Into the Alabama Wilderness

(Wednesday Oct 24 – Dist: 70.8 mi; Avg Speed: 8.5 mph;
Locks: 1; LWT: 0; TTT: 8:50 hrs)

Seamoore and Q’s End left the comforts of Kingfisher Bay Marina at Demopolis early in order to catch up with some other boats who had the lock ready for them. As it turned out there were 7 of us who made it through and it was a good thing because there were a couple of tows approaching the lock. If we had been delayed there would have been a good chance that we may not have made the 70 miles to the nearest anchorage before darkness.

We are now on the Mobile River. The shores of the river have changed yet again. In this first section it seems to be carved out of the rock and woods.

It was another beautiful day for travelling: sunny, hot (80 F) and calm. We easily did the 70 miles and by 4 PM we reached Bashi Creek, our anchorage for the night. Since we needed both a forward and stern anchor in the narrow creek, we decided to raft together, nose to tail. With this configuration we could both use our primary anchors and not have to worry about digging out a second anchor and man handling it to somehow to set it in the opposite direction. Another of the boats (Ben’s Play Pen) whom we met at the lock that morning also made it and joined us for Happy Hour. It was a beautiful evening and we slept well.

We were tucked right in close to nature so that the fishermen and hunters could still get by.

Kingfisher Marina, Demopolis AL

(Monday Oct 22 - Dist: 53.2 mi; Avg Speed: 8.4 mph;
        Locks: 1; LWT: 0 mins; TTT: 6:45 hrs)

Aside from the early start, the thick, wet dew (at least we did not need an ice scraper) on the enclosures, the patch of fog, it turned out to be a beautiful day along a beautiful stretch of the river. 

These limestone cliffs, called Cliffs of Epes, were interesting to say the least.  The fall colors on some of the trees only adds to the beauty.  With the bright sunshine the temperatures got into the 80's AGAIN.  The nights are becoming cool but the days are great.  Y'all got to love the south.

Kingfisher Bay marina was not here 2 years ago so everything is brand new... and very impressive.  The facilities are great; the laundry room is massive and has a 62" TV to watch on a rocker while waiting for your laundry to finish.

The patio on top of the laundry / restroom / lounge building is a great place for the daily Looper gathering.  We can attest to that after our first night here.  Our boat is just past the far railing under cover.  Hurray, no cleaning the enclosures when we leave.

Linda has threatened to use the new swimming pool but with the water temp at 75 I think that she will chicken out.  There is no doubt that these Canadians are getting soft.  We now prefer the water to be at least 80 degrees.

We are going out tonight, to the Red Barn, one of Carleton's favourite places here in Demopolis.  He says it is a little rustic and here in Alabama, I am not sure what to expect.  I will try to remember to let you know when we return to civilization.  We are leaving in the morning for Mobile.  It is 217 miles down the Black Warrior river and there are no more marinas.  We will likely be out of touch (ie. no cell coverage) so do not be surprised if you do not hear from us for 4-5 days.  I'll leave you with a few more shots of the Cliffs of Epes.

Sumpter Landing Anchorage, AL

(Sunday Oct 21 - Dist: 64.7 mi; Avg Speed: 7.9 mph;
        Locks: 2; LWT: 10 mins; TTT: 8:55 hrs)

T'was a long day but we managed to get to the anchorage and there was still room for us.  This part of the Tenn-Tom is fairly remote with lots of trees and little bays where the land was flooded. 

It was also interesting that there was a ton of water hyacinths floating down the river, sometimes quite thick and sometimes with small branches and logs floating in their midst.  Not sure how or why they get separated from the shore but there is a lot of them, some still with their flowers blooming.

We are still facing 1 or 2 dams each day but not for long; we are very near the half way point between the Tennessee River and Mobile Bay, 450 miles in total.  Linda and I have met up with Carleton and Becky on Seamoore, a 40 foot mainship, whom we knew, and liked, from the first Loop.  They too have reservations in Marathon for December.

 

We are still running into some barge traffic but they are few and far between, smaller in size and there is generally more room to past them.  They only become a problem when they are in or near a lock when we arrive.

Well we spent the night in a nice anchorage but we forgot to take any photos after the long day.  Linda and I set the anchor after two false tries and then had Seamoore and another small trawler raft to us for the night.  We BBQ'd aboard the mainship and used their outdoor Jenn-aire barbecue.  It was good.

There were three other boats in the anchorage with us and they wanted to leave at 7 AM.  With the lock nearby we knew that we should all lock through together.  It was cold (60), it was wet with dew and it was still fairly dark but we pulled up the hook a 7 AM.  We slowly found our way through a patch of fog and got through the lock immediately.  We were off to Demopolis. 

