luffs along the Tombigbee River upstream of Demopolis. The second photo is the visitor center at the Tom Bevill Lock. The third photo is looking down the stairway from the widow's walk inside the visitor center. The fourth photo is the snag boat we toured at the center. The last photo is Captain Bill at Pirate's Cove, what a hamm.
On Sunday we relaxed in the morning and ate a leisurely breakfast of sausage, eggs, biscuits and grits, prepared by Muriel. Afterward we enjoyed a brief visit with Peggy’s son and daughter-in-law and grandchildren. Then we took the courtesy van to town to get a dessert at a café famous for its desserts. To our surprise we missed them by a few minutes so we rode to a cemetery which had about 3,000 civil war graves. It was quite sobering to see so many graves marked “Unknown”. Afterward we made the usual WalMart stop. We enjoyed drinks on Blue Max with them and Southern Comfort. It was so cold that we all sat inside the salon. It think that is a first. For dinner we enjoyed a great bean soup, or white chili, which Muriel had prepared.
We planned to be prepared to leave the marina about 8:oo am after a call to the lock, which is just below the marina, to make sure he could lock us through. At 5:00 am the mega yacht parked right behind us began to load supplies and started its engines. There was no sleep after that so we got up and showered and were ready to leave. Several other boats had planned to leave early so we waited until they and gotten in the lock then called. We were out of the marina and into the lock by 7:30. It was tricky getting the power lines stowed and the dock lines off and stowed because the decks were covered with frost which was quite slick. When we got out into the river channel we only waited a few minutes before the lock opened to lock us down. This was our only lock for today. The rest of today’s run was easy cruising down the river under clear skies which allowed the sun to warm us enough to be in short sleeves by the time we arrived at Pirate’s Cove Marina. This is a very small marina tucked back into a small cove just above Tom Bevill Lock. The docks are not in the best condition of any we have seen and they are very low to the water but there are several barge loads of new galvanized truss type docks parked around the outside of the cove. They are about to begin a major renovation of the marina. By next year this should be a very nice facility.
Soon after we arrived Muriel prepared a lunch of hot dogs and then we got the marina manager to take us about a mile and a half down the road to visit the visitor center and the snag boat Montgomery. She took us because the courtesy van was tied-up taking a 72 year old woman to the emergency room. She is single handing her 44 foot trawler down to Florida for the winter and she got her fingers mashed between the boat and the lock while securing the boat in the lock.
The visitor center was amazing to us. The Corps of Engineers built it to resemble the style of the Waverly Mansion we visited in Columbus and two other plantation mansions in the area. Everything in the center is authentic, the moldings, the balconies, the winding staircase with beautiful railings, and heart pine flooring. Even the brick walkways and gardens around the house fit the style. There were video tapes describing the history of the snag boat Montgomery and the development of the Tennessee Tombigee Waterway. There were also exhibits of stuffed animals representing the wildlife of the area and rocks and fossils from the area. Shelly did not go with us and we hated that she missed this part of the museum. She would have loved it. We climbed to the top of the widow’s walk and were able to go outside onto the walk around the outside of the peak. The view of the river and the Bevill lock was great.
We were able to tour the snag boat on our own. A snag boat is a large boat with a crane on the front 1;was the last steam powered paddle wheel boat in the service. It was built in 1926 and decommissioned in 1985. The Corps got it placed on the national register and restored it be on display here in 1989. We were able to walk through most of the areas on the boat.
After dinner Muriel and I put up the Christmas lights Ron and Connie brought to us at Joe Wheeler. We hung them around the back of the sun deck roof. They look good. Thanks Ron and Connie.
We got away as planned at 7:30 on Tuesday morning. The lock was ready for us shortly after we got out into the river channel. There was a priority tow coming but he was far enough back that the lock master took us in first. It was a cold morning, temperatures just above freezing, but the sun was out and quickly warmed the fly bridge to comfortable temperatures. We saw two deer swim across the river just in front of our boat and leave the river on the other side. We passed a downbound tow a few miles above the Heflin Lock and thought the lock master might make us wait on him before we could lock down. We were just far enough ahead that he took us on down before the tow got there, We entered an old channel of the river just below the lock to anchor for the night. It was only 1:00 pm but there were no more good anchorages along the river for too far for daylight today. As soon as we got anchored Muriel and I got the dingy down and took Carlie ashore. We went ashore at a boat ramp on the COE land near the lock and walked over to the lock, they will not let you near the locks since 911. On the way there we say three deer in one group and another larger deer feeding separately. Tomorrow we plan to get underway about 7:30 and get to Demopolis, Al which will be our last place to do laundry and get provisions for about the next week until we make it down to Mobile, Al. They saw not to expect any cell service along that stretch either. I hope to get this on the blog at Demopolis and the next chance will be Mobile.
The overnight low was 24 degrees. We woke up to a cool cabin, 52 degrees, but after starting the generator and the heat it takes only a few minutes to bring the cabin back to 70 degrees. Carlie and I had a cold but quick dingy ride to shore for her walk this morning and then we had to get the motor up and the dingy up before we could go onto the frosty decks to get the anchor up. We ended up getting under way about 7:50 but that was about the time the fog was cleared to allow us to go. We had an easy cruise down river to Demopolis. A beaver swam across the anchorage this morning and a flock of wild turkeys flew across the river right in front of our boat. I did not realize they were turkeys until they landed on the beach. A couple of miles upstream of Demopolis we came around a bend and an Alabama Marine Patrol boat was coming the other way with red and blue lights flashing. I stopped but could not imagine why they would be stopping us. They just wanted to let us know that they had reports of boats being swamped by large wakes and asked us to be courteous and slow down if we encounter other boats.
