Mobile

The Mobile Convention Center with the cranes
of the Alabama State Docks on the far right

It was another morning of not really caring what time we got up since it was going to be just a 30 mile travel day with nothing but bayou to see and anchor in again.  Anchor was lifted out of the mud of David Lake just before eight o'clock.  There was plenty of commercial traffic again, but nothing that really effected us.  Prior to eleven o'clock Ray was trying to remember who he talked to recently about docking in Mobile, Alabama.  If you are that person reading this, remind him who you are because he never did recall.  That got us researching.  As we tell our nephew, Zackery, you have to read.  In actually reading one of our old guide books we found a phone number to call security about staying on the free dock.  Surprisingly enough, the phone number was still good and Ron, the security guard on duty at the time, was ever so helpful and welcoming to us.  We revved up the engines a little more and traveled 12 miles farther than we planned.  Had we planned this ahead of time we would have gotten up and started the day earlier.

North end of the Convention Center
free dock with Ron waiting for us

Ron helped us tie up when we arrived just before two o'clock.  That's also what time he got off duty, so Jeff was the next shift until ten o'clock, then someone we did not meet, and Ron would be back at six o'clock tomorrow morning.  Ron gave us directions on where to go be tourists.  It was just across the street from our present location at the convention center to Dauphin Street.  It also happened to be Art Walk night, so we had a fun and pleasant evening visiting lots of local establishments.  Our first stop had a poetry reading upstairs, which we were making fun of.  Later in the evening that poetry reading had moved outside.  It was good enough to make us stop and thoroughly enjoy it for the short time that it remained.  Who knew?  Actually wish we would have enjoyed it sooner.

A cool saying I liked among many that were painted on one of the buildings downtown

Dog vs. Cat

The rain started some time during the night, causing us to close the windows now that we finally had a mild enough night to leave them open.  We decided not to set the alarm for this morning and just wake up on our own.  Something else woke us up though, making a noise on the boat, but we never did figure out what it was.  We could only guess that it might have been a gator rubbing on the bottom of the boat since we weren’t rubbing the shoreline or the bottom as we originally thought might be happening when we jumped up.  Another strange occurrence was that the helm dashboard was quite wet from the rain, which has never happened before.  We still haven’t figured that one out.  Maybe it’s all the ghosts of Old Lock #1.  It has such a rich history.

We were taking our time this morning with nothing special at our destination when we heard two tows conversing on the VHF about where they were going to pass.  It was going to be just above Old Lock #1 so we decided to get out on the river ahead of the down bound tow so we would not have to overtake it.  Another successful mission when we popped out into the river just after 6:30 a.m. and just in time to see the up bound tow.

The north winds helped to push us most of the way down the river, but made the temperatures drop as the morning progressed.  “Tumbleweed” overtook us at about 11:30 a.m.  We knew they would be later than us departing this morning as they stated they had to take the dog to shore in the morning again.  So glad we have a cat.

The afternoon thankfully turned over an abundance of sunshine.  We were able to turn off the heaters and open some windows.  The afternoon brought an extra pull on us with the tide going out also, so our speed was extraordinary even at low RPMs.

Okay, so it's not exactly wildlife, but it was something to see

We pulled into David Lake about 4:00 p.m. with “Tumbleweed” already here.  We went on around them and anchored in our usual spot.  We were surprised we did not hear from them on our way in, but once we were anchored we realized they were off in the dinghy taking the dog to shore.

Why did the deer cross the river?

At four o’clock this morning we heard the first and only tow to pass by.  Ray got up to make sure we were clearly visable to the down bound tow that he assumed was “Lisa Michelle” as it looked like the same cargo as when we passed it yesterday.  About another hour of sleep was barely had and another hour after that we pulled up anchor.  Sometime later we had confirmation, it must have been “Lisa Michelle” that passed us, as we were looking at the stern.  We overtook “Lisa Michelle”, hoping that the steering was fixed and that we would get ahead enough to lock through Coffeeville without messing anyone up.  We sighted our first alligator of the trip just before Bobby’s Fish Camp.  Then we had to laugh near Bobby’s Fish Camp there was a swing set in the water to where the kids would be dangling their tows to tempt the alligators. 

All missions were successful and we were in Coffeeville Lock at 12:50 p.m. with a large yacht, “Bella Vita” that easily caught up to us since they were traveling at about 15 knots.  According to the lower gage at Coffeeville Lock, our last lock of the trip south, the water level was up three feet higher than normal in this brackish water.

Once out of Coffeeville Lock we spotted four more alligators sunning themselves on the shore, once being just before our destination where we would go to shore.  That was the same shore that just previous to that last gator, we saw a deer cross the river and run up the embankment.

