Wow. The past week is a blur that I’m still wrapping my head around. We covered over 380 miles in a span of eight days, which included moving the boat each of those eight days. The reason for the big push? We recently added a road trip to New Orleans to our plans, and with limited marina options along the Tombigbee Waterway, we had to make it to Mobile, Alabama, by our departure date. Nothing some early mornings and determination can’t handle!

Monday morning, we woke up to the thickest fog we’ve experienced, maybe ever, in our lives. We were anchored about 50 yards from Slacker, our buddy boat, and we could barely make out their boat! The dinghy ride to take Ripley to land was a little eerie, but luckily, a short ride. We were anchored near five other Loop boats, so we coordinated with the lock to get in right when the fog began to burn off. Three locks and 31.5 nautical miles later, we anchored for the evening and enjoyed docktails with a new Loop boat we met that day. 

Tuesday and Wednesday were relatively uneventful, other than crossing from Mississippi into Alabama — our 16th state on the Loop! Covering 66 miles in those two days might not sound like a lot, but when you add in work, locks and an extremely twisty path, it’s safe to say we were exhausted. Luckily, a marina was in the plans for Thursday, where we topped off on fuel, enjoyed hot showers, and rode our scooters to town for a delicious barbecue dinner at A Slab & More in Demopolis, Alabama. 

Friday, Saturday and Sunday were spent making BIG pushes…61.5, 53.5 and 64 nautical miles for a total of nearly 180 miles in just three days. Phew! The most exciting part of those three days was going through our LAST LOCK! When we arrived at the Coffeeville Lock and Dam, we pulled two small bottles of champagne out of the fridge. One for enjoying, and one for shaking, but both for celebrating. 

Now that we are through all of the locks, we’re officially back in tidal waters! As exciting as it is to be closer to Florida, we have to keep the tides in mind when anchoring now because our boat will swing 180 degrees, and it requires more chain if anchoring at low tide. We also have to be careful with Ripley when going to shore because we’ve seen two alligators! Luckily, both times they were swimming away from the boat, and they’re known to be harmless so long as you leave them alone. 

All the early mornings and long days have totally paid off, because now we can take it easy this week before we road trip to New Orleans, and gear up for our trek down the west coast of Florida.

Cheers to continuing the adventure!