We tried to leave Demopolis at daybreak, but there was some tow traffic in the lock that delayed us for about an hour. There were 12 or 13 boats that were all trying to leave this morning, and we all finally were loaded into the lock at about 7am.
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| Jockeying for position as we stage to get into the lock following a tow who was just coming out of the lock. |
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| Team effort to get everyone stacked and ready to go. |
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| Tuscobia, our sister ship. |
It was a very cloudy and gray day, but it was eventful with a number of tows to coordinate passes with. We traveled all day with Tuscobia, an American Tug 34 sister ship...not only are they great traveling companions, they obviously have good taste in boats. We passed numerous tows, a couple of which were in tight turns on the river and required both close attention and coordination with the tow captains. And now for your daily lesson in tow speak:
In short, you use your VHF radio to hail the tow, and then allow the tow captain to tell you which side is the safest to pass him on. And you must know...the tow captain is always right...no questions asked, no discussion. It is safest for everyone this way, because they truly do know what the right answer is. It goes like this..."Jennie Lee, this is Sandrobber"...then the tow captain says - "I'll see you on the 1". And then you say..."Roger that, we'll be on your 1". And that's it. Only you have to know what he means, and you have to be able to understand it over the radio from a good ole boy from South Alabama who talks like he has a mouthful of marbles to start with.Passing him on the 1 merely means that he wants you on his port (left), and if he were to tell you to be on his 2, that means you go to his starboard (right side). And it is as easy as that...all that is left is for you to figure out how to make this happen while this mammoth barge is heading your way, often looking like he is heading right for you. But, it always works out, because as we said...the tow captain is always right!
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| Tuscobia...our traveling companions for this leg of the journey. |
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| Not a great pic, but our first good sighting of a white pelican. |
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| Patriotic touch on a nun bouy. |
Now back to the story...
Our plan was to travel 71 miles to an anchorage called Bashi Creek. Some of the faster boats decided to go further, but this was the best resting spot that we wanted to reach for given the alternatives. It worked out great...we ended up with 8 or 9 boats all jammed up in this tiny little creek. There was enough room for boats our size to sneak about 100 yards up the creek and raft 2 by 2. We probably could have fit 13 or 14 boats in here total if we had to. There was a tiny dock and boat ramp here, with a gravel road and some grass. The locals use it to launch bass boats, and there was even a light on a pole to help after dark. It was a very peaceful night, followed by another very early morning.
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| A bit of a tight squeeze at Bashi Creek. |
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| The first boat in found just enough room to turn around when they reached shallow water marking the end of the usable portion of this creed anchorage. |
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| Pretty thick on the banks...thankfully there was a small dock and boat ramp that had plenty of open area for walking the pups. |
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| Rafting 2x2 to make room for everyone. |
The second day of this leg was again gray and cloudy with some light fog in the morning, but nice bright sunshine by the time we anchored in the afternoon. Our trip was a bit shorter...only 45 miles with one lock. And the interesting part is that this lock is the last lock that we will traverse for many months. Once through this lock, we are just a few feet above sea level and the water is starting to turn brackish - even though we still have 100 miles to get to Mobile Bay. The next lock we see will most likely be on the Erie canal, and that is a long ways in the future from our vantage point now. In the past month, we have dropped a total of 680' from our origination point on Chickamauga Lake in Chattanooga.
Our anchorage this day was Old Lock #1, a side stream that leads to an open pond like area and an old abandoned lock. The river has since been diverted, and this area no longer gets any traffic other than some local fishermen and folks like us looking for a respite from the river. It was a bit shallow getting in (our draft is close to 4' and the water was only 6' deep in a few spots) but it led to a beautiful anchorage with a convenient boat ramp and small park. There are 10 boats or so in here tonight...we kind of lost track after it started getting dark, and we were the first ones in.
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| Maybe this guy didn't listen to the tow captain? |
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| Tuscobia at Old Lock #1 anchorage. |
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| Old Lock #1 |
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| Beautiful anchorage...room for a dozen boats easily. |
The only creepy part was an after dark dinghy run to the ramp in a pitch black night, knowing that it was possible (though not probable) that alligators were lurking around! This minor distraction was heavily offset by the abundance of gorgeous stars on a crystal clear night. It was a terrific night even though we know that tomorrow will present it's own challenges for we aren't exactly sure where we will find our accommodations - but we know we will find something!
By the time we post this, we will likely already be in Mobile, as the cell service here is quite sketchy - certainly we don't have enough of a signal to post our blog.
Oh...we almost forgot...we've had some eagle sightings along this stretch of the trip, but have had difficulty getting a good picture as of yet. But, here is a shot that we captured this week...we are always excited to see these majestic creatures.
The adventure continues...
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