Outer Reef

AUGUST 22--SEPTEMBER 13  

Saturday, September 12-Sunday, September 13

Zippy Branch, Yellow Creek, Mile 449.2, Tenn-Tom Waterway

The rain stopped and we left Bay Springs Marina Saturday morning. We spent most of the day going through the Tenn-Tom’s Divide Cut Section, 24 miles of straight lines with only 280 feet of water from bank to bank. The scenery was very park like.

We passed the site of Holcut, the only town that had to be moved for the building of the Tenn-Tom.

We had the water to ourselves until we reached the end of the Divide Cut, when we saw many pleasure boats and one tow with a barge, the most boats we’ve seen since we left Mobile.

We anchored at Zippy Branch of Yellow Creek, a beautiful spot off the main waterway. The water was 25 feet deep here, deeper than we like to anchor in, but we dropped it anyway.

Sunday we had a nice outing. First, we went to Grand Harbor Marina, where we found the cruiser’s guide to the Tennessee River we’ve been searching for. The marina staff was exceptionally friendly and helpful. We had planned to eat lunch there, but learned the restaurant had been closed for years. (This is what happens when we use out-of-date guides.)

Then we dinghied about a mile and a half over to the Aqua Marina, where we had a delicious lunch in the restaurant there.

It’s been overcast all day and rain is predicted, but we managed to get back to the boat dry.

Tuesday, September 8--Friday, September 11

Bay Springs Marina, Mile 412, Tenn-Tom Waterway

Tuesday we got the dinghy down from the roof of the pilot house for the first time since we left Florida. We went to see the Tombigbee Visitor Center, an interesting and attractive place about a 15-minute ride from our anchorage.

When we got back to the boat, we decided to go across the lake to Bay Springs Marina to continue our search for the filters we need. It took us less than 30 minutes to get there. We took the marina’s courtesy car to Tupelo, which is about 40 miles away. We got lost both coming and going, but it was a beautiful trip.

We traveled the Natchez Trace, which was once an Indian trail and then became the road scouts and pioneers traveled between Natchez and Nashville. It is maintained by the National Park Service and is a very relaxing and scenic trip. We saw eight Indian mounds.

Just before we got back to the marina, it started raining hard, so we had to wait in the car for a while before we could unload the 12 gallons of oil and other supplies we bought.

This marina is very isolated. There are no stores or restaurants close by.

There is no AT&T Internet access here, which is very frustrating because Terry can’t update the website, get e-mail, pay bills electronically, etc. We can get the news on Terry’s Kindle, so we don’t feel entirely cut off from civilization. The only television we can get are three Alabama Public Television stations.

Chris at the marina ordered the filters we hadn’t been able to find and they came in on Thursday.

We’ve enjoyed visiting with Barbara and Mearl, who are cruising from Chicago.

The rain is definitely putting a damper on our activities.

Monday, September 7, Labor Day

Bay Springs Lake, Cotton Springs Branch Anchorage, Mile 412.2

Today’s was a short four-hour trip, but we went through three locks. The last was almost 90’ high! It was a bit intimidating, but once again we were the only boat going through each lock. Amazing. We thought the locks would be busy on a holiday weekend, but there was hardly any boat traffic and the locals seem to cruise between the locks. We didn’t see any commercial traffic at all today.

Bay Springs Lake is very pretty, with lots of protected coves. The anchorage is isolated with neither cell phone nor Internet service.

Saturday, September 5--Sunday, September 6

Midway Marina, Fulton, Mississippi

This is a three-day holiday weekend. We were expecting lots of boat traffic. Wrong! We went through three locks Saturday and we think we were the first boat to go through all three. No other boats went through with us.

We are back in pine country. We didn’t see any for a long while, but now the banks are almost solid pine trees. Larry also spotted a squirrel to add to our list of river wild life we’ve seen.

We stopped at the Midway Marina near Fulton, MS, in early afternoon. Pat helped us tie up and showed us around. The marina has a courtesy car, which we took to WalMart for a small grocery run.

We had a delicious catfish dinner at the restaurant next door to the marina.

Sunday, Terry did laundry. This marina has a great cruiser lounge and the best laundry facilities we’ve seen.

