Up early today, our last day in saltwater for the next 6 to 7 months. Wednesday morning we had a beautiful sunrise in Ingram Bayou and got underway early. The morning started off with Everett doing yoga on the bow and then playing with the dolphins as they "surfed the bow".
I had been telling Everett for the past 10 days that he would be able to stand on the bow and watch the dolphins play at some point in our journey, it had to be today because tomorrow we would be in fresh water. Well the dolphins must have known that it was our last day in their territory because Everett & the dolphins spent 15 minutes entertaining each other on bow of the boat. Everett would wave his hands and the dolphins would look up at him and then swim to the opposite side of the bow, it was quite funny to watch from the bridge.
The Yoga Master does his sunrise ritual on the bow.
"One if by land, two if by sea." Everett searches for the elusive bow-riding dolphins.
Our friends on "What Daze It" had told us that a new marina had opened at the Foley Beach Express bridge at mile marker 158 so we decided to pull in and get more information. I have been sending changes & updates to Skipper Bob Publications for their cruise guides and I wanted to make sure they knew about this new marina called The Wharf. The Dockmaster, Randy Presthus, met us when we pulled in and helped us get our lines secured.
The Wharf is a new beautiful state-of-the-art marina complete with Wi-Fi and cable TV at the dock, of course the nightly rate is $2.00 per foot for these and other amenities. The area around the marina has a number of shops & restaurants, even a 21 screen movie-plex. One nice thing that Randy told me about the marina is that if you are cruising and want to come into the marina to take in a movie, have lunch or dinner, or do some shopping he has plenty of room to park vessels for no charge as long as you untie and are on your way by nightfall. Looks like I'm going to have to treat the Admiral to a movie & dinner the next time we go by The Wharf. For more info on the marina & their concert schedule you can go to their website at www.thewharfal.com.
After leaving The Wharf we headed out into Mobile Bay and began our 4 hour jaunt across the bay. Just before arriving at the Mobile River and the Port of Alabama my starboard engine, the only one that's currently in operation, started to hesitate and stall. I quickly deduced that my fuel filter must be clogging up so I headed down into the Holy Place to take care of the issue, I know Everett really must have appreciated being left on the flybridge with no power and adrift in the bay!
Sure enough it was a clogged fuel filter and we were back underway in just a few minutes. About this time Everett received a phone call letting him know that he was going to be a new grandpa in about two hours and that he would get the "official" call when the birth happened. After getting back underway we noticed that there were some very, very black clouds coming our way and realized we were in for a real toad-strangler. We made it out of the bay and into the shipping channel just as the clouds let loose - can you say blinding rain?!!! Now we are in the main shipping channel, we can't see 50 feet in front of us, and it's blowing rain sideways in a torrential downpour. Lucky for us, however, I have an ex-brother-in-law who is the project manager for a massive new shipping dock being built for The Alabama Port Authority about 100 yards from where the storm started.
We quickly called Billy Booton, who was on site, and he tells us to come along side the new wall and tie up so we can ride the storm out. After a number of tries, fighting the wind, I finally get us close enough so Everett can throw Billy a rope and get us secured. We spent an hour tied to the wall and watched 1.5 inches of rain fall. After the rain let up we spent some time talking with Billy and thanking him for the use of his "amenities". We also noticed that a phone call had come in from Everett's son while we were battling the elements. Everett returned the call and found out that his first grandchild had arrived, a 6.2 pound baby girl named Addison.
As we got back underway and headed into the channel we were confronted with a floating obstacle course of floating islands of grass and trees so large they had their own address, or so it seemed! Running on one engine we were only able to go 6.5mph into the current so it was slow going. Once again we were fortunate that we only had another 10 miles to go before reaching our next anchorage, Bayou Canot.