A couple sun bathers

At about 3:30 p.m. we pulled into Old Lock #1 to find two other vessels already anchored, “Tumbleweed” and “Motu”.  Obviously we remember “Tumbleweed” from yesterday, but also thought we remembered “Motu” from somewhere.  In our typical fashion we were making up stories that maybe we saw that boat here in the spring on the way up and it was still here living for free.  We even decided a vehicle parked up on shore must be that owner’s truck.  Come to find out the truck belonged to a local fellow who had been out hunting.  He came and talked to us for a spell while we were making our grilled ham and cheese sandwiches in the pie iron over the campfire.


The lady aboard “Tumbleweed” came to shore about s’more time to walk their dog one last time for the evening.  She indicated that they also plan to anchor at David Lake tomorrow, but she did not like this part of their trip, that it was just a ditch.  I guess that is true for those who do not see the beauty in nature.  I guess that is also why I frequently mention the wildlife we see.

Some of that majestic wildlife

We are so young

Good morning Demopolis.  Good bye Demopolis.  The best thing about Demopolis was that we got accused of being 30 and 35 years old!  Just about the time Ray headed to the nice facilities at the new Kingfisher Marina section of Demopolis Yacht Basin, the lock master announced over the VHF radio looking for down bound RVs.  I wasn’t sure if we were that ready since it wasn’t even six o’clock yet.  It was decided we would go though, so by 6:30 a.m. we were in Demopolis Lock.  We were glad we did as the next vessel to request lockage was met with sarcasm and grief from the lock master for not being in the first group (there were two of us, including “Tumbleweed”), and because is vessel name was “Easy” (not sure of the spelling because we have yet to see it~must be even slower than we are).  You see, the operator aboard “Easy” is proper on the VHF radio and says “over” after each transmission.  Well that sounds funny when he is hailing a lock, or tow, or another vessel, etc. as he says “(enter name here), this is Easy, over”.  So the lock master found that to be an open invitation for more banter.

This is what it looks like when there's at tow across the river in front of you

It was another busy day of commercial traffic on the river.  Even Fred at Demopolis Yacht Basin mentioned how busy the commercial traffic has been lately.  We talked to him a little bit about the government shut-down and that it actually was proposed to shut down the locks, but lobbyists prevented that from happening.  Our first encounter was with “Lisa Michelle”, whom was across the river, bank to bank, because it was broken down with no steering.  We were expecting this encounter since we heard “Tumbleweed” talk to them on the VHF radio earlier.  I guess “Lisa Michelle” just put in in reverse enough for us to get by it’s bow.  There was a tow “J. O. Bradford” that we hailed as “Gilbert Taylor”.  Come to find out “Gilbert Taylor” was ahead of us heading the same direction.  “Gilbert Taylor” must have been the tow that mentioned that “Lisa Michelle” was behind them, but they didn’t know what happened to it.  We mentioned to “J. O. Bradford” though that “Lisa Michelle” was broken down behind us and across the whole river.  That kind of startled the captain.  We heard their conversation later of “J. O. Bradford” helping to push “Lisa Michelle’s” stern over as they had managed to get the bow tied off to the bank.  “Thelma Parker” was the next tow we passed and gave them the same information.

This is what it looks like after you pass it standing still

After an 8 ½ hour day of travel, we dropped anchor off the side of the Tombigbee River near Pritchards Landing.  There was no one on the bank to entertain us this time as we had the fortune of just once.  It was a very peaceful and clear evening with the new moon and plenty of stars showing themselves in the clear sky.

Home Sweet, Temporary Home

With the clocks set back, we were up extra early this morning.  As Ray says though, it is still the same time, the sun is still coming up at the same time, so why bother changing the clocks?  We're confused enough as it is in this Central Time Zone. 
We departed Sumter Recreation Area before six o'clock.  Two miles before Heflin Lock we called the lock master who told us it would be 20 minutes to turn the chamber around for us.  It was more like 30, but we were in and out in about 15 minutes again.


The White Cliffs of Epes are such a change of scenery

Next we heard the tow "Greenwave" ahead of us going the same direction, and another tow coming the opposite direction that we could not understand the name of.  Just as we spotted it a couple curves ahead we saw two deer swim across the river.  I think we are so enthralled with something unusual that we miss the opportunity for a picture sometimes.  When the northbound tow was in permanent sight, we hailed it no less than three times on the VHF radio, with no response, and stated so, but were still comfortable passing it on one whistle. 


The fall foliage has diminished, so this contrast seemed extra pretty 

Hours later we caught up to "Greenwave", which was probably traveling about the same speed as us except in the curves.  We made one attempt to overtake it in a straight away, but both agreed we should back off until the next straight away.  Once we did, a couple pleasure boats overtook it and us, beating us to Demopolis Yacht Basin.  We pulled into the fuel dock eight hours after lifting anchor this morning.  We were pleasantly surprised by our fuel consumption going downstream even with using the generator much more than our usual for heat. 


