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Inland Rivers – DONE!

Arriving in Mobile Bay, we are back to salt water, tides, currents and we have completed the inland rivers portion of the America’s Great Loop!

Well, once again, the reality far exceeded our expectations! Our last night on anchor in the Tensaw River was bittersweet. We were excited to move on to a new section of the loop, but also sad that this part was over. Considering, our initial plan was to ‘do the rivers as fast as possible and just get them over with,’ we certainly had a change of heart once we actually were ‘doing the rivers.’ Although at times there is not much to do, we enjoyed nature, the calm scenery, the slow pace, no currents or tides, fresh water and the folks we met along the way.

In the last 11 days, we have had 9 travel days of 533 Nautical Miles, 2 marina stays and 6 nights on anchor.

Leaving our anchorage, on our final day of travel it was a very foggy morning, thankful to Jubilee III for snapping this picture of Three Sons.

Our Inland River Stats!

We left Chicago, IL on Sept, 20, and arrived in Orange Beach, AL on Nov. 16, 2024 (58 days) Our total time on Three Sons during this time was 32 days of which we were underway for 23 days for a total of 1,165 Nautical Miles. I addition, we took two side trips (one by car and one by plane) leaving the boat for a total of 26 days

Route Segments

  1. Illinois Waterway (Chicago, IL to Alton) 7 total days with 6 underway, 298 Nautical Miles
  2. Upper Mississippi River (Alton to Omsted Lock) 8 total days with 4 underway, 185.5 Nautical Miles
  3. Ohio and Cumberland Rivers (Omsted Lock to Buzzard Rock Marina) 4 total days with 2 underway, 78.4 Nautical Miles
  4. Tennessee River (Buzzard Rock Marina to Pickwick Lock) 4 total days with 4 underway, 165.5 Nautical Miles
  5. Tennessee -Tombigbee (Tenn-Tom Canal) (Pickwick Lock to Demopolis) 5 total days with 4 underway, 207.6 Nautical Miles
  6. Tombigbee River (Demopolis to Orange Beach, AL) 4 total days with 3 days underway, 230 Nautical Miles

Other Data

  • Docked 24 nights (41.3%)
  • Anchored 10 nights (17.2%)
  • Off the boat 24 nights (41.3%)
  • 24 Stops
  • 26 Locks
  • 6 states (Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama)
  • Longest stay – Alton (visit with Cory and Jacob)
  • Longest travel day – 96.5 miles (bottom of Peoria Lock to random spot on side of Illinois River)
  • Delay due to weather – two days (Heritage Harbor, Ottawa IL and Kingfisher Marina, Demopolis, AL – both due to rain)
  • Temperatures roughly 82 degrees to 43 degrees – Luckily most days sunny and warm