Captains Log

Chattanooga can offer the true boater the options to cruise to the Gulf of Mexico from you back yard boat dock on the Tennessee River. The draw on the river can take you down the Tennessee River, to the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway, on to The Tombigbee River, and finally the Mobile River ending on Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Does that sound exciting or what.

Our trip would start at Chattanooga at Chickamauga Dam, Tennessee river mile (TRM 471.0) south on the river to the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway at (TRM 215.2), or covering 255.8 miles of river travel.

Our first travel leg, from Chickamauga Dam to Nickajack Dam at TRM 424.7 or 46.3 miles can easy be a one day cruise.

Second day of travel will be a long 75.7 mile trip to Guntersville Dam. Start early and enjoy the trip.

Third day will cover another 74.1 miles to Wheeler Dam. This a also a start early and enjoy the trip day.

Fourth Day will be a short day ride of 15.5 miles to Wilson Dam.

On our Fifth day we will travel a 44.2 mile leg and leave the Tennessee River and head south on the Tennessee Tombigbee waterway toward another 38.7 miles to the first of 9 locks on the waterway.

We will cover that trip on our next post.

Happy boating

Our trip has completed 257.8 miles of Tennessee River and at TRM 215.2 we head down

The Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway at Yellow Creek starting at Mile Marker (MM)450.7.

The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway is the largest water resource project ever built in the United States. It is one of the engineering marvels of the world.

The major features of the waterway are 10 locks and dams; a 175-foot deep canal connecting the Tennessee River with the Tombigbee River watershed; and, 234 miles of navigation channels. The construction started in

December 1971 and was completed in 1984. The 12 year construction cost nearly $2 billion.

The Tenn-Tom is the largest earth moving project in history, requiring the excavation of nearly 310 million cubic yards of soil or more than 100-million dump truck loads. By comparison, the French dug about 105 million cubic yards in building the Suez Canal and 210 million cubic yards of earth were removed from the Panama Canal.

LOCK 1: Our First leg will be 38.7 miles south to Jamie Whiten lock at MM 412.0. This is the first of 6 locks in the next 41 mile stretch of the waterway system.

LOCK 2: G.V.”Sonny” Montgomery, is at MM 406.0 or 6 mile run.

LOCK 3: John Rankin at MM 398.0 which is an 8 mile run.

LOCK 4: Fulton at MM 392.0

LOCK 5: Glover Williams at MM 376.0

LOCK 6: Amory at MM 371.0

LOCK 7: Aberdeen

LOCK 8: John C, Stennis at MM 343

LOCK 9: Tom Bevill at MM 306

LOCK 10: Howell Heflin at MM 266

We now leave the Tenn-Tom Waterway and our next stop will after on the Tombigbee River after confluence with the Black Warrior River, a 53 mile ride to MM 213 at the Demopolis lock.

We now have a longer leg to cruise on down the Tombigbee River to Coffeeville Lock at MM 116.0 a 97 mile run.

Can you believe, no more locks on down past the confluence with the Alabama River to the Mobile River, and to Mobile Bay on the Gulf of Mexico, the final 116 miles.