Nov 5- We left a little late from Columbus Marina at 8:00 am as the fog was very heavy but fortunately Stennis Lock was open and we were through in about 15 minutes. The next lock called Bevill Lock was open as well and we had now caught up with Sea to Sea and Namiste here. We arrived at Sumpter Rec Area at 4 pm and found another Looper already anchored there. We are invited aboard Sonata for dinner again tonight. We played a game of Seqence after dinner and us girls got beat again!
Nov6- We left Sumpter at 7:30 am heading for Demopolis today. We traveled in fog again to and through the Heflin Lock. As we moved along the fog dispersed and the sun began to shine. We came upon a beautiful sight as we rounded a corner on the river called the white cliffs of Epes. We arrived at Kingfisher Marina at 4:00 pm and it had gotten quite warm by then but they were calling for thunder storms. Bonnie and I borrowed the courtesy car and headed for-wait for it-Walmart! We got our groceries and by the time we got back to the marina it was dark and pouring down. It teamed rain all night so our docktails did not happen.
Nov 7- We left Demopolis at 6:00 am as we have a 90 mile run today. It is a dull and dreary day as we are locking through Demopolis Lock with seven other boats. We are possibly all heading for the same place called Bobby's Fish Camp.This could be interesting as I understand it is not all that big a dock. We have just spotted our first pelican and seen our first spanish moss in the trees. We arrived at Bobby's at 4:30 pm and there are already three boats on the dock. Sonata will raft up to the first boat Red Eagle will raft to the second boat and luckily there is enough room for us on the end of the dock if Gemini moves up a few feet. The rain is teaming now and the wind is howling just as we are heading in to dock. Always the way right! The rest have all gone up to have dinner at Bobby's restaurant but we are staying on board for dinner but we will go up for dessert with them. It has been a long day so its an early night for everyone.
Nov 8-We left Bobby's Fish Camp at 7:00 am as the lock is waiting for us all. We have a 79 mile run today to and anchorage called Tensaw. There are six boats locking through the Coffeeville Lock, our last lock of a series of twelve locks. The rain is coming down in torrents and the wind is funneling down the river in great gusts. A lovely day in paradise! We arrived at the Tensaw River at 3:00 pm got anchored and rafted to Sonata. We then got Koby into the dingy and headed back down the river for about a half mile to a launch ramp we had seen coming through. It was a cold wet ride but the dog felt much better for it. We had dinner aboard Sonata again, played dominos and headed for bed.
Nov 9- We left Tensaw River at 8:30 am heading for Dog River Marina at Mobile. Gemini and Blue Haven are ahead of us about 10 miles. We have a bridge we have to call for a lift but no locks today horray! Maybe I can clean my fenders now and maybe they will stay clean. We are traveling through Mobile harbour among many large tankers from such places as Hong Kong and Africa and there are a couple strange looking Naval ships.We arrived at 4:00 pm and there are as many as sixteen Loopers at the docks. The restaurant at the marina across from us came over on a pontoon boat to get us for dinner and we had twelve of us at the table. We said our goodbyes to some of them as they are leaving in the morning to head on.
Nov 10- It is a sad day for us again as we had to say goodbye to Sonata this morning as they are on their way to New Orleans to visit family for awhile. We are hoping to meet up with them again in Florida. This morning Dave installed our new inverter that we had delivered here at the marina. Two fellow Loopers have had a little misfortune on their way here. American Pie is having two props replaced and a Canadian couple on Something Special are looking for a new shaft. A couple we have met on our travels on the boat called The Mist has a rental car and asked us to join them on a trip to Fairhope for the afternoon. We had lunch at a place that was recommended to us called Ed's and the food was great. We passed a ship called the S.S. Alabama that is at anchor and out of commission so we decided that it would be great to do a tour of this ship and we did for several hours. When we got back to our boat we had a call from another Looper who is having an engine problem so Dave is planning to go over there tomorrow morning to take a look. We may be heading out tomorrow depending how things go when he checks out this motor.
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| A foggy morning |
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| Heading down the river |
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| Weeds taking over |
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| First tow of the day |
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| A couple of homes |
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| Trees growing out of the river |
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| Our second tow today |
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| A river boat and library outside of a lock |
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| Sea to Sea and Maniste waiting for lock |
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| Pretty scenery |
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| Sumpter Rec Area |
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| Dredging company |
Nov6- We left Sumpter at 7:30 am heading for Demopolis today. We traveled in fog again to and through the Heflin Lock. As we moved along the fog dispersed and the sun began to shine. We came upon a beautiful sight as we rounded a corner on the river called the white cliffs of Epes. We arrived at Kingfisher Marina at 4:00 pm and it had gotten quite warm by then but they were calling for thunder storms. Bonnie and I borrowed the courtesy car and headed for-wait for it-Walmart! We got our groceries and by the time we got back to the marina it was dark and pouring down. It teamed rain all night so our docktails did not happen.
