Pooped

It was a productive time in Demopolis.  Got boat washed, did laundry, reprovisioned.   For Mother's Day we grilled steaks, had baked potatoes, corn and salad on top of the boaters lounge deck.  Miracle worker Bill fixed Bob's auto pilot just by walking on board. Then I teased him that he broke the pump out at Kingfisher Bay Marina on Monday morning.  I swear that thing is broken every time we are there. Bill ended up having their boat pulled out of the water on Monday afternoon.  The only thing they found was one blade slightly out on the port side.  Bill is going to investigate more on his alignment when he put the transmission back in at Ft. Myers Beach.  Monday evening we had Patty's delicious spaghetti down in the boaters lounge to escape the bugs this time.
With the pump out broken, that meant I had to pull back over to the fuel dock at Demopolis Yacht Basin to do the duty.  When I got over there around 6:00 a.m., there was a large wooden boat named "Lady J" there. Come to find out it was formerly Alan Jackson's boat.  I thought I wouldn't be able to get to the pump out because I did not realize there was a second pump out on the same fuel dock I was at Saturday when we pulled in and the fuel pump wouldn't work.  If I had known that, I would have pumped out while I was waiting for Bill to finish fueling so I could fill up.  Obviously I should have seen it, but in the heat and my exhaustion, I didn't notice.  As we got closer to the fuel dock I realized the may flies had hatched at Demopolis Yacht Basin, but not right next door at Kingfisher Bay Marina.  So I got them stirred up and all over the boat.  So glad I washed it yesterday.
It didn't take long and we were underway heading north, shewing the may flies off because they make such a mess when they pump out, if you know what I mean.  I heard a couple of tows behind us and hoped they would not catch us.  The remainder of travel stayed uneventful.  We were transiting under I-20/I-59 at 11:30 a.m.  Two hours later we were in Heflin Lock which was all ready upon our arrival for a 35 foot lift.
A few miles later I pulled into Sumter Recreation Area, one of my favorites.  The plan was to have hobo pies and s'mores for dinner.  About the time mom got the anchor down "Conched Out Too" was out of water at the entrance.  "Bar-B" drafts even more and was not about to come in.  "Conched Out Too" decide they better not stay either.  If the water dropped even half a foot they would be stuck. They continued north and I followed after we got the anchor back up.  It was a debate of where to go instead.  We picked Cooks Bend Cut Off at Mile 277.  They took the first/southern entrance and all I could hear them talking about was how deep the water was.  I decided to continue on to the second/northern entrance.  The entrance was extremely shallow, then it was deep water at this end too.  "Conched Out Too" found some shallower water all the way at the back of the oxbow so I continued on around and dropped the anchor near them at about 4:00 p.m.  I will be exiting the southern route though.