November 18, 2009

November 18, 2009

Demopolis, AL

We spent a couple of more days here as we were waiting for a part – a starter switch for our port engine. So we found out that the water had gotten quite high from Ida. In fact the water was just below the floor of the restaurant at its highest point. Also Demopolis is a place where the towboats get fuel. I watched two tows come in at once and was amazed at the skill displayed.

November 16, 2009

November 16, 2009

Sumter Recreational area to Demopolis, AL

What a crazy morning!! We were up early and I was in trying to get attention deficit Port to do his chores at 6:15 when I saw Biddi & the Beast (BB) leaving the anchorage. I knew it wasn’t 7:00 – the planned departure time – but knew I needed to hurry. Mark explained that BB had called ahead to the Heflin Lock & Dam and found out that the lock master would take us down if we could get there by 7:15. There was a tow waiting below the dam and one was coming from the north behind us. YIKES!

We got the kayak back on the boat and tied down, both anchors up, motored through the shallow harbor entrance, and traveled the five miles by 7:20. We were out by 7:45 with no more locks to deal with until Demopolis. The trip was uneventful other than dodging floaters/debris. We didn’t miss them all but seem to be OK still.

There were many areas where we saw trees clinging to the bank or ready to fall into the waterway. Also, many buoys were on the wrong side of the river. The water had been quite high here during tropical storm Ida. There were many lovely homes along this stretch, and a few precarious ones. The white cliffs of Epes was a highlight.

Our biggest decision was whether or not to continue to Demopolis. Both Magnolia and Biddi & the Beast had called ahead and been told that there was no room for us. I was opting for another night at anchorage upstream rather than get to Demopolis and have no place to stay. Both marinas and anchorages are few and far between at this point of the waterway. Demopolis is the last full service marina until Mobile Bay. We intended to get fuel here and we needed a pumpout. All three of decided we would come on down and see what panned out. Good fortune was with us and Grateful got the last slip for which we were very grateful.

A fun surprise as we pulled in - Steve & Liz from Shingebiss were here. We had dinner with them in the marina restaurant – good food and good company.

November 15, 2009

November 15, 2009

Columbus, MS (mm 335) to Sumter Recreation Anchorage (mm 270)

Happy Birthday, Joe!

We were up and out of the marina at 6:50 – GOOD MORNING!!! We had been monitoring the working channel for the lock & dam and knew that they would be ready for us at 7:00 as we were the second group of boats to leave the marina. We were secure in the Stennis Lock & Dam and then waited. Eventually five more boats joined us – in fact the gates were closed once, but one more boat called the lock before the pumps started. Anyway, we finally got out of the lock at 8:00. This is one of the locks where they collect registration numbers, starting and ending ports, length and width of the boat.

We are traveling in a convoy and three of us hope to get to Sumter Recreational area by 3:00. This is a well-protected anchorage, but has been reported to have silted in at the entrance. The water is still above normal pool so we are hoping we can get in and that the water doesn’t drop too much. We traveled at an easy 8.5 knots, slowed for working barges, fishing boats, and for taking pictures of eagles and cormorants. The Bevill Lock & Dam was ready and waiting on us so we were in and out in a half hour. Because of that we arrived at our anchorage a little ahead of time and were settled by 3:00.

We were fortunate and our anchor caught right away and then we set a stern anchor. Magnolia and Biddi & the Beast had a bit more trouble so Mark got in the kayak and went over to both boats and offered to help set their second anchors. What a guy. Magnolia’s second anchor was so big and heavy that I was poised to take Mark’s picture thinking he might take a spill. But he managed just fine and then went exploring. By that time Port was wondering where he was going in the kayak without him.

I have to tell y’all that I was nearly the one to take a spill in the kayak today. After Mark returned, Port and I got into the kayak and made our way to the boat ramp that also had a small cement dock off to the side. Oh good – a place to let Port off without having muddy feet to contend with. I brought the kayak up to the cement dock that was about a foot higher than the kayak and grabbed a cleat. Port was off and into the bushes. Then it was my turn to get off. Yep – you guessed it. I still had hold of the cleat and managed to get one leg on the dock and then things got a little funky. (I thought I could get out on the dock like Mark gets out on the swim platform). WRONG! Before I knew it, I had right leg and arm on the dock and left leg and arm in the kayak trying to keep the kayak from flipping and my BUTT was in the water. Words cannot explain how silly this must have looked. I really didn’t want to get any more wet so somehow I managed to pull the kayak back in under my backside. After regrouping, I was able to disembark without further incident.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Friday, November 13, 2009

Columbus Marina, Columbus MS

Hi All,

We are still in Columbus, MS, safely tied down in the Columbus Marina. We have heard some pretty crazy stories about what is happening downriver around Demopolis, Alabama, and beyond. For background, the Black Warrior River joins the Waterway around Demopolis. The Black Warrior is one of Alabama’s major rivers that extends eastward toward Birmingham. (In fact Alabama has 77,000 miles of streams that supply water to 18 river basins. Those basins result in Alabama having 1,438 miles of navigable waterways, the most of any state in the nation.) Anyway, eastern Alabama received an extreme amount of rainfall with tropical storm, Ida. The river forecast is predicting that in the Demopolis area the rivers will crest around 30 feet above normal on Sunday, November 15. We have heard of boats trying to leave the Demopolis Marina and having to turn back because they cannot get under the fixed bridges that usually have at least 52 feet of vertical clearance during normal conditions. With Demopolis being our next marina stop (after one night at anchorage), there is no place for us to go. We also heard this morning that a cruiser down by Bobby’s Fish Camp (about halfway between Demopolis and Mobile) ran into debris and took out props and shafts and maybe more because they were trying to get a diver, but no one was going to dive because of an 8 knot current. Also, Bobby’s only has 160 feet of dock and boats were rafting off one another three boats deep. (Last night, boats came into Columbus and had to raft off at the gas dock.)

