Guys Trip - 2nd Leg

We got the blog posted Wednesday morning and headed out of Destin around 10:00 a.m. Destination today was Pensacola Beach or what the locals call Little Sabine Bay. Along the way to Little Sabine I wanted to check the shaft zincs so we pulled into Mary Esther, dropped the anchor, found that the zincs were still fine and we were on our way within a half-hour.

A slow moving trawler’s worst nightmare. A flotilla of angry jet skiers coming into the Destin channel.

The Captain takes a quick dive to check the zincs, props, and shafts.

We had a rain-free day but we did buck the tide and 20 mph head winds all the way through Santa Rosa Sound. We arrived in Little Sabine Bay about 4:30 and tried twice to get our anchor to set in the S.E. corner of the bay, however the mud was to soft so we moved around to the west end of the bay and found good holding there on the first try.

I had called a good friend of ours, Dave Henderson, a few days ago and asked if he would mind picking me up a case of engine oil. We actually met Dave in Demopolis, AL the first summer we lived on board and have stayed in contact ever since. At the time we met Dave he and some friends were moving a boat from MS to FL and happened to be in Demopolis the same time we were. Dave lives in Pensacola, FL and was more than happy to pick up the oil and deliver it to us over at our anchorage. Everett and I put down the dinghy after our arrival and met up with Dave and the three of us went to dinner. We dined at Flounder’s which was the same place Brenda and I had seen him a few years earlier when we came through the area during the winter of 2007. It was great catching up with Dave and we look forward to seeing him again this next December. Thanks again for the oil Dave, you are a gentlemen and a scholar!

Dave “Oil-Man” Henderson joins us for dinner at Flounder’s.

Unlike the previous night of oysters & sashimi we didn’t stay up late and were asleep by 9:00, it was a warm night so we ran the generator so we could have A.C…what a treat!

Thursday the 9th we headed out of Little Sabine about 9:15 a.m., destination Ingram Bayou, one of our favorite anchorages on the Florida Panhandle…actually it’s just inside the FL/AL border. We had smooth waters across Pensacola Bay and unlike a few years ago we missed seeing the Blue Angels practice in the skies overhead. It was going to be a short 4-hour day and our plan was to put down the dinghy after we arrived and do some exploring in Ingram Bayou.

The Coast Guard ship "Cypress" heads out Pensacola Pass.

The beautiful white sand beaches off Pensacola Pass.

After our time exploring and happy hour on the beach we grilled some of our Exumas Mahi-mahi, took swim deck showers and spent the rest of the evening reading and relaxing.

Our dinghy trip into the back of Ingram Bayou.

The Captain finds an abandoned beach chair to enjoy happy hour from.

We were back underway Friday the 10th of July (Happy 51st Birthday Todd!) about 8:45, headed through Mobile Bay and points north up the Mobile River. The morning started off with Everett presenting me with a birthday card from he and his bride, and a phone call from my Admiral wishing she was there to celebrate my b-day with us.

Friday morning rush hour along the Alabama Canal.

Lulu’s Bar & Grille, Lulu happens to be Jimmy Buffett’s sister.

Around noon it started to rain and the wind picked up, something that’s not wanted on such a big shallow body of water like Mobile Bay. Just about the time the rain started Everett looked up and noticed a large, uncharted (30”) protrusion sticking up out of the water about 6”. It was right in our path and had the tide not been low we would have struck it and done some serious damage to the boat!! After we passed the obstacle I turned L2S around so I could get the coordinates and call it into the Coast Guard so they could deal with whatever it was that was out in the open bay.

By 12:30 the south wind had picked up to around 15 knots in Mobile Bay and the swells were really starting to push the boat around from the rear. We finally made downtown Mobile about 1:30 and got out of those uncomfortable swells.

Your Columbian tax dollars at work??

Our plan was to anchor in Bayou Canot, which is 10 miles north of Mobile. We arrived there by 3:00 and anchored for the evening. Right after we arrived a big Hatteras called Reflections also joined us in the anchorage. After a dinner of chilled shrimp and cheese & crackers we once again retired to our bunks to read before turning in around 9:00…all in all a wonderful birthday on the water…the only thing missing was the Admiral. :-(

Now that we were back in fresh water and headed to Demopolis, AL we had decided that we would take 4 days to cruise the 200 miles to get there. Or that was what we thought on Friday evening before we experienced the July heat and lack of breeze on the Tombigbee River the next day.

Saturday morning dawned foggy and damp but we were back on the river by 7:45. Today we planned to cruise to 3-Rivers Lake which would have put us 50 miles further north on the river. Shortly after leaving Bayou Canot you encounter the 14-mile railroad bridge which happened to have just closed to allow a train to pass by. After waiting for 15 minutes, along comes one engine car pulling an old diesel yard-engine, just the two railroad cars were what we had to wait for? Here we were expecting a train and all we got was a laugh out of it!

