Fairhope Alabama

Fairhope Alabama

The Ladies at Lunch

What a charming city!  We went into town to sample beignets for brunch at an outdoor café that had been recommended.  We arrived too late for breakfast and so the plans for the whole day evolved.  The gentlemen would stay and have coffee and the ladies would go look in the shops.  After an hour, it was decided that there were enough shops for an entire day and the gentlemen were asked to come back and pick us up around 5 pm.

We had a fine time.  Retail therapy was exactly the right antidote to many, many days of driving down the TennTom rivers.  Not to mention we hadn’t seen any nice stores since I can’t even remember.  Fairhope is an upscale boutique shopping area that reminded me of Lake Geneva in Wisconsin, or St. Armands Circle in Sarasota.  We found every single merchant to be friendly and warm and accommodating.

Kindergartners Trick or Treat in Downtown

This was also the day the youngest school children paraded around the downtown district for trick-or-treating.  It looks like making costumes might be a group art activity in advance and each school group looks distinctive in their spooky gear. The shopkeepers were also in costume, and stood in the shop doorways handing out candy.  All the streets in the district were bountifully decorated with marigolds and coleus and flowers of all colors.  There were almost no empty shops or storefronts and there was plenty of stylish and trendy merchandise.  We managed to take a little of it home with us. 

At every shop someone inquired where we were from and a description of the boats and the Loop followed.  We have now tried three of the area restaurants and were never disappointed.  Tamara’s was great for dinner last night.  Panini Pete’s was the brunch/lunch stop and we had an early supper at Pinzone’s.  We would highly recommend any of them.

Lots of shopping

The French Quarter in Fairhope

Three Rivers Lake to Mobile, AL

Three Rivers Lake to Mobile, AL

Today we planned another long cruising day to stay ahead of the forecast storm for Mobile Bay. Much less fog this morning and a partly cloudy sky warming and clearing in the afternoon and then clouding over again late in the day.

Tows in a fleeting area

More barge traffic today in a very winding part of the Black Warrior River, we can generally see the tows before they can see us and then we call them on the radio for passing instructions. We were surprised twice today with tows rounding a bend in the river at close range. We also saw a log that looked just like an alligator that was moving across the river in front of us and then dove out of site before we could snap a picture.

Winding River segment with sharp bends

The Black Warrior Tombigbee Waterway ends in Mobile at the Government Street Bridge, however the bridge has been removed and replaced with a tunnel. Mobile is a busy international port and ship building area. After our experience last year in Norfolk we knew what to expect, the quiet isolated stream would be replaced with a bustling commercial shipping district in the middle of their work week.

It was nice to enter the open waters of the bay and to cruising more similar to home. We have now completed the river section of the Great Loop and have traversed all of the Illinois River, part of the Mississippi, Ohio, Cumberland, Tennessee, and Yellow Rivers, the Tombigbee Waterway including the Black Warrior River a total of 1278 statute miles from Chicago to Mobile.

Dry Dock with a Light Ship

New  Boat Construction

Mobile Convention Center Downtown

Ship Building

Container Loading

Bashi Creek to Three Finger Lake

Bashi Creek to Three Finger Lake

Foggy patches in the morning

We left the Bashi Creek anchorage at the very break of dawn and it was beautiful.  About one mile downriver we encountered fog.  It came and went, sometimes making the opposite shore invisible, but fortunately we did not encounter any tow boats today, so we were able to move along with enough visibility for our 8 mile per hour pace. The fog lasted for a couple of hours and then the day warmed and was fine.  We are putting on a lot of miles to make it to Mobile Bay before bad weather sets in a few days from now.  We’d rather not be crossing that heavy traffic area in four foot waves. That motivated us to go 72 miles yesterday and 82 miles today.

Rafted back to back, Eli and Dennis exchanged greetings

So this evening we will anchor out again in a small offset creek. We were able to enter in 6 feet of water and anchor at 8 feet. Anchoring out has always been a favorite thing to do when boating. It’s peaceful, usually scenic, and free.  Many of the people that do the loop need more interaction with others, or worry about their boat staying firmly in place, and prefer marinas. Tonight we anchored again back to back and belly to belly with Always 5 O’clock.  Decktails were in order since we do not have a dock, but none the less a good period of time to unwind and enjoy the company of our fellow boaters. We just climb over the side of one boat and onto the other.   Al and Charli have their grandson with them and he has become an experienced deck hand and pilot in these last two weeks.

