Days 165

Aqua Harbor Marina, Luka MS Midway Marina Fulton MS

• Start 6:30 AM
• End 2:20 PM
• Underway 6:40 Hours
• Distance 48 miles
• Total Miles on Trip 3275
• Av Speed 7.2 knots
• Locks 3
• Weather Sunny , 73 Degrees, Wind 5 Knts NNE

Today we got very lucky and there was no fog when it was time to leave. We even left earlier than planned. We had hoped to leave by 7am, but at 6:30 the skies were clear and off we went. We wanted every bit of daylight we could get. We planned on running for over six hours, plus three locks. We were hoping that each lock would take less than an hour; otherwise we would not get to Midway Marine until after dark.

We got very lucky with the first lock. When we were about 25 minutes from the lock, we heard the lockmaster talking to a boat that passes us earlier and was waiting to go through the lock. I called the lockmaster and told him where we were and it would take us 25 minutes to get there. I asked him should we try to get there as fast as we could or wait for the next lock through. He said to keep coming he would hold the lock. When we got there at 11:30 we found out that the next locking would not be until 2pm. Had we missed that lock, it would have been well past dark when we got to Midway.

While we were at Midway Marina we used the loaner car to visit Tupelo MS, the birthplace of Elvis Presley. We did not get there until 4pm and the museum and buildings were closed, but we were able to walk the grounds.

The loaner vehicle at Midway Marina was by far the worst loaner we have come across on the trip. One of the headlights was out, there were holes in the dashboard, and the car shook so bad when you stepped on the brakes, it felt like the truck was going to fall apart. You had to put the brakes on ½ mile before you needed to stop. But it was a loaner car, and it was available.

Tomorrow we are going to try to travel 60 miles and go through 4 locks. If we can't make it that far we will have to anchor out. We do have a couple of anchorages picked out just in case.