Aliceville, AL to Demopolis, AL

We had another great night at anchor on Thursday night. We were rafted to 2 other boats, and additionally there were another 4 boats in the same anchorage. In this part of the river, there are not an abundance of choices, so the boats tend to gather at the time proven alternatives. We were so close to the boat ramp at this one, that we did not even need to use the dinghy motor for walking the dogs...simply about a 30 yard paddle did the job.

We were ready to depart early (up at 6am, ready to leave at 7am) but some fog delayed us by an hour. They are very careful in the lock system, and if it is foggy, they will not operate the locks until it clears. So, we finally got going around 8am.

Terry from Happy Happy with some dog duty early in the morn...

And with dog #2, Duke.

And now, our turn.

Just a little bit of fog to burn off before we depart.

The short version is that there were 8 boats in the lock at the same time, and one of them turned out to be InSpeyered 2, so we were able to cruise with them for the day once again. A really nice day of cruising...pretty scenery, calm water, no tug traffic, and no more locks. 54 miles later, and we arrived at Kingfisher Marina in Dempoplis, AL.

Almost a full lock.

Happy Happy

Some dredge activity just below Heflin Lock.

Sorting out who's going how fast for the day...

And the line of boats spreads out after a bit.

The White Cliffs of Epes...our pics do not do it justice.

This marina stop is really the last real stop before we reach Mobile, which is 215 miles downstream. So, we face about 3 nights at anchor "somewhere" between here and there. The anchoring spots are a bit scarcer down here, so there may be some challenges to find just the right spot. But, we will be traveling with other boats, so collectively we will figure it out. Kingfisher is a staging spot for this part of the trip, and we would estimate that there are 20 or so looper boats here at present. All of us are waiting out the weather right now, and many will likely leave on Monday morning. We haven't yet decided when we are departing, but best guess is Tuesday.

We had dinner out on Friday at a local restaurant (the Bistro) which was pretty good...with California Lady and InSpeyered 2. And then we had a pot luck dinner on California Lady Saturday night. Topped off with some home-made apple crisp and vanilla ice cream...life on the boat is tough!

Another long day of cruising in the books!