Day 20 - Demopolis to Bobbys Fish Camp (part 2)

Now that I'm back in civilization I'll add a few more pics covering our journey for Day 20.

The Demopolis Yacht Basin.  A pretty mice marina with lots of big boats hidden away in another harbor. I heard these boats come up from the gulf during hurricane season to get a break on their insurance rates. The Blue Fin is sitting down there in the cheap section. 

Hey, look here!  A picture of a barge tow that I promised I wouldn't take. This big boy was being repaired at the gas dock where I fueled up the Blue Fin. The clutch went out on the left engine and it was stuck in gear. The cap said they handle real bad when that happens. I asked him how long it takes to be trained to handle one of these and it's about 4 years. You must start working at the lowest level and work your way up through ranks so when you're the cap you've experienced every job. Pay at the top level is well into 6 figures but the schedule isn't for everyone with 20 days on and 10 days off as typical.

This is the dash board of the courtesy car at Demopolis Yacht Basin. The courtesy car is available for use by anyone paying to stay at the marina and it can be had on a first come basis.  This poor car was so neglected that the only lights on the dash were warning lights. I felt sorry for it and thought of that TV commercial where they try to get you to donate to help unloved and abused dogs. Mary and I used it to go to Walmart to buy eight bottles of HEET to add to the water laden gas in the Blue Fin. We made it OK and it was fun to drive again as it was 20 days since I was behind the wheel.

This is just downstream of the lock and dam at Demopolis with the morning fog lifting. After we got underway we immediately came upon this dam and were delighted to see the lock gate opened and waiting. I didn't tell Mary this dam is a complete spill-over dam and from upstream you see nothing but smooth water and the horizon beyond. The only clue that the river ends is a sign and a few buoys that if approached closely enough to read would be too late. 

As the morning wore on the skies cleared up and the temps went up quickly to near 90 degrees. The forecast was for afternoon thunderstorms but you'd never know it from this pic.

We came upon these two kayaker dudes paddling along at a nice clip. I slowed and asked them where they're going and where they came from. Virginia is where they started and the Gulf is their goal. They didn't take the water or pop we offered them and said they planned to get 25 miles further downstream today. They should be them in the gulf by this coming weekend.

The ride was long and this is the first time in our travels where Mary was driving and I almost nodded off. After 5 hours of constant motion we arrived at the welcome sight of Bobbys Fish Camp. This is the only fuel stop that sits smack dab in the middle of the 220 mile stretch from Demopolis to Mobile. Nobody passes here without stopping to put on fuel. I'm sure there are many times when the value of the boats at the dock exceed by a considerable amount the value of the entire place.

The welcome sign at Bobbys as you come off the dock. Our little cottage was the one on the left. I believe they might have the longest gas hose in the world. The attendant up the hill at the office resets the pump and you operate the nozzle down on the dock about 500 feet away. I didn't realize this and just grabbed the nozzle and pumped away. After filling the 6 gallon tank the fuel sputtered out and it became apparent the pump up above was not even on and I had just drained the line. My first thought was "free gas" but since I still needed to fill the main tank I in fact had to pay to re-fill the long gas line I had just emptied. To be fair to Bobbys the gas line to the docks is an industrial grade buried line that has good integrity but the flow dynamics are as I stated. 

Inside the store/restaurant at Bobbys Fish Camp.

The nice blue skies a few pics up turned to this in a couple of hours. The Blue Fin tied up at the dock right behind the trees.

Day 21 - Bobbys Fish Camp to Mobile, AL

We left  Bobbys at 7:15 AM and just like yesterday, we had the dam at Coffeeville a few miles downstream to lock-through. Our luck was good again since a boat had been there already waiting and got the locks qued up in time for us to cruise right in behind them. In 20 minutes we were through and on our way to ticking off the 120 miles to Mobile. We faced the most remote stretch in our journey today but our confidence has improved since we figured out the motor problem and had a problem free day with it yesterday.

The river wasn't completely without human presence. This place looks like a fisherman camp and we saw at least a dozen boats along the way with folks fishing. They have to appreciate having an almost private river for their solitude.

This fellow on his 4 wheeler kept right up with us as we cruised along this nearly mile long beach. 

