Demopolis to Acworth!

Sorry for the VERY long time in between postings! It seems that we always have something else to do or we have such poor internet service that posting to the blog somehow gets postponed or simply put on the back burner till later. I was ready to post a couple of times, but adding the pictures takes up a LOT of bandwidth, and when you are not on a fast internet connection, it can literally take a couple of hours to upload a few photos. I know it sounds like an excuse, and to some degree it is, but I still had the best of intentions for regular postings. This posting catches us up to the point where we planned to take a break for Thanksgiving.



Natural River - no canal cuts

On Wednesday, November 14, we left Demopolis at 6:30 am since we had a long day ahead of us. The plan was to spend the night at anchorage in Bashi Creek, 71 miles downstream. We had read that it was a small and tight anchorage, but well off the river and a safe place to spend the night. The day was routine with not much to see, but as the guides say “just enjoy the abundant display of nature”. That is code for boring.



Remains of the  "Rooster Bridge"



 

 

One site along the way is the old “Rooster Bridge” remains. This bridge was made famous in a video on the internet. Do a Google search for “Cahaba” and “Rooster Bridge”. You will see several different still photos from that famous video. Unfortunately, I was not able to secure a URL for the website that has the video, so still shots will have to suffice. They depict the tug “Cahaba” that lost its load of barges during a flood, and when they tried to chase the barges, they were unable to stop before the current capsized the boat as it was swept under the bridge. It came out the other side still running, so the pilot continued as if nothing had happened. Really fascinating and it is true!

"Deluxe" Dock at Bobby's

When we arrived at Bashi Creek, it was much smaller than described and we quickly made the decision to press on to Bobby’s Fish Camp 26 miles further downstream for a total of 97 miles for the day. Since we had been saving fuel by running 8.5 MPH all day, you can do the math and figure out quickly that daylight would be gone by the time we reached Bobby’s if we continued at the same speed. Fortunately for us, we are capable of going much faster, so we did for a short time – 25 MPH- and with a fuel penalty included.









Clockwise -M/T Pockets, Assisted Living, Jolly Tolly, Waci 3

We arrived at Bobby’s about 4 PM and met up with the three other boats that left Demopolis that morning with us. We all docked simultaneously on the 100 foot face dock (directly exposed to the river) and then went to dinner at Bobby’s at 5:30. Bobby’s is famous for catfish. Everything is fried – nothing grilled, and it was really some of the best catfish I have ever had. We spent an uneventful night on the dock.



A great place to eat!



  

Bobby's Fish Camp



Waiting for the fog to lift at Bobby's



We were ready to go Thursday morning at 6:30, but were delayed due to fog. We departed about an hour later and quickly transited the Coffeeville Lock at mile 116 which is the final lock on the waterway.



Jolly Tolly in theTensas River anchorage

It’s hard to believe that we were in tidal waters this far from Mobile Bay. Thursday’s run downstream was 80 miles to the anchorage in the Tensas River.





Assisted Living in the Tensas River anchorage

This day had more commercial barge traffic than we have experienced up to this point. There are fewer stretches of wilderness and more industry including paper mills and power plants.









Tombigbee - Alabama Rivers Junction - now the Mobile River

We have now finished the Black Warrior – Tombigbee Waterway after passing the junction with the Alabama River. The waterway is now called the Mobile River the remainder of the 39 miles to Mobile Bay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jolly Tolly & Assisted Living in the fog

 

On Friday morning, November 16, we were ready to go at 6:00, but the dense fog again kept us from weighing anchor until about 8:00. Even then, we still had fog and visibility less than ¼ mile. For the first time on the trip, I had the opportunity to actually use the radar image superimposed over the Chartplotter. I closely monitored the radar and Chartplotter for the next hour or so while the fog slowly lifted. Once it lifted, we had beautiful weather for the remainder of Friday’s journey.



Our destination for the day was Eastern Shore Marina in Fairhope AL which is about 55 miles from the anchorage in the Tensas River. This lower section of the river has the most commercial traffic we have experienced up to now. The true value of AIS (Automatic Identification System) was vividly illustrated to us when we encountered not one, but TWO tows side by side entering a bend in the river at the same time we were preparing to enter the same bend around a blind corner.



