Sea Level Plus Four Feet

The alarm woke us today at 5a.   By 630a I was hauling up the anchor.  Shortly afterward we were cruising the river.  A day that was suppose to be only partly cloudy was Mostly Cloudy!  However, it was 10 degrees warmer this morning and we were glad!

We passed Bobby's Fish Camp which is the only dock between Demopolis and Mobile Bay.  It looked like it would only hold about 2 to 3 boats.

At 10a we entered our LAST lock for the whole trip!

We were alone in the lock... not sure where the folks were that overnighted in that anchorage last night.  After dropping 34 feet in the Coffeville, AL, lock we were only 4 feet above sea level.  Leaving the lock.

The first thing that caught my attention right outside of the lock was the white sandy beaches!  Wahoo!  I think I can almost smell the salt water!

We passed under three bridges today.  US highway 43 bridge was pretty.

After seeing much sand along the river banks it was odd to see this one area with a rock cliff.

By the time we went under these two bridges the clouds were going away.

The Bridge tender for this railroad bridge was out on the balcony of his little house high above the bridge.... I like waving at them... seems like such a lonely job.  

Tonight we are at mile 54 on the Tombigbee River.... mile zero is Mobile Bay.  We traveled 81 miles today and except for when we went out in the Atlantic for over 103 miles to get into New York Harbor, this was our longest day.

After last night's experience with the stern anchor we were looking forward to a nice anchorage in Bates Lake where there is plenty of swing room and no need for the second anchor. The guide book said to stay in the middle between the banks of the entrance channel into this lake.  It also said it would be at least 5 feet in depth....and get deeper once inside on the lake.  We never got “inside”.  Our depth meter said 3.1 ft... we knew we were on the bottom!  We backed off slowly and tried this several times … trying to find that deeper channel all the while stirring up the mud.  We were running out of daylight fast!   We ended up anchoring in the river near the entrance to Bates Lake. Yes, two anchors...well, we needed practice with that stern anchor, right?

I am expecting not only a shorter day tomorrow but an exciting one as we cruise into Mobile Bay!