Bashi Creek Tombigbee/Black Warrior Rivers 11/6-7/16
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| Leaving in the morning |
With one of our longer days ahead, 70 miles, dad organized the ten boats all heading to the Demopolis Lock to be there at 7 AM. Meaning we all had to pull out around 6:15 with the time change. It turns out we were very fortunate that we chose that time for the lock; otherwise, we would all have been waiting around for an hour or more while a barge locked through.
The temperatures have returned to more normal around here for this time of year. High 40’s in the morning and mid 70’s during the day making for a much more pleasant cruise to our anchorage, Bashi Creek. It was partly sunny all day with light winds…M & D divided up the driving so they didn’t get so worn out. We encountered lots of various birds, but few boaters or tugs making for a very easy day.
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| Demopolis Water Tower framed against the morning sky |
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| Bluff Hall |
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| More bluffs with some of the boats heading for the Demopolis lock |
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| The Captain and the Admiral catching a nap |
Mom was texting with Nancy, who was already at Bashi Creek with another sailboat. GH3 with Tracy and Tom. Mom was told that it was very narrow creek, but there was room for us, so we proceeded there.
Our Time headed in first and anchored, then Fins next to him facing out, then us next to Fins facing in…We had Fins in a sandwich by the time we all tied or rafted together. All the boaters were breaking out the cocktails when James came up in his little sailboat dingy and agreed to take me to the public landing for relief. I was scared and whining, but thrilled when I hit land! He was too kind!!!
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| Nancy and Lucas taking photos and calling to us |
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| Nancy has gotten very proficient on that paddle board |
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| Living Life in front of Tracy and Tom Grass' GH3 |
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| Here comes Nancy |
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| James taking Lily for us |
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| Nancy's photo of Moondance |
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| Got this photo of Kathleen and Steve on Our Time after we were all rafted up |
By the time, James returned me to M & D, Sandy Gal II was anchoring in front of us, then Lailani, next to her then, two more tugs came in…Tug O’ My Heart and Miss Liberty who anchored next to them. So, 4 boats rafted in front and 3 in towards the back of the creek with the 2 sailboats along the side…
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| It was turning into a party |
This tug pushing a barge is why we wanted off the waterway
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| One of the tugs getting ready to raft off Sandy Gal II and Lailani |
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| Sunset as we looked toward all the boats in front of us |
In mom’s mind it was a party! As soon as the other loopers got into their dingys to explore, mom invited them to come on board for cocktails on our boat’s stern and Fin’s bow with Our Time being used as a landing platform. What fun! I got so much attention and all the appetizers were wonderful!!! (Rachel, Nancy and James made some fancy ones (including fresh bread triangles James made on their grill), while the rest of us had fancy cheeses and crackers.) Delicious, since I’m on cleanup patrol!
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| Tracy and Todd Grass on GH3...he even built his own rowboat! |
Mom fed me and made salad since they were all eating aboard Our Time, with chef Phil’s jambalaya and rice, Kathleen’s bread and fresh peach cobbler topped off with fresh whipped cream...thanks to Phil’s fancy CO2 whipped creamer device!
Mom said it was one our best meals on the loop yet! M & D said it was so strange to see TV when they couldn’t even get cell service, but Kathleen and Steve on Our Time had Direct TV. They are already planning their meal for our next anchorage in two nights…
Everyone agree we were all moving much slower tomorrow morning since we only have about 28 miles to go to Bobbi’s Fish Camp. Supposedly, if the boaters call ahead and there is 4 boats or more (which there will be), they have someone who will come fix us fresh fish, so we will find out?
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| Relaxing before dinner on Our Time |
Bobby’s Fish Camp 11/7/16
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| A lovely sunrise... |
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| Steve cleaning up his anchor |
M & D had a devil of a time getting ahold of anyone at Bobby’s Fish Camp! Despite having 8 boats in there, they didn’t want to cook, so all but the last boat (they didn’t get in until late) ate together on Moondance. We just kept it simple and grilled hamburgers or chicken with steak fries, salad and Kathleen’s wonderful fresh peach cobbler!!! Everyone helped, making the process easy!!! Jack ate aboard his boat but otherwise, we had 13 people eating either in the salon or on the flybridge. Mom, dad and I love to entertain!
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| Unrafting was a challenge for some |
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| Another pretty creek |
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| Rachel was driving Sandy Gal II |
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| Looking back at Bobby's Fish Camp |
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| Our official greeter...what a sweetheart! |
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| Bobby's Fish Camp in the fall |
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| Looking up to Bobby's Restaurant and Camp |
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| Compass Rose |
Meeting new friends
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| Rachel, Steve, Kathleen, Sandra, John and Lynne |
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Nick and Lily
We met some new loopers last night, Andrew and Jack with Tiggy on their sailboat. (A Canadian father and son doing the loop together… So Cool!)
We got to spend time with Sandra and John again from Compass Rose with their dog, Murphy. We love that we meet fellow loopers, then you don’t see them for awhile and somewhere you run into them again!!! They all agreed to get to the lock at 7:30 AM tomorrow morning so we could lock through together...
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| Tom, Andrew and Rich |
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| Mike and Nick together again |
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| All of us together at night |
Tennsaw River-Anchorage Tombigbee-Waterway 11/8/16
Knocking woke us up at 6:10 AM, it was Phil wondering why we weren’t up yet since we were all leaving at 6:30 AM? Obviously a breakdown in communications somewhere? It turned out well because when dad called the next lock, there was one barge in there headed north and about 5 barges on the way. Fortunately, everyone was up and almost ready to go. We all went into scramble mode and took off beating the closest barge there.
Mom and dad were really excited it was their 112 lock and their last one for this trip!!! So, they were taking photos and asked their looper buddies to take photos for them too!!!
We started out with some drizzles and might run into more serious rain later. As uncomfortable as it is for us, Alabama really needs some rain, so we will be fine!
Our last lock...number 112!
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| The bluffs have changed once again |
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| The river is definitely down creating more beach... |
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| One more cabin along the way... |
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| Love the colors changing... |
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| Gorgeous... |
One of the few bridges we have seen in awhile...
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| Turns out there is a number of steel plants down here |
Nick driving Sandy Gal II this time
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| Another steel plant |
We couldn't decide if it was dirt or gravel
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| Another cabin |
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| Hope no one uses this stairway anymore |
Pretty countryside
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| Another lovely bird |
Thankfully not too many tugs and barges this day
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| We saw this eagle |
Hope to travel a long distance today, maybe as much as 77 miles, making tomorrow’s run to Fairhope, AL on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay much shorter. M & D have determined that one of the big industries down here is paper. We have certainly seen lots of new growth forests, trucks & barges carrying skinny logs and smelled the disgusting smell of those mills along this waterway! Today we are definitely seeing more industries than we have in awhile including a German steel plant.
Mom and dad are doing a lot of food sharing, so they can deplete their freezer before getting home. Their condo freezer doesn't’ hold as much as Moondance’s big freezer does for sure…
One of our few cloudy, cool days but no rain so far…Pulled into our anchorage around 4 PM and there are a lot of red streamers hanging from the trees. Dad is guessing it might be alligator traps? I’m not getting off this boat!
M & D had dinner on their boat last night and it was quite a feast! Kathleen, Lynne and Phil outdid themselves once again…YUM! All the adults were on pins and needles over this election…Not all will be happy tomorrow morning depending on the outcome.
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