Brown Eyed Girl: Almost to Mobile Bay

In the last post we were at Demopolis but there were a few pictures on the way of the White Cliffs of Epes so I posted them first. Demopolis has built a brand new section of their marina and it is very nice. The docks are wide and long, plenty of water and a fabulous new building with laundry and showers. It was a great place to have happy hour. There were many Loopers for the two nights of happy hours that we were there. We topped off our fuel and did a final pump out for our next few days at anchor. We took the courtesy car into town, went to WalMart and took a few pictures of the downtown. The first night we ate dinner at the restaurant on site which was mostly fried food so we decided to eat on the boat the second night. Demopolis is place where many of the tow boats get fuel. After we got back from the store we saw a large tow and asked if we could take a tour. The captain said we could in about 15 minutes but is was about 1/2 hour by the time we got back and they were leaving so we missed it. They said there was another tow coming in at 6 and we could try then. Unfortunately for me I missed it but Ginny on the "Free To B" went to fuel dock and was given a long tour of the boat and she said it was one of the highlights of the trip.

We left Demopolis on Monday and were planning on going to an anchorage called Bashi Creek but when we got there we decided that it was not suitable for us to anchor in so we decided to go to Bobby's Fish Camp. It was getting late so we put the boats on plane and got to Bobby's right before dark. Bobby's Fish Camp is a long dock on the river with limited services and we had to raft off which was fine. Since there were about 8 boats they decided to open the restaurant for us which was great. They had fried catfish, chicken and shrimp. The meal came with french fries, cole slaw and hush puppies so we had our fill of fried food for a while. There was a young couple (Michael and Faith) there in a home built raft with a small outboard motor. They started in Pittsburgh and had two chickens with them. Michael is 25 and Faith is 20. I can't possibly imagine doing what they are and I am sure their parents are pretty worried too.

We left Bobby's the next morning and went to an anchorage about 65 miles North of Mobile called Three Rivers Lake. There were four boats so we all rafted together in the channel which wasn't very wide but the depth was good. The wind was strong so we put out long lines around trees on the shore in case the anchors failed. The first night was pretty nice but the next day there were tornado warnings all around us so we decided to stay put and ride it out. We put out some more lines and another anchor and made plans in case we saw a tornado. Tom and Linda on "Raydiance" had weather radar so they kept us informed and we stayed on high alert but all was well in the end.

Today we decided to go about 25 miles to another anchorage in the Tensas River because Mobile Bay had small craft warnings and Friday was supposed to be better for out trip to the bay. "Raydiance" decided to move closer to Mobile, so it is just the three boats rafted together. Ginny and Gene on "Free To B" have been the anchor experts and they have always gone first but their windlass broke so we said we would anchor first. It took us two tries but we got anchored and then "Something Special" anchored in the other direction and rafted to us and then "Free To B" then rafted to "Something Special". We are planning on going to Eastern Shore Marina in Fairhope, Alabama tomorrow for some R&R.