Look closely and you'll see a palm near the waterline in the left half of this pic. About 40 miles to Mobile and nice to see something tropical but disappointingly no gators have been spotted.

Approaching Mobile and we're now in tidal waters. The Blue Fin is soon to be introduced to saltwater. 

Cruising through the industrial canal near downtown Mobile

Here's where I can get some of those cargo containers to build a house like I saw a few days ago.

The Grand Mariner Marina at the Dog River inlet in Mobile, AL  We but the Blue Fin up here for the night and hitched a ride to the Holiday Inn about 4 miles away.

The fellow in the red shorts is named Troy and he offered to take us to the Holiday Inn. We first had to wait for him to unload the crab traps he had hidden all around the marina. The cooler was nearly half full by the time he emptied his 7 traps. On the way to the motel he toured us around his neighborhood to show us how things have been rebuilt since hurricane Katrina in 2006. His house sustained $62,000 in damage from flooding and the interior was gutted out to rebuild it.  

Tomorrow the motel shuttle will return us to the marina and we hope to once again get an early start. Today when we entered Mobile Bay we ran into 20 MPH winds and small craft advisories were out. To minimize our exposure we kept to the west shoreline and slipped into Dog River where there are many choices for marinas. We had originally planned to cross the bay to the east side and hang out at Fairhope but it was too rough and I didn't know the best route to get there. The plan tomorrow is to beat the wind by starting early to get across the bay to the Intercoastal with its protected waters. The trip across will entail a 25 mile trip if we stay in the marked channels. I'll ask some of the old guys at the marina tomorrow about the possibility of a shortcut and my reliance on the Humminbird LCD charts will be greater than ever. It will be a fun challenge to navigate in a body of water where the destination cannot be seen and the use of a chart is necessary to at least minimize hunting around to find your way.

We have no specific destination tomorrow except to gradually work our way east. Stopping somewhere around Orange City is a good possibility and we'll begin to look for a place tomorrow after lunch. With the weekend coming we'll probably do a little advanced planing to assure we have a place to stay then. 

I heard from Matt and he's made it to Louisville where he'll have a night over at Mary's aunt. Then he'll continue to head this way tomorrow with the Blue Fin's trailer. I expect to see him tomorrow night or Friday morning with his girlfriend Erin and they'll tour around with us until Sunday when we'll head home.  At this time we believe we'll get to Fort Walton Beach or thereabouts before we end this adventure.

Day 20 - Demopolis to Bobbys Fish Camp

In pursuit of the perfect day Mary got us up at 6 o'clock AM this morning to maximize the number of hours in case today was the day. We left Demopolis and were on the water by 7:15 heading downstream to our first and only dam of the day. The lockmaster had the gates waiting open for us so the whole process was wrapped up in 20 minutes and we were on to Bobbys Fish Camp 96 miles away. I had added some drier agent to the gas last night so my hopes were high that this would solve our sputtering engine problem. Thunderstorms were in the forecast for mid afternoon so the early start, as we would discover later, was a good idea for this reason alone. I set the Blue Fin at 4300 RPM (20mph) and for the most part left it there for the entire run and we arrived at Bobbys in our record early time of 12:15PM. At around 2 oclock the weather warnings went up and shortly after we were hit with heavy rain wind and lightning. This time Mary wasn't afraid because she was already nestled into one of Bobby's fisherman cottages without a care. I'm happy too to report that the Blue Fin's motor ran fine today and I hope it remains so.

Since. I'm again using the phone to write this I'll be brief and finish up by saying tomorrow is the big day when we make it to salt water. I'm still a bit apprehensive as we have 115 miles and our one last dam to pass. This stretch is the most remote of the entire trip and doesn't it fit that the worst always occurs just before the finale. If all is happening as discussed, son Matthew should be preparing to leave MN with car and trailer to rendezvous with us somewhere along the gulf coast. He will be joining us for a few days as we continue along the Intercostal until it's time to pull the Blue Fin from the water.

I will once again do some back tracking to give more details about todays adventure when I have access to a bigger pipe for the bits to pass through.

On to Mobile bay tomorrow and I bet the wakeup call comes early again.