Day 43: Thursday, October 18, 2012
Underway: 8:55 am Motor Off: 5:10 pm Miles Traveled: 31 Stayed At: Anchor
First Things First: First alligator sighting (unconfirmed – Mike thought he saw an alligator roll and show his white tummy); first time in Alabama.
Mile 335 to Mile 304: The severe weather forecast for this area last night (tornadoes, hail and 70 mph winds) faded and brought only a noisy thunderstorm and some rain (although Cindy slept through all of it) but it actually gave us a huge gift today. We were traveling at about 7 mph most of the day because of the runoff flowing downstream. Add to that bright sunshine, mild temperatures and light following winds and you have a perfect day for running downriver.
After making a few important phone calls, we left later than usual but we had a fairly easy day today. We quickly passed through the Stennis Lock but ended up “wallowing” just below it for awhile while making more phone calls before our service died again (the wonders of high technology). The only challenge (except for avoiding a sunburn) was navigating through and around intermittent rafts of some kind of floating weeds. The weeds break loose in the stronger currents from large clusters in the various rivers cut through by the canal and end up floating down the main channel. They also like to accumulate at the lock entrances which can be a challenge. They are not as bad as milfoil and are fairly easy to avoid but you can’t relax because there could be a nice big log floating right along with them.
We stopped at the Pirates Cove Marina early in the afternoon to top off our gas supply and get ice. Surprisingly, they were out of gas but they offered us the use of their courtesy car to drive a mile to town to the gas station. That was nice of them – especially when we weren’t staying but going farther downriver to anchor for the night. We also said hi to Lila Jane who we met at Columbus and who are staying here for the foreseeable future. The captain was standing on the dock as we came in to the marina in full pirate regalia which isn’t something you see everyday. And he actually looks like a pirate.
Just a couple minutes down river from Pirates Cove Marina is the Tom Bevill Visitor Center. The Center is housed in a replica antebellum home complete with large columns in front and a winding staircase going up to a 4th floor overlook and balcony. We could almost hear Rhett Butler calling to Scarlet O’hara.
The historic Montgomery Snagboat is on display right next to the river by the visitor center. Snagboats were used on river systems to clear snags, tree trunks and other barriers to navigation for many years. The Montgomery was one of the last steam powered paddlewheelers stillworking on the river when it was retired
While Cindy dodged clumps of weeds, a few logs and a couple of tows, I made a sunshade for the cockpit – we had brought the parts with but haven’t had time to get it done. Now is the time and it made a huge difference – especially when the sun was high overhead in the warmest part of the day.
After a relaxing and productive day, we locked through the Bevill Lock and found the Big Creek Cutoff where we anchored for the night just off the main river. Hopefully tomorrow brings fair skies and fast currents just like today.