Dave and Kelly's Boat Trip: Sunday, October 15 - Bobbie's Fish Camp, Silas, Alabama

Well, sometimes the best plans have to be revised. We had every intention of anchoring tonight on the Black Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway, but ended up cruising all the way to Bobby's Fish Camp! There were basically only two options to anchor today, and they both appeared like the picture below. Since a front was supposed to be coming through around 9 p.m., Captain Dave wasn't thrilled with the idea of anchoring in this narrow anchorage; we were definitely going to be swinging a different direction unless we put out a stern anchor . . . after a meeting with the crew (me😁), we decided what would be best was to continue on. It was a NINE-hour cruise day, but there were some exciting sites, so the time did go by fast.

Leaving Demopolis this morning, we pass some more of the beautiful, white sand bluffs.

Just three miles, and we are at our second-to-the-last lock of our trip!!! This is a VERY interesting site, however, as I don't see any gates where the dam is; just a waterfall!!!😨

The Ford Lock and Dam in the Twin Cities is just like this; NOT a fan!

As we enter the lock, this is what we see on the other side!

Most of the locks on the Tenn-Tom have been an average of a thirty-foot drop; this one is a little over that at 40 feet.

Exiting the lock we can see the dam.

Just as we were entering the lock, this towboat called the lock; we found ourselves lucky to be able to go before this tow (though it would have only been a single lock-through). Not so sure this is how things would have gone back home!

After passing the towboat (we end up seeing four more towboats today) we see this beautiful wall along the river; stunning!

And of course, more moss-covered trees.

We find the Black Warrior - Tombigbee Waterway to be a nice straight path.

We are excited to have "Rambunctious" join us and "Eagle Heart" once again!

What's this?! WINGDAMS!!! We haven't seen these since the Mississippi River!

Pretty soon we come upon "Sea Hawk". We met this couple at a "Looper" docktale last night. Turns out Bruce grew up in Cottage Grove right by the old drive-inn! What a small world!!!

Well, maybe we spoke too soon about that straight river path!

Around the first big bend comes "Rambunctious".

It's obvious to us that this first bend has been dredged recently.

This was a short way downstream from Demopolis; a popular eating establishment. The place was filled with many people. Good thing they can't see the building from our point of view!!!

This is where things get VERY interesting, as this log is where I saw my first ALLIGATOR!!! I was driving so I couldn't get a picture, unfortunately, but I saw the whole gator come out of the water onto the log and back in the water! Dave and I were watching the shorelines VERY carefully after this!

And what do you know, Dave sees something swimming in the river a ways in front of the boat. We slow down and get the binoculars, and I get my camera!!! Do you see the two beady eyes?!

Well, that was SOOOOO exciting! As we continue along the waterway, we begin to understand why it is another 200 miles to get to the Gulf, when as the crow flies, it is only about 100 miles.

(Did you happen to see the last number on the right side of the screen . . . water temp: 80.59!🌞 Because of the alligators, though, I think I'll wait to swim in the water until the Gulf!)

GAME TIME!!! Enjoying football-type snacks as we listen to the Packer-Viking game!

(At least for a little while!😉)

In the 98 miles that we cruised today, we only saw about three sets of five homes after Demopolis; we are in VERY remote Alabama!

But, VERY beautiful! It is really rare to see a bluff this large!

Remote and pretty!

And, at 5:15, we are FINALLY here! Bobby's Fish Camp (a campground and one-dock marina!)

As we get closer, we see "Slow Roll" who we met in Paducah. Lucky for us, there is just enough room for us and "Rambunctious". "Eagle Heart" cruises a lot slower than us and therefore was anchoring in one of the two anchorages that we passed today. We enjoyed spending time with our Canadian looper friends, John and Susan, and hope to see them again real soon!