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| White cliffs of Epes |
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| Scenery of the TenTom heading to Demopolis |
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| This is Manana's sister ship but not is great shape |
Nov 7- We left Demopolis at 6:00 am as we have a 90 mile run today. It is a dull and dreary day as we are locking through Demopolis Lock with seven other boats. We are possibly all heading for the same place called Bobby's Fish Camp.This could be interesting as I understand it is not all that big a dock. We have just spotted our first pelican and seen our first spanish moss in the trees. We arrived at Bobby's at 4:30 pm and there are already three boats on the dock. Sonata will raft up to the first boat Red Eagle will raft to the second boat and luckily there is enough room for us on the end of the dock if Gemini moves up a few feet. The rain is teaming now and the wind is howling just as we are heading in to dock. Always the way right! The rest have all gone up to have dinner at Bobby's restaurant but we are staying on board for dinner but we will go up for dessert with them. It has been a long day so its an early night for everyone.
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| Demopolis Dam |
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| Leaving Demopolis Lock |
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| Strange looking shoreline |
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| This shoreline looks almost black |
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| Our first sighting of spanish moss |
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| Shoreline starting to look marshy |
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| Our river route looks like an intestine |
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| A few homes along the way |
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| Arriving at Bobby's Fish Camp |
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| Not a great thing to see |
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| The other two boats have rafted were going on the end |
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| Restaurant at Bobby's |
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| A look out at the dock |
Nov 8-We left Bobby's Fish Camp at 7:00 am as the lock is waiting for us all. We have a 79 mile run today to and anchorage called Tensaw. There are six boats locking through the Coffeeville Lock, our last lock of a series of twelve locks. The rain is coming down in torrents and the wind is funneling down the river in great gusts. A lovely day in paradise! We arrived at the Tensaw River at 3:00 pm got anchored and rafted to Sonata. We then got Koby into the dingy and headed back down the river for about a half mile to a launch ramp we had seen coming through. It was a cold wet ride but the dog felt much better for it. We had dinner aboard Sonata again, played dominos and headed for bed.
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| Heading into the Tensaw River for the night |
Nov 9- We left Tensaw River at 8:30 am heading for Dog River Marina at Mobile. Gemini and Blue Haven are ahead of us about 10 miles. We have a bridge we have to call for a lift but no locks today horray! Maybe I can clean my fenders now and maybe they will stay clean. We are traveling through Mobile harbour among many large tankers from such places as Hong Kong and Africa and there are a couple strange looking Naval ships.We arrived at 4:00 pm and there are as many as sixteen Loopers at the docks. The restaurant at the marina across from us came over on a pontoon boat to get us for dinner and we had twelve of us at the table. We said our goodbyes to some of them as they are leaving in the morning to head on.
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| Cliffs along the river |
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| Several smoky plants along here |
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| Staging area for tows |
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| Back to nice scenery |
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| Dolly Parton brige - you guess why |
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| Had to call for a lift from this railway bridge |
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| Coming into Mobile Harbour |
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| A couple of naval ships |
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| Heading out into Mobile Bay |
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| Entrance to Dog River |
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| Dog River Marina |
Nov 10- It is a sad day for us again as we had to say goodbye to Sonata this morning as they are on their way to New Orleans to visit family for awhile. We are hoping to meet up with them again in Florida. This morning Dave installed our new inverter that we had delivered here at the marina. Two fellow Loopers have had a little misfortune on their way here. American Pie is having two props replaced and a Canadian couple on Something Special are looking for a new shaft. A couple we have met on our travels on the boat called The Mist has a rental car and asked us to join them on a trip to Fairhope for the afternoon. We had lunch at a place that was recommended to us called Ed's and the food was great. We passed a ship called the S.S. Alabama that is at anchor and out of commission so we decided that it would be great to do a tour of this ship and we did for several hours. When we got back to our boat we had a call from another Looper who is having an engine problem so Dave is planning to go over there tomorrow morning to take a look. We may be heading out tomorrow depending how things go when he checks out this motor.
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| Aboard S.S. Alabama |
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| This is Bill and Bobbie from The Mist |
Great Blog. Please keep them coming. What a wonderful experience.
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