Anyone interested in riding down the Mississippi River

[EngineerSailing]

Also, if you're going down the Tombigbee and haven't got to Fulton yet, I can highly recommend Midway Marina if you want a transient dock for a night or two. Similar to what David V said above about Florence Harbor, I can also say about Midway Marina: not the newest or fanciest but the harbor master and the office staff are great, the on site restaurant is very good, and they have a good laundry facility and nice TV lounge room. Also if you need a grocery run, they have a courtesy car - Fulton is about 15 min drive away (20 min to the Super Walmart). They offer a discount on the transient dock fee for BoatUS members and some other groups (I think I paid $1.25/ft per night)

I have 51ft and change Airdraft maybe plus more for the VHF antenna
My plan has been to take the TN to the end then go down the Mississippi, for multiple reasons, high bridges, ~7 less locks, and avoid weaving though the oil fields getting to New Orleans
However sitting here as this Polar front pushes cold air on me, I was rethinking to just head south for warmth as fast a possible
But sounds like it will be safer given my airdraft to stay the course

 

[Prairie Schooner]

I'm having fun reading your accounts. It's a whole different kind of boating than I'm used to. - If it's not too much trouble, I'd enjoy seeing an occasional photo from your trip. What's it look like inside a lock? How wide is the river? Or, whatever. - Safe (and relatively warm) travels.
Jeff

 

[EngineerSailing]

I'm having fun reading your accounts. It's a whole different kind of boating than I'm used to. - If it's not too much trouble, I'd enjoy seeing an occasional photo from your trip. What's it look like inside a lock? How wide is the river? Or, whatever. - Safe (and relatively warm) travels.
Jeff

Hi Jeff, I'm posting almost everyday on my Youtube channel, just a couple days delay of where i actually am
https://www.youtube.com/@EngineerSailing/shorts
Carlton

 

[nquigley]

I have 51ft and change Airdraft maybe plus more for the VHF antenna
My plan has been to take the TN to the end then go down the Mississippi, for multiple reasons, high bridges, ~7 less locks, and avoid weaving though the oil fields getting to New Orleans
However sitting here as this Polar front pushes cold air on me, I was rethinking to just head south for warmth as fast a possible
But sounds like it will be safer given my airdraft to stay the course

A friend on his Catalina 36 had his mast removed at Aqua Yacht - at the intersection of Pickwick Lake and the top of the Tombigbee - and then re-stepped at the marina I'm at now (Turners on Dog River, Mobile AL). They remove or re-step masts several times a week - very experienced.

 

[EngineerSailing]

A friend on his Catalina 36 had his mast removed at Aqua Yacht - at the intersection of Pickwick Lake and the top of the Tombigbee - and then re-stepped at the marina I'm at now (Turners on Dog River, Mobile AL). They remove or re-step masts several times a week - very experienced.

I don't have a place in Louisiana to drop ship my mast to, and that sounds prohibitively expensive to have it shipped ahead
and the ~7 extra locks with a 55ft pole strapped to side sounds unmanageable
I just see turning to pull up to a fuel dock and 1 end or the other swiping the fuel pumps in to the river

 

[nquigley]

I don't have a place in Louisiana to drop ship my mast to, and that sounds prohibitively expensive to have it shipped ahead
and the ~7 extra locks with a 55ft pole strapped to side sounds unmanageable
I just see turning to pull up to a fuel dock and 1 end or the other swiping the fuel pumps in to the river

The thing to do is strap it down on the boat's centerline for the trip (often just have to built a support post in the cockpit or on the taffrail) - it'll protrude some fore and aft, but not really that much. Sailboats coming down from the Great Lakes to avoid winter do this all the time.

 

[EngineerSailing]

it'll protrude some fore and aft, but not really that much.

19ft longer that's more than 50% of my boat
we have different definitions of "some"

 

[Loren Beach]

Looking at photos of sailboats using the canals in Europe, it looms like some mast major overhang, both fore and aft, is normal.
I quickly found just one site with photos: https://distantshores.ca/canals.html
The word "some" is indeed quite subjective, but there still seems to some real-world allowance for some overhang. After all, very few sailboats other than motorsailers will have a spar the same LOA as the boat. Even our first sailboat, our Ranger 20 had about a 25 or 26 foot spar, and that spar was deck stepped. Our actual "air draft" was 31 feet.

Best to check with the lock authorities ahead of time and study their on line or written advice.

All that said, I agree that laying along side a wall or dock would be slow and tricky.

Best of Luck!

 

[EngineerSailing]

I'm on the Kentucky Lake so only one 1 more lock to go.... at least until the inter-coastal

 

[EngineerSailing]

I"m in Memphis Tennessee
I'm waiting on some parts that should arrive on Tuesday
Anyone interested in Tom Sawyer-ing down the Mississippi River with me?

199 miles to Greenville, MS
302 miles From Greenville, MS to Baton Rouge, LA

 

[EngineerSailing]

Does anyone know a sailor whose retired, that if i can cover their travel expenses would be interested in helping push down some of these river miles?

Between cold nights on anchor, kennel expenses, etc Travel expenses for someone on the gulf coast should be cover-able for the needed assistance

 

[EngineerSailing]

Just an update, Sitting at Greenville, MS waiting on the water level to go back down to a safe level

NOAA river level at Greenville