Out of the River and Into the Bay

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Oct 30 Day 13 Layover in Demopolis, AL

We slept in and then did laundry this morning. It’s warm and muggy. The forecast for this afternoon is for thunder storms and a lot of rain. A good day to stay put. We were invited for cocktails on Sparkies Dream at 5:00 PM. We were joined by 2 additional Canadian couples who are cruising south. The Pinacoladas were great and a good time was had by all. We eat dinner at the New Orleans Bar and Grill located at the Marina.

Critter Count: Hundreds of small ants made there way unto the boat. A whole string of them were found crawling up one of our mooring lines to find the good food aboard Amber Lee. Other boats had the same problem so a trip to town for ant poison was in order. That fixed the little buggers.

Question of the day: Where did Demopolis get its name from?

Oct 31 Day 14 HAPPY HOLLOWEEN 505 miles down, 145 miles to go.

The heavy rains last night have caused the river to rise. The report is that the river could go up over 10 feet. We also got a report that there is only 44 feet clearance under the railroad bridge 20 miles down stream. The sail boats that we were to travel with all have masts of over 44 feet. Our mast is 38 feet. Rick and I left harbor with 2 trawlers. We were afraid of being stuck in Demopolis for a week or longer if the river level continued to rise. When we got to the railroad bridge in question we found that it was a lift bridge with 44 feet clearance when it was down. It is on an abandoned rail line so the bridge was up with about 60 feet of clearance. We telephoned our friends back in Demopolis with this information, so they will probably head out tomorrow. The river current is now 3 mph so we are traveling at 8.5 mph. Rick has just about caught up with Wayne on hitting debris in the River. He hit a good one that made a bang when it hit the keel. Before long we could only make 2 mph so we were worried that we had hurt our prop. When we backed up, a big log popped out from under the boat. No damage done. We covered 65 miles by 5:00pm. We rafted up to the 2 trawlers that we had left harbor with, Barefoot Shoes and Karen Anne, at Buris Creek, a very small opening off the River. Barefoot Shoes had managed to tie off to trees on either side of the creek. We were very appreciative to Rea to dingy to the creek bank and wade in knee deep mud to tie off. Lucky for her that there were no alligators in the area. We had drinks aboard Karen Anne and met Roger and Karen from Indianapolis and Steve and Rea from Ontario, Canada. Both couples had sold their homes and are cruising until they get tired of it.
This is Rick. When we had phone reception, I called Christa to wish her happy birthday. When she was small I used to tease her that I didn’t know if she was a trick or a treat, and she would simply smile . Proud to say that she has shown herself to be the latter, a true TREAT !! It was Christa and Peter who gave us a ride from Fairhope to Kentucky Lake, where our trip began, just 11 days ago.
We are anxiously watching the shoreline for our first alligator. No luck yet. Maybe we need to take a swim then suddenly one would appear!! On that note, I think I will skip that swim, instead I will ask Wayne to jump in ! I will be the photographer. YIKES!!
The rest of this week promises to be clear and sunny. A welcomed weather streak.

Nov 1, 2009 Day 15 550 miles down, 100 to go!

We have started meeting quite a few barges on the River. They are usually 3 barges wide and 3 barges long. Usually the tug pushing them is between the last 2 barges. When there is a question of which side we should meet them on we will radio them on channel 16 and ask. The reply with, “the 1 whistle side” or “the 2 whistle side”. The question of the day is: which side is 1 whistle and which is 2 whistle?
We anchored off the River near an old lock with Karen Anne and Barefoot Shoes. We are in a small lake with several fishing boats. The evening is very still, cloudless and the moon is bright. It’s been another good day on Old Man River.


Nov 2 Day 16 630 miles down, 20 miles to go to Mobile.

It was a little chilly last night. We have plenty of sleeping bags and covers so we stay warm. Last night we anchored in 16 feet of water. This morning the depth finder read 18 feet. The river is still rising. We are getting 3.5 mph push by the current now. We have been letting Lena steer quite a bit. Oh! I may have not told you about Lena. She is our auto pilot. We thought about naming the auto pilot Otto, but Lena has more class, especially to two old salts with Norwegian blood in their veins.
We came to a Y in the River. The GPS says the Tennsaw River goes to the left and the Mobile River goes to the right. We don’t know what happened to the Tombigbee. We radioed our trawler friends who are now 10 miles further down the River and they took the Mobile River. So we do too. It is getting close to dark and we can’t find a good anchorage. Finally we pass under Interstate 65 and just a little further we find Lizard Creek. We pull in and find that it is another beutiful anchorage. To our surprise we have traveled 80 river miles today. Mobile Bay is just 20miles ahead. Woopee!

Question of the day: What has 2 red eyes when you shine a flash light into the dark swamp at night? (We looked for the eyes, but didn’t see any.) So no critter count today.


Nov 3, Day 16 660miles down, 10 miles beyond Mobile.

We were up and at it again today for what we hope is the end of our river travels. We were motoring through Mobile Harbor by 10:30 AM on a gorgeous sunny day. I will let the pictures tell the story. We raised our sails for the first time in many days as we slip down the ship channel that goes to the Gulf. Part ways down we make a turn to port (left for our non-nautical friends) rais the gennacker and sail for Fairhope. We reach the Fairhope Yacht Club at 1:30pm. We use our Barnum Bay Yacht Club reciprocal privileges to tie up to there dock for a very reasonable price. It almost feels like we are home. The Club Commodore greeted us and told us to call him if we need anything. Carolyn, who was our host during the Rhodes 19 races, met us for cocktails and gave us a ride to get the truck. Did I mention that she also had a dinner waiting for us. These people are just so kind and generous. We plan on staying here and sailing in Mobile Bay for a few days before heading back North. That gives us an opportunity to share one more blog with you.

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Photos

Barefoot Shoes
Steve and Rea from Ontario, Canada

Karen Anne
Roger and Karen from Indianapolis

Leaving Anchorage
Our anchorage on Nov 1

Power Plant
Some industry along the river

Rick Day Dreaming
Maybe we will be sailing tomorrow

Introducing Lena
Out Auto Pilot

I 65 Bridge
We are getting nearer to Mobile

I 10 Bridge
We are at Mobile

Stealth Ship
We saw these being built in Marinette, Wisconsin during another cruise.

Finally Sailing on Mobile Bay
Wayne is happy!

Comments

[peter k]

great going
Congratulations Wayne and Rick! I wish I could have been along for some of your trip. I know you saw a lot more than is possible to convey in a blog and I sure envy you for it. So what's next? Are you passing through Chicago to collect the Tahoe, or any other reason?Let us know, we'd love to see you. Peter K

[Carie Wagner]

Demopolis
Demopolis, the City of the People, was founded by a group of French expatriates, many of whom came to the United States after fleeing a slave rebellion on the sugar plantations of Haiti.[1] Arriving first in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, they petitioned the U.S. Congress to sell them property and received permission to buy four townships at $2 per acre with the provision that they cultivate grape vines and olive trees. Following advice obtained from experienced Western pioneers, they determined that Alabama would provide a good climate for cultivating these crops. By 14 July 1817, a small party of pioneers had settled at White Bluff on the Tombigbee River, at the present site of Demopolis, founding the Vine and Olive Colony.[2]

[Geoose]

You are right on!
Carrie - You get the prize for the Demopolis question. Thanks for letting me know the answer. Now I won't have to look it up on google. See you next week. Wayne