Day 119 and 120 – anchorage at Five Fingers to Midway Marina, Fulton, MS - November 2-3, 2011

We don’t have many miles to travel today, but we do have the first three locks on the Tenn-Tom.  The first lock is the Whitten Lock – with a drop of 85 feet, it is the ninth highest single lift lock in the U.S.  The other two locks today are just 30 feet each.  We locked through the Whitten Lock with Brandy IV, a 40 foot sailboat and Harbor Lady an eighty-five foot long commercial passenger vessel that is available for charter.  Because these three locks are very close together we traveled with this same group through all three of them.  The lockmasters along the Tenn-Tom work together to keep traffic moving smoothly, so as we arrived at each lock, the locks were ready for us to just motor in and lock down.  It made the day very easy.

We decided to stay at Midway Marina for two nights because of a poor weather forecast and for once the forecast was right on target.  Rain began over night and didn’t stop until late morning.  We borrowed the marina’s courtesy car and did a bit of grocery shopping.  Other than that we spent time on the computers taking care of e-mail messages, bills and finances. 

             Miles: 19.7      Bridges: 2        Locks: 3

the view out of the Whitten Lock after we have locked down 85 feet 

looking forward in the Rankin Lock before we are lowered

cypress trees along the waterway

more cypress trees along the edge of the waterway

a coot swimming around the "submerged timber" near Midway Marina