TWO tows coming around the bend side by side!!!



First, I saw the bow of one of them and a few seconds later, the second appeared. I came to a dead stop and moved over to the bank as closely as possible to allow them to pass. One of the towboat captains made a comment over the radio that they rarely see pleasure craft do the right thing and patiently wait for them to pass safely. I’m not so sure about the wisdom of two tugs pushing barges entering a blind curve at the same time, but I assume this was not their first time doing it. I also found out earlier in the day one of the primary reasons the floating Aids To Navigation (buoys) are occasionally not in their charted positions. I actually witnessed a tow driving DIRECTLY over a red buoy and it popped up directly behind in his prop wash. It was probably necessary due to the bends of the river and his need to stay in the channel. I am certain he knew exactly how deep it was where he ran over it.



Downtown Mobile AL



There was much to see as we entered civilization once again. The river north of Mobile is very active with commercial ports, shipbuilding and repair facilities.

 

 

 

 





 LCS (Littoral Combat Ship) under construction - a strange looking "Star Wars" trimiran (3 hull design)



 

Mile zero of the Waterway

 

 

 

 

 

The "official" end of the waterway is at mile zero in front of the Convention Center, but there is nothing there to mark the spot. After leaving the river, a short trip down the ship channel to red marker 72 is required before turning east to go across the bay.

  



Crab Boat on Mobile Bay



 

 

 

Most of Mobile Bay is 10-12 feet deep and lots of places it is 5 feet or less. In places, it is stil only 3 feet deep a couple of miles from shore. You must carefully plot and follow a course to safely transit the bay. Our distance across the bay was about 15 miles. My depth alarm went off so many times as we approached the channel for Eastern Shore Marina, I finally just shut it off and slowly proceeded in case we hit the bottom. We never did, but since we came in at low tide, we stirred up a little sand. We finally reached Eastern Shore Marina about 2:00 and went directly to the fuel dock for a fill up and pump out.

 



Fixed Docks present a challenge to getting on and off the boat - notice the narrow walkway on the port side!

 

We had been enticed to stop here because of their offer for a free night’s dockage for Loopers and another free night by purchasing 100 gallons of fuel. In addition, the town is rated very highly and we agree. Fairhope is definitely worth visiting.



Sunset at Eastern Shore Marina



My Raymarine AIS box (Automatic Identification System) with the new software update was waiting for us on the gas dock when we arrived. You may recall that it did not work properly since the initial installation in Chattanooga. Due to my inability to contact Customer Service at Raymarine to help troubleshoot the problem until several days after leaving Chattanooga, we were delayed in returning it to their repair service until we reached Florence AL. We had hoped it would catch up to us in Demopolis, but it finally arrived in Fairhope AL. Once re-installed, it worked perfectly. It must have been the software upgrade that fixed it! This would have been a very valuable tool to have available on the rivers, but it will still be useful going forward on our trip.



Fairhope Pier

On Saturday, November 17 we rented a car on a weekend special from Enterprise Car Rentals and decided to go scout a good location to leave the boat while we take a break over the holidays.

 

 

 

 



Net fishing from the Pier



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Waiting for a handout on the Pier

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Downtown Mobile across the Bay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fountain and Rose Gardens at the Pier

We visited Homeport Marina in Gulf Shores (home of Lu Lu’s Restaurant– Jimmy Buffett’s sister), Orange Beach Marina, and finally, the winner – the Wharf Marina in Orange Beach AL. After sampling some of the local restaurants in Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, and Fairhope, we decided to be tourists on Sunday. Unfortunately, the sidewalks roll up on Sunday in Fairhope, but they did have a special Christmas festival that day and some of the shops were open.



Leaving Eastern Shore Marina

On Monday November 19, we decided to go to breakfast at Panini Pete’s, a local favorite for Panini and beignets. After we returned the rental car to Enterprise, we finished crossing Mobile Bay to enter the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway and traveled to the Wharf Marina.



