Thursday, April 08, 2010
On the Waterway To Demopolis and Aliceville, AL
Tuesday and Wednesday, March 30-31, 2010
Bob and I keep reminding ourselves that traveling alone, mile after mile on the lower Tenn-Tom may be mind-numbing, but it is a small price to pay for our great winter in Florida. We are now putting in long days of slogging along the Waterway so we can get on home as soon as possible. At this point in the journey, spotting a tow pushing a bunch of barges is a welcome distraction. “Awrightcaptainyoucanmeetusontheonewhistle” means “pass us to your right.” This jargon seemed novel when we made our first trip down the Tenn-Tom, but it is old hat now.
The landscape on the Tenn-Tom is still gradually changing. Now we see more hardwoods and much more contour along the banks. The river hasn’t decided where it wants to go, so there are an unbelievable number of hairpin turns and many areas where raw clay banks indicate serious erosion. We marvel at the number of people who have built homes along the edge of the Waterway, now a few feet from destruction.
On Tuesday we were really happy that Jim and Martha could meet us in Demopolis for the night. We enjoyed looking at several ante-bellum mansions on our way to an excellent restaurant downtown. Bob was also able to buy two new engine starting batteries. We were sorry to bid Jim and Martha farewell Wednesday morning, but we all had to keep moving. They brought us some excellent literature about our upcoming summer adventure out west.
Today we passed several fascinating white chalk cliffs, including the well-known Cliffs of Eppes. Spring is clearly here. The weather is sunny and warm, and it is nice to see some redbuds and dogwood trees in bloom. Between the two of us, though, I’m sure we’ve inhaled at least a pound of pollen. Today we made a long, tedious run. We had to transit two locks, with the goal of getting to Pirates Cove Marina in Aliceville by late afternoon. All went smoothly until around 3 p.m. when we arrived at Tom Bevill Lock. Wouldn’t you know . . . we had to wait on two tows to pass through. This meant we locked in the dark, then we had to grope our way to the marina in the pitch black. Fortunately we spotted the appropriate marks, the folks at Pirate’s Cove Marina were expecting us, and the staff helped guide us to the dock. Whew! We were exhausted by the time we made it, but we are now more than half-way up the Tenn-Tom. If the weather continues to be this clear, we could be home in four or five more days!
Bob and I keep reminding ourselves that traveling alone, mile after mile on the lower Tenn-Tom may be mind-numbing, but it is a small price to pay for our great winter in Florida. We are now putting in long days of slogging along the Waterway so we can get on home as soon as possible. At this point in the journey, spotting a tow pushing a bunch of barges is a welcome distraction. “Awrightcaptainyoucanmeetusontheonewhistle” means “pass us to your right.” This jargon seemed novel when we made our first trip down the Tenn-Tom, but it is old hat now.
The landscape on the Tenn-Tom is still gradually changing. Now we see more hardwoods and much more contour along the banks. The river hasn’t decided where it wants to go, so there are an unbelievable number of hairpin turns and many areas where raw clay banks indicate serious erosion. We marvel at the number of people who have built homes along the edge of the Waterway, now a few feet from destruction.
On Tuesday we were really happy that Jim and Martha could meet us in Demopolis for the night. We enjoyed looking at several ante-bellum mansions on our way to an excellent restaurant downtown. Bob was also able to buy two new engine starting batteries. We were sorry to bid Jim and Martha farewell Wednesday morning, but we all had to keep moving. They brought us some excellent literature about our upcoming summer adventure out west.
Today we passed several fascinating white chalk cliffs, including the well-known Cliffs of Eppes. Spring is clearly here. The weather is sunny and warm, and it is nice to see some redbuds and dogwood trees in bloom. Between the two of us, though, I’m sure we’ve inhaled at least a pound of pollen. Today we made a long, tedious run. We had to transit two locks, with the goal of getting to Pirates Cove Marina in Aliceville by late afternoon. All went smoothly until around 3 p.m. when we arrived at Tom Bevill Lock. Wouldn’t you know . . . we had to wait on two tows to pass through. This meant we locked in the dark, then we had to grope our way to the marina in the pitch black. Fortunately we spotted the appropriate marks, the folks at Pirate’s Cove Marina were expecting us, and the staff helped guide us to the dock. Whew! We were exhausted by the time we made it, but we are now more than half-way up the Tenn-Tom. If the weather continues to be this clear, we could be home in four or five more days!
