Oh What a Relief It Is!

As I write this post it is Friday, November 2nd and we are finally off of the river system.  THANK GOD !!!

The last month was not for very kind to us.  I think Southern Style is a bit too large and drafts more than what is ideal for the small "marinas" along the rivers.  Marinas are also relatively far apart and so are the anchorages.  Take out about half of the anchorages because we draft too much to get in and out safely, and there are just not many places along a 1300 mile stretch that we can stay with Southern Style.  All that makes for a somewhat stressful traveling experience on the river for us.  You feel like you never know where you may be able to stay and with the Tows getting priority at the locks, what time you may get in for the night.  This came to a head at our last stop at a place called Bobby's Fish Camp in Silas, Alabama.

We left Demopolis on Wednesday, October 31st in thick fog (I hate fog).

Coming out of the first lock Wednesday morning.

 We arrived at Bobby's Fish Camp around 2:30 PM.  They will not take reservations here (it is first come-first served) so you can not predict whether you will get a spot or not.  However, they told us to come on down and they would raft boats up if need be.  There were already several boats there at Bobby's when we arrived.  Because it is the last place to tie up for about 120 miles before you get to Mobile, Alabama; they often will squeeze as many boats in as possible and raft boats together.  This often requires some juggling and rafting multiple boats to each other.  When we got there however, it did not seem like anyone wanted to go to the trouble of repositioning to get us in (so much for boaters helping boaters).   Our friends Tom and Sue on "Bella" were behind us and their boat is smaller so we told them to raft up and we would continue down the river and hope for the best.  Another boat behind us, also smaller, squeezed in and rafted with his buddy boat at the front of the pack for the night.  By the time we left, they had 6 boats rafted together 3 wide and a single boat on the dock without anyone rafted as well as an empty space so they could sell fuel.  Really??

Bobby's Fish Camp - 150 feet of linear dockage

We were pretty disgusted at this point with the dockmaster, so we went down the river about 3 miles to the last lock.  We had to wait for a tow pushing barges and did not expect to be able to lock down until about 5 PM.  This was problematic as the next  anchorage (which was just a wide spot in the river to anchor along the side) was 60 miles and 3 hours away running fast (20 mph) and we could not get there until after dark.  So our options: 1) Keep going and go the last several miles in the dark and get anchored in the dark and hope a tow does not get out of the channel and run us over in the night;  2)  Get behind the down bound tow and follow him through the night until day light and then just keep going to Mobile (the problem with that was the tow ran about 5 mph and our boat at dead idle does about 7 mph - we would be taking the boat in and out of gear all night long); or  3) Find another suitable anchorage.  (Oh and by the way, there was predicted to be bad weather that night and the next day.)

Well we got on the radio and spoke to the tow captain and he said we might be able to anchor up just above the cells below the lock at the base of the dam.  He also offered to let us lock down with him (which is not that common, they usually will not lock with pleasure craft).  This way we could get through the lock a little earlier and get settled in before dark.  We called the lock to make sure he was okay with us anchoring behind the lock for the night and he said it was fine.

Southern Style in the Lock with the tow "Mr David" and his barges

Our spot alongside the Coffeeville Lock

Sunset looking toward the dam

Lock at dusk

So a big, big thank you to the tow "Mr. David" and the Coffeeville Lock for helping us.  "Mr David" also passed the word to the tows he passed during the night to be aware that we were anchored just outside the lock.  That way they would not be taken by surprise or cut the corner too close where we were anchored.

We spent the night and after the severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings expired in the morning (I was none too happy with the weather), we made a bee-line to Mobile, Alabama.  We could not get out of the river fast enough!!!!!!!!!!  

We came into the Mobile area around 2:00 PM Thursday in the cloudy, gray weather.

Funky looking military boats in Mobile

We came out onto Mobile Bay and headed toward the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) which would take us to Homeport Marina in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

Small Oil Platform in Mobile Bay

We spent the night on Thursday in Homeport Marina and ate dinner at Lulu's.  After a good dinner with some live music we realized we were back in civilization.  After a nice hot shower on board before bed, we felt like we had washed the river funk off of us for good.  Never thought we would be so glad to be back in saltwater.   We have even seen our first dolphins in months.  It has to be a good sign.