Stay Awhile

Thursday, November 13 - Woke up to...well. Woke up last night as the winds picked up and we heard a light “bump” on one pole we're tied to. We moved yesterday to an open slip.

We adjusted the lines a little to get the stern in close enough to be able to climb out off the cockpit...and apparently got one line a bit looser than we meant. We both climbed out of our warm bed and adjusted said line. A passage of time, us back under cover, was then spent listening for other incidents until we fell back asleep.

Woke up this morning to 10-20 mph winds, rain, and 41 degrees. High today 49, low 31.

After looking at the weather report for the next 5 days we decided to sit still for a while before tackling Mobile Bay. We've rented a car today through Monday and will take care of some items still on our “to do” list.  We're also thinking we just might take the 2 hour drive over to New Orleans for the day (probably Saturday when it looks like it might be decent weather for walking about). 

Interesting fact: We were looking at the NOAA marine weather prediction for the next few days and there is a small craft warning out from now through Friday. And the definition of a small craft? Well, here's what NOAA says about that:

“There is no precise definition of a small craft. Any vessel that may be adversely affected by Small Craft Advisory criteria should be considered a small craft. Other considerations include the experience of the vessel operator, and the type, overall size, and seaworthiness of the vessel.”

In other words, use your own judgment 'cause we're not responsible. ;-)

We're Hee-rrre

Thursday, November 6 – We set the alarm for 5 AM this morning. On rising, we noticed it hadn't rained in the night...and that seemed like a good omen. At 5:05, the skies opened up and it poured! We were both thinking we'd have to delay our 6 AM departure...and jeopardize our chances of getting to our destination, Bashi Creek.

Fortunately for us, the rain only gushed down for about 15 minutes...then slowed to a drizzle. We left Kingfisher Bay as planned at 6 AM with Kim Jo and Overtone. We were immediately into Demopolis Lock and on our way down the river.

The day turned into a beautiful day for travel. Every morning these days it is really chilly...but give us a little solar energy and an enclosed bridge and we're shedding layers like a dog sheds in the summer.

We're still experimenting with features of the chart plotter, so we have our eyes on it a lot of the time we're cruising.  Some funny things crop up on there.

Apparently there are so many of us cruisers on the Tenn-Tom that they are opening water holes even in the most remote of areas...

Oh, yeah, and we all know there was some crying going on at this landing last election day...

Here's what it looks like when we're passing a barge... The red boat shape is the barge and we are the black one.

Overtone travels faster than we, and they said they would “save us a space” at Bashi Creek if things were crowded (meaning we could raft up together). When we got into Bashi later that day, Overtone was the only boat in the place and we both had plenty of room. Lucy enjoyed a romp in the adjoining recreation area, then we all spent a quiet, uneventful night.

Friday, November 7 - Our plans were to travel a light, 45 mile day down to Old Lock Number One at mile 100.    This is an old river course with ruins of old lock number 1 and has a small park and boat ramp.  It has a narrow entrance and is very secluded and rustic. We've stayed there a couple of times over the years.  

Our friends on Kindred Spirit sent us a text early this morning to say that the lock entrance was so shallow they couldn't get inside...having tried several approaches. They are live-aboards and are very used to anchoring out, so we took their experience seriously. I got online and looked at recent reviews of the anchorage and found other boaters commenting on the lack of water. One review even mentioned a boat that had gotten into the area and then couldn't get out.  Gulp.

OK, plan B. Um...and what was that, exactly?!?  Our original "schedule," and I use that term lightly, was to do the trip from Demopolis to Mobile Bay in four days going to Bashi, Lock One, Tensas at mile 39, then  Mobile Bay.

So back to Active Captain and Garmin Blue Charts (which can be used when you can't get a connection to the internet). There were several possibilities beyond mile 100. Thank goodness we left early on a light day (we slept in and left at 7) and had already gone through the last lock, Coffeeville (yippee!!)

First we looked at a sand bar around mile 105. But...it was SO early in the day we felt like we needed to try for something further down. We eyed an anchorage at 97...but passed it up deciding to make a run for an anchorage with several good reviews, Upper Sunflower at 78.6.