Columbus Marina, Columbus MS

(Tuesday Oct 16 - Dist: 59.6 mi; Locks: 4; LWT: 20 mins; TTT: 7:40 hrs)

It was a very long day again but pleasant enough.  Leaving Midway in the morning were 4 boats including a 22' sailboat with a 8 HP outboard.  It could only do about 5 mph so after some discussion and the blessing of the sailboat we pulled away leaving them behind.  After another lock one of the other boats encountered transmission problems and we pulled away from them.  In the end the other remaining boat decided to fuel up before the last lock so we ended up going through that lock by ourselves.  It was the quickest ever; the gates started closing the moment we cleared them and the water started dropping as soon as we gave the "all secure" to the lockmaster.  From start to finish it was less than 20 mins.

Attempting to remove the prop from this 62 foot Nordhaven.

 Columbus Marina is a busy and popular place.  Everyone stops here and many use the marina for staging and provisioning for the remainder of the trip to the Gulf.  People move their cars to Florida, have visitors meet them here or do minor repairs on their boats.  In the bay by the marina there is a serious crop of water lilies.  I have never seen so many nor ones so big.

My most favourite BBQ in the world is nearby and of course we stopped on our first day here right after stocking up on supplies.  We brought home a rack of ribs and a pound of brisket... unbelievably good.

I am not alone in my fondness for Hanks BBQ.  On Friday the marina had a pot luck get together and they supplied the brisket and the pulled pork.  With all of the covered dishes brought by the other boaters, we had a feast; a very great time.

Linda is going golfing today with another lady and I will end up watching football with the rest of the guys.  I tweaked my knee again and want to give it a rest for a couple of days.  That is becoming an ongoing annoyance.

Tomorrow we head for an anchorage that is 65 miles down river and 2 locks away.  We will be travelling with Carleton and Becky on Seamore whom we met on our first Loop.  We both have reservations for the winter in Marathon.

I will leave you with a couple of pics from inside my favourite BBQ place.  It is not much inside or out but the food is oh so good.

Midway Marina, MS

(Monday Oct 15 - Dist: 56.3 mi; Locks: 3; LWT: 1:10 hrs;
        TTT: 8:50 hrs)

It was a beautiful day to be on the water; 78 degrees and a gentle breeze.  I even had my shirt off all afternoon.  The scenery was OK except for the "Divide Cut".  The Ten-Tom Waterway is all man made connecting the Tennessee River with the Black Warrior River in Alabama.  The Divide Cut is 25 miles long, about 200 feet wide and it is like travelling along a highway that is below grade.  All you can see is the sides.  At least these sides have three tiers which can be a hundred or more feet high in some places.  The US Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) cut this section through the hills around 1985, at times going down 75 feet.

High Side on Left Descending Bank (LDB)

Man Made Dyke on RDB

The next section, which we are now on, is called the canal and is 52 miles long.  Again the Corp moved earth to create a canal along the side of the hills.  The earth was used to build a dyke along the entire length.  Evidently, more earth was moved than that needed to create the Panama Canal.  So we are travelling along the side of hills.  There are many trees and who knows what else under the flooded areas. 

Notice the Tow below, much smaller than those on the Mississippi.

This area from Pickwick Lake through the divide is the highest point, 414 feet above sea level.  It is all downhill from here.  To make this possible there are many dams and locks.  We did three today and will have 4 tomorrow. 

We still have tows to contend with but it is really a non issue unless they beat you to a lock.  They are smaller and generally there is room to get by.

Midway Marina was a rustic place that was dredged along the side of the main channel.  You can still see the tree stumps very close to where one has to maneuver.  It is getting cool at nights often into the 50's so we usually get fog or water smoke each morning.  It looks eerie sometimes but always interesting.

Many Live Aboards here.

It was a long day so we packed it in early and anticipating another long day tomorrow.

Thank You Grand Harbor

(Oct 4 - 14)

Linda and I have extended our stay here at least three times.  We are comfortable and have access to a courtesy vehicle which we have taken great advantage of.  We have golfed 4 times; twice at Shiloh Falls (a Gerry Pate designed course) and twice at Pickwick Landing State Park course.  Both were interesting but we preferred Shiloh Falls.  BTW my game seems to be getting worse the more I play.  Unfortunately, we did not take any photos.

We spent one day at Shiloh at one of the sites from the Civil War.  Although not a history buff I was amazed at the information and how well done the Park Service has laid this out.  The 45 minute film sets the stage and describes all of the movements of this two day battle and unfortunately shows the human devastation that occurred over the 2 days.  I have forgotten the exact numbers but roughly over 3,000 dead and about 23,000 causalities or missing.  Unbelievable.  I will leave a bunch of pictures at the end.

Tomorrow we are going to set out again.  We are headed for Columbus MS and will need to anchor out one or two nights so I will be quiet again for a few days.

One of dozens of monuments from the different States.

Confederate Memorial

Line of Defense.

Typical Placard

Site where General Johston was killed; the highest ranking officer who was killed in the Civil War.

National Cemetery.  Bodies were exhumed from mass graves to be buried here.