Not much commercial traffic today, except when after anchoring we saw a tow with two barges filled with benzene.  For one terrifying second we thought he was headed straight for us, but he made a very tight turn and kept going upriver. This is a beautiful anchorage very still, deep, quiet and tree lined. After locking down the Coffeeville lock and dam we are now at sea level and the water level is tidal, here just under one foot.

The benzene tow rounds the river bend

 

The last, of 150 locks, for Always 5 O'clock

Demopolis to Bashi Creek

Demopolis to Bashi Creek

Three Tows lined up at the fuel dock

Since the lock is only 3 miles from the Demopolis harbor we call the lock prior to leaving. The lockmaster informed us that there was another boat that would lock through at 7:15 we were planning for 7:30. We hurried to get underway and as we motored to the lock a sailboat ahead of us called the lock, so we were four boats, then another call from the marina gas dock added a fifth pleasure craft to the lockage. It all worked quite well with 4 boats on a port tie and the last on a starboard tie.

Cool again in the morning with just a little fog that cleared early and warmed as the day progressed. We are now in the Black Warrior River and it is mostly used by commercial tows and only a little by recreational craft. Because of the little recreational activity there are only a few small marinas and we will be anchoring out for a couple of days. For us the only downside is the lack of WiFi service at anchorages, we have plenty of fresh water aboard and ample battery capacity at least as far as we have tested that capacity.

The Lock Mascot with a fresh fish

Our destination is Bashi Creek a “narrow anchorage for a couple of boats” according to our guide books. Well it is narrow, we tried an anchoring technique suggested by some other Loopers. Many of the small anchorages require both a bow and stern anchor. Since we are traveling with Always 5 O’clock, I drove directly into the creek and backed up to set my bow anchor. Always 5 backed into the creek and set his anchor, then we backed toward each other and rafted the two boats starboard to starboard. It worked very well and we shared a meal on our sundeck of brats, salad and risotto, very nice!

In these remote anchorages we lose our cell phone connection and because of the large trees and twisty river the VHF radio that works on line of sight does not work well either. We do use SPOT that is a direct connection to a satellite to announce our position to family and we can use SPOT to notify others if we have a problem. We will be at anchor the next couple of nights and will provide updates to this blog when cell service is available.

Rafted together in a narrow anchorage, Bashi Creek

Demopolis Yacht Basin

Demopolis Yacht Basin

Good day Americans – its Sunday in Demopolis Alabama.  We stayed in the marina today and listened to Mt. Pleasant Church service on the podcast.  Since we got to a restaurant and a grocery yesterday evening, we didn’t want to bother with getting a car etc. to go into the town.  I did laundry, worked on a design for a wool pillow, and exchanged 6 books I have read for one I have not yet read at the Laundromat.  Almost all the marinas have a bookshelf where you are welcome to leave some and take some – it keeps the inventory down on the boats.

Dennis worked on various boat chores, and helped another boater with some anchor lines in preparation for the next stretch of river.  Then at 5, we walked up to the shore and visited with people from many different states.  One couple doesn’t really know what state they “live” in as they live on a houseboat, but also like their sailboat and RV.  What they don’t like is standing still. 

One of the Tow

This marina is also a stop for the river tows, we were getting fuel in a high speed pump for pleasure boaters but they also have a quick couple rig for tow boats that pumps 7300 gallons per hour, that is about $28,000 dollars per hour. Wow!!!

I made crock-pot beef stew for supper and we will spend the evening watching a mini-series on John Adams and the American Revolution.  So we are well fed, fully socialized and intellectually stimulated.  I guess that’s a good way to keep score for the day.

Pirates Cove Marina to Sumpter Rec Area Anchorage then to Demopolis, AL

Pirates Cove Marina to Sumpter Rec Area Anchorage then to Demopolis, AL

Our Cove in the morning

Deep in the wilds off the Tombigbee River, we were at anchor last night in a beautiful cove (see photos).  Beautiful does not include WiFi, so no blog yesterday.  No cell phone coverage either – we have been surprised by how often that is the case.  We did take a dinghy ride around the cove, and hiked on the Army Corps of Engineers land.  We met a local hunter/fisherman who offered us some fresh venison which we declined.

This morning we awoke to a grand sunrise, combined with a moving fog across the water.  It was quite a sight so we just enjoyed it while waiting for the fog to lift and give us a chance to depart.  The trip was 52 miles today, and chilly, so we drove from the inside helm for quite awhile.

