The Race is On

No fog again this morning.  Yippie!  Therefore the anchor was up at 6:45 a.m.  Of course we were delayed first thing at 7:00 a.m. at Bevill Lock though.  There was a tow "Capt. Earl Devall" in the lock going down so we would have to wait for it to get out, the Lock Master get the lock turned around, and then it would be our turn.  By the time we got out it was 7:45 a.m.

While we waited I captured this picture of the 108 foot snagboat "Montgomery".  It was used to clear logs and debris from the river many years ago.  It is now on land and is part of the Tom Bevill Resource Management and Visitor Center, the southern style mansion behind it.




We were traveling along for less than a couple of hours when we caught up to "Capt. Earl Devall" and got permission from the captain to overtake them.  For at least five hours after that we cruised along with not much happening.  As we got close to Heflin Lock another pleasure boat behind us, but not in sight called the lock to find out locking status.  The Lock Master informed "Journey" that they were expecting a down bound tow but that they did not know where it was.  We were dumbfounded when "Journey" said he was only a couple miles behind us and had not seen it yet.  Once we were on a straight away in which there were few today, yep, there was "Capt. Earl Devall" not far behind us at all.  Then it was a race.  First the Lock Master said if we all got up there, including another pleasure boat "Attitude", we could all lock down first.  So we sped up, then told the other pleasure boats to go around us to avoid delay.  Just about the time we got to the lock the Lock Master called "Capt. Earl Devall" to find out how long it would take him to get there.  His reply of 17 minutes put us to the back of the line.  Here we were, waiting on a lock again.  Once in the lock it only took about 15 minutes for us to get dropped down 47 feet lower in water level than we were.
Now, we usually anchor at Sumpter Recreation Area above Heflin Lock.  Today however we decided to get through this lock since we have had to wait on every lock but one this trip on the Tombigbee so far.  There are not a lot of anchoring options on the Tenn-Tom so you definitely have to try to plan ahead.  At 3:00 p.m. we turned up the Tombigbee Oxbow just below the lock to anchor after 45 miles in just over 8 hours.  This is actually a long spillway for this lock but the water levels stay pretty consistent here so there is not much current or water flow.  It has ended up being the quietest anchorage we have had so far.  Not even a bass boat.  We chose to try this anchorage so that tomorrow we do not have to contend with any locks to get to Demopolis where "The Bar-B" has decided to wait an extra day for our arrival.