Friday, September 4

Anchorage at Mile 366.3, Tenn-Tom Waterway, Mississippi

No excitement today. Once again we were the lone boat locking through the Aberdeen Lock, the only lock we passed through today.

We anchored just off the waterway in a nice, isolated spot on a tributary. Boat traffic will surely pick up over Labor Day Weekend. We are not looking forward to being rocked by inconsiderate boaters, who usually come out in flocks on holidays.

Thursday, September 3

Anchorage at Mile 343.7, Tenn-Tom Waterway, Mississippi

Today we crossed from Alabama to Mississippi. It took us a while to do it because the river curved from Alabama to Mississippi to Alabama to Mississippi.

Before we got to the lock, we came upon a barge that appeared to be loose. It was in the middle of the river, blocking passage of any oncoming barge traffic, and there was no tow in sight. We called the next lock to report it. The lockmaster said he would investigate the situation.

Once more we were the only boat in the lock. We could get used to this!

We bumped a log today. This is our third encounter with debris. It was underwater, so we didn’t see it, but it made quite a loud “thump.” We are worried about damage to the prop.

This anchorage is on an oxbow off the river and very private. Anchoring is so much easier on the river system. Of course, we’ve had very good weather and there’s been no current, no wind, and no tides to deal with. We are seriously wishing that Texas’ rivers were navigable.

Jet trainers are flying around above us. They are from Columbus Air Force Base, which is only a couple miles east of us. It is the nation’s busiest Air Force base.

Larry is leading Terry 5-2 in Mexican Train victories. She is threatening to bring out Scrabble.

Wednesday, September 2

Pirates Marina Cove, Mile 307.4, Tenn-Tom Waterway, Alabama

We arrived at this mom and pop marina in the early afternoon. The marina’s nothing fancy, but it has everything a cruiser would need and the folks are really friendly.

We used the marina’s courtesy car to visit the Tom Bevill Visitor Center, a Greek revival building on the river that represents a combination of three famous existing plantation mansions. The building is furnished and decorated to represent homes built 1840-1880. The landscaping includes only plants that would have been available in the area during that period. One of the best exhibits is a large relief display of the Tombigbee River. Also here is the 108-foot sternwheeler snag boat Montgomery, which we toured. It was really interesting.

Tonight we tried out our new grill. Larry’s hamburgers were tasty!

Tuesday, September 1

Cochrane Cutoff anchorage, Mile 287.3, Tenn-Tom Waterway

We entered the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway (the Tenn-Tom) today at Mile 217.This is a manmade waterway between the Tombigbee and the Tennessee rivers.

 We didn't see a single barge or towboat all day and met only one small fishing boat and a cabin cruiser. It was cool this morning. We hope this nice weather continues.

We saw some beautiful homes scattered along the river, so we are in a more populated area. The homes weren't massive and extravagant, as in Florida, but very comfortable looking.

We passed through another lock alone today. It's a shame that Texas' and Louisiana's locks aren't like these, which are pretty easy to tie up to and don't require tossing lines up or catching lines thrown down.

Terry saw a raccoon and a turtle today. That was the extent of the wildlife until we anchored and it got dark. Then we heard all different kinds of interesting, very loud bird calls.

We touched bottom at the first anchorage we tried, but we got off easily. Thank goodness for the soft mud bottom!

Friday, August 28--Monday, August 31

Demopolis Yacht Basin, Demopolis, AL, Mile 216.1, Tombigbee River

Scenery on the way to Demopolis is beautiful, especially after Mile 130. Today there were more hairpin turns and we passed two towboats and their barges (Nonnie and Jackson Three). These were the first we’d overtaken. Nonnie slowed down for us, which made things easier.

Passing through the Demopolis Lock was easy and relatively stress free. These river locks are so much better than the ones we’ve experienced on the Intracoastal Waterway. A bass boat passed through with us. We were really glad the lockmaster put us through first and that we didn’t have to wait for the two barges.

When we arrived at the Demopolis Yacht Basin, we pulled up to the fuel tank, bought 325 gallons of diesel, and then moved over to a slip, where’ll we’ll stay until at least Tuesday.