A nice fixer-upper along the Mobile River, any takers?

As we continued to head further north we saw more and more bass boats on the water, we finally realized that there was a tournament going on and all the Bubbas were out burning up the water. We also spent the morning dodging numerous snags and stick-ups that were in the river, that’s the last thing a boater wants to do is hit one of them and ruin a prop.

The “Dolly Parton” bridge at mile 21, wonder why the locals call it that?

A new steel mill is being built at mile 48. We counted 16 cranes working the site.

By noon the weather had really started heating up and it felt like it was going to be another night of running the generator so we could have A.C. We also realized that we would arrive at our anchorage, 3-Rivers Lake, by 3:00 and the last thing we wanted to do was anchor and sit in the hot, muggy, still air. Even a jump in the river wouldn’t do us any good as the water temps this time of year are 90+ degrees! We both agreed that at least while we were underway we had a breeze so the decision was made to head north another few hours and anchor at Sunflower Bend Cutoff. The river traffic, other than the Bubbas, had been very quite as we only passed one tow & barge and saw only one other cruiser headed downstream.

We got anchored by 5:00, had a few adult libations, and then grilled some hotdogs on the Bar-B. Because the temps had not cooled off we turned on the A.C. and ended up running it until 3:00 a.m. the next morning. That evening before dark we had a tow & barge anchor just downriver from us and also experienced a few other tows & barges heading up the river after dark, a job I certainly would not want.

Sunday morning we were up early and out of the anchorage by 6:45. Since we only had 130 miles to go to Demopolis and the daytime temps were not supposed to be any cooler, we decided to go ahead and do two more long days and get into Demopolis a day earlier than planned. Today we didn’t have the Bubbas but we did have our share of commercial river traffic. We passed one tow & barge and met three others headed downstream.

Goats in the morning mist as we pull out of Sunflower Cutoff.

The riverbanks here are about twelve feet tall. Imagine the amount of river flooding that had to run through here to put that 200 pound channel marker that far up on the bank!

Today was also going to be the first lock & dam L2S had been through in over 19 months, hard to believe we’ve been away from this area that long. So the Captain spent some time Sunday morning getting out his big white balls, pumping them up and getting them hung overboard, and then rigging the marriage-saver to the starboard side of the boat. Sounds kind of kinky if you ask me! ;-) We arrived at the lock & dam around noon and they had the chamber all ready for us to drive right in, tie off, and lift us the thirty-five feet to Coffeeville Lake.

Everett was very excited to be headed into the Coffeeville Lock once again!

About 2:30 the skies got black, the lightning & thunder started, and we were treated to some much appreciated cooler air. The temps on the flybridge dropped from 96 to 82 and all we had was just a few sprinkles of rain. The cooler temps stayed with us throughout the rest of the afternoon and evening, what a nice feeling!

Thanks again for the misters, Cathy, they have been wonderful during this hot weather!

We arrived at Bashi Creek around 4:00 and anchored across the river from the launch ramp at a beautiful little sandbar. After anchoring the Captain swam a stern line to shore to help keep the boat in position so it wouldn’t swing out into the river or onto the bank. After getting situated Everett & I put a cooler of beer and snacks together and swam our happy hour to the beach. We wished we had someone to take a photo of us from the boat because we must have looked like a couple of scruffy bums sitting on the riverbank enjoying the afternoon……..wait I guess we were those bums!

The Captain ties off the stern to the riverbank trees.

Watching the tows & barges cruise by our anchorage at Bashi Creek.

After happy hour Everett fixed the Captain a light dinner of soup & salad and he fixed himself his favorite dish, peanut butter & bread. We hung out on the bow until dark chatting about this & that and enjoying the cool evening air. After we had both turned in a tow and its barges came around the corner so we both got back up and watched as its spotlight lit up the night while the tow Captain motored slowly past us, quite an amazing sight after dark!

Not a great photo of a tow & barge at night, but man do they look close when they go by!

Monday morning, July 13th, sounds like a great day to arrive in Demopolis! The Captain got up early and took a morning shower & shave on the swim deck, he was headed back into civilization and he wanted to look not quite so scruffy. After untying from shore and lifting the anchor we were headed north by 7:00. With any luck we would cruise the 71 miles in 9 hours if all went well at the Demopolis Lock & Dam. It was another cool & cloudy morning, perfect for cruising the Tombigbee.

Ezell’s Fish Camp along the bank of the river. We drove down here a few years ago with some of the gang from the Demopolis Yacht Basin and had a wonderful meal!

Our river navigation consists of paper charts and local guide books. As you can tell from the chart this river can be quite crooked, in this case you have to go three miles just to get within 100o feet of where you first started the curve.