Sunrise in the cove

Along the way the river is almost completely unpopulated and the banks dense with trees.  We have moved south too far and too fast to see the colors of the trees change.  But apparently not fast enough or far enough to avoid cold weather.

White Cliffs at Epes, AL

We did see an area of dramatic white cliffs for a mile or two. The White Cliffs at Epes are part of the Selma Chalk formations and were deposited about the same time as the White Cliffs of Dover in England. It looked very distinctive in this green landscape.

Tonight we docked at Demopolis, Alabama, at the Kingfisher Marina, and will stay here for a day or two. We borrowed a golf cart, which took us to an old pickup truck parked about a mile away, and went into town for dinner.  Then we brought the truck back and got a lift in the golf cart back to the boat.  Going for dinner can be a real adventure in transportation.  

Columbus to Pirates Cove Marina

Columbus to Pirates Cove Marina

We woke up to a cold cold morning for Alabama. Fortunately the boat warms up in about five minutes once you turn the heater on. By mid-afternoon we were back in short sleeved shirts and enjoying the sunny day.   In the morning I took a courtesy van to town and got some items for a creative sewing project to keep my hands busy while Dennis scrubs the boat and does other difficult and dirty work.   He claims that is alright with him – he wouldn’t really trust me in the engine room anyway.

Scenic peaceful river

Then we made a quick decision to head down river in the afternoon and cut 30 miles off tomorrow’s long trip.   We stopped for the night at a little marina, way out in the country called “Pirates Cove”.  I guess you could call it homey.  Or you could say decrepit, but it seems safe and the cove is a very pretty spot.  We went for a quick field trip to the nearby Tom Bevill visitors center, which is the administrative center for all the locks in the TVA.  It is housed in an antebellum mansion along the river, and I enjoyed seeing the beautiful house.

Tom Bevill Visitors Center

Also located at the Bevill visitors center is a retired “snagboat” which was used to pull trees, trunks and obstacles out of the waterway making it safe for boat traffic.  That’s what is needed when you flood millions of acres of woodland.  I would like to say the boat retired when all the logs and debris were removed, but that is not the case.  One must still watch carefully and stay in the channel to avoid “deadmen” which is the name given floating logs.

Tonight Al and Charli invited us to supper and made a terrific clam chowder that we enjoyed very much.  After supper, their grandson, Eli, showed us constellations from the flybridge of the boat.  One thing about a marina way out in the country is that it is dark enough here for star-gazing.

Steam paddle wheel work boat

Tennessee - Tom Bigbee River section

Tennessee - Tom Bigbee River section

Rivers cross our path 

We are now in a section of the Tombigbee waterway called  “the River Section”.  We have gone through the man-made canal and completed a series of 8 locks to emerge out into a wider lake area called Columbus Lake, near the city of Columbus, MS.     We are getting pretty good at this stuff, Dennis can now coast the boat into a lock with exactly the right speed and direction to put me (standing on the walkway) right in front of the bollard – where I, ever so expertly, toss the rope ring over the top and tie it off.  Today we were laughing about the fact that this no longer terrifies us completely.

Birds, enjoying the sunshine

A regular day on the boat – now that we are “old sea-hands” - includes shoving off from a pier with a minimum of fuss before 7:30 a.m..  Then an hour or so later one of us goes below and makes breakfast, which we eat up at the helm.   

Well, Dennis and the Auto Pilot do most of the driving!

Dennis does most of the driving, but I spell him for an hour or so, a couple of times a day.   I bring lunch up from the galley on a big bright colored tray.  We usually have cold meat, cheese, some chips, a salsa or dip, some fresh fruit, maybe some fresh vegetables or a salad.  There are some variations, but basically it’s cold lunch.  By dinner-time we have either decided to grill or cook on the boat, or go into a nearby town to a restaurant.  When there are other loopers around it is inevitably “docktails at 5 p.m.”.    Nine p.m. is known as “looper midnight” and social life has usually ended after a day of fresh air and brisk wind and a little physical labor.

The days that we stay in marinas are spent doing chores, cleaning bugs off the boat, fixing another piece of minutiae that must be fixed or relaxing, visiting, reading etc.  All in all, it’s a rough life.  Anytime you want to come join us just give us a call.  Not only do you get a boat ride and some sunshine, you will be given the opportunity to be our guest blogger for the day.

Info for following Loopers:  We stayed at the Smithville marina at mile marker 376 last night and it would have been a better choice to anchor out.  There were about 16 boats there, most of them were live-aboards and it was a strange derelict mix.  The Sheriff came by looking for someone- but nobody had seen her in days.  Enough said.