Lu Lu's Restaurant on the ICW in Gulf Shores AL



After we tied up, Beverly Morgan, the marina director, took us in her personal car to pick up a U-Haul truck.  When we researched one-way rentals back to Acworth, we found out that all rental car companies require you to pick up and return ONLY at airport locations – definitely a disadvantage and substantially out of the way for us. One of our Looper friends had rented a U-Haul truck one way and found it not only convenient, but far cheaper than a car.  

 



Preparing to leave the boat at The Wharf Marina in Orange Beach AL

 

Tuesday morning, November 20, we topped off the gas in the boat, pumped out the holding tank, and began loading up the U-Haul. By the time we had everything secured, cleaned up, and the truck fully loaded, it was 2 pm.

 

 

 

 



Christmas Tree and Fish at The Wharf



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Waci 3 in its temporary home at The Wharf Maina
 



After a quick lunch at the Marina complex, we finally got on the road for the 6 ½ hour drive home. It was an uneventful ride home in a surprisingly good truck (10 foot cube van). We will definitely consider this option for our next one way rental.

 

Good Bye for the Holidays - See you in January!

 

Wednesday, November 21 had us busy washing clothes, opening mail, grocery shopping for Thanksgiving, and Nan Ellen took her mother to get her hair done. Thanksgiving Day was also very busy with raking leaves and cutting grass at the top of our priority list before I cooked the turkey in the afternoon. Unfortunately, this year, we were not able to continue our tradition of bringing shut-ins to our house or visiting them in nursing homes as in previous years. Although it was just the three of us; Nan Ellen, her mother, and me; we had a great Thanksgiving.

We learned a great deal about what to pack and what to leave home. We brought far too many clothes and a few other items. There are washers and dryers at just about every marina so doing laundry every few days is the rule, not the exception. Fresh foods are not a problem as almost every marina has a loaner car for transient boaters to use. Just about every small town has a Wal Mart, hardware store, and fresh groceries. Some of our favorite brands of dried goods (peanuts, beef jerky, crackers, etc.) must be stockpiled on board, but just about everything else can be found locally in stores. Even beer and wine can be purchased as long as you are not in a dry county. We transited many of those on the river, but don’t expect that to be a problem for the next legs of our trip.

It is hard to believe we are now taking a break, but the calendar says it is time to temporarily stop. We were just getting into a groove, and expect we can resume right where we left off next year.  It is likely we will not resume the loop until the end of January. We have a very full agenda for December and January with personal business, doctor appointments, family visits, and Coast Guard Auxiliary business.

My next postings will likely be about lessons learned and previews of what the waterway ahead looks like for us. The biggest upcoming challenge will be the open water crossing of the Gulf of Mexico. We will have several options of ports, and the decision of which one to use will be driven primarily by weather. Stay tuned for more updates to come over the next couple of months.

Nice homes on the River Section of the waterway

We are still in the River section of the waterway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Western Alabama - sometimes cell phones don't work

Friday, November 9 took us to Pickensville, AL and the Pirates Marina Cove. So far, this is the most rustic (code for run-down) marina we have visited.

 

 

 

 

Pirate in the middle or on the right?

 

 

"Primetime's" slip full of the floating hyacinth 

 While the folks were very friendly and accommodating, this place is well past its best days.  They have a serious problem with an infestation of hyacinth floating into the marina. The dockmaster said he would call the dam about a mile away and ask them to open the gates for a few minutes and take it out of the marina.

 

 

Tip Sie Waci making way through the floating green mat...

Sure enough, on Saturday morning when we left, it was far less dense, but we still sucked some of it up in the port engine cooling intake causing a temporary overheat. Once I stopped, reversed the props, and gunned the engines, it cleared itself! This was fortunate since the lockmaster was waiting for us with another boat already in the lock.

 

Tom Bevill Visitor Center

 

Snagboat "Montgomery"

On Friday, we drove the marina van to the Tom Bevill Lock visitor center and walked around the Snagboat “Montgomery”. It operated from 1926 to 1982 removing snags from the various rivers including the Chattahoochee and Coosa river basins. It was not open for inside viewing the day we visited, but we were able to walk around it and take pictures. The “mansion” which is the visitor center and Corps of Engineers office is a reproduction built in the 1980s.

