We took off out of Clifton at first light. We only had about 63 miles to go, but the Pickwick Lock was between us and our destination at Grand Harbor on Pickwick Lake. The main lock was undergoing an unscheduled repair, so they were using the secondary lock. Plus, some rain had increased the flow and we had read that the dam was letting out a strong flow. For all those reasons, we wanted to give ourselves the whole day to get through.

The cruise to Pickwick was easy. We enjoyed the scenery. We noticed Tick Tock on the AIS up ahead of us a few miles and figured that we would catch up to them before the lock. At Wolf Island, near Crump, Tick Tock hailed us. There was a tow coming around the bend and they decided to tuck up out of the way and advised us to do the same. Who are we to argue with Gold Loopers!? We waited for the tow to pass and then proceeded to take the lead.

We passed the Shiloh battlefield and I strained to see anything. There isn’t much to see from the water except a glimpse of a cemetery. We plan to make a proper visit soon.

When we were an hour from the lock, we called in to let them know we were coming. By now, we had four loopers in a flotilla: Our Dash, Tick Tock, Auntie Gail, and Harmony. The Lock Master told us to keep coming. There were two people waiting and he’d try to get us through.

As we approached the lock, the current really picked up. Our speed slowed from 12 mph to about 7.5 mph. We pushed up the throttle a little to compensate.

Nearing the lock, we could see two houseboats waiting. Shortly after, the light turned green and we all proceeded into the lock.

In this lock, all of the starboard bollards were out of commission and there were only three available on the starboard side at 100, 300, and 500 feet. With six boats, the lock master told us that we would have to raft. This was a first for us.

We proceeded up to the bollard at 100 feet and tied in. Auntie Gail gingerly approached us with fenders out. They quickly admitted that this was a first for them too. We tied in and kept our boat hooks handy to maintain a respectable distance.

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What a serendipitous event that was! We introduced ourselves to the Looping Yoopers, Jim and Lisa, and immediately found that we had a lot in common. We went on to get to know them better in Grand Harbor.

After clearing the lock, the magnificent Pickwick Lake opened before us. We went the short cruise to Grand Harbor on plane to work out the Cats, fueled up, and docked behind Auntie Gail for the night – after Docktails, of course!

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Hi, it’s Wendy’s turn now:

We spent quite a few days in Grand Harbor. The marina itself is nice. The people are as nice as can be. The internet and cell service were hit or miss. There’s a pool, but it’s closed for the season. There’s an indoor fitness area, which looked really nice. From a distance. Like, through the window.

We spent a little time walking around the very hilly area. There’s not a lot to walk to, but there are nice houses to look at. Restaurants and amenities are more than a walk away.

The courtesy van was much needed for any kind of provisioning. We used it to go to the Pickwick Supermarket for provisions. It’s a 7 minute drive from the marina, and has enough of everything that I didn’t feel the need to go elsewhere. We also rode along with Looper buddies to the Outpost restaurant, which had good food with good company. They had a Vince Lombardi quote on their menu, so you know they are people of discerning taste.

On one of our first evenings in Iuka, we took the dinghy for a spin. We went up and down the coast and across the lake to see what there was to see. Then, knowing we were near the point where the states met, we pulled up the map and took a screenshot when we were at the intersection of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama. It was the boating version of Pokémon Go, I guess.

We did some traveling that week. We got a ride from the Happy Hippie Food Delivery guy, Brian, to the Enterprise in Corinth. We drove home to Texas in time for the events surrounding the A&M vs. Bama football game. We decided to watch the game at home because we had laundry to do and didn’t want to watch the Aggies get blown out. 🙄 Our son was there, and he was pretty happy to have experienced this special piece of Aggie lore.

On the way back, I dropped Owen off in Memphis so he could catch a flight for a business trip. I took the car back to Enterprise, and the Happy Hippie took me back to the marina. When it was time for Owen to come back, the Happy Hippie picked him up from the airport in Memphis! This really was a lifesaver for us, as Enterprise could not come out to the marina to pick us up, and we were unable to find a ride from the airport, which is about 2 hours away. The marina, understandably, did not want its courtesy van to travel to Memphis. The Happy Hippie does more than carting us around. He has quite a concierge service, and he is very responsive to requests.

We enjoyed our time at Grand Harbor, but we are looking forward to getting some boat time and some miles under our belts!