Bazar’s Second Wave

We left Bobby's this morning before 6:45 and were in the 110th (and for us final) lock of the Loop - The Coffeeville Lock - before 7am.   I was pretty excited about not having anymore Locks to deal with! Lions and Tigers and ALLIGATORS, oh my!! We saw two alligators today enjoying the warm sunshine.  You would think we were in Florida. Just as we approached this Railroad bridge a train came along and delayed us for about half an hour as the bridge lowered to allow the train to pass. Its clearance above the water was less than 10 feet. The calm waters in the river system are one of the best parts of this section of the Loop. Add in some sunshine and its even better. Passing another tow very slowly! Here is the second alligator catching some rays! Its difficult to determine in the photos, but these gators had to be in the 12 foot range. I guess it makes sense that the alligators are here since we are in Alliga...

Initially we planned on stopping at Bobby's Fish Camp then we decided against it since it was only 20ish miles away from the previous night's anchorage. However plans changed when we were again controlled by our 110th and final lock of the Loop!! The wait at the lock was over 2 hours and as a result we couldn't make it to our next anchorage before dark so...… Bobby's is a classic stop on the Loop but its just a small dock with limited power in a very remote area along this stretch of the Black Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway. Its most notable for the small catfish restaurant on site. We eventually had four boats at the dock. However, its customary to raft alongside and as many as 15-20 boats can fit if needed. Not sure how safe that is. Its described as a Fish Camp and it certainly has all of the hallmarks of one. Brent encountered a friend in the bathroom. Now that's rural. This is the RR/shower!  I think this is campin...

We were very excited to leave Demopolis this morning since we passed up great weather travel days due to waiting for our Boat Insurance being valid south of our location.  Since it is still Hurricane season we have stipulations on our insurance for obvious reasons but after October 15 we have their blessing (with a substantially higher deductible).  Not sure what this tow is hauling but it looks important. Bashi Creek anchorage was very narrow, 80 feet across to be exact, and very interesting.  One of many firsts.... Bruce on the second boat (above) was on the radio giving us instructions.  We were to pull behind him stern to stern and after dropping our anchor we were to throw a line off our stern and lasso the same tree limb he was tied to.  Good we were from Texas and had been to several rodeos and watched how to do this maneuver. Here we are coasting into position above and looking back at the overhanging tree limb in the...

Prepare yourself, Brent went a little overboard with the fog pictures this morning. This first one was in our anchorage at first light looking in front of Second Wave. The photo below is looking aft.  We determined it wasn't dense enough to wait so we left. With cooler temperatures, warm water, and no wind this is the result. And we were off! Its not too bad..... And then it became thicker in places as we snaked around the bends. Is that a log in the water ahead? Can you see the tow and his barges??? We couldn't either until he was right upon us.  This is one time AIS is extremely important.  We knew he was coming and had talked to him on the radio because we saw him on our chartplotter. Oh, there he is! That's Blue Goose above navigating thru the fog. Even the sun didn't seem to help burn it off. But it was huge and was sure pretty on the water. Finally it burned away and just like that it wa...