BAY SPRINGS MARINA

May 8, 2010---Front hit last night with hard winds. This caused a sleepless night as there is little protection in this area and anchor watch was important. The sun rose creating hopes of a nice day. Still quite windy so we waited until 10:30 a.m. to pull anchor. Tugs had passed in the night and early morning. Unlike yesterday tugs were active. We caught up with one tow at the Fulton lock. Had to follow behind him to the Rankin lock. By the time we got to the Montgomery lock behind him, we caught up with another tow. Each of these locks lift about 30'. Arriving at the last lock there was a traffic jam. The Whitten lock has an 84' lift so it naturally takes longer to fill and empty the chamber. It seemed like slow motion as we waited our turn. One tow had just come down, another was in the chamber going up and two more waiting to go up. As we watched the sun set we discussed options. Had planned to anchor out but that did not have much appeal. Would not be easy to find a good location in the dark. There was a final tow upstream that had to be brought down before our turn. We finally exited the lock after a 4 1/2 hr wait and turned port toward Bay Springs Marina. This marina is located a mile up a wide embayment called Ginn Branch. Some lights could be seen in the distance. Having never been to this marina we were just hoping that was it. Sure enough this was a good decision as we came to the marina and located transient tie down along an outside walkway with electric power. Must say there was some relief as we tied down at 9:00 p.m. It had been a long 10 1/2 hr day traveling 35.7 miles. Averaged about 3 1/2 mph due to all the waiting.

Pictures of Montgomery lock. There was a strong flow coming over the spillway.

Large stockpile of wood chips and mulch.





Large stacks of trees could be seen waiting to be processed.

Barges loaded with coal.

Tow waiting to be lifted in the Witten lock.