Columbus Marina Tombigbee Waterway, MS Nov. 1, 2016
We were up and at the first lock with 5 other boats by 8 AM. All of us stayed together for the first two locks before the fast boats took off. They could do 21-25 miles per hour, compared to our 5-10 miles per hour between the sailboats and the trawlers. Today we were lucky enough not to have any tugs or boats to contend with until right before we got to Columbus. M & D really appreciated that since the Tombigbee Waterway channels can be narrow at times…
It was another hot & sunny day so I stayed close to a fan or a breeze… Again, not much to see along here until we got close to civilization again…It’s really pretty with some kind of yellow flower in bloom, but we didn’t even see many birds today.
It was tricky getting into the marina, so the marina talked us through it…lots of huge lily pads and a very, narrow, shallow channel. The manager told us that they the government use to spray to kill the lily pads from spreading but they stopped…
(It’s cemetery and the women of this town were the first to start decorating the fallen graves with flags…leading to Memorial Day and it’s tradition.) Dad said it was also a very large Confederate Arsenal, so therefore was heavily defended.
Molly brought them back to the boat before ten since the loopers had all agreed to be at the first lock around 7:30 and she had to be in work early as well.
Upper Cook’s Bend Cutoff Alabama 11/3/2016
We entered the John C. Stennis Lock and Dam with 7 other boats that mom and I organized first thing on our walk this morning. She put the fast boats up front and the slower sailboats in the back. Even before we got into the locks we could see their pretty riverwalk along the Tombigbee. It went on for about 4 miles. Molly said they were trying to expand it all the way to the Air force Base so it would be about 13 miles long when completed.
We passed by a big recreation area at Pickensville, AL around Mile 309, but 4 of us trawlers wanted to get halfway to Demopolis today if we could. We had all agreed to go to Upper Cook’s Bend Cutoff at the Mile 277, so we were doing our best to get there.
Right before pulling into our next lock, Tom Bevill Lock and Dam we spotted the USS Snagboat Montgomery and the Tom Bevill Visitor Center.
If we didn’t have so far to go, we could have left the boats and dinghyed over there. (The snag boat was the last steam powered sternwheeler to ply the The South’s major inland waters and keep them navigable. It was built in 1926 in Charleston, SC. She was retired in 1982 and is 108’ long.)
We ended up in this lock with the one fast boat from this morning Evening Star and some new boats we hadn’t seen before along with us 4 trawlers, so another 7 locking through together.
Once we got through this lock the fast boats raced ahead again and we had the river way to ourselves again on another gorgeous, unseasonably warm day. We pulled into Upper Cook’s Bend around 2:30 and Fins and us rafted off together and so did Catan and Sandy Gal II did too.
Once we were all hooked together, we sat outside in the shade to enjoy our beers. The Canadians being the hardy and younger souls went for a swim. They said the water was warmer than they were use too, since Lake Superior’s warmest waters are in the low 70’s. BRRR! (Yep, M & D know they are spoiled since M & D whine when the pool water is below about 85 degrees or higher.) Nick from Sandy Gal II came for a quick visit on his dingy after his swim…It was enjoyable talking to him about the differences in the two political systems, sports and of course our kids…
Lynne and mom decided on who was cooking what…mom, spaghetti sauce with meat and mushrooms & hazelnut cookie bars, both contributing to a salad, Phil cooking the pasta and garlic biscuits. They were eating up on Fin’s afterdeck…
Lynne even has darling “fin” flatware!!! So Cool, but I didn’t get to see it because of their two cats, Captain and Skipper, I just heard about it from mom afterwards. Evidently they had a awesome meal with new friends and fellow loopers!!! Thanks to their new Thermacell lantern/bug repellant all of them were able to stay out until they got too cool…
So many stars out, it was really quite beautiful, quiet and calm except for the occasional fishermen flying through on their little boats at all hours! ARRRGH!
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Getting to the first lock
Once again I can't get these stupid photos in the right order...forgive me!
