Ship’s Log: Days 36-40
October 7 - 11, 1999
Thursday, Oct. 7
I was anchors-up at 8:15 A.M. and on the river. This won’t be a short day, but it won’t be as long as yesterday. I have the last lock of the trip planned today. Once we pass through Coffeeville Lock and Dam near Jackson, AL, Telesis will be at sea level. We won’t be in salt water for quite a while yet as Mobile Bay is still 117 miles down river from the lock, but we will be near elevation 0.0.
It is cloudy and muggy, no fog this morning, but lots of dew. The morning is pretty quiet. I get to the lock and a group of powerboats arrive about the same time. We wait only a short while for a northbound barge tow to clear the lock and we are through the lock by 1:15 P.M. I continue south, soon alone as the powerboat surge ahead kick up large wakes and piss off local fishermen. I’m a bit concerned as I’m in cell phone exile and have been for three days. At one point I’m able to pickup voice mail messages. I have several, each asking for answers to specific questions, but I can’t place calls. Electronic gadgets are good, but they don’t work everywhere, like west-central Alabama where the National Public Radio Stations have a morning farm report.
I motor south until 4:00 P.M. and pull into an off channel anchorage at mile mark 100. Today I’ve made 45 miles and one lock, the last lock, in just under eight hours. I’m exactly 100 river miles from Mobile Bay and Telesis is near sea level.
The anchorage is interesting. It is the natural Tombigbee River channel that has been cut off by a bypass for the waterway. It is also the site of the abandoned original Lock and Dam No. 1 on the Tombigbee River. I row Teletubbie ashore to investigate. The site is now a park and boat ramp. The old lock looks to be maybe 100 feet wide and 300 feet long. I return to Telesis, get my camera and take some photos of Telesis at anchor below the old lock. I think they may turn out very nice. The site also has an ancient pecan tree grove with Spanish moss hanging everywhere and pecans cover the ground. I snack on fresh pecans and walk the grounds to get a little off boat stretching.
I return to Telesis for a nice, hot shower, shave and clean underwear. Dinner is roasted pork loin and fresh veggies, both prepared on the charcoal grille. Unfortunately, I have no more red wine aboard. One does find hardship in solitary river travel.
The evening was spectacular. After dinner I sat in the cockpit with a nightcap and cigar while boudy seamen’s chanteys played quietly on the sound system. Amazingly, no biting insects were about. It was a cloudless night with no moon, a light zephyr of wind and the stars shown brightly. There were so many stars that it was hard to pick out Polaris, the North Star. The Seven Sisters teased me from their corner of the sky and countless other constellations were apparent. I promised myself, again, to learn more about the heavens. I thought about all the activity that occurred at this abandoned lock site over many years and now I was totally alone here having come by water. I felt the presence of riverman spirits all about me.
Borrowing a song title from Jimmy Buffet, I think this may be That One Particular Harbor for the rivers and waterways part of my trip.
Friday, Oct. 8
During the night the weather switched. The wind was up and the clouds had moved in. It was muggy and mild. Rain was forecasted. I pulled anchor at about 9:00 A.M. as I planned to travel only about 20 miles today. I put on the new Gil foul weather gear that the employees of O’Brien gave me as a retirement gift. It kept me dry and cool.
I motored down river through Jackson, AL, in light rain and arrived at Lady’s Landing fish camp at mile 80 at about 1:00 P.M. It is the only place to dock or buy fuel between Demopolis and Mobile northern most marinas, a distance of more than 230 miles. It is almost a mandatory stop to take on fuel. I have taken a place at the dock for three nights as Nancy is flying into Mobile and driving up to spend the weekend. This as close as I could get Telesis to Mobile before the weekend.
Lady’s Landing provides fuel, and a few places at the small dock, but no other services, although I understand one can preorder evening meals delivered to one’s boat by the owners with at least 24-hours notice. Dogs and goats have the run of the place and it is the middle of nowhere. Later in the day, big power yachts stop for fuel and several tie off for the night. I used 19 gallons of fuel from Demopolis, the big power yachts used between 250 and 300 gallons each. It begins to rain hard. Nancy arrives by car in Jackson at about 8:00 P.M. and calls the landing’s owner as our cell phones don’t have service here. One of his family and I drive the 15 miles into Jackson to lead her in. It is really remote on dirt roads, muddy with all the rain.