So long story short we are staying here probably through the weekend with plans to start out on Monday or Tuesday. We are trying to use our time wisely and put in about 2-3 hours of boat labor a day. Today we worked on the upper drive station windshield – we need to sand and stain the teak and then install it to stabilize the windshield. However, we are being forced to relax a bit. I spend time playing and walking with Port, and Mark has finished a book. One guy in the marina said that we will all have the cleanest boats going downstream. No doubt – I washed windows today.

Columbus. Mississippi is the second largest city on the Waterway – Mobile being the largest. The city was founded in 1821. There were so many wounded soldiers, both Confederate and Union, being cared for in the city that it escaped being ravaged during the Civil War. Many of the antebellum homes still exist in the city. We were going to try to see them two days ago after running errands, but the marina courtesy car feels like a “deathtrap” so we just came back to the marina after shopping. Maybe we will try again – after all we have a few more days here.

November 8, 2009

November 8, 2009

Midway Marina (Fulton, MS) to Columbus, MS

Another early morning that started again with fog. Nevertheless, we were off before 7:00 as we had 55 miles with four lock & dams.

We left our mark on Midway as we left. The rudder was in the far right position as we started to pull away. Unfortunately, as Mark put it in forward, we ran right into and rode right up on the post at the end of the transient dock. There was a loud crack and I saw that the post had been pulled away from the dock. Oh Boy, we felt awful…… We continued on our way, but called back to the owners for them to assess the damage and to give us a call. The whole while, I was worried about what the bow of Grateful looked like. By the end of the day, after being tied down in Columbus marina, Mark and I surveyed Grateful, and couldn’t find a mark – how does that happen? Also, the owners from Midway called us and said they believed that they could fix their dock so we owed them nothing. Whew! Another bullet dodged!

Speaking of bullets….. There are stories on the Tenn-Tom Waterway of local folks taking pot shots at passing yachts. This is because they consider big wakes as “downright mean and hateful”. Needless to say, not only were we on the lookout for floating debris, but also for fishing boats and hunting boats along the shore. We certainly didn’t want to find bullet holes in Grateful. Actually, the law enforcement agencies are linked into the lock & dam system, so if you do harm with your wake they will detain you at the next lock & dam and make you pay restitution. As we pulled into the first lock and dam, another boat joined us. They took the lead out of the lock and we were able to follow along at an easy pace. We were able to let Twocandu lead until the third lock & dam. We lead from there as they were going to stop at the Aberdeen Marina and fill with diesel because it was a savings of $.28 per gallon over the cost of diesel in Columbus.

In this part of the Tenn-Tom Waterway, the Army Corps of Engineers used part of the old Tombigbee River and also dug shortcuts across some of the bends. As a result there are many scenic oxbows visible from the Waterway. Also, you can see that the trees that were flooded have nearly decayed away, but have left areas with stumps and growth.

We made it to Columbus at 3:00.

We are safe

Hi All,

Just wanted you all to know that we are safely tied down in the Columbus Marina, Mississippi. We will stay here until the storm, IDA, blows over and the marinas south of here have room. Right now everything is full up to here and maybe even a little north of here.

More later - love you all!

Mark & Carol

November 6 & 7, 2009 Grand Harbor to Midway Marina

November 6 & 7, 2009

Grand Harbor Marina (449.8) to Midway Marina (394.0)

While we waited for fog to clear this morning, we took some time to get wisdom from Chip Lucas, marina manager, ex race car driver, and delivery captain for boats up and down the Tenn-Tom. He thought we could run at 9-10 knots, but watch for boat ramps, fishing boats and boats pulled up on shore in hunting areas. People are seriously held accountable for the damage their wakes do in this 450-mile stretch. If you do accidentally “wake” a boat, go back and apologize – may save a headache later. He thinks Columbus and Bobby’s fish camp are great stops. It’s 98 miles to Bobby’s from Demopolis so he starts before dawn with a call to the lock – if they can get you through right away, then by the time you get out of the lock it is sunrise – plenty of time to make the long run. Mark took our Mobile Bay chart to Chip and got more wisdom. We left the marina at 8:20.

The first part of the Tenn-Tom Waterway is called the Divide Cut and is 24 miles of 280-foot wide channel with rock riprap on the sides. This is the direct line made to connect the Tombigbee with the Tennessee Rivers. When the waterway opened in 1985 it looked pretty desolate, but today it has grown over and now almost has the feel of a park.

Today we traveled through 3 lock and dams. The first one was the Jamie Whitten Lock & Dam with a lift of 83 feet. This is the most we have done so far. Now that we are going downstream again, we are being lowered instead of going up. As we approached the Whitten lock, we were greeted by fourth graders on a field trip to the lock & dam. They cheered as we entered and Mark sounded our horn. Then as we were tied to the floating bollard, they peppered us with questions – “Where are you going?” “What is the name of your dog?” and “What kind of dog is he?” Of course the dog caught their interest. It was really fun for me to see kids and chat with them, and Mark got a kick out of it too. We also saw another wildlife drama play out in front of our eyes. Two bald eagles targeted a group of "coot" (Mark calls them that). They dove repeatedly and finally one eagle came away with dinner. We traveled all day and toward the end of the day, we found ourselves in a narrow channel with a tow. We slowed and gave him the lead and then passed and got to Midway Marina at Fulton, Mississippi.

We did spend Saturday at Midway as well and got some chores done – laundry and shopping at Walmart…….