Map of the waterway

 

Bottle washer

 

Later, we went into Aliceville, AL and stopped at the visitor center. It was the former Coca Cola bottling facility and still has some of the state of the art bottling equipment from 1948 on display.

Light inspection of bottles

The bottling plant closed in 1978, but now does double duty as the German POW camp museum. We had no idea this place existed! The Corps of Engineers built the camp in 1941 to house 6000 German POWs and it received its first “fenced guests” in 1942. Initially, it housed both enlisted and officers, but later only officers. We saw a short film that gave the history of the camp and interviews with the former “fenced guests”.  Most of the POWs were captured in North Africa, and had a long journey to reach Aliceville. It was there that they tasted peanut butter for the first time in their lives! Since the US abided by the Geneva Convention, Officers did not have to work, but were paid a higher daily wage if they did. All of them received money from the US during their time in the camp to give them something when they were repatriated after the war ended. Some of them still live today and come to reunions in Aliceville.

"Fenced Guests"

The museum docent said that the entire collection of memorabilia and the military uniform collection came from private donations. They did not have to purchase anything for the museum. They have many books, and a large artwork and sculpture collection – mostly done by the POWs. If you are a WWII buff or like military uniforms of all services (including POW uniforms) used since WWII, you should put this museum on your itinerary.

 

Sumter anchorage

Saturday, November 10 found us on the river again with our destination for the day the Sumter Recreation area about 37 river miles away. This is the last place to stop before committing to the entire 91 mile stretch to Demopolis AL. Since we are traveling at 8.5 MPH, the math says over 10 hours and we don’t have that much daylight this time of year. We are opting for a slow, gas saving pace and are not in a hurry to get to Demopolis. The other boats with us decided to go faster and press on to Demopolis. We were the only ones in the anchorage unless you count the local bass fishermen. It was an uneventful night until we pulled anchor the next morning. Our anchor chain was wrapped around a submerged Christmas Tree. Only after much work, were we able to untangle the anchor chain and get underway. Obviously, we need a hand saw aboard and will make it a priority to add one to our collection of tools once we reach Demopolis.

 

Junction of Black Warrior and Tombigbee Rivers

Veterans Day, Sunday, November 11 had us cruising to the end of the river – or more technically – the end of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. Just before reaching Demopolis and the Demopolis Yacht Basin, we passed the entrance of the Black Warrior River. At this point, the waterway becomes the Black Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway (BWTB).  

 

 

Approach to white cliffs

Most of the day was more of the same until we came to the White Cliffs of Epes in Alabama.

White Cliffs of Epes

 

 

 

 

 

 

This chalk formation is similar and was formed in the same geologic time period as the White Cliffs of Dover England. We took a couple of photos of this unusual sight. We were amazed that the river was the same color in this area, and not the expected chalky white color.

 

 

 

Mid point of waterway

First Spanish Moss we saw

 We finally reached Demopolis and the Demopolis Yacht Basin. This is by far the most deluxe facility we have seen so far. They have golf carts to get you around the complex and a marina car we plan to use while here. This is the last marina stop before Mobile AL 216 miles away. We spent Monday, November 12 cleaning up the boat and doing laundry, shopping, etc. We tried to go to dinner at the local favorite but found it closed in observance of Veterans Day. We settled for a pizza place since our only other choices were fast food joints. Tuesday, November 13 was a relaxing day getting this posting ready in addition to our trip to Wal Mart for some last minute grocery items plus a hand saw just in case we run into any more submerged Christmas Trees in anchorages.

Now for a few statistics. We are currently 73 feet above sea level and once we go through the Demopolis Lock in a couple of miles, we will be at 34 feet with only one lock to go. Since leaving Island Cove Marina in Chattanooga, we have transited 15 locks and descended 609 feet. We have traveled 497 river miles in 16 days. We have spent 3 nights in anchorages and the remainder at docks. We will be spending at least two more days in anchorages before arriving in Mobile AL.  Due to the remote area we will be traveling in, it is not likely we will post again until we reach Mobile.



