Monday, November 8, 2021 (Fingfisher Bay Marina (Demopolis, AL - Bobby’s Fish Camp somewhere on the river in Alabama)

I wasn’t joking about roll call at 5:15 a.m.  The plan was that everyone who was moving south needed to be getting in line by 6:00.  Keep in mind we are very organized because the lock is just down stream and there are a lot of us who want to get going as we travel at different speeds.  We received the go ahead from the lock that there were no barges coming or holding in the chamber.  These are the first pictures of the boats leaving the marina.

This sometimes seems like watching turtles trying to get across the road. LOL!!!

However….. the closer we got to the lock guess what we ran into….

But shortly before the lock the fog was wearing off and all of us staged ourselves on the sides that we were most comfortable and some of us tied together.  Here are several pictures of the sun coming up while everyone is motoring into the lock to get secured.

The upper picture is the bow of our boat looking toward the front (downstream) of the lock.  We will be the first to leave the lock. 

I was able to capture the lock door opening (I am on the swim platform) and the view between the two boats.  Amazing!!!

However, we no more got out of the lock and look at our view. (Or lack thereof)

OMG!!!! If we would have know about the fog being so dense we would never have tried to motor through it.  And we are the first out of the gate. Yikes!!!!  It continued this way for several miles only relying on GPS. This is truly IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) and you literally can’t see 20 feet in front of you. We didn’t panic but knew that we were not the only boats out there.  Or maybe it would have been better knowing that we are the ONLY boat on the water…… Once you are in this situation you must keep going….

Yes, Jim still has his life jacket on.  It is mandatory to wear them if you are outside of your boat at any time in the lock.  Well, screw the lock we wore them in the FOG.  LOL!!!!  But as the morning went on the sun came out in it’s beautiful glory and the river was still a dirty brown but the sky was blue.  Coming up on the very large lumber plant.

In the foreground there was a dredging operation.  

Jim noticed that there were two blobs in the water up ahead and the first thing that always comes to mind is that they are dead heads.  But no, to his surprise they were two fawns swimming across the river.  They were fast so he couldn’t get a picture in time.  We received radio communication from the boat behind us asking if we had spotted the alligator that was basking in the sun on the bank.  NOOOOO we did not see that!!! I also spotted the LARGEST Bald Eagle I have ever seen.  So beautiful.  

This smooth water is a water skiers dream. However, the picture looks as though the water is blue and that is not even close to the actual dirty brown that it is.

We passed Lady Chateau from Stillwater, MN.  What a beautiful boat.

Just so you know, I do drive “Our Nauti Time”.  LOL!

Several of our other looper buddies decided to anchor instead of tying up with other boats (plus electricity).  Since we didn’t have electricity last night we decided that the little luxury was what we needed tonight.  Bobby’s Fish Camp is absolutely nothing but a boat dock (with fuel and electric) but the actual dock will hold approximately 3 large boats.  So those of us who come in later must raft (tie) up with the boats who got there first.  There could be up to 12 boats that can stay here if some are tied to the gas dock as well. Thankfully our electric line reached the outlet and we are set but we are so tired even docktails didn’t sound inviting.

Just like glass….

So, Jim and I have been thinking about our adventure so far.  We both agree that there have been three top experiences that made us look at each other and shack our heads.  However, we did not get discouraged nor did we ever feel that we were in danger.  Those three experiences (not necessarily in the agreed upon order) are:

1.  The lock from Hell….

2.  The first anchorage, when the windlass did not pull the anchor up from the bottom of the Mississippi.

3.  The FOGGGGGGGG…..

Jim and I have different opinions as to what may have been the most impressionable.  I guess that depends on what our duties were at the time and where we were on the boat….

Neither of us got any sleep last night so I am cooking dinner and going to bed.  Our plan tomorrow is to meet up with our anchoring buddies and go through the LAST LOCK together…..  We are two days out from the salt water or Mobile, AL.