Clifton TN to Iuka MS

It was a foggy start to our  morning but it cleared quickly.  The river was beautiful today.   Every time we turned west we would freeze.  Every time we turned south or east we would fry.   Such is life in a greenhouse of a helm...  
My wife says I have to quit working so hard while driving the boat.  (Autopilots are great) but when you accidentally clear the route and don't notice you almost run the boat into the shore at speed.   (Yes, that really happened today - saved only by a friend yelling on the radio). Whew.  

Automation is awesome until it isn't.   User error can be expensive when moving 26,000 lbs on a very slippery surface.  
All kinds of boats doing the loop.  This sailboat was doing like 3mph as the current was slowing his 5mph down by 2...  Running upstream.  Our 10.5 was 8.7 most of the day.  
The river continuously moves whether you like it or not.   And sometimes it takes houses with it ...

This one appears to have given up.  No way anyone is living in there....
Today we passed over Pickwick Dam onto Pickwick Lake.   Here in TN there are lots of big houseboats...  
the lockmaster was nice enough to send pictures of us entering, riding and exiting the lock. 
Here is my favorite floating bollard monitor doing her thing.  She's good at this now.   It helps when it's not wavy and windy. 


Pickwick Lake is not a low rent district.  
We entered Alabama today for just a few minutes before hitting the corner into Mississippi.   We will be back in Alabama in a week or so - further south.   We will also probably take a detour tomorrow in a car to visit Muscle Shoals.   We shall see (no reservation).

This lake is gorgeous.   

We probably won't move the boat now for 3 days.  We have some parts coming that are delayed because of weather up north...  I'd like to have two working toilets again before we leave... There is always something broken on a boat.

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