Demopolis to Bashi Creek

When we pulled into Kingfisher Marina (32.528756, -87.841636) in Demopolis there were high winds and storms due to hit, so we decided to wait them out here because Bobby's Fish Camp, the only small spot of civilization between here and Mobile 216 miles away, is not a good place to be stuck; we'll be anchoring out except for Bobby's until we get to Mobile. While here we have enjoyed the company of our fellow fleet members, Bob & Sharon and Rob & Glenda. The marina has excellent laundry facilities, a courtesy car and is a nice clean place to stay. The six of us went out to eat several times and enjoyed hanging around the dock and discussing our next departure plans. The next recommended anchorage was 70 miles away at Bashi Creek (river mile marker 145); other anchorages were not looking good, too shallow according to the information we had. 70 miles calls for a lot of daylight when you travel at trawler speeds, if we could get on the river early, say 6:00, and not get held up at the Demopolis Lock we could make it. By Thursday, the storms had all passed so Sharon called the lock at 5:30 am and the lock-master said to come on down since no commercial traffic was in the area. Sharon said we'd be there at 6:30. At 6:00 we pulled out of the marina with the sun just breaking the horizon and a very light fog rising above the water's surface due to the low temperature - 38 degrees. The routine at the lock went smooth and we were 30 feet lower in altitude in about 20 minutes. As we pulled out of the chamber onto the river we were met with a thick fog that was totally blinding for moments at a time. The chart-plotter shows my location relative to the navigation line but is not fully trust-worthy since it's not a real-time aid. This was my opportunity to use my new radar system, one I was reluctant to buy since I never planned to be out in the fog or the dark. Kim activated the system and adjusted the gain to reveal two objects directly in front of us about 50 yards out, our traveling companions. For about the next 45 minutes we worked our way down river, the new AIS system was a comfort as well, it let us know there were no tugs in front or behind. Once the fog lifted, we had clear skies and all the rain from previous days gave us a strong current to push us along. I was doing 8 knots rather than my usual 7. We passed several tugs, some southbound and some northbound but only one was a challenge. The Bobby Joe James, tugs are usually named after someone – I don't know why, was pushing 9 barges fully loaded with coal and doing about 6 knots. Our timing to catch him was important because we were just coming to a scarce straight section of the river. I radioed and he said to pass on either side so I chose to stay on his starboard side which eliminated the need for me to cross his prop-wash. It looked like I would have plenty of time to clear his bow before the next curve but you tend to lose some speed until after crossing the lead barges bow wave. This bit of a slow down meant I was barely outrunning him and as we approached the curve I heard his massive engines throttle back and his voice came over the radio telling me to speed up cause I was on the wrong side for this curve; I said I was going as fast as I could so he backed off a bit more until I cleared his bow. At that point, my speed picked up and we were out in front with plenty of distance after a few minutes, at this point I radioed “Bobby Joe, you sure are fast for such a big boy”. About thirty minutes later we were pulling into Bashi Creek (31.955732, -88.071086). Kharma had already anchored and invited us to a starboard raft-up, they were also gracious enough to share a power cord so that I wouldn't have to add gas to my little generator at 3:00 am. Karma and Monterey are much faster than us, they each have twin engines measured in the hundreds of horsepower where Overtime has a little 90 hp engine, they also have built-in generators which draw fuel from the main diesel tanks whereas Overtime has no generator other than the little Honda gas powered unit I carry onboard.

Kim's Korner,

It's cold in the mornings!!! We are using hand warmers, foot warmers, winter coats, wool socks, long underwear, gloves, hats and have 3 thermoses full of hot chocolate, tea, and cider! Oh and don't forget the blanket I have wrapped around me :) But we keep warm and after a few hours, the sun gets warm enough and the layers start coming off. Somehow, this wasn't the picture I had in my mind but the 4 weeks of repairs and improvements put us into the colder temperatures. But we've met some awesome friends, enjoyed beautiful leaves, no waits at the locks, and availability of marinas and anchorages which has definitely been good things! Our anchorages have been just beautiful!