Mobile, Here We Come 11-10-08

We have an 80 mile journey today so we are up early to leave the anchorage by 6:30 or so we thought. Bob retrieved the mud-laden stern anchor with no problem and then I started the windlass to lift our bow anchor. It groaned and the bow dipped.

I looked over the rail and the anchor brought up a 25 foot tree limb with a 15 inch diameter. No wonder we held so well last night! How are we going to get rid of this thing? We have to think fast as when we dislodged the tree limb, we no longer had an anchor set and were starting to drift sideways in the small channel with a tree attached.

This is exciting or some word like that! We started using all our lines to lasso the beast, dunked it up and down many times, uttered a few choice incantations, and an hour later, it surrendered. Or so we thought…. We started to prepare to get underway and it popped back to the surface like an arboreal Jaws. I beat it back again with a boat hook while Bob gunned the engine to make our escape. Phew—that was a close one.

We continued on the circuitous Black Warrior River made more interesting by meeting barges on these hairpin turns and bridges. The terrain changed to bayou country with very shallow depths. I found this out the hard way when I ventured off course a bit to allow a boat to pass, the alarms sounded and I had to veer back quickly.

We were never so glad to see the faint outline of Mobile in the distance. We are here—we have arrived.

What You Have To Do For a Picture 11-9-08

At 6am, “Baby Grand” and “Emery” untied from “Failte” and we proceeded gingerly into the foggy river. It is fun to run the river with other boats as there is camaraderie as well as some protection.

At about 7am, “Emery” radioed that he was hearing a high pitched sound from his starboard stern section. This type of call sends a jolt of adrenaline through anyone listening. Luckily, “Emery” is a twin engine boat and he opted to shut off his starboard engine after consulting with Bob and Danny who helped him problem solve. It is probably a cutlass bearing that probably got damaged yesterday when he went aground anchoring in the river. There is a tie-up dock, Bobby’s Fish Camp, and John on “Emery” elected to take it slow and make it to there today for some help.

This increased my sense of dread as we have to anchor again tonight. “Failte” was heading to Three Rivers Lake which sounds big but is very, very small. We would have a 70 mile day with one lock. Making the Coffeeville Lock at 9am would make the difference between getting to Three Rivers and looking for another unknown anchorage so we poured on the steam and pushed “Baby Grand” up to 9.5 mph which is warp speed for us. We made it and that will be our last lock for months.

This section of the Black Warrior River has windy, intestinal turns and I swear that we passed the same area 3 times. As we get closer to Mobile, there is a mixture of salt water, the shores are sandier and the seagulls fly overhead—a great omen. We also heard from the pushers that the river is down 1-2 feet so our concern about a safe anchorage resurfaces. Even Danny is a little apprehensive.

We get to the Three Rivers milepost and there are already 2 sailboats anchored at the mouth. Danny agrees to go in first and he anchors in 6 feet of water and urges us to anchor further in as we draw 4 feet. We proceed very cautiously. We leave the sunlight and enter the dark primordial forested area draped with overhangs and logs on its bank. We’re going to anchor here????

I am at the bow with the anchor set to deploy and a boat pole to push debris out of the way. I deploy it in the middle of the river but to keep the boat away from trees we have to set a stern anchor which we have never had to do before. We row out in the dinghy with the stern anchor, drop it and then tighten it and the bow anchor rode. We hold our breath as if this does not work, there are trees which will gobble us up from the top and bottom.
Success!! I rowed out in the dinghy to capture the end result—a lovely anchorage in the moonlight

Cead mile Failte (1,000 Welcomes) 11-8-08

Truth be told, the next 3 days of the Loop were the section that Bob and I were dreading. We were almost relieved when we had the threat of weather and had to stay an extra day in Demopolis. We have to do 3 days of 60-80+ miles each which means getting up at 5am and running until dark at 5pm and hopefully find a safe anchorage as there are no marinas. Can you feel the tension!

We cast off at 5:50 bound for the Demopolis Lock and were joined by a flotilla of 7 other boats all jockeying for space in the fog and in the packed lock. Everybody is headed for Mobile but a few of the boats can make it in 1-2 days. Here’s where I am wishing for a real powerboat as “Baby Grand” is left alone in the wake of the speedsters.

Even the Alabamians refer to this part of the Black Warrior River as “Deliverance country” as there is nothing but wild desolate shore. There are no towns on the river, no boat launch ramps and the only boat traffic is boats heading south and pushers heading north. It is not the type of place where you want to get into trouble.

All day we were both secretly worried about where we would find an anchorage. We are Great Lakes boaters used to clear deep water to anchor in. These rivers are dark and gnarly with so much debris so the idea of pulling into an overgrown forested slimy area to anchor is very foreign to us. Plus, there are critters with teeth.

At about 2pm, “Failte” , a beautiful green Nordhaven trawler passed us and Bob asked him if he had some local knowledge of safe anchorages. Danny answered back that he and his wife, Chris, have been boating the rivers for the past few years and were planning on staying at Bashi Creek. They would be glad to go in first, sound it out and help us out. We could have hugged them right there.

Here’s a picture of our boats rafted up with them. “Emery” was also the recipient of Danny and Chris’ hospitality when they tried to anchor in the river, got their anchor fouled and needed help. Failte means “welcome” in Gaelic and Chris and Danny certainly demonstrated it. Thank you so much.