We enjoyed a great catfish dinner at the restaurant next to the marina.

Saturday we used the marina's free loaner car (a wonderful service for cruisers!) to go to hardware stores and make our first trip to WalMart.

Thunderstorms blew through Saturday night with some lightening and lots of rain.

The rain continued all day Sunday. We never left the boat.

Monday we used the marina's courtesy car and went grocery shopping and Terry did laundry while Larry worked on the windlass.

Thursday, August 27

Barron’s Landing Anchorage, Mile 168.6, Tombigbee River

All three boats left Bobby’s Fish Camp this morning. Bullish going north and Tollygag, south. Bullish is much faster than we are, so we may not see them again.

The scenery today was breathtaking. It was cloudy and was 77 degrees midday in the pilothouse. Waters north of the Coffeyville Lock are not influenced by the tides, which is great.

This afternoon we pulled over and anchored in a wide spot in the river, Barron’s Landing. We are well out of the way of barge traffic. We did go on the radio to tell all commercial traffic that could hear us that we were anchored here for the night.

Wednesday, August 26.

Bobby’s Fish Camp, Mile 118.9

Today we had our first experience going through a lock on the river and it wasn’t traumatic at all! We were the only boat going through the Coffeyville Lock, so that made it easier. We entered the dock very slowly and Larry put the boat very gently close to the wall and just reached out and put the line over the bollard, which eventually went up 33’. The whole process took less than an hour.

Shortly after the lock, we came to Bobby’s Fish Camp, where we pulled up to the floating dock. It had very small cleats and no electricity. So, we thought a dollar a foot plus 5 percent for using a credit card was excessive. The catfish restaurant wasn’t open either.

A few minutes after we arrived, Tollygag, a 34’ Tollycraft sports fisher, docked in front of us. They were going south, headed to Mobile Bay. At the end of the dock, was a pontoon boat with two men, who were returning to Mobile after an unsuccessful venture north because their gas mileage was so poor. They had intended to go all the way to Cincinnati. One of them was a double amputee and the other was on crutches. We admired their spunk.

Bullish, a 108’ yacht with a crew of four, joined us at the dock. Their big docklines wouldn’t fit in the small cleats so they tied to the trees on the land. We remembered seeing Bullish before, but couldn’t remember where. The name on the stern of their boat was lighted at night.

The Bobby of Bobby’s Fish Camp never even came down to the dock!

Monday, August 24--Tuesday, August 25

Anchorage near Upper Sunflower Cutoff, Mile 77.8

It was so cool last night that we used a light blanket! In August! Hooray! We are really enjoying this wonderful weather.

We lifted anchor (which was only slightly muddy) at about 10 AM. Today the river was very curvy and sure enough, we met a barge coming around one of the horseshoe curves, but there was room for both of us, thank goodness. This was the only barge we saw all day. Where is all the commercial traffic everyone warned us about?

The river is about 200’ wide most of the time, but it can get narrow around the curves, which makes it particularly scary to meet barges there.

We made it an early day and anchored behind some red markers near the bank of the river at 2:15 PM. The next good anchorage was too far for us today. (We don’t travel at night. It is incredibly dark on the river.)

We are miles from anywhere. It’s not hard to imagine the early explorers and Indians along this river.

Tonight we played Mexican Railroad, a fun dominoes game we just learned, and watched a movie. Two barges passed us in the very late night. We were well out of their way, but one flashed his very bright light on us.

A crab got into the raw water intake from the sea chest, so we had to return to the anchorage so Larry could fix that problem, which delayed our departure so long that we had to stay another night at this anchorage.

Sunday, August 23

Alabama River Cut Off, Mile 52.8, Tombigbee River

We got a late start today and left The Lizards (named after two creeks it feeds: Little Lizard and Big Lizard) just before 1 o’clock. The anchor came up clean, which surprised us. We expected a lot of mud. This was a good anchorage with only a handful of small fishing boats passing us.

Today we left the Mobile River and entered the Tombigbee River, the name changed at the Mobile’s junction with the Alabama River (Mile 45). Our anchorage is 7.8 miles farther north. It was hard to spot at first. The entrance is narrower than we expected; the water is 12 feet deep. Both banks are heavily wooded. (Alabama has more varieties of trees than all of Europe, according to our cruising guide.)