We plan to run 71 miles tomorrow to an anchorage. This will be about the only safe anchorage choice for the run. We hope to make Mobile in about five days. We will not have cell service nor wifi until we get to Mobile.
We planned to be prepared to leave the marina about 8:oo am after a call to the lock, which is just below the marina, to make sure he could lock us through. At 5:00 am the mega yacht parked right behind us began to load supplies and started its engines. There was no sleep after that so we got up and showered and were ready to leave. Several other boats had planned to leave early so we waited until they and gotten in the lock then called. We were out of the marina and into the lock by 7:30. It was tricky getting the power lines stowed and the dock lines off and stowed because the decks were covered with frost which was quite slick. When we got out into the river channel we only waited a few minutes before the lock opened to lock us down. This was our only lock for today. The rest of today’s run was easy cruising down the river under clear skies which allowed the sun to warm us enough to be in short sleeves by the time we arrived at Pirate’s Cove Marina. This is a very small marina tucked back into a small cove just above Tom Bevill Lock. The docks are not in the best condition of any we have seen and they are very low to the water but there are several barge loads of new galvanized truss type docks parked around the outside of the cove. They are about to begin a major renovation of the marina. By next year this should be a very nice facility.
Soon after we arrived Muriel prepared a lunch of hot dogs and then we got the marina manager to take us about a mile and a half down the road to visit the visitor center and the snag boat Montgomery. She took us because the courtesy van was tied-up taking a 72 year old woman to the emergency room. She is single handing her 44 foot trawler down to Florida for the winter and she got her fingers mashed between the boat and the lock while securing the boat in the lock.
The visitor center was amazing to us. The Corps of Engineers built it to resemble the style of the Waverly Mansion we visited in Columbus and two other plantation mansions in the area. Everything in the center is authentic, the moldings, the balconies, the winding staircase with beautiful railings, and heart pine flooring. Even the brick walkways and gardens around the house fit the style. There were video tapes describing the history of the snag boat Montgomery and the development of the Tennessee Tombigee Waterway. There were also exhibits of stuffed animals representing the wildlife of the area and rocks and fossils from the area. Shelly did not go with us and we hated that she missed this part of the museum. She would have loved it. We climbed to the top of the widow’s walk and were able to go outside onto the walk around the outside of the peak. The view of the river and the Bevill lock was great.
We were able to tour the snag boat on our own. A snag boat is a large boat with a crane on the front 1;was the last steam powered paddle wheel boat in the service. It was built in 1926 and decommissioned in 1985. The Corps got it placed on the national register and restored it be on display here in 1989. We were able to walk through most of the areas on the boat.
After dinner Muriel and I put up the Christmas lights Ron and Connie brought to us at Joe Wheeler. We hung them around the back of the sun deck roof. They look good. Thanks Ron and Connie.
We got away as planned at 7:30 on Tuesday morning. The lock was ready for us shortly after we got out into the river channel. There was a priority tow coming but he was far enough back that the lock master took us in first. It was a cold morning, temperatures just above freezing, but the sun was out and quickly warmed the fly bridge to comfortable temperatures. We saw two deer swim across the river just in front of our boat and leave the river on the other side. We passed a downbound tow a few miles above the Heflin Lock and thought the lock master might make us wait on him before we could lock down. We were just far enough ahead that he took us on down before the tow got there, We entered an old channel of the river just below the lock to anchor for the night. It was only 1:00 pm but there were no more good anchorages along the river for too far for daylight today. As soon as we got anchored Muriel and I got the dingy down and took Carlie ashore. We went ashore at a boat ramp on the COE land near the lock and walked over to the lock, they will not let you near the locks since 911. On the way there we say three deer in one group and another larger deer feeding separately. Tomorrow we plan to get underway about 7:30 and get to Demopolis, Al which will be our last place to do laundry and get provisions for about the next week until we make it down to Mobile, Al. They saw not to expect any cell service along that stretch either. I hope to get this on the blog at Demopolis and the next chance will be Mobile.
The overnight low was 24 degrees. We woke up to a cool cabin, 52 degrees, but after starting the generator and the heat it takes only a few minutes to bring the cabin back to 70 degrees. Carlie and I had a cold but quick dingy ride to shore for her walk this morning and then we had to get the motor up and the dingy up before we could go onto the frosty decks to get the anchor up. We ended up getting under way about 7:50 but that was about the time the fog was cleared to allow us to go. We had an easy cruise down river to Demopolis. A beaver swam across the anchorage this morning and a flock of wild turkeys flew across the river right in front of our boat. I did not realize they were turkeys until they landed on the beach. A couple of miles upstream of Demopolis we came around a bend and an Alabama Marine Patrol boat was coming the other way with red and blue lights flashing. I stopped but could not imagine why they would be stopping us. They just wanted to let us know that they had reports of boats being swamped by large wakes and asked us to be courteous and slow down if we encounter other boats.
We plan to run 71 miles tomorrow to an anchorage. This will be about the only safe anchorage choice for the run. We hope to make Mobile in about five days. We will not have cell service nor wifi until we get to Mobile.
1 comment:
sounds amazing. what fun to have all the wildlife around. thank you so much for taking care of Carlie, I know she is having a blast! Wish Shelly a happy birthday on Sunday!
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