This would be a long run. Our estimated time of arrival (ETA) was 4:30 PM, just 30 minutes before dark. It was a bit of a tense day because we were concerned we might get held up some way or get there and find out it was taken. We made it to Sunflower...and, wonder of wonders, this one (maybe 2) boat anchorage was empty! We tucked into a spot out of the channel, but still on the river, in 8 feet of water downstream from a small sand bar. We even had time to launch the dinghy and take Lucy for a...well, walk on this tiny sand bar. She complied, sweet dog!

This was a first for us. We've always anchored off the river. This night we were still right there on the river, just out of the channel and in an area that would be very visible by tows who might pass in the night. And, boy did they! We had two tows pass us before we went to bed and the third tow passed the next morning at around 3 AM. Oh, yes, we definitely slept lightly that night! But, we both agreed the next morning that it IS a good anchorage and we'd do it again.

Saturday, November 8 - We are still having problems charging one of the batteries and are feeling the need to be in a marina with capable boat yard. We considered our options last night and decided we needed to set sights on Dog River Marina in Mobile, AL. With some planning and a hope for lots of luck, we decided we had a shot at it.

Lucy didn't get a walk that morning. At the earliest light we loaded up the dinghy and were out in the river by 6 AM. 

The sunrise was gorgeous!! 

Taking our showers on the way today, I realized we finally have a shower with a view!

Our ETA was 4:35. Again...it was a tense day! We passed two tows on the way and made a run at 10+ mph to pass through the Mile 14 Railroad Bridge because an oncoming tow told us to “pick it up!”

The river widens out down towards Mobile Bay and looking at the shoreline it was obvious from the vegetation that "we're not in Kansas anymore!"

Our first sign of getting close came at mile 22 when we spotted the 

I-65 bridge, better known down here as the "Dolly Parton Bridge..." 'cause both the bridge and Dolly are structural marvels.  ;-)

Finally we came into Mobile Bay!

Mile 0.0 is right at the Mobile Convention Center. From the water, Mobile looks busy and beautiful.

According to Wikipedia, this is likely "the USS Independence (LCS-2) at the Austal USA shipyards along the Mobile River in Mobile, AL."



A glimpse at the kind of traffic surrounding us.  Run, little Island Gypsy, run!!





The tide was moving out as we made our way into the Dog River area, and we fought to stay in the narrow approach channel. Two hours after we passed Mile 0.0 we tied up to the fuel dock for the night at Dog River Marina, the clock reading 4:35 PM.

We'd made it! 93.6 miles in one day, a feat we hope not to have to repeat! At an average of 9 miles/hr we had traveled from 6 AM to 4:35PM.  We decided it was a night for delivery pizza. Whoops. All three pizza companies passed on delivery to Dog River. OK, we scrounged around and munched on leftovers so's not to go to any trouble with the evening meal. We were exhausted and were in bed by 7:45.  Our view of the bridge that evening at the entrance to Dog River....

Sunday, November 9 - We started the day on the fuel dock. At 7 AM we filled up with fuel and went to our position on the transient dock. (A bit harrowing with the tide moving out, but we managed it.) Wayne spent the morning in the engine room checking for loose wiring that might be causing our battery problems. We broke for a lunch at the Grand Mariner Marina restaurant a dinghy ride across the way.  Here's a shot of the Dog River Marina transient dock from Grand Mariner.  Our boat is on the inside of that dock so you can't see us.

Monday, November 10 - We contacted the marina office this morning and had Glenn, the manager, come out to evaluate our problems.  More on this later....

Off and running!

Windlass issue seems to have been resolved! The engine shop put on a couple of “new brushes.” Wayne picked it up on Friday afternoon and re-installed it on Saturday. Saturday, with north wind blowing and temps way down! He got so cold, working out there, that his hands would go numb and start shaking. He'd come in and drink some hot tea or soup...and go right back out. Finally got it done, tested it...and it works!! We are happy campers, uh, boaters.

