To Columbus ,Mississippi.

Yellow Creek to Columbus

It was still raining and for the first 20 miles or so we saw no other vessels. Then we came upon 4 tows - 2 were in one of the narrowest parts of the channel at the entrance to Big Springs Lake. We passed the one in front of us after he had slowed & told us which side to pass on and just as we had done so around the corner came another one towards us. The 2 tows had obviously been speaking to each other and were working out a way of trying to pass. We watched them way behind us complete their tricky manoeuvre. Tow captains are a skilled bunch. The trees in this area lined the banks in their full autumn reds & yellows looking like some ones large garden. We found a quiet anchorage for the night in Cotton Springs Creek near the next lock.

We called the lock early next morning and he said it would be ready & waiting for us and to come on through. From then on the next 4 locks were all green lit & ready for us to enter. We were on our own, met no tows and were doing 1 lock an hour even though the rain was relentless it was a good ride. We carried on for a later stop at a small marina called Smithsville. There had been no response to phone calls, the way in looked unmarked & we could find no indication of depth. So we were feeling a bit dubious about it all. We had to make 3 passes to try & tie up because there was no one there to catch our lines and try as I might I couldn't catch the cleat – the wind kept blowing us off. Eventually with a final great effort (and Colin's encouragement!! )I managed to get ½ a cleat & we tied up at this marina that looked as though boats had come to die. Ours was the best, cleanest, newest, tidiest etc of all – they were green, broken & lopsided although there were some live aboards among them. Another Looper called “Happy Happy” tied up behind us that night & came aboard to exchange books & have a port or two. They have 2 dogs (an Alsatian, a Spaniel) a cat & a parrot on board. We're amazed at the boaters who have dogs on board - over ½ of the people we've met do - we feel we have enough to cope with.

Next morning we had the same easy run through the locks – one even called us to see how far away we were – as they would wait if not too far. Some locks that are closer together pass boats' names on to the adjacent locks so that they can plan up & down traffic. The sun came out & we saw so much wild life; blue herons,egrets, bald eagles, canadian geese, ducks, cormorants & many many turtles sunning themselves on logs in the water. We are now at Columbus Marina where we will stay for a few days & explore.