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| Some of the more down home style cabins... |
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| And, the more upscale... |
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| Our anchorage view...lovely! |
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| Our rafting buddies, Fin's, Phil and Lynne |
Getting ready to get my libations
Talking to Fins and Nick from Sandy Gal II
Sunrise mist on the water looking back towards Catan and Sandy Gal II |
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| As we start going down, you can see the wall color change |
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| Interesting foliage on and around this bollard |
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| Leaving the lock in an orderly progression with us following Fins |
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| Sunrise over the water |
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| A recreation area |
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| Fancier homes here |
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| The guy in the water was working on expanding the deck??? |
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| A Blue or Grey Heron??? |
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| All the loopers know to look for this phone booth in the middle of no where??? We can't even get cell service! |
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| Flags and More Flags!!! |
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| One of the few industries we saw along here |
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| There were these small islands everywhere... |
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| Some serious investments here... |
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| Such serene views... |
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| Friendly campers!!! |
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| Lily, checking to see where her momma was? |
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| The USS Montgomery Snagboat and the Tom Bevil Museum |
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| The Tom Bevil Museum |
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| Sandy Gal II at the Tom Bevil Lock |
Here's Moondance in the lock
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| Starting of the limestone bluffs |
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| A farm with cows staying cool by the water |
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| One of the many creeks off of this waterway |
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| A house or a business? |
Demopolis, Alabama Demopolis Marina 11/3-5/2016
WOW!!! The Cubs beat the Indians, we discovered when we awoke. It’s another exquisite morning with fog at water level making for a really breathtaking sunrise! It took us some time to get undone from each other and get our long anchor lines in but with that being said we were still gone around 7:30. We left Sandy Gal II to sleep in since they aren’t planning to get to Demopolis until tomorrow…so they may end up with our sailboat looper buddies today…(We heard from them later in the day and they had spied their first gator…none of us had seen it. RATS!)
It took us about an hour to get to our first and only lock today, nicknamed the Heff, but really called Howell Heflin Lock and Dam. Again it was us and about 4 other boats. We thought the lock master might wait for Gracie and 2 Infinity who were behind us about 4 miles. But no…he said he could get us out and the lock turned around in time for them???
We have only passed a few barges today, one that took the whole channel. Thank Goodness it was fairly wide through here! We keep catching up with one barge called the Chippwaw…
We have had a fast cruiser pass us, but otherwise a day of mostly fishermen and not many of them. We did go by the spectacular white cliffs of Epes that reminded M & D of the rock formations out West last summer.
On both sides of this waterway, only a few homes exist…Mainly the banks are populated by lush, green patterned forests with few trees changing color since we are that much further south. …There are so many varied grasses and water plants that people with ponds would envy…but in the midst of all the beauty is the remains of the savagery of this waterway…massive trees ripped out by their roots lying sideways or into the river way, large and small logs floating along with us. The riverbanks are cut into sharply defined edges with trees hanging by their exposed roots…the next victims of high, swift and strong currents…
We got in our covered slip before four. Then, it was a race for dad to get everything hooked up before he went to the Looper Meeting about the route from here to Mobile Bay. Not a lot of marinas so we will be anchoring some more. OH JOY! Some anchorages I do better than others about relieving myself on the boat… I was very happy to see the long, green grass here for me to use…HEAVEN!
There isn’t a restaurant close by so we are all eating on the boat tonight once again…Mom fed me early, but it’s going to be late once again before mom and dad eat…Tomorrow they have a courtesy car with Lynne and Phil to go in and get provisions and see the town.
Mom and dad are trying to get stuff done on the boat this morning including mom washing me. UGH! I went with mom to put some laundry in and we ran into James and Lucas, so they took me for a walk while mom threw laundry in the washers. She was talking to some of our looper friends and then, she saw Nancy and Marcos. They are all the loopers from Peterboro, CA that are on their small 27’ sailboat, with their 2 kids. Mom and Nancy have been emailing back and forth and mom has been loving their blog. After talking to them it seems we will be crossing paths with them for awhile…Can’t wait to spend more time with them!
Mom took me back to Moondance so she could go with Phil and Lynne to get supplies. I got to sleep while dad cleaned the boat until mom came back with goodies. YUM! Before heading to Happy Hour, Kathleen and Steve from Our Time showed up…we haven’t seen them since we crossed the gulf with them last Dec. Think they will be going with us and Fins for awhile…YEAH!
