Grand Harbor Marina to J+J Marine, Muscle Shoals, AL

Date             October 20, 2011

Day               114

Departure      Grand Harbor Marina, Counce, TN 9:00 am
Arrival            J+J Marine, Muscle Shoals, AL 2:25 pm

Miles                44.7  

Cumulative   2729.1

A riverboat we saw on the Tennessee River

The weather for today was predicted to be overcast and wind gusts to 25 mph.  We had decided to stay another day at Grand Harbor, knowing that we would need to travel a long distance the following day and have to go through two locks in order to get to Joe Wheeler on the 21st.  By 8:45 am, the winds had lessened and we decided to leave.  As it turned out, we were very happy with our decision.  We were traveling with the wind, the gusts had lessened and the sun had come out.  We had a pleasant trip.  We called the Wilson Lock lockmaster and found that the lock would be ready when we arrived.  The Wilson Lock was built in the 1950's and it is the sixth highest lock in the U.S., the lift is 93 feet!  This will be our highest lock on the Loop.

Preparing to enter the Wilson Lock

Waiting for the lock to fill

After we completed this lock, our stop for the night was just a short distance away.  We arrived and got tied at the dock and discovered that another looper boat was here.  The boat, Loop Dreams, had arrived by truck from Dallas, TX, just launched today and the couple, Ken and Barbara, would be starting the Loop tomorrow.  We visited with them for a short time and decided on a time to leave the marina together in the morning, as they had never done a lock before.

Marina office