January

1/8/2013 Reprovisioned yesterday and moved the boat to the fuel dock at Columbus Marina. Fueled up and paid cash to get a 10 cent a gallon discount. Also did laundry.

This morning we departed at 6:45 along with Playtime, a 65' yacht. Stennis lock is just outside the marina so had talked to them about locking through together. There was Hydrilla, an invasive aquatic weed, in the marina and along the river. It was in the lock entrance along with logs and branches and other trash making it a challenge to get through. Just go slow is how I handle it.

Out of the lock, Playtime took off heading for Orange Beach. Obviously going faster than we care to travel. Went through Bevill lock. Met Ashleigh tow and Point Isabel tow today.

Temps were cool, 31F when we left Columbus this morning.

Went through Heflin lock about 3:45. Anchored just past the lock in an oxbow. Traveled 70 miles today. Feels so good to be back on the water!!!!

 We passed this house last year, it was for sale then, still for sale.  We really liked the house, setting and the out buildings.  But we're not in the market for a house now.

Went through Stennis, Bevill and Heflin locks today.  Anchored in the oxbow just past Heflin Lock.  70 miles today.  

 

 

 

 

1/9/13 Rainy and foggy this morning.  The chill went right through us.  Jerry brought the propane grill up to the bridge.  It warmed things up nicely. 

 Last year when we passed the white cliffs of Epes, the sun was shining and it was absolutely spectacular.  This year, overcast and rainy made the cliffs kind of blah.  They are really a site to see.

Met Joe Cain tow along the way.  Passed a fisherman who didn't look like he was anything but cold. 

 

Made it to Demopolis, AL marina early afternoon.  I backed into the slip.  Only my second time backing the boat.  I did good!!  Last year the marina was packed with loopers.  We are so late this year but did come across one looper boat, Jet Stream.  We partied with them in Hammond, IN just outside Chicago along with Canadian and New Zealand loopers.  They loaned us their Jag so we could drive into town to pick up milk.  They were watching the weather and planned to stay another day or so.  We, on the other hand, planned to push on.

 

1/10/13 Before 7:00 we were on the river.  Thirty minutes in we are at Demopolis Lock.  Things are looking good so far this morning.  As the doors to the lock opened, all we see is fog.  For the next 2 hours, we are in pea soup. 

 

 IFR on the boat but no ATC to guide us and watch for traffic. 

 We can watch the tows on our chart plotter so at least we know where they are, thank goodness.  One was going to meet us on a bend in the river.  We thought we had timed it so we'd be around the curve before we met, but we forgot that the barges are a good distance ahead of the tow which is what we see on the chart. 

Finally cleared up about noon.  We passed the Keith Gelvin.  Jerry talked to the tow captain to see how we should pass.  I could actually understand him.  Most of the captains talk so fast and with a heavy southern accent, I have a difficult time understanding what they say. 

 

The winds kicked up about 1:00.  I was concerned about weather since there was a huge cell on the radar that I'd seen this morning on the news.  We talked about getting XM weather for the Garmin chart-plotter.  Jerry looked it up and would run us over $500.  He then remembered we still had the GPS 496 that we'd used in the airplane and we had XM weather on it but cancelled the subscription.  Looked up options for marine weather.  We could reactivate for $30.  Much better deal for now.  Called XM and had weather in about 30 minutes.  Yeah!!



We anchored in Bashi Creek. Much deeper than last year.   Last year we tried to anchor here but the entrance was only about 3 feet deep. We need at least 4 feet.  The only problem was that the tree branches were pushing against the isinglass.  Jerry got his trusty sawsall and took care of most of the bigger branches. Used a bow and stern anchor to hold us close to the shore.

Capt. Jerry relaxing with an adult beverage after a 71 mile day.  This is a narrow anchorage, backing out to get back on the river.  Only PBS stations on the TV and they were iffy.  We watched Magic Mike, a movie Pearl loaned us.

1/11/13  Sunny and 65F this morning.  Can't believe the difference in temps but loving it. Easy cruising today.  No cell signal.  This is one of the dead spots we've experienced on the Tenn-Tom. 



This is Bobby's Fish Camp.  Just a small dock and the only place to get fuel and stay on a dock.  The only one between Demopolis and Mobile.  A 240 mile stretch.  I've seen pictures from other loopers with 8-12 boats rafted to this small dock.  There's a restaurant that serves fried catfish, supposedly the best around.  We've not stopped here but talked to Seasation, a 125 ft mega yacht that stopped here on it's way to Mobile.  They tied to the underside of the dock and also ran lines to shore.

 Wide open on this part of the river.

An Egret hanging out on a log in the water.  Jerry saw the first of many Cormorants.

Changed into short sleeved t-shirts and opened the forward hatch for a nice breeze through the cabin.  Coming into the creek leading to Old Lock #1, this pontoon/house was tied up.  Didn't see anyone around.

The water is way up in here.  Last year we went ashore.  This is where we found pecan trees in the park.  We stayed on the boat.  Jerry cleaned the engine strainers.  All the weeds we'd gone through he was sure we'd collected some.  Sure enough, he had a bucket full. 

1/12/13  We're off early today, 6:30.  As we come out of the creek from Old Lock #1 onto the Tenn-Tom, we hit fog.  It's 66F.  Thirty minutes in, we see T.H. Kelly tow on the chart plotter.  It looks like we'll meet him on a straight away, but soon realized we were seeing the tow not the barges in front of the tow.  We heard him before we saw him, kind of scary.  I had us over to the side and we were close. 

 Lots of hairpin curves in this part of the river. 

This log actually was large enough to show up on radar.  It was probably 16" diameter and about 30' long.

We passed a huge mill.  The sign said it was"Scott's Paper Mill".   Several small tows were moving barges around for unloading as we passed by.  Busy day for tows.  We met or passed at least 7 today.  Arrived at Big Bayou Canot planning to anchor.  It certainly didn't look as good as what the guide books said it would be so we moved on to our next choice. 

 Tensaw Cutoff lead to Briar Creek where we anchored for the night.  The shrimp boat was anchored at the entrance to the Creek. 

Things are starting to look more tropical around here.  It's only about 12 miles from downtown Mobile.  Really pretty spot to stop.  This turned out to be a long day, almost 10 hours on the water and 92 miles.