They all headed out to Happy Hour at 4:30 and mom told me she got to play corn hole with Marcos and Lucas while some guy talked about what’s ahead… Mom said when he was finished talking, a number of them jumped on the bus to go to the Red Barn Restaurant. It turns out M & D ended up at a table with 8 other loopers and they had a fantastic meal! I know because when they arrived home, mom put the leftovers down on the deck to climb aboard and I helped myself! Delicious!
Here's some of the Demopolis history that we learned in our visits to two separate plantation houses:
From Wikipedia:
Organizing themselves first in Philadelphia, French expatriates petitioned the U.S. Congress to sell them property for land to colonize. Congress granted approval by an act on March 3, 1817 that allowed them to buy four townships in the Alabama Territory at $2 per acre, with the provision that they cultivate grape vines and olive trees. Following advice obtained from experienced Western pioneers, they determined that Alabama would provide a good climate for cultivating these crops. By July 14, 1817, a small party of pioneers had settled at White Bluff on the Tombigbee River, at the present site of Demopolis, founding the Vine and Olive Colony.[10] Most prominent and wealthiest among the immigrants was Count Lefebvre Desnouettes, who had been a cavalry officer with the rank of Lieutenant-General, under Napoleon. Considered Napoleon's best friend, he had ridden in Napoleon's carriage during his failed invasion of Russia. Other prominent figures among them included Lieutenant-General Baron Henri-Dominique Lallemand, Count Bertrand Clausel, Joseph Lakanal, Simon Chaudron, Pasqual Luciani, Colonel Jean-Jerome Cluis, Jean-Marie Chapron, Colonel Nicholas Raoul, and Frederic Ravesies. Most of these expatriates had little interest in pioneer life and sold their shares in the colony, remaining in Philadelphia.[11] By 1818, the colony consisted of only 69 settlers.[12]
Due to a variety of adversities, their pioneering efforts were not the great success for which they had hoped. Following a survey in August 1818, they were to find that their new homes did not fall under the territories encompassed by the congressional approval, and the Vine and Olive Colony was soon forced to move.
Mom spent the rest of the evening trying to get photos out to everyone via email. I heard she and dad talking that they are renting a car tomorrow so they can visit a couple of plantation homes around here with Lynne and Phil, leaving me to sleep one of my favorite occupations!
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| Yummy BBQ |
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| Lynne and Phil waiting for our meal |
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The Foscue Restaurant was OK...not great!
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Definitely Rustic!
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| Looper Meeting with Tracy and Tom Grass from GH3 |
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| Tom is always smiling as is Nancy, Hamp and Nick! |
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| James and Marcos from Living Life |
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| Lucas was engaged but separate |
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| Our last view of Denise before she left us for home...we miss her! |
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| We missed the big Halloween Festivities here |
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We caught up with Ed in the red shirt in Fairhope, AL
We all made it to the Red Barn Restaurant...Delicious and really reasonably priced!!! |
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| Canadian's Eric from Catan and Rachel from Sandy Gal II |
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| Alison from Catan and Pam from India Jane |
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| Phil from Stardust |
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| Tom from Stardust and OOP's...India Jane's Captain and Pam's hubby??? |
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| Mike and Nick |
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| Thought the bathroom was interestingly rustic |
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| Loopers |
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| The bluffs coming into and there were more after Demopolis |
Federal Style with Greek Revival Columns
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| She did such a wonderful job explaining it all |
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| Including this Sears and Roebuck tin box of fertilized eggs |
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| The Man Cave of Old... |
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| The desk had 13 panes of glass to represent the original colonies |
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| Now, this is a bed!!! |
The Cabin behind Bluff Hall
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| The river view behind the house |
Gaineswood Plantation which use to be on the outskirts of town is now inside it
Grand parlor where his first wife was laid out...
WE had so many more photos of this incredible home but will post them on my Facebook site if anyone is interested...
The temple minus its pineapple finale
Fins and Moondance had covered docking for a change
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Close up of the some of the flowering water plants |
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