Monday, November 3, we left Columbus Marina shortly after 6 AM with True North and Kindred Spirit III. By 6:30 we were out of the lock and on our way. Our day was a short one. We anchored at Pickensville Recreation Area just a mile above Bevill Lock. The setting was pretty and we managed to get enough trees between us and the nearby highway that we weren't even bothered by traffic noise. The other two boats went on through Bevill, aiming for anchorages downstream.

We had planned to stay at Columbus until Tuesday morning, but we managed to get everything done on Sunday (including a brunch at Jackson Square Grill...very good!). One job we tackled Sunday was the shocking of our water tank. We used to do this annually on Segue when we weren't traveling on it full time. The shocking involves 1) draining the water tank 2) pouring in a solution of bleach and water 3) filling up the remainder of the tank with water 4) wait 3 hours or more 5) drain the bleached water out all the faucets to clean the lines 6) fill the tank with clean water 7) repeat #5 until the bleach smell/taste is gone.

What we didn't plan on was how slowly the water tank drains. The pump may be small...and the supply lines narrow...but, whatever the cause it took for-ever to drain the tank in step number 1! Bottom line, we still have a touch of chlorine in our water. We have bottled drinking water so our coffee is still drinkable. But when we shower...well, let's just say we get really Clean!

Tuesday, November 4 – Beautiful morning! Took Lucy in for her morning walk and came back ready to contact Bevill for a lock through. When we called the lock we found out there were several other boats at the nearby marina who were interested in locking through then, too. We took up anchor and got down to the lock in time to be first of four vessels that went through. Attitude Changer and Panacea were our companions for the first half of the day. At around noon we pulled into Sumpter Landing for the night and the other boats went through the lock to an anchorage just on the lower side. By the time we took Lucy in for a walk we had company: Lester and Irene on Prime Interest and Bill and Pam on Overtones. We stopped by in the dinghy and spoke to both crews to coordinate our leaving the next day.

Our companion for the afternoon at Sumpter...

Wednesday, November 5, we were up and at 'em early.  By 7 AM we were in the Heflin Lock and on our way to Demopolis.  Grey skies ruled the day, but we didn't have any of the wet stuff.  The ride was actually beautiful.  This area has chalk cliffs all along the river.  This time of year the fall colors can really make them stand out.  Here are only a couple of the many views we got today.

This structure beside a bridge could make a great sketching subject!

And someone has set up their own playground by the river, complete with beach volleyball court!

We're at Kingfisher Bay Marina, the new marina in Demopolis.  We see several of our travel partners over the past couple of days already docked.  Tomorrow we plan to leave early (same song, second verse) and go 71 miles and go through one lock here at Demopolis.  Next entry will probably come from Mobile Bay, hopefully the first of next week!

Sunday, October 26, we left Zippy Cove at 10 AM having waited for fog to clear.  This was our first full day on the Tenn-Tom this trip.  We always find this part of the trip interesting because of our proximity to the shore.  In this remote area we've seen some neat birds and animals.  

 "Do you think these feathers make me look fat?"

We traveled 37 miles, the last 8 being on Baysprings Lake.  Funny, but we'd never really appreciated how pretty this lake is, or how many great looking anchorages are available.  Probably because we never considered stopping on it before now.  

We had chosen an anchorage down near Wilkins Lock, called Baysprings, because of the recreation area and dock nearby.  We arrived at the anchorage around 2:45 and proceeded to set anchor in about 15 ft.  We'd no sooner started the process when the windlass stopped working.  It wasn't the breaker...and Wayne soon figured out that he could release the brake on the windlass and it would operate for short periods of time.  We decided we could rely on the same technique the next morning to retrieve the anchor.  Wayne looked in the windlass operation manual and we think he's identified the problem.  When we get to Columbus he will do some maintenance on the unit.

Meanwhile, it was a beautiful anchorage and the recreation area gave us an opportunity to walk a little.

