Scott here. October 29, 2023 we traveled from Columbus, MS Marina to Tombigbee Ox Bow anchorage in Boligee, AL.

Overall, the day was pretty good. It was an early start, and I am not a huge fan of that, but we had a long way to go and only so much daylight. So, we left at twilight. Three boats left the marina together and we picked up another boat at the first lock. The first lock was right outside our marina. One of our buddy boats called the lock master at 6:30 am and was told we should be there between 6:45-7:00 am. Not much time to finish everything up, but we go when the lock master says to go. They have all the power!

Here is what our plan was:
Start at: 7:00 am ACTUAL 6:40 am
End at: 5:45 pm ACTUAL 4:33 pm
Total Time: 10:42 hours (7:42 travel time + 3 locks) ACTUAL 9:48 hours
Distance: 69.3 miles ACTUAL 70.1 miles
Avg speed: 7.1 mph
Max speed: 11 mph

The three locks started out really good. All three had green lights when we arrived, which means after getting verbal permission to enter we can go right in. No waiting around!! But, we ended up waiting 20-30 minutes for the slower boats to get into the locks. That is a little frustrating, but the trawlers can only go so fast. One of the lock operators said if the slower boats are 45 minutes out the operator MAY go ahead and lock you through as it takes about that amount of time to drop and refill for the slower boats. Or, the operator may just make you wait.

Either way, we arrived to the anchorage before darkness and that is all I care about. Drop the dinghy and take K9 Jazzy for a walk. There is a boat COE boat ramp right here so that made it handy. Time to finish tomorrow route.