Waverly Recreation Area, Columbus

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

cruising adventures on the Great Loop!

DAY 182 - September 29, 2017

We left our anchorage in the Wilkens Lock Boat Ramp pool right after coffee and toast, and got right through the Wilkens Lock. A few miles later, we were at Amory Lock, and got right through that one too. The final lock for the day was the Aberdeen Lock, and likewise, no waiting. We have encountered very few tows, and none that interfered with our ability to lock right through these locks!

We are getting quite proficient at these Tenn-Tom locks! They all have floating bollards. The natural tendency of the driver is to want to get close to the bollard, but that is not necessary! With a boat hook, I can drop the line around the bollard from three feet out. The critical factor is speed - the boat has to be going dead slow, or ideally, stopped adjacent to the bollard. If the boat is moving too fast when the line is dropped around the bollard, it tends to jerk the bow in and crash against the lock wall. Not good! Like I say, we are gaining proficiency here!

Our destination for the day was the Waverly Ferry Recreation Area, another COE recreation area with a boat ramp. When you have a dog, you are always trying to ensure that you can get him (or her) to shore. Boat ramps are always your best bet! They are public, which means landing is legal, and you can paddle right up the ramp! Baxter is always flying through the air before the bow hits the ramp! This was a fine recreation area, with all the amenities, but the approach to the boat ramp was choked with water hyacinths! The boats going in and out had to cut their way through it, and it was very interesting for me in the kayak!

Waverly Recreation Area boat ramp

We were anchored off an abandoned railroad bridge - according to Active Captain, on the wrong side of it, as you can see from the screenshot! I was driving, and had not read that the preferred approach was to enter from the south end of the island, so naturally, I entered from the north end! We passed over a very shallow spot, about four feet, but anchored in about sixteen feet, and were much closer to the boat ramp than if we had gone around to enter from the south end! We would have been more protected behind the island, but we were not bothered by any wakes, so this worked out fine. This is just another very cool anchorage on the Tenn-Tom Waterway!

Waverly Recreation Area anchorage - on wrong side of RR bridge per Active Captain but closer to boat ramp!

Abandoned railroad bridge to nowhere!

We have not written much about our meals on-board, but suffice it to say, we very rarely eat out, just like we rarely stay in marinas! We have some favorites, but tonight we had absolutely delicious fish tacos! We had bought a two pound bag of frozen cod fillets individually vacuum sealed at the Walmart in Alton. Patty Googled a fish taco recipe, and found that it called for coriander and cumin to season the fish - bingo! We have a favorite Eygptian spice called dukkah, which contains coriander, cumin, fennel, ground hazelnuts and salt. We brought a big bag of homemade dukkah with us. So we baked the fish in the Magma seasoned with dukkah, and made fish tacos with flour tortillas, chopped lettuce, the baked fish and a fabulous crema made from sour cream, lime juice, salt and lime zest.  I don't care how much you pay, you are not going to be able to get a better fish taco than we make on Daydream!

Fish taco with sour cream lime crema - we eat pretty well on Daydream!

Tomorrow we have a couple more locks, and are not really sure how far we will go! There do not seem to be a lot of great options for anchoring with a dog, and so we will just have to see how it plays out!