an additional 15 minutes for additional boats. We were joined in the lock by the following boats: "Trillium", "Onward" and "Twin". We were clear of the Stennis Lock (Lock #21) at 8:00 A.M. approximately having to wait 15 minutes for the additional boats and were lowered 27 feet. At 8:30 A.M. we passed a dredging operation but they were to the side of the channel and just asked us to slow down but to keep progressing. At 10:45 A.M. we crossed from Mississippi into Alabama (we will be in Alabama now until Florida). Mike called the Bevell Lock we were told that they would be ready for us when we arrived at the lock. We were secure in the Bevell Lock at 11:10 A.M. At 11:40 A.M. we were clear of the Bevell Lock (Lock #22) we were dropped 27 feet. At 12:00 P.M. one whistle pass crossing with towboat "Alliance". At 12:45 P.M. one whistle crossing with towboat "John T. Costello". At 1:00 P.M. one whistle crossing with towboat "Jeff Kindl". At 2:00 P.M. one whistle pass crossing with towboat "Miss Lillie". At 4:00 P.M. we were anchored and secure in Sumpter Landing Boat Launch and Anchorage in Gainesville, AL after traveling 65.2 miles today (1646 miles for the total trip). We put our anchor out on "Parrot Bay" then "Bay Tripper" put out their anchor in the opposite direction backing down on the anchor rafting to "Parrot Bay" followed by "Island Girl" rafting to "Parrot Bay" with no anchor deployed. "Dash Away" anchored closer to the boat ramp. Once we were all secure we had cocktails and snacks on the well decks of "Parrot Bay" and "Island Girl". At 6:00 P.M. we cooked brats on the grill and cooked baked beans on the gas burner. We took the brats and beans over to "Bay Tripper", Bev made a sweet potato/cauliflower dish. We had a great dinner. After we completed dinner we played Golf and while we were playing Ken and Karen from "Island Girl" joined us on "Bay Tripper". Karen brought homemade Rice Krispy treats. Patty won the Golf game. At 9:00 P.M. we headed back to our boats crawling from one boat to the other to get to our own boats. "Parrot Bay" was nice and secure between "Bay Tripper" and "Island Girl". Mike and I slept great.