We saw folks having a good time on the riverbanks this Sunday afternoon, splashing and laughing. We passed a red bluff (Nanny Hubert’s Bluff), where a lot of construction is going on, the first sign of “civilization” in a long time. Next to the construction sight is a logging facility with two movable cranes on circular tracks. The cranes unload logs from the barges and load them onto trucks.

The high today was in the mid-eighties. Very pleasant. We still haven’t seen another pleasure boat cruising the rivers.

Saturday, August 22

The Lizards Anchorage, Mile 20.3, Mobile River

We left the Dog River Marina about noon. Ricky, who is the best dockhand ever, helped us get away from the dock, successfully fighting the wind and the current. We are glad to be underway again.

We crossed Mobile Bay (10 miles) and entered the Mobile River. Mobile Harbor is a very busy port with some huge ships. The foot of Government Street marks Mile 0, the official beginning of the Lower Black Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway, commonly known as the Tenn-Tom. Mobile is the largest city we’ll see for a long time.

After leaving the busy commercial area, the scenery became mostly cypress trees and palmettos. This area is second in the nation in terms of plant and animal diversity. Black bears live here!

The river is about 200 feet wide. We haven’t seen much storm debris, thank goodness, and there has been very little commercial traffic.

We anchored at 5:45 PM at The Lizards, the entrance to Little Lizard and Big Lizard creeks, at Mile 20.3. Getting in was easy and we used two anchors in about 20 feet of water. A few small fishing boats passed by, but no one else anchored here. It’s an isolated spot. We haven’t seen another pleasure boat yet.

We sat on the deck, enjoying the evening, until Larry spotted two mosquitoes and we went inside. (He attracts them like a magnet.) We are enjoying the absence of waves and the much lower temperatures.

 
Outer Reef at Cotton Springs Branch anchorage 

Inside the Jamie Whitten Lock, which is about 90' high.

Outside the Jamie Whitten Lock, the biggest of the nine we've passed through.

The view at Midway Marina wasn't beautiful. There was a lot of vegetation in the water as well as tree stumps, but everyone was friendly and we had a good spot on the dock.

Does this horse watching us go through the lock count as wildlife? The Tom Bevill Visitor Center. We visited it when we stopped at the Pirates Marina Cove.
 
Larry aboard The Montgomery

The snag boat Montgomery

A cruising Texan probably put the"Don't Mess with Texas" anti-litter sticker on this bollard in the Heflin Lock. Some cruising anti-Texan (Oklahoman?) removed the "Don't". 

Some beautiful white bluffs line the west side of the Tenn-Tom Waterway 

This old house is sliding into the river. Erosion is bad in many spots.
 

Demopolis marina 

Egrets atop the Demopolis Lock

This egret is perched on one of the bollards in the Demopolis Lock. Boats tie up to the bollards, which then go up or down, depending on whether the water is going in or out of the lock. 
These rock walls along the river near Mile 212 have been rounded and smoothed by centuries of the river flowing by and water seeping out.
 

Bullish, Outer Reef and Tollygag at Bobby's Fish Camp. In this picture, Outer Reef looks smaller, but it's a few feet longer than Tollygag and many feet shorter than Bullish!
Inside Coffeeville Lock The Coffeeville Lock
Locals call this spot "Lover's Leap" 

More wildlife on the river bank
 

A foggy morning at the Sunflower Cutoff anchorage.
 
Dredging operations keep the river navigable. 
This survey boat was checking depths along the riverbanks.
Quite a contrast to the waterfront homes we saw in Florida! 
Marker at Mile 55

Floating debris picks up some hitchhikers.

Wildlife was abundant on the river banks! 

Butterflies swarmed us at the Upper Sunflower Cutoff anchorage.

Our anchorage at the Alabama River Cutoff

An egret looks for his breakfast near our anchorage at the Alabama River Cutoff.  

Our first anchorage at the entrance to Little Lizard and Big Lizard creeks.
Mobile skyline 
Mobile Harbor