Our Final Days at the Yacht Basin

On Tuesday, November 13th, Todd started sanding the wood on the bow of the boat. He had put Cetol on it last fall but wasn't happy with how it was holding up, so he decided to take it back down to bare wood and start over. After a morning fishing trip with Rick, during which they caught a few white bass, Wednesday consisted of more sanding by the Captain and laundry day for me.

That evening, the "B" dock crew (all ten of us) went to the Red Barn for dinner, courtesy of Buell who wanted to express his appreciation to everyone for taking him under their collective wing since his wife passed away earlier this year. The Red Barn is generally noted for being the best restaurant in Demopolis and that night was no exception. While there, we learned that it was Pete's 67th birthday so Rick arranged to have the waitress bring him something sweet to celebrate.

The "B" dock crew with our host Buell on the right.


Birthday boy Pete blows out his candle.


When we returned to the Yacht Basin, we walked over to the New Orleans Bar & Grill with Rick & Peggy to have a nightcap and then retired to the boat. The rain we had been expecting hit overnight on Wednesday, and Thursday turned cold and windy. I went to town late Thursday morning to get my hair cut and then Todd and I went that afternoon to look for a new couch for the salon. Unfortunately, the furniture stores didn't have anything small enough to fit in the amount of space we have available. We had looked in to having our current couch recovered but thought it was terribly expensive, so we were hoping to find a replacement. So far, no luck.

That evening we had dinner with Rick & Peggy and watched "Ocean's 13" and "Norbit" while eating Peggy's homemade pecan and coconut pies. On Friday Todd helped around the marina while I fixed a big pot of chicken noodle soup to take over to Fred's that evening where we watched Fred's favorite movie, "The Last Samurai" starring Tom Cruise. If you like action and "Braveheart" style fighting and haven't seen it, you're missing out!

Todd spent some time fishing for crappie off the fuel dock on Saturday and then went for a ride with Rick & Peggy aboard "Rollin Tide" after helping them pump out. Then it was back to working on the bow, sanding and taping it off. We also spent some time re-caulking around a couple of the front windows, with Pete's assistance, in an effort to eliminate a few pesky leaks.

Todd mans the pump-out station featuring "Rollin Tide" with Rick doing the dirty work and Peggy supervising from the sun deck.


Todd and Rick went fishing Sunday morning and got back around 10:30, just about the time it started raining. That afternoon the "B" dock crew went to Buck's for an early dinner. Todd had promised to take Dale & Joy out to dinner as a thank you for Dale's help fiberglassing the sonar hole, and the rest of the "B" dock crew decided to go along. Carl & Sally went back to Kentucky the previous morning so there were eight of us who made the trek to Buck's, a local family-owned out-of-the-way establishment situated on the shore of Big Prairie Creek, just off the Black Warrior River. We anchored "Life's2Short" in Big Prairie Creek one evening last fall on our way back down the Black Warrior with Todd's mom and dad and had dinner there. None of the "B" dock crew had been there before so we thought they would enjoy the experience.

Todd and Rick, the fishin' fools of "B" dock.


The gang poses inside Buck's - wonder why they call it Buck's???


Monday was a beautiful, sunny day so we worked some more on the bow and got the first coat of Cetol on it. I then spent most of the afternoon making seafood lasagna to take over to Fred's that evening where Pete and Buell planned to join us. Unfortunately, Pete received a call from his wife Geneva earlier that day and had to make an unexpected trip back to Missouri. Buell appeared to enjoy himself, though, and we enjoyed hosting him for dinner (in Fred's house).

Tuesday was another beautiful day and Todd went fishing that morning while it warmed up and dried off enough to put a couple more coats of Cetol on the bow. Rick then volunteered me to babysit his daughter's new kitten that afternoon while he and Todd went fishing. That evening we went over to "Rollin Tide" to watch Bruce Willis' new movie, "Live Free or Die Hard," the fourth in the action-packed never-a-dull-moment "Die Hard" series.

The Captain slaves while the Admiral looks on.


Both the Admiral and the Captain hard at work applying Cetol to the bow.


Rain was forecast to move in on Wednesday so we didn't attempt to apply any more Cetol to the bow. I went to get my permanent crown affixed Wednesday morning and then made a run to Wal-Mart - not a good move the day before Thanksgiving! Todd occupied himself by helping out around the marina and I spent the afternoon preparing dinner for Rick & Peggy. We walked up to "The Wall" later that evening and visited with Bobbi & Keith who are back from Florida. They had planned to move to Kissimmee but have since returned to Demopolis, sold their houseboat and, at least at this point, plan to stay here for a while.

A beautiful shot of the western sky Wednesday afternoon at the Yacht Basin.


By Thanksgiving morning the weather had turned cold and blustery. Todd left shortly after 8:00 to go visit with Fred's dad, Roger, and brought back a big bag of pecans from Roger's pecan tree. Those will certainly come in handy - thanks, Roger! We had our boater's Thanksgiving Day get-together in the Boater's Lounge at 3:00 p.m. and had a good turnout (fifteen that I can recall), even though most of the "B" dock crew had dispersed to other locations for the holiday. The meal was absolutely wonderful and we ate far too much, but man was it good!

Friday was also chilly and breezy but the sun was shining and it turned out to be a pretty day. Since we were planning to leave the Yacht Basin on Sunday, I did the "last chance" laundry while the Captain made other departure preparations, including installing a new generator battery. We had Thanksgiving Day leftovers in the Boater's Lounge late that afternoon and hung out and visited with Dale & Joy and Steve who is in the dry dock lot waiting for the weather to cooperate so he can do a bottom job before heading south.

When we came back to the boat, Todd got out our meager Christmas decorations and put the big red bow on the front of the boat and the candy canes on the antennae. I guess that means it's time to get in the Christmas spirit! Rick & Peggy came over for a late breakfast Saturday morning and then we all went over to Fred's later that afternoon to watch the Alabama vs. Auburn game Saturday evening. Once again, we had massive amounts of food and stuffed ourselves as we watched Alabama lose to its biggest rival by a touchdown.

The weather was supposed to turn nasty Sunday and Monday so we put off our departure until Tuesday morning. Since we didn't have any plans for Sunday, we decided to go to Tuscaloosa with Rick & Peggy to do a little shopping and have lunch at The Olive Garden (we haven't had enough to eat lately). We even stopped at the Dari Delite for ice cream before heading back to Demopolis!

The rain began Sunday evening but the bulk of the storms moved off to the east and missed Demopolis altogether, so we will wrap up our final "to do" list and leave the Yacht Basin early in the morning, November 27th. We have about seventy miles and one lock to do tomorrow so the plan is to be underway by 7:00 a.m. Tonight we will get together with our friends from "B" dock and go up to the restaurant to say good-bye to the waitresses and locals at the New Orleans Bar & Grill. If our current agenda holds true, we will not be back in Demopolis by boat for two years so it will be a sad departure for us. We may just have to make a road trip back here between now and then!