Old Lock 1 Anchorage

10/26/14

We've grown tired of these muddy waters and muddy banks, and are craving saltwater and sandy beaches, so we've decided to make the long run to Mobile in two days. We left the marina at 5 AM, went 116 miles in 14 hours, went through the Demopolis and Coffeeville Locks, and arrived at the Old Lock 1 anchorage in the dark at 7:10 PM. In the morning we experienced dense fog and were happy when it cleared shortly after the sun came up. We saw small black pigs running on the banks. We were wondering when we would start to see alligators. We finally saw them today. There's lots of alligators here of all sizes both sunning themselves on the banks and swimming in the water. Now we're really nervous about taking Hooper to shore. We were able to find a boat ramp with a good dock at Bashi Creek to give Hooper shore leave. There was a ramp at the anchorage we stayed at, but it was very muddy.

Tomorrow we'll leave early again and hopefully arrive at Dog River Marina in Mobile, Alabama just before dark. Don't know what to do about Hooper because there aren't many boat ramps on the next section.

 

We were shocked when this pulled into the marina last night, it's a 129ft Burger Yacht named Mimi

Approaching the Demopolis Lock in the dark

Just enough light to see inside the lock

Sunrise through the fog

First alligator sighting

Another smaller alligator

Scenery along the Tombigbee River

The big yacht left the marina later than us, but passed us on the river

This area is called White Cliffs

Yeah, the last lock

We were really delayed here because a northbound tow had to go through first.