We finally pulled out of Demopolis Wednesday morning - two weeks after we had arrived. It was a very productive time with the visit to San Diego and the work completed on the boat.
It was finally time to continue the journey south. The alarm rang at 6 am as we planned a 70 mile day - but we were foiled by the lock which was just 15 minutes down the river. Seems there was a southbound tow that was just entering the lock.
'Be here at 7:30' is what the lockmaster indicated. So off we went at 7:15.
The white egrets greeted us on the lock wall as we entered. We continue to see both the white egrets and blue herons along the waterway. So fun to see!
This dam is somewhat unique as the whole dam has water flowing over the top and then cascading over the rocks along the river. It was a very interesting waterfall area!
It was another perfect day on the water and we both commented that it was great to be back on the water and moving again. Guess we can stand to be stationary for only so long!
Bald eagles continue to show up on a regular basis - flying overhead and occasionally sitting on the bank. |
| White egrets along the bank |
Finally about 4 pm we pulled into Bashi Creek - our anchorage for the night. Very nice - about seven feet deep and narrow enough that we had to put a rear anchor out so we didn't end up swinging into shore.
Looking out toward the river, we knew we were safe from any tows going by!
Thursday morning we were in no hurry as it was going to be a shorter day - 51 miles - through our last lock of the trip and an anchorage at the original 'Lock 1' on the Tombigbee River - just a short 100 miles north of Mobile.
We saw a tow headed north. Mmm .... maybe we better check the AIS to see if there are any southbound tows. It's just way easier to get ahead of a tow going our direction rather than try to pass them. It can take 15 minutes to pass a 9 barge tow that is moving at 6 mph - and that's with us at almost full throttle! None within 10 miles - time for breakfast.
We are again reminded that it is a good thing that we continue to move south - definitely time when the leaves are falling on the flybridge!
The Tombigbee is a crazy river this far south!
The actual straight line distance, for example, from Demopolis to Bashi Creek is 38 miles.
But it takes 70 miles by river! It was sometimes hard to determine where the tows on the river actually were. Really crazy!
Coffeeville Lock!!! Finally the VERY LAST lock of our trip!
I should know how many - I'm thinking it's like 120 locks on the Great Loop - but a small number compared to all of the locks we've been through in the past years!
There was a huge dredging operation below the lock which I thought was poorly marked with conflicting buoys. Apparently I was headed toward a large rock but the guys on the dredging started waving us away. Still hard to determine exactly where I was supposed to go .....
Finally we arrived at our anchorage - same place we stayed last time around - the old original first lock on the Tombigbee.
Only this year we couldn't get in! Less than 20 feet into the entrance we were aground - in soft mud so no issue just backing off.
Backup plan? Mmm ... wasn't one. So Steve checked Active Captain and found what was technically an 'anchorage' but was really just a spot off of the channel - behind a bouy making the edge of a sandbar.
Ok by us - with our anchor lite and cabin light on, we expected to be safe from any tows going by! Besides they use a very strong spotlight when they move at night. Will let you know how it went :-)
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