It was a cold, crisp, morning with a temperature of 33 degrees. There was a breeze this morning so the wind chill was a factor. Tough to keep both hands warm when you are walking the dog carrying a cup of coffee.
We did not leave until 8:30 this morning because today should be a relatively short day with one lock and the current in our favor. The wind was out of the northeast and there were times it was blowing in the cockpit because it was behind us.
We had 1 lock today, Guntersville. We were not quite as lucky as yesterday. We called the lock from 4 miles out and he said he was dropping a tow and should have the lock ready in about 40 minutes. Right after we called there was more radio talk from a group of boaters going upstream and they were below the lock. The lockmaster had them enter the lock when the tow was clear. The delay was about 20 minutes so it was not too bad. There were 3 houseboats, one small Ranger Tug and a 33’ Nordic Tug.
The guy on the Ranger Tug sounded (on the VHF radio) like he needed to be on oxygen. His voice was raspy and strained but it did not stop him from talking to the lock and his fellow boaters. We never got a glimpse of him.
The stone walls and bluffs really looked good in the sunshine between the lock and Ditto Landing. There were several of the rock outcroppings with a lot of color variation along the wall.
Overall today we made good time and it was an easy day. We did meet a few other Loopers at Ditto Landing but no Docktails tonight. We had a nice dinner on board with Humbug. Carolyn has an oven and baked a pear dessert that everyone but her liked.
Lots of good walking area with an adjoining park by the marina. Ditto Landing is really on the outskirts of Huntsville Alabama so we did not take the time to try and get into town.