Leaving Columbus, MS we dropped the lines a little later (8AM) than we have been the last few days. No marinas to stop along these parts, but lots of anchorages so we planned to just cruise until we were ready to drop the hook.
Monday, November 11, 2024
50 Nautical Miles Traveled, 2 locks, 7 hours 27 minutes
We were blessed with an absolutely beautiful day, temperatures in the low 80’s, no clouds and bright sun. Immediately leaving Columbus Marina there was a lock. Camelot had called and arranged our arrival and the lock was ready for us, easy-peasy! We leisurely cruised until our second lock of day and once again, easy-peasy! After a few more miles of cruising and reading anchor reviews we decided to stop at Lower Crooks Bend for the night. WOW! Incredible beautiful and calm. It was one of those anchorages where you are in the middle of nowhere and feel like you are the only people on earth.
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
52 Nautical Miles Traveled, 1 lock, 7 hours 26 minutes
The next morning, we left early and headed for Demopolis. Once again, a beyond beautiful day for cruising and some gorgeous views. We passed the The White Cliffs of Epes which is one of Alabama’s most underrated natural wonders. The White Cliffs of Epes is located on the Tombigbee River in Epes, Alabama. Stretching for approximately one mile, this group of historic cliffs is made from layers of the Selma Chalk Formation. Over time, this natural wonder has become more and more exposed due to the rushing river water. Today, it stands about 30 feet above water.
We pulled into Kingfisher Marina and decided quickly that we should change our reservation and stay two nights. The crew of Three Sons has been of the move by plane, car, and boat and a day of staying put was needed. Also, our next stop is an anchorage and the forecast for tomorrow is rain and wind. No need to travel or be anchored in that so, we will stay put an extra night. We ended the night with docktails and laughs and travel story swapping. Once again a beautiful day!
Our second day at Kingfisher was spent doing chores and a Walmart run with the courtesy car. We celebrated Shamrock crossing their wake at Demopolis with a social event on the deck. We ended the night with some cocktails reconnecting with Keep Calm.
Thursday, November 14, 2024
80 Nautical Miles Traveled, 1 lock, 10 hours 50 minutes
Yes! The weather was worse than predicted, we had torrential rains and a little winds. So happy, we decided to say put for the extra night. Tracy was up during the night watching the rain being amazed at the ‘sheets’ of rain coming down! Lucky, the rain stopped prior to sunrise because we backed Three Sons out of our slip at 5:45 AM. The Demopolis Lock is undergoing maintenance and is closed for up to 6 hours a day. They are allowing personal vessels to lock down prior to the work day. Eight boats crept our of the marina with just glimmers of light and proceeded to the lock. Once we hit the lock at our scheduled time the sky was bright.
The day started out a little wet from the night time showers and a bit chilly but quickly dried up with high 70 degrees and sunshine. It was a beautiful day to cruise the Tombigbee River. We took advantage of no barges and great conditions and moved past all our planned stops until sunset. After almost 11 hours of cruising and 80 Nautical Miles, we dropped the hook on the side of the river outside the Okatuppa Creek and enjoyed a wonderful, peaceful, and restful evening.
We saw our first gator and he was a big boy!
Friday, November 15, 2024
76 Nautical Miles Traveled, 1 lock – the last one! 9 hours 56 minutes
Thanks goodness, this does not happen to us a lot! In the middle of the night, our anchor alarm went off. We check our technology and it did seem like we were moving. Umm? When we went outside to check, nothing seemed a miss. Checking our apps again, Three Sons had moved back to where we started, which means we were not dragging anchor. We could not explain what had happened but felt confident it was a fluke!
A milestone day! We reached the Coffeeville Lock, locked down 34 feet, cruised out of the lock gates, thanked the lockmaster and celebrated. We completed our last lock on the Loop! 158ish locks complete!
We woke up to a fog, lots of fog. It was just beautiful. We decided to keep go, keeping it slow waiting for the fog to lift. Since leaving Kingfisher we have been following Jubilee III, they led the way through the fog keeping a slow pace. Meeting folks along the way is part of the cruising lifestyle. We have never meet Jubilee in person, but spent three days chatting on the radio and enjoying their companionship.
Once the fog lifted, we again were blessed with a beautiful day of cruising. The last few days of cruising down the Tombigbee River our route has not been ‘as the crow flies.’ The river twists, turns and has what appears to figure 8 curves. We had to pass a few barges on these curves and manage some tight spaces while holding our breath and fighting the wake of the barge. At one pass, we watched the barge plow over a green buoy. An added challenge of navigating the rivers is the buoys seem to be not where they belong. Well, now we understand why!
The curves continue, and certainly add a lot of miles compared to a straight distance. We had a long day of cruising, trying to get some miles behind us. This will be our last night ‘on the rivers’ part of the loop. The Tensas River provided an amazing evening of views, quiet and peace. We debated staying an extra day, just to soak it in some more.
Once we dropped the anchor, we reflected if we went to fast. Should we have slowed down, taken shorter trips and spent some time dinghying around and enjoying the slow pace and peace of anchoring? I guess if that is what we feel in hind sight, we can say we enjoyed the rivers!