As Nancy and I drive back, we decide to return to Jackson and a motel for the night. Telesis is dry and comfortable, but the big power yachts can’t hook into shore power cause it ain’t available so they are running their generators and it is pretty noisy on the dock. It continues to rain hard well into the night.
Saturday, Oct. 9
It is raining hard all over the area and the forecast is for more of the same. Nancy and I decide to drive to Mobile for the weekend. We return to Lady’s Landing to gather a few things from Telesis. The roads are badly washed out in places and very muddy, but we get in and out okay, although the white rental car is rust colored from all the red mud off the roads. We’re just going to play it by ear depending on the weather. A little time off Telesis after five weeks is pretty appealing.
Sunday, Oct. 10
It continued to rain hard all day, putting a damper on all outdoor activity. Gulf Shores, AL had their annual Shrimp Festival this weekend with music, etc. Nancy and I had hoped to attend, but the weather was just awful with total rainfall of more than five inches for the weekend. We stayed in Mobile Saturday night; at least they had decent restaurants, unlike Jackson. We returned to Jackson on Sunday afternoon where I did laundry. We stayed in a motel there for the evening, watched some TV and generally relaxed.
Mobile, Alabama, Shrimp Festival, circa 2008
Monday, Oct. 11
Nancy returned me to Telesis at Lady’s Landing. The roads were passable, but not good. She then drove back to Mobile to catch flights to Salt Lake City and her work. I was off and on the river by 10:00 A.M. After a couple of days off the boat it was difficult for me to get back into the rhythm of navigating the rivers. With the Wheelpilot 300CX holding a compass course I can go about other activities but need to keep a close eye on the river and charts to adjust the steering direction. I didn’t do a very good job and ran aground twice. The first time was a light bounce over a sand bar on the inside of a river bend. The second time, also on the inside of a river bend, was a full-fledged grounding. Telesis came to a sudden, bumpy stop, laid over about ten degrees and really got my attention. When I got my wits about me I found we were inside the buoy line a good 30 feet in about four feet of water, Telesis needs five. I had steered from one buoy to another; not noticing a third, closer buoy in between the two I was using to navigate. I had simply “cut the corner” into shallow water, a fundamental error on my part. Fortunately it was a soft, sandy bottom and with the aid of the current I was able to urge Telesis back into deeper water. A detailed examination of Telesis’ interior revealed no obvious damage or water pouring aboard, but I sat down and sternly lectured myself about my responsibilities as navigator and skipper.
It was an interesting day on the river. I observed wildlife of all description. In addition to the numerous water foul I’ve become accustomed to seeing along the river’s bank, there were wild turkeys, wild pigs, new breeds of water foul and a mature Bald Eagle which was fishing along the river above Telesis. Another RV barge being pushed by the towboat, Miss Georgie, met me headed north. All the retired folks were setting in their lawn chairs next to their Winnebagos waving and taking photos as Telesis passed near them in a tight river bend. I managed to stay in deep water on this bend and didn’t embarrass myself in front of a crowd with cameras.
At mile mark 45 the Tombigbee River converges with the Alabama River and forms the Mobile River. The Mobile River is the last inland waterway in my 1300-mile journey down the river system. On the upper Mobile River I met a young man of about 30 years headed north in a canoe with an outrigger made from a hull section of a Hobbie Cat. He was powered by an outboard motor. We both slowed and chatted a few minutes. He was headed to Jackson, AL, having left Biloxi, MS, several days before. He had been out in all the weather of the previous several days traveling in his open canoe and camping on the riverbank. Now that is more adventure than I care for.
At 6:00 P.M. I anchored at mile mark 20 off the river on Lizard Creek. It was a narrow, deep creek with large overhanging trees and a significant current. I set bow and stern anchors to hold Telesis towards the center of the narrow creek and out of the trees. We had made 60 miles on the day in eight hours’ time. I ate on board and settled in for a mild but very humid night. One of those nights that the bed sheets actually felt damp from the heavy air.
If all goes per expectations, tomorrow Telesis will be off the rivers and into Mobile Bay, finding saltwater under her bottom for the first time in her almost 20 years.