Thursday we woke to a very cool morning with a stiff north wind. We were underway around 6:15 knowing that our day was going to be a long one if we were only going to be able to do 6.5mph. After we got back in the main channel we were surprised that there was no more floating trash and that the current had settled down. Three miles up the river we came upon our first railroad swing bridge and radioed the bridgemaster to have him open it for us. As we approached the bridge we noticed a towboat coming right at us and it was apparent that we were going to meet at the bridge. Since commercial river traffic has the right-of-way we gladly let the towboat pass through the opening first.
We had a very enjoyable & uneventful day, which was a nice change from yesterday. We traveled 53 miles along the beautiful Mobile River, which turns into the Tombigbee River where the Alabama River meets the Mobile River We hit Three Rivers Lake and dropped anchor about 2:00 that afternoon. After some reading and a nap we enjoyed a wonderful grilled steak, baked onion, and baked sweet potato dinner. We both made calls to our lovely wives and told them how much we were missing them. Since tomorrow will be Everett's first lock experience we also spent some time rehearsing what to do & what to expect when locking through. I hope I didn't scare grandpa and he has nightmares tonight! :-)
Everett keeps a lookout for snags as we head into our anchorage at Three Rivers Lake.
Friday morning also dawned cool and breezy and we got underway around 6:45. For most of the day we enjoyed a real lazy day on the river, enjoying the changing scenery around every bend. We radioed the Coffeeville Lock around 2:00 and let them know that we were about 3 miles below them and that we would be there in about 20 minutes. The lockmaster radioed back that he was locking a barge up and that he had one waiting to go down, letting us know that we would have about an hour wait until he could give us a lift up. We slowed way down and continued to idle up the river. Once we had the lock in sight we cut the engines and drifted until he was ready for us to come into the lock.
The lockmaster radioed us a short while later and told us to come on up, that he was ready to give us a lift. He also wanted to know our documentation number for the boat, I'm sure this is a new policy since 9/11. Everett was ready and waiting to connect us to the bollard inside the lock, I eased up and we had no issues getting tied up. The doors of the lock closed, they flooded the lock, and we were on our way 40 feet up. We were also joined in the lock by another cruiser, "What's the Point" from Elk River, MN.
After pulling out of the lock we only had another 2 miles to our next stop at Bobby's Fish Camp at mile marker #119. "What's the Point" pulled ahead of us and was the first one to tie to Bobby's 35-foot dock. In the fall Bobby's had an 80-foot dock, but in the spring they only have the 35-footer in place because of all the debris that floats down the river. Because of the small dock we ended up rafting to "What's the Point", along with two other cruisers that showed up after us. It was quite the friendly affair with everyone walking over everyone else's boat to get to shore for dinner.
For other cruisers who might be reading this blog it's important to note here that just because you call Bobby's and they tell you; "Come on in we have plenty of room." that's not always the case. There was a 50 foot Hatteras that came in after us and was visibly pissed that he could not tie to the dock, even after Bobby's told him they had plenty of room. The guy got so mad he just took off in his big fancy yacht headed north to Lord knows where?
We joined our fellow rafters for dinner at Bobby's, all of us "bachelors", for some fried catfish, hush puppies, and coleslaw. The meal was pretty good but it took an hour to get us served. Everett paid for dinner and the dockage fee, thanks Everett! However I had told him earlier that the dockage fee was only .60 per foot, after we returned to the boat he told me they charged him $1.00 per foot. I thought for sure they had overcharged him so I went back up to the restaurant and asked for the person in charge. I explained to her that last fall it was only .60 per foot and could the hostess have overcharged my friend.
She got very rude with me and said that; "If I didn't like what they were charging we could just untie and go somewhere else." At that point it was almost dark, and we had two other boats rafted to us, so we stayed put. I know that many cruisers enjoy Bobby's but this will be the last time "Life's2Short" stays with them. Between the rudeness, the way too pricey dockage rate for what you don't get, and slow service it was not one of our favorite nights over these past few weeks. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.
Captain E's first lock, keeping "Life's2Short" off the wall.
Rafted together at Bobby's Fish Camp.