 

Smithville Marina

We are now in Columbus, MS after a short 41 mile run yesterday from Smithville, MS. We stayed at the Smithville Marina, an old marina that has seen better days. The current owner is the son of the original owner who was killed last year in a tornado where 13 other residents were killed. After hearing this story, we decided to stay there if it fit our plans, and as luck would have it, it did. It was basic and rustic, but fit our needs.

Dave with anchor trip line

 

 

 

Five Fingers anchorage



Canadian Geese

We had only traveled 36 miles from an anchorage the night before. In the anchorage, we had to change our location due to shifting winds and expected rain. We did not have the expected wind and had an uneventful night in the anchorage. However, the mud on the anchor was tough to get off, and we had to wash down the deck twice using only buckets of water from the river. I wish this boat had a raw water or freshwater washdown near the anchor. We have not needed it before now. I hope we don’t have to deal with that kind of nasty and sticky clay type mud, but chances are that we will at some point on this trip.


Midway Marina hidden behind flooded timber - follow the marked channel!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Water hyacinth EVERYWHERE!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We used the Columbus Marina van to go be tourists today. They ask that you only keep the van a couple of hours to allow it to be shared by others. We kept it a little longer as we toured Playwright/Poet Tennessee Williams home which is now the Columbus Visitor Center.

 

Whitehall Mansion 1843

We drove by and took a few exterior shots of some pre-Civil War homes.

Rosedale Mansion 1856

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Waverly Plantation Mansion 1852

 

 

 

 

But the real treat came when we visited Waverly Plantation Mansion. As we were looking for it, we passed by the dingy dock and noticed our friends from “Jackets II” who had anchored and dingyed ashore to walk to the mansion. We loaded them up and drove the ¼ mile to receive a personal tour of the mansion. Do a Google search for this place and you will be amazed. It has a very long and interesting history far too long to detail here. It is actually occupied by the owner! He allows tours and just goes somewhere else while the tourists are walking around. Since it sat vacant for many years, it is absolutely amazing that many of the fixtures, glass, and ornamental work survived. The current owner is a renowned antique collector and has so many priceless items inside, I am surprised that it is not guarded like Fort Knox. I thought that Madison Georgia was a superb example of pre-Civil War homes, but Columbus is at least equal, if not superior.

So far, our mileage on the Tenn-Tom is 115 miles with another 335 to go before we get to Mobile AL. Including the 262 miles on the Tennessee River, we have now traveled 377 miles and transited 12 locks. We are doing this trip at 8 MPH, so doing the math; you can see it takes a long time to move very many miles down the waterway.  Of course, we can go much faster, but it comes with a substantial fuel mileage penalty. With gas over $4 per gallon, we want to achieve the best mileage possible.

Nan Ellen with Autopilot remote control

I had sent our AIS box back to Raymarine for them to fix and expect to get it back in Demopolis, AL early next week. Demopolis is the next big town before we reach Mobile and it is the last marina stop before Mobile. We will be staying in anchorages for a few nights as the mileage between marinas will not allow us to travel those stretches in the shorter daylight hours this time of year.

The Tenn-Tom Waterway connects the Tennessee River at Pickwick Lake with the Tombigbee River in Demopolis, AL. Many people refer to the Tenn-Tom Waterway as those waters from the Tennessee River to Mobile, AL, but that is incorrect. The waters from Demopolis to Mobile are called the Black Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway.   

Construction on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway began in December 1972. After 12 years of construction, the waterway officially opened in January 1985. It is the largest civil works project ever undertaken by the Corps of Engineers. The system is five times longer than the Panama Canal.   

The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway is divided into 3 sections –the Divide Cut, the Canal Section, and the River Section.  We have already completed the Divide Cut and Canal Section and are currently in the River Section.

Tenn-Tom Waterway Divide Cut Section

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baffles to slow incoming streams

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tenn-Tom Canal Section
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More updates in the coming days.