Monday October 27, the windlass worked well with only one time needed for

Wayne to intervene.  We went through Whitten, Montgomery and Rankin, and Fulton locks...winding up at our anchorage for the night near Smithville Marina. We actually sounded our way into the little cove right next to the Wilkins Lock, but didn't feel comfortable with the shallow depth so went to the area in front of the marina. The anchorage worked out well, it was just a bit longer dinghy ride to the courtesy dock.

During the day we passed (and not easily, I might add, at their speed!) a canoe with the name WildRavenAdventure.Com. That evening, the canoe pulled into the Smithville Marina. For those friends of ours who think this is an adventure...now, that, my friends, is an adventure!! ;-)

Tuesday, October 28 – The windlass was cantankerous this morning, so we will definitely have to spend some time at Columbus Marina solving the problem.

We went through Wilkins, Amory, and Aberdeen locks, pulling into Columbus Marina around 3:30 PM. By the end of the evening several other Looper boats had pulled in, most all seeking shelter for the evening's predicted storms.

Approaching Columbus, MS, by water we were “buzzed” several times by planes from the Columbus Air Force Base. “Shout out” to Ralph and Kay!!!

That afternoon as we traveled we touched base with our friends Pam and Jim Hemphill who live nearby. Fortunately, we were able to work out a rendezvous with them that evening before they headed out on consulting work. Ever the the most gracious and talented hosts, Pam and Jim came to the boat with a complete home-cooked supper of appetizers, smoked pork tenderloin, baked beans, coleslaw, bread, and dessert. YUM! For two people who've been eating “boat food” for three days, it was a most welcome respite!

Jim is the adventuresome soul who came down to Carrabelle, FL, seven years ago and went with Wayne and I on Segue as we made our first (and only, so far) overnight crossing of the Gulf. We all laugh (now!) at the plight Jim and Pam had with lack of cell phone coverage that night. Pam was sure they'd have to dredge the Gulf bottom to ever see Jim again!

Pam and Jim lived in Knoxville at the time and we met them at Choto Marina. We've kept up ever since...and had a wonderful time Tuesday evening sharing news and stories of the time between now and our last visit.

The storms came that night...lightning, thunder, rain, and wind. It was good to be tied to a dock.

Fall is definitely here!

Wednesday, October 29 – Wayne started early working on the windlass issue. After repeated calls to the Muir rep in the US and a most helpful technician, he determined the issue to likely be in the windlass armature. He decided to remove the windlass and take it into a shop in Columbus tomorrow.

I realized pretty early that morning that I had left at home a 6-month supply of a medication. I called our friend, Carol, and she went over that morning...found the medication, and shipped it off that afternoon. “A friend in need...” ;-) Thank you, Carol!!

Meanwhile, we signed up for the courtesy car that afternoon and went in to Columbus on some errands.

Thursday, October 30 – Wayne successfully got the windlass off and we took it in to the engine shop to see if they could repair it.  

Many Looper boats pulled out early this morning, eager to make their way down towards Demopolis. We are content to be here for a few more days...or longer, if need be. 

Friday, October 31 - Anxiously waiting for a call from the engine shop to know what our next move will be.  It's supposed to turn really cold tonight and be down in the lower 30's tomorrow morning.

And...guess who pulled in yesterday evening?  The wildravenadventure.com couple and their dog!  This is a view of their camp from our slip.  Amazing that they can get all of that in the 20 ft canoe!  

They told an amazing story about the canoe and it's maker.  They ran onto something in a river upstream and tore a hole in the bottom.  They called the manufacturer, who declined to help out in any way by telling them what they might do to repair the tear.  The couple said they would be interested in buying a new canoe from them if they could get a discount (Wild Raven has been doing a blog and Facebook for 6 months on the water now)...and the manufacturer said, "no discount."  "Well, we'll have to buy a different brand," they said.  "You'll have a hard time finding one that will allow you to pack in all of the equipment you now have in THAT canoe," said the company!  So...when all this came out on Facebook and the blog, another canoe company stepped up and is building one for them, to their specifications, and they will pick it up in Tuscaloosa three days from now.  Pretty amazing story!  I failed to get the canoe company's name.  No matter.  They may soon be out of business due to this story!