We did hear that the Midway marina at mm 393 was pretty nice.  The Columbus marina, right near the Stennis lock where we are staying tonight, is very nice.  Not fancy but good service and a well-maintained place.   The anchorage at mm 342, Barton Ferry Cutoff, looked like a very good option for anchoring out.

Classic abandoned railroad bridge

Bay Springs to Smithville

Bay Springs to Smithville

The Channel

Today was a lock day, we traveled down the TennTom Waterway through 4 locks and about 37 miles. Pleasure craft take a back seat to all other traffic, Government traffic goes first, then commercial, and finally pleasure craft. We call the lock by cell phone before leaving the dock and if all is clear arrange for the next available lock down. Today we called at 7:30 the lock was clear and open and we proceeded into the chamber. The Whitten lock is 84 feet, Montgomery 33 feet, Rankin 31 feet, and Fulton 26 feet. The locks are so close together that they each use a different VHF frequency for instructions to minimize confusion. Some lockmasters are quite chatty while others don’t talk much. Each lockmaster in turn notifies the next lock on the status of ongoing traffic and toward the end of the day our group of three was reduced to two as one boat remained behind. We are not allowed to leave our boats during the locking procedure and must wear PFDs while in the chamber. This area of the waterway is called the channel it is the Tombigbee River that has been channelized and is quite deep sometimes 100 feet or more. A quiet ride today passing only a few tows and waiting for one.

Wood Pulp operation

Lock Control Room

Fulton Dam

Grand Harbor to Bay Springs Marina

Grand Harbor to Bay Springs Marina

Yellow River upstream of the "Cut"

Today was an option day, that is, we had identified many options. Visit Shiloh? Do grocery shopping prior to entering the Tombigbee Waterway? Get fuel? Stay an extra night? Move on? Will fog again shorten our day? Well, we got groceries and fuel and traveled starting at noon to Bay Springs a nice little marina just before the Whitten lock the first of several in a short series. Bay Springs is a family owned marina that was built two years before the lake had water, lots of positive thinking in this family. We met the oldest daughter, who was very pleasant and helpful.

The "Cut" 27 miles up to 175 feet below the hilltop

This first section, 37 miles, of the Tombigbee Waterway is called the “Cut”, 150 million cubic yards of material was removed to form the channel through this area. The ““Cut”” connects the Tombigbee River to the Tennessee River, pretty impressive accomplishment. When completed the “Cut” was described to be as interesting and beautiful as traveling through a stone quarry, now however nature has beautified the area. The “Cut” is a narrow channel 1300 feet wide, we passed one tow headed our direction and three going up river. 

We called each tow for passing instructions and received a response to pass on the 1 or 2 whistle. The tows in this part of the river are a bit smaller than others we have seen and generally are between 2 and 6 barges.

Bay Springs Lake

After 28 miles the “Cut” then opens into Bay Springs Lake with many inlets and bays a really beautiful area.

Good day to travel with sunshine temperatures in the mid 70s, south winds and partly cloudy skies. All in all a very enjoyable cruising day.

Joe Wheeler State Park to Grand Harbor

Early morning fog and unseasonably cool morning temperature, 37^o F, delayed our 7:00 departure until 9:00 putting us about two hours behind schedule. Since the days are getting shorter we want to be off the water by 5:00 to avoid a nighttime landing. We had soft-boiled eggs for breakfast that warmed the cabin a bit and provided nourishment. We arrived at the lock and once the upbound tow cleared we entered and locked down. The rest of the day was clear and calm, sunny and cool all day. I understand there is a very strong cold front that will affect our weather here in Alabama for the next 7 to 10 days. 

Wilson Lock Lower Doors 100 feet high

Today we locked down the Wilson lock the largest lock we will use, again I marvel at the engineering feat of this lock and dam system. With floating bollards the 93 foot descent was easy. Carol used our new bollard lasso system and it worked to perfection, we continue to learn new and different things every day of our trip.

Houses grouped with shared access to the river

The Tennessee River is just beautiful with some very isolated areas and homes sprinkled in some in development clusters. At least one group of homes share access to the river and have their boats together in a central location. We did face time with Kim, Scott and Autumn this afternoon while cruising. It was great to see Autumn growing and now up in the 40 percentile for weight, she looks great. I was able to point my phone camera toward the river and provide a running commentary on what we were seeing and the landscape around us at the time. What a great way to share our adventure, someday the blog might even contain a video clip, who knows. We arrived at Grand Harbor about 10 minutes after they were scheduled to close with about 6 other boats a bit chaotic for a while as the two person staff addressed everybody’s needs. The staff at Grand Harbor is just excellent and they all work hard to provide the best possible service.