About noon Rick called from Demopolis to let us know that it was raining there and that it was headed our way. We did experience some sprinkles about noon, just enough to keep the temps down. We only saw one tow & barge today and he was headed downstream to Mobile to deliver his load of coal. We arrived at the lock about 3:15, once again they had the doors open and awaiting our arrival. After locking through we cruised the last 3 miles and arrived at the Yacht Basin at 4:00 sharp.

The view looking upstream of the Demopolis Lock & Dam.

Dale (of the Dale & Joy fame) off “Putz” met us at our slip and helped us tie up, it was great to be “home” again after traveling over 600 miles in the last 13 days. Speaking of the last 13 days, I can’t thank my boat-mate Everett enough for taking the time to join me on this leg of the journey. Not only is he is a great friend he’s a hell of a boat Captain!

After getting the boat secured & plugged in we quickly turned on the A.C. and enjoyed a cool cerveza on the sundeck. After chilling out on the sundeck Everett went up to the showers, cleaned up, and then we headed to the New Orleans Bar & Grill for dinner. It was great seeing some of the old gang at the bar, and the diner was wonderful a usual. Since Tuesday was going to be “Clean Up The Boat Day” we called it an early evening back on L2S.

Both Tuesday and Wednesday were spent hard at work cleaning up L2S, we were wanting her pretty for the ladies visit on Friday. Our main jobs were to clean the entire flybridge & sundeck and then work to remove all the rust spots on the exterior stainless steel. The Captain also spent a few hours in the engine room changing the oil and working on a couple of fuel leaks. Tuesday was VERY hot so we worked until the noon hour and then called it a day. Tuesday afternoon was spent in the A.C. reading and napping. That evening we cooked a couple of small frozen pizzas and after dinner we crashed after our hard day of scrubbing.

Wednesday, in addition to more cleaning projects, we did 3 loads of laundry and painted new distance markers on the anchor chain. Wednesday evening our good friends Rick & Peggy invited Everett & I over to their beautiful new home for dinner. When we arrived Rick had the Corona chilled and Peggy was hard at work frying mushrooms, green tomatoes, and crab cakes…and that was just the appetizers!

Peggy getting ready to dazzle us with her Crisco cuisine!

Everett and Rick waiting on Peggy’s “Crisco Magic”! What a great view of the Black Warrior out their windows!

For dinner Rick grilled some monster T-bones to go with our salad & baked potatoes, needless to say we were beyond stuffed. After dinner Rick and the Captain decided to meet at 5:15 a.m. on Thursday morning to do a little bass fishing on Rick's boat. Thanks again for a wonderful and relaxing evening Rick & Peggy, your new home on the Black Warrior River is awesome!

Catching up and getting ready to grill.

The view from the Black Warrior River.

Piglet, this is NOT the Mediterranean so you don’t need a chandelier in your closet. Have you forgot you live in rural Alabama? Maybe you can take the country out of the girl??

Now this is more like it, an Alabama hot tub! You pee in it to warm it up and fart to make bubbles!

Thursday morning dawned early for the Captain. It’s important to note here that Todd and Rick have had an ongoing fishing competition for the last three years and the last time they met Rick put the hurt on Todd. Rick was once again confident that he would kick the Captain's butt since Todd had not fished in fresh water for quite a while. Let’s just say that Rick got spanked and the “Master” was back!!!!

Rick and Todd head out to slay the bass…or at least one of us!

Another view of Casa Honeycutt from the Black Warrior River.

Now who’s the Master? Maybe next time…NOT!

After the fishing clinic that Todd put on for Rick he borrowed Rick’s truck so he and Everett could go shopping at Wally-World. Todd also took a side trip to Linden, AL to try and get a new driver's license at the courthouse. However he didn’t have all the proper identification to get the license, guess he will try to get this done when he’s back in MO in September. On our way back from Linden we stopped by the Hansard household and relieved their garden of some tomatoes and cukes, thanks Fred & Kim!

Thursday afternoon Todd had a good friend and previous manager who worked with him in MO stop by the Yacht Basin for a visit. Munawar and Todd worked together at Missouri State in Springfield for a number of years and it was great to catch up with Munawar who now works for Sodexho just outside of Birmingham.

Munawar and the Captain catching up on a rainy and cool afternoon. Thanks for taking the time to come see us Munawar, let’s not wait so long to do it again!

It is now Thursday evening and Everett and Todd are making final preparations to depart Demopolis Friday morning. Our plans are to catch up with the wives, who will be driving in from MO, at Sumter Landing which is another 50 miles further north on the river. We hope to be reunited with our ladies by late tomorrow afternoon. We are both tired of looking at each other and are excited to have some “pretty people” on board! :-)