Officially Underway!

It’s official!!  We are LOOPING!!

 It was an early morning – up at 5:00! But after showers, breakfast, conversation with the Fulton lockmaster, loading up power cords & steps…and saying the many, many good-bye’s, we were headed “down river” with 5 other boats by 7:15!  What an incredible day!

The Fulton Lock is just ahead - trust me!

The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway is very familiar territory to us but today it took on a whole new meaning!  We started out cool in the low 40’s – I was wearing 3 layers & had to “upsize” my life jacket.  In the first 30 miles we conquered 4 locks and no Kodak moments, whew!  Once the fog cleared, brilliant blue sky smiled upon us, layer by layer the boating attire became more authentic…shorts, t shirt & the appropriate sized life jacket! I even had to break out a little sunscreen!!

I failed to take a lot of pictures because everything looked normal & familiar AND we were traveling with other boats and meeting commercial barges.  There were several “head on a swivel” moments so it pays to have 2 sets of eyes at the helm.

Amazingly by 5:20PM, we anchored at Waverly Ferry cut off for the night…a LOT further than I thought we would make it today!  Our Oklahoma Looping friends Pat & Cathy on Southern Cross are rafted to us (pictures tomorrow).  A new experience for both boats and again patience & communication from both boats made us look like we were old pros!!  At least we impressed the guy in the fishing boat who was amazed!

You will probably hear/read a lot about Pat & Cathy – we met them while at Midway in Fulton!  They are super great folks & we have a lot in common!  Plus Cathy is a retired RN – she’s a keeper!! LOL!!  We have a lot of fun together and look forward to the many miles ahead – we are all newbies at this boating/ looping thing.  And we LOVE to laugh!  YAY!!

So the anchor is set, we are tied together, Charlie just pulled supper from the oven and it will soon be “loopers midnight” (aka 9:00).  We will be in Columbus tomorrow!!

Love to all!!