Old Epes bridge and tender house remnants

Once we were tied into slip A8 in the new Kingfisher section, Linda immediately started laundry.  One because we have not been to a marina since we left Chattanooga 12 days ago, and two because we have never seen so many boats in here, again being later than usual.  We are docked with many of the boats we have seen so far on our journey, some that we met while doing The Great Loop and have already made new friends with those planning to get to Marathon also.
Tomorrow's main agenda is to do some provisioning, so it will be two nights here in all too familiar territory.





Trying to be a photographer

Seems like Mount Rushmore after the miles of mundane banks

"Greenwave" seems like a big task to overtake

Busy Boating

It is our habit to turn on the VHF radio upon awakening when we are close to a lock.  We heard “The Next Step” departing, then “Miss GG” called Bevill Lock just before 8:00 a.m.  Since the lock master didn’t sound to happy this morning when he stated he just locked a pleasure boat down about five minutes ago so it would be about 30 minutes to turn it around, we decided to be at the lock also.  Timing was perfect for us to lock down along with sailing vessel “Hip Nautic”.  It’s a good thing we did decide to go as next was “Chippewa”, a tow and barges over 600 feet long, and a light boat, meaning a tow without barges, all going to lock up together.  We heard other vessels including “Osprey” wanting to lock down next.  It was after 10:00 a.m. before the tows got out of there.
The rest of our travels were fairly uneventful except for a bunch of guys shooting skeet off the porch.  We pulled into Sumter Recreation Area just before 3:00 p.m. to find “Miss GG” already anchored off.  We were going to anchor close to the picnic table and campfire pit we like to use on shore, but we decided we better snuggle in in anticipation of the other vessels behind us.  We were hoping also to be able to hear Georgia beat the Gators on the radio, but just had to find out via Facebook because we were too busy on shore collecting firewood and making a campfire, although Alabama must have had more rain than Mississippi judging from the dampness of the wood and the more pitiful fire.  A dinner of smoked sausage with sauerkraut and onions was enjoyed over the open flame, with s’mores for dessert of course.  It was an extra early night with cooler temperatures, early rising ahead, and clocks falling back.

Chattanooga Boaters

This morning we took our time and enjoyed the cloudless sky.  Such a welcomed change from yesterday.  Around eight o’clock we called the “office” at Dewayne Hayes to verify that they sold ice as the web site stated, figure out where and find out what time someone would be there to sell it to us.  Billy stated that he would be there until nine o’clock.  We jumped in the dinghy.  Linda thought it would be a closer walk from the boat ramp to where she thought the “office” was.  In our typical getting older fashion though, we forgot to bring the trash along.  Oh well, we could just take it over to one of the closer docks.  We found what we thought was the “office”, but did not see anyone around, so we called Billy again.  We were at the day use office, he was at the campground office.  The shortest way to get there was across the wet field of semi long grass.  We purchased four bags of ice and trekked back across the field.  Back at the mother ship Ray attempted to take the trash ashore while Linda dried off the glass enclosure, inside and out after the soggy day yesterday.  There were no trash cans in the bins near the docks though, assuming for the winter season, so Ray had to go back to the boat ramp anyway. 

With all of the chores done, we lifted anchor at about 9:45 a.m.  Just over an hour later we were in Stennis Lock.  It was a fairly busy day on the waterway, passing five tows today.  Around 2:00 p.m. we were skirting the section of the Tenn-Tom that goes back and forth from Mississippi to Alabama several times before finally remaining in Alabama for its duration.

When we were alongside the Pickensville Recreation Area there was a skiff with a couple in it waving to us, hat included.  We didn’t imagine they wanted us to come in, but that was our intention anyway.  Ray figured it must be a dinghy from another boat anchored.  Sure enough, there was a trawler “Osprey” anchored just about where we usually do.  We went beyond them a little bit to drop our anchor.  A little while later we saw another boat coming in to anchor.  When they got alongside us and turned away to anchor we notice it was “The Next Step” from Chattanooga, Tennessee.  There were a few silent guesses as to who they might be, wondering if we knew them.  We left them alone to anchor and kind of forgot about them since we already forgot the boat name anyway.  That getting older stuff again.  Minding our own business taking care of business Linda’s phone rang with an unknown number on it.  It was “The Next Step” calling.  How did they do that?  Come to find out and remember, we did meet them last summer when we were docked in downtown Chattanooga.  It was an interesting conversation for a while as they are doing the loop but also both working 40 hours per week via the internet.  So they have to be somewhere with internet connection during the week and then they travel on the weekends.  Remember that most dangerous thing on the boat being a schedule?  Whew!  They had actually been anchored about where we were all week until weather forecasts forced them to go to Pirate’s Cove Marina, formally Marina Cove, yesterday.