Wilkins Lock Boat Ramp Pool

This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)

cruising adventures on the Great Loop!

DAY 181 - September 28, 2017

I was up early for Baxter duty and went to shore while Patty was making the coffee. When I got back, we were treated to a very nice sunrise at our Bay Springs Lake Five Fingers Thumb anchorage!

Bay Springs Lake sunrise!

Today we knew was a day of locks! We were hoping to get through the Amory Lock at Mile 371 to an anchorage at Mile 366, but we fell a little short! Right out of the chute at our anchorage, we were in the Whitten Lock (84', this is a big guy). Six miles later we were in the Montgomery Lock (33'), and eight miles farther on, we were in the Rankin Lock (31'). We had no waiting at any of these, we were green lighted to enter as we were approaching them. Things were looking good at this point!

Whitten Lock looking back over Daydream's transom!

Then we got to the Fulton Lock. We could see a tow in the lock chamber going down on our AIS. The lock master told us that he then had a northbound tow to bring up and we would be able to enter when that tow exited. Well, how come I knew something the lock master didn't know? From our AIS we could see that the northbound tow was more than three miles away and traveling at about four miles an hour. We waited...and waited...and waited, as other southbound pleasure craft arrived behind us. The wait was over two hours. We are pretty sure that the lock master had plenty of time to lock us through before the northbound tow arrived, but it was not our place to tell the lock master!

So it was pushing 5:00 p.m. when we got to the Wilkens Lock arrival area at Mile 376, and there was no inviting anchorage immediately downstream, so we decided to wait until tomorrow to transit the Wilkens Lock. There were two Active Captain anchorages immediately above the Wilkens Lock. One was off a marina, and landing would require using the marina's boat ramp, which I am reluctant to do. The other was off a pubic boat ramp in a little pond immediately adjacent to the Wilkens Lock requiring the lock master's approval, so I called the lock master on the VHF to request permission to anchor there.

We have, frankly, had some difficulty understanding the southern lock masters. He said a lot, and neither of us understood any of what he was saying. I thought I heard him say "That's fine," but he went on and on, probably with some cautionary instructions, but we were really without a clue about precisely what he had said. The important thing for me was that I did not hear him say no! 

We proceeded into the pond, and did not immediately see the boat ramp, which was quite a ways in. We passed through an area a little less than five feet deep. Finally we saw the boat ramp and the depth increased to eight to ten feet. We set the anchor and I got the kayak down, as Baxter was certainly due for his shore trip.

Wonderful anchorage at COE boat ramp at Wilkens Lock

I was amazed when I paddled the kayak up to the wide concrete boat ramp and walked up, since from the water side, none of the improvements were visible. This is a Corps of Engineers facility, and it is gorgeous. It has a big concrete parking lot, trash cans, restrooms and a nice large grassy area. I let Baxter romp in the grass to his heart's content, and when his business was done, he hopped back in the kayak on his own and we paddled back to the boat! I gave this anchorage a five star review on Active Captain, since there had been a number of negative reviews.

We transited four locks today, and tomorrow we are hoping to transit the Wilkens Lock, the Amory Lock and the Aberdeen Lock, and anchor a few miles upstream from the Stennis Lock at Mile 334. We have finished the Divide Cut and the Canal Section and are starting the River Section of the Tenn-Tom today, which will eventually take us down to Demopolis, AL, where the the Tenn-Tom Waterway ends and the Black Warrior - Tombigbee Waterway begins. We are almost beginning to be able to smell the salt water!