Limestone Bluffs and early fall foliage

Huntsville, AL US Space & Rocket Center Side Trip

  

At the entrance

We traveled by car today to visit the Space & Rocket Center at Huntsville. In 1950, Wernher von Braun and his team of 126 German Rocketeers, American Rocketeers, support people and contractors now numbering 900 moved to the 40,000 acre Huntsville Redstone Arsenal creating the Army Ballistic Missile Agency. Von Braun was not only a great scientist but also a dynamic leader. We were tutored by a guide that worked with von Braun in the 60’s and spoke with many of the astronauts in the space program. I learned many interesting engineering obstacles that were resolved by the program.   We saw an actual Saturn V rocket like that used to send man to the moon and are amazed at the size of the rocket. Much information was presented about how it was designed, the fuels used for the various stages, equipment construction to contain the 5,000 degree exhaust from the rocket engines. We also viewed a great IMAX movie about the various Apollo moon landing missions with actual excerpts of our time on the moon, I was pleased to relearn that 12 men walked on the moon in 6 different Apollo missions. We could have spent days at the museum but only had a few hours, very enjoyable side trip that I would recommend to everyone that visit northern Alabama.

Rockets on Display

More boats departed today and about 15 boats remain, I expect most of us will leave tomorrow. The boats departing today were delayed for three hours by several tows that were locking through before them.

Saturn V Moon Rocket

Joe Wheeler, after the Rendezvous

Some of the second group to leave after the fog lifted

It was foggy and cool early this morning as 16 boats departed Joe Wheeler after the finish of the Rendezvous – what a pretty sight as the long string of boats went out into the mist that was lifting around 9 am.   We have had a great time here, socializing and learning from other boaters.  There were approximately 100 Loopers here, and 120 people who came just to learn about the loop, think about what kind of boat to buy and talk to the people who are actually doing it.  

On two afternoons there was a “Looper Crawl” where many people open their boat and you can walk through the various sizes and models, and consult with people about the features that make each boat unique.  There is a little serious buying and selling, and a lot of curious looking around.  At the end of the day, everyone is sure that they have the perfect boat for themselves, and they are probably right.

Yesterday evening there was a final dinner and some awards – such as the “Oldest Looper”.  That would be Hank, who is accompanying his daughter and son-in-law and has been aboard for several months.  Hank is 90 and a veteran of WWII, Korea and Vietnam.  He had his picture taken with about 25 women and loved every minute of it.  He is returning to his home in Chattanooga this week.

Sharing stories with friends

Pleasant conversation

Adequate seating

The Flotilla Crew – the people from the 4 boats who have traveled together with us since Peoria, Ill, came to our boat for a late night party.  Today Lori and Bill will head home to San Diego for 3 months, and by Christmas we will lose Chuck and Sue from Blue Moon, and Al and Charli, from Always 5 O’clock as they complete the loop and return to home ports.  So it was a last chance to laugh and tell stories about all the experiences we shared. 

Chuck and Sue have a dog, Maggie, as well as a cat and a parrot on board.  Lots of folks bring their pets and have the added chores of finding a place to go for a walk on land about twice a day.   Most of us had temporary live-aboards when we caught Asian Carp on the Illinois River.  Sue had to sweep one out of the back of their boat and took a lot of teasing – so she got a fierce looking “Bad to the Bone” T-shirt with a picture of a fish skeleton on it.  It looks really fun on this sweet attractive blonde from Alabama.

More stories to come on the next legs of the Loop.  

Looper Rendezvous

After several days of perfect weather, a rainy day

 Additional information about completing the loop through Florida today, down the west coast, across Lake Okeechobee, through the Keys and then up the east coast to Jacksonville. This evening we went to the grounds of a B&B in Rogersville for a concert by the KGB (Kerry Gilbert Band) outside under tents since it rained all day and is still misting this evening. One of the Loopers, Jim from Sea Fever is an excellent piano player and joined the band for a couple of songs and played an inspired version of “Amazing Grace” at the end of the concert. We traveled in mass in a school bus to town then to the venue and returned then to the marina. The chamber of commerce from Rogersville provided the bus for transportation.

Jim playing with the band

A very fun evening