Nov 6 Sumpter Anchorage to Demopolis

Nov 6 

Another beautiful day on the river after a fitful night at anchor.   Our little anchorage was perfect.  Out of the river current and  no wind  to push us around and  make us worry about the anchor holding.   Woke up one time during the night so got up and checked on things outside.  Pretty dark in the middle of Nowheresville, AL and just a partial moon so  lots of stars shining brightly.  

Beautiful day on the water

Our group of 3 trawlers had decided to leave at 7 AM sharp so at 6:45 we all raised anchor and headed the 3 miles down to the lock.   Our group had called and the lock doors were open and waiting.  We figured a quick lock through but apparently the other boats at anchor decided otherwise.  They had called the lock and raised their own anchors after we left.  The lockmaster decided he wanted to lock us all through together, so we got tied to a bollard and waited.   Finally saw the two power boats come around the bend 2 miles back.   Lockmaster told them to bring it on down  quick as he had to be ready for an upbound tow.  They got in and then in the distance a sailboat was visible.  While the sailor said he was fine with waiting for the next lockage, the lockmaster decided we should wait and all go through together.   So, we waited some more for him to arrive and tie up. Apparently the upbound tow was still a ways off.   Overall, about an hour wait.  It really didn't put is behind as it was the only lock we had all day and we had a favorable 1 knot current pushing us downstream.  It's just fascinating the differences between lockmasters.   While this one was plenty cordial, he was also very specific designating which bollards he wanted each boat to tie to and when we departed the sequence he wanted to see us leave.   They're in charge so you can't really argue with them and it had no impact on us but it was unusual getting such specific instructions.  We didn't get that much instruction when we rafted 4 across and had 28 boats in one of those Illinois River locks.  This poor guy would have had a heart attack stressing over that lockage.  

It's nice to be back south.  Temperatures started a bit cool in the 40’s but quickly went up and we had mid 70’s for the high.   Had to swap into shorts and a t-shirt for the first time in days.   Cruise was still a fairly long 50+ mile day on a winding river. 

A new turn at every mile - hit every point on the compass at some time during the day

 Sort of a mini Mississippi ride with muddy water, the current running with us and floating debris to dodge.  Thankfully, at least no whirlpools or eddies.  Had a tow come around a bend full speed with a 3x4 group of loaded barges pushing a big  bow wave and even bigger  churn off the stern.   Hadn’t seen that since the big muddy either!  

Tow pushing a good sized bow and stern wave

  About the only other sites of interest were some whitish stone cliffs and a very large motor yacht passing us making very quick time and a huge wake.  Not sure what his hurry was all about as we saw him fueling up at the marina while we docked.

White stone cliffs

Journey for Nov 6