Goose Pond and beyond

View from our perch on the bridge as we headed down Guntersville Lake.

 

 Beautiful sunset at Shellmound, just above Nickajack Lock.

Wednesday the 22nd of October, we left Goose Pond intending to do 44.7 miles, transit the Guntersville Lock, and end up at Ditto Landing Marina in Decatur, AL.  It was a quick day of travel to the lock and we went right in and out.  So then we start thinking how we could probably do more traveling today if we could find an anchorage below Ditto.  We checked our Garmin Blue Charts, an app that lets us see some of the same info on Active Captain...only we don't have to be connected to the internet, and picked out two possibilities.  

We made it to the first choice around 4:30 PM.  This part of the country gets dark at around 6 these days so we were thinking we could get in and set anchor, take Lucy in, and still be back to the boat before 6.  Limestone Creek (mile 311) gets good reviews on Active Captain and probably would work if you didn't need to take a pet to shore.  The channel in was deep, but long and narrow.  By the time we got back to the area we might consider anchoring in, we still hadn't seen a good place to dinghy in before dark.  There is a dock further in on the Creek, but that path is shallow and some distance still away.  We opted to bail out of this anchorage and look for other options.

It's about this time that we remembered one of our Ten Commandments from the other trip: If you are headed for an anchorage that night, and not a marina or dock, you need to be in the anchorage well before dark so you have time to set anchor, ready the dinghy, etc.

Duly noted, we made our way back out to the river and whatever options we could find.  Using the Blue Charts again we located Riverwalk Marina in Decatur, AL.  We've stayed there before and it was fine.  We called, made arrangements...and got docked just as it was getting dark.

Riverwalk is a quirky place, in a good sort of way.  The manager left instructions to pay at the adjoining restaurant, the Hard Dock Cafe, which we did.  While there we ordered a take out dish and talked with a fellow who works in Decatur, lives in another town, and owns a houseboat at Riverwalk where he lives during the work week.  It was a pleasant wait for the food...and the food was good!

Thursday, October 23, we left Riverwalk, made a right hand turn onto the Tennessee River.  Downtown Decatur, AL, that morning.....

 


 Approaching the nearby railway bridge we saw there was a train crossing.  We had a brief wait...but it took no time for the bridge to raise.

Later that morning we got within sight of the Wheeler Lock.  We hailed the lock master and told him how far out we were. He said to keep on coming and just avoid the work area around the lock.   We got to the lock gate in about 20 mins. and waited only a short time to go in.  As we were entering the lock, the lockmaster requested that we go to the furthermost bollard (we usually go for the first or second).  We did as told, and looking back at the open gate we saw why he wanted us there...

That's a little intimidating!  ;-)

No problems, though.  We left the lock downstream and headed for Wilson Lock, about 1.5 hrs. away.
Wilson is unusual because the gates rise from the water.  I have a video of the lock wall rising that day and will post it when we're not running on our mobile hotspot.

We got into Florence Harbor, Florence, AL, early afternoon and took the rest of the day off!  We met Laura and Bill Bender on Kindred Spirit III at the transit dock.  Both Laura and Bill are very active in MTOA (Marine Trawler Owners Assn.).  We just joined MTOA before the trip, so they gave us a lot of great information about benefits and meetings.  Laura and Bill have been living aboard full-time for 6 years, having sold there land home.

Friday, October 24, we got the courtesy car early and ran rounds to the grocery, Home Depot, and used DVD store (we've hit a lot of evenings when TV wasn't available...nor wifi).  We spent some much needed time reorganizing supplies and straightening up the place.

This morning, Saturday, October 25, we left Florence Harbor.  At last we're seeing fall leaves!

Our view of the river as we left the harbor....

Yes, there was a little fog to go through, but otherwise we had a beautiful day of travel down the Tennessee River to our current location at Zippy Cove, one of the first anchorages on the Tenn-Tom.  Tomorrow we'll carry on.  More later....

