CATCH UP TIME!

FRIDAY, November 7, 2014

Time to backtrack a bit, OK – a lot!  Oh my, so much has transpired since we have done a serious post.  Here is a synopsis of our journey from Demopolis, AL to our present location at Turner Marine on Dog River in Mobile, AL.

 

We were in Demopolis, AL at Kingfisher Marina for 2 nights.  We were put into a slip that was covered with a corrugated steel roof which actually ended up to be a godsend as it provided very necessary shade - it was HOT! 

Didn’t do a thing for our cell phone coverage but it helped keep us cool.  I mean it was like mid 80’s and humid!  We got into our slip, got on our bikes and took off.  It was Sunday and so not much was open.   We rode for miles.  The downtown was completely closed up and so we kept going.  We just wanted to have lunch somewhere, anywhere!  The best we could find was a Pizza Hut, not exactly what we had in mind but beggars can’t be choosers!  We then went on to Walmart for some supplies and back to the marina.  Wow – what an outing that ended up to be.  Were very thankful that we have air-conditioning!!!  Lots of interesting boats as usual.  This home-made boat caught our eye...not sure I would ever want to sail on it though.  Kind of a fun name!!!

We met another couple on sailboat Amada who were also shipping their mast on the same truck that ours was on.  We ended up travelling with them (Rick and Sherri) for the next 3 days and have been here in Mobile with them for over a week now.   We left Demopolis and went through Demopolis L&D.   Then on to Coffeeville L&D - our 26^th and final lock!  We are done with those now and are happy to be getting them over with.  It has been an interesting part of the journey but we are ready to move on!

Our first anchorage was at Bashi Creek.  John and I arrived first and didn’t know if Amada would make it that far or not as they travel a bit slower.  About sunset they came around the corner and rafted up with us.  When I say that, I mean we had an anchor down and they actually tie their boat to our boat so we are right next to each other.  It is a great use of space when there is not much room and it is kind of fun to be together with someone else.  There are not many places to get “off” the river in these parts and there were already 2 boats above us in the creek.  We were happy to have them tie up to us for the night.  We had them over for a beer and got to know them a bit better.  They are from Grand Rivers, KY and moved there not long ago from Missouri.  Nice folks!

The next day we both headed down river and went to an anchorage we thought may work but it didn’t.  Turns out we are in tidal territory now that we are below the last lock and were approaching this particular place at low tide.  John went in on Marley and the entrance was only 3-1/2 feet deep – too shallow!  That was not going to work as we draft 5’.  So we started to head back UP river to another spot we thought would work.  We didn’t want to go in the opposite direction as our destination but nightfall was coming and we just wanted to get somewhere safe and be done for the day.  A towboat hailed us on the radio and asked if we were looking for a place to anchor.  We said yes and he suggested a place under a bridge abutment down river.   So we turned around again. At least we were now heading back in the right direction.  We didn’t like being under a bridge but knew we would be safe there as towboats would not head directly for the bridge pilings.  We anchored there putting down not only our bow anchor but setting out a stern anchor as well.  Not a picturesque setting but it served us well.  I just put in ear plugs and went to sleep!

The next morning we woke and Amada was already gone.  Caught up to them and we both anchored at the Tensas River and had lots of room to spread out.  Back to a decent anchorage! 

This will be our last river anchorage.  John and I got in Marley and went gator hunting (just kidding, well – kind of)!  Big clouds started moving in and we went back to the boat to be with Molly. 

I am happy to report that Molly is doing well by the way.  She is getting more used to the boat all the time and developing her own rhythm and routine. 

The next day it is off to Mobile we go.  Into the Mobile Shipping Channel, how exciting!   We are now hanging with the BIG boats. 

We have pulled up along 1,000 foot Laker boats before but these were ocean-going vessels, I mean massive!   We sure felt like a little fish real quick!  There were cargo ships, ships in dry dock (meaning they were lifted out of the water on big docks, probably for repair), navy ships, all kinds of ships from all over the world!  

We were definitely in the big water now, salt water and heading for our new home down south.  It was a milestone!  We spent 6 weeks in Dauphin Island, AL earlier this year (Jan and Feb) which is just 20 minutes south of from Mobile.  We did not have any clue at that time that we would ever be back here again, let alone by boat!  We weaved our way through the ships and the pilings toward Dog River. 

Our navigation markers have changed and are now these huge wooden pilings that stick up out of the water instead of the little red and green buoys that had been floating in the rivers.  The waters outside of these pilings are shallow, like get-stuck-in-the-mud shallow!  It’s a whole new world with all the new navigation and tides!  How exciting to move on to the next part of our journey and get our mast back.  We stopped to pump out, take on fuel and then went to our new home for a week at Turner Marine.   

We are wondering if Mrs. Noonan's class knows what kind of bird it is in the last picture above???