The temps dropped to 47 degrees last night and we woke up on Saturday with heavy dew and fog on the river. The four of us who were rafted together all got untied and on our way by 6:45. Since our fellow cruisers were much faster than us it wasn't long before we had the beautiful morning to ourselves as we putted upstream. The day was very uneventful and before you know it we had traveled 50 miles and found ourselves anchored at Old Lock #2 around 1:00.
After struggling with the anchor on the rock bottom we finally got it to hold. Since this anchorage is in a small cut in the river, boaters need to put out both a bow & stern anchor or, as we did, by putting out a bow anchor and swimming a stern rope to shore, wrapping the rope around a tree and bringing it back to the boat. This way Todd does not have to take a swim again in the morning to untie the rope, we just untie one end of the rope and pull the other end back to the boat.
Everett & I spent part of the afternoon scrubbing the flybridge & sundeck, after that showers & a cold beer were in order. Later that afternoon, as Everett was napping, a beautiful 32-foot Grand Banks trawler named "Patriot" pulled into the anchorage. Since I knew how tough it was to anchor in this area I hailed "Patriot" on the radio and asked if he would like to come along side and raft up. Since "Patriot" had experience with this anchorage in the past, and all the trouble it can cause, he gladly came along the port side and tied up.
The owners of "Patriot," Chuck & Vicki, had just sold the boat and were with the new owner, Rick, and were helping Rick take the trawler from Mobile to Demopolis. For our last dinner on the river we had a tasty meal of blackened sea trout, grilled raspberry & chipotle shrimp, and tossed salad - yummy. After dinner we took some butter pecan ice cream over to the neighbors, toured their trawler, and had Pumpkin pie with the ice cream on the flybridge as we watched the moon & stars come out to play. What a way to spend Everett's last night on the river!!!
Meditation and relaxation on the river, just what the doctor ordered.
Rafted together at Old Lock #2 with Patriot.
Today is Sunday, 15 days since Everett's arrival on Life's2Short, and our last day cruising together... for now. What a wonderful & fantastic voyage we have had!! Last night "Patriot" & "Life's2Short" decided that an early start was in order so we were up at 5:30 and gone by 6:00. Once again we awoke to heavy fog and cool temps. In fact it was so foggy this morning that we had to turn on the radar just so we could see past 50 feet!
We have 51 miles and one lock still to do today before pulling into the Demopolis Yacht Basin. It must have been "towboat rush hour" on the river this morning. Before noon we had passed three towboats and met two others head-to-head. It got a little hairy when we had three of the barges all within 200 yards of us, I know it scared the poop out of Everett!
The Demopolis Lock went very smoothly and we were tied up in our slip by 1:30 that afternoon. The rest of the day was spent packing for our drive to Springfield, seeing our old friends at the marina, and getting "Life's2Short" buttoned up for her stay at the Yacht Basin.
Rush hour on the Tombigbee River.
Safe and sound at the Demopolis Yacht Basin. Who forgot the razors?
Monday morning Everett & I took a little walking tour of the Yacht Basin, meeting the local crew & dock rats, and final last minute cleaning. We left for Meridian, MS around 11:30 to rent our car, thanks to Mary for giving us a lift and thanks to Bobbi & Keith for being there if we needed them! It was a 550 mile trip and we arrived in Houston around 9:30 Monday night. Brenda met us in Cabool in Everett's car about 9:00 and Everett drove the remaining 90 miles to Springfield where Nila was anxiously awaiting his arrival.
It was sooooo wonderful to be in Brenda's arms again. Everett was great to have on board but he just can't take the place of the Admiral! I'm not sure what the future will bring with Brenda's mom. She has three more tests later this week and we will keep out fingers crossed for good news. Brenda and I will spend a few days in Springfield this week and then we and Brenda's parents will head to their lake house for the holiday weekend. I have the rental car for two weeks, hopefully we will be back on board by the time it is due back and heading north towards the Tennessee River.
Brenda and I want to thank all of you again for your prayers and well wishes for all of us as we struggle to get some answers on Viola's health - friends and family are the best!
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