Island Cove to Goose Pond

Sunday the 19th of October we traveled from Island Cove Marina to Shellmound anchorage, just north of Nickajack Lock.  We cozied into the back cove there (skirting the greenery in the water) and had a nice, uneventful night.

Monday we were socked in by fog and didn't get going until around 10.  The lock wasn't busy, though, and we got in and through in no time.  We were only going about 38 miles that day down to an anchorage 10 miles north of Goose Pond Marina.  We had plans to go into Goose Pond on Tuesday...and with only 10 miles between us and the marina we'd be there in no time and have a WHOLE DAY at a great marina with laundry and a convenience van (a vehicle the marina makes available to transient boaters).  We learned this little move on the last trip.

So...Jones Creek at mile 388 was our selected anchorage for the night. Sounded ideal, down to a deserted boy scout camp with dock for taking Lucy in with the dinghy. We turned off the river into an entrance that, after a short channel, opened out into a little lake. Tree-filled hills surrounded the place and the wind was calm. Nirvana!!

We picked our way to a 10 ft. depth in close proximity to the deserted camp and another dock that looked promising. Secured with a bunch of chain dropped on top of the anchor, we got the dinghy off and took Lucy for a ride/walk.

We tried the closest dock first, not the boy scout dock. Turns out the dock didn't go all the way onto land and looked a little rickety. We motored over to the deserted camp area and found it to be a new dock...about 4.5 ft. off the water.  We tied the dinghy to a post and Wayne hoisted himself up onto the dock.  I then "handed" Lucy up by the handle on her life vest (most handy handle).  I then waited in the dinghy for them to do the necessary...when we loaded up the two and motored back to the boat.

This is a picture of the boat anchored as we came back from the dock outing.

We're thinking, "Wow, this is the perfect anchorage!"  Until...

Around dark we happened to look out the back door and see, oh, I'd say a gazillion bugs hanging all over the boat.  They looked like fish flies to me, except not as long.  Totally creepy, though.  I'm imagining having to "deal with them" tomorrow morning when we take Lucy to the shore.  I'm not real fond of bugs, anyway.  Much to our relief, the bugs left...even before we went to bed.  Quite a phenomenon, though.   

A beautiful morning greeted us the next day, though there was a little wait for lifting fog.  We suited up (we have started wearing our rain pants and jacket for morning rides due to dew) and headed back to the new dock for Lucy's communion with nature.  Everything went fine until we got back in the dinghy for the return trip.  A few yards away from the dock the engine stopped.  Oops.  We'd run out of gas.  Wayne rowed us back to the boat while I held Lucy on the side of the dinghy and gave directions.  He definitely got his exercise in that day!

Out of the anchorage early, we made it down to Goose Pond Marina in no time.  Goose Pond is notorious for having an approach that is thick with millifoil and water lilies, so much so that depth finders often misbehave and give false shallow readings.  And here I always thought water lilies were pretty!  These are not.

The transient dock was nearly empty when we arrived, but slowly filled up as the end of the day rolled around.  We had a chance to take the courtesy car for groceries and do some laundry before the demand for those services was taxed.  

We met all kinds of nice people there on the dock, most doing the Loop, too.  We also got to see a previous owner of the boat, Ray Whitney.  Ray and his wife Patsy live nearby and he has a boat at Goose Pond.  We had a good time visiting with him and learning a bit more about the boat's history.  I caught a picture of Wayne and Ray looking over Journey.

Island Cove

Spent last night at Island Cove Marina.  We had anchored out in Huss Lowe Slough nearby, but the cove was so filled with green stuff in the water that we couldn't get into the dock we were aiming to use...or find another place within dinghy distance to walk Lucy.  The winds were higher than expected, having looked at the weather reports, but we had a good hold with the anchor.  Called ICM and they had a slip for us alright...an 80 ft covered slip!  We were glad for the "room to roam" as we made our way in the slip in the wind.  Split an order of loaded nachos from the Mexican restaurant here...and life was good. ;-). Today we're headed through Chickamauga Lock, about 6 miles south, then to an anchorage at Shellmound, near Nickajack Lock.