Day 37

Well, we were the first up at the crack of dawn to get an early start, however there was significant fog, and the temperature was in the 30’s so we decided it best to wait until the sun was able to warm things up. Apparently however the other two boats in the anchorage with us were a little more sophisticated and were able to leave under GPS through the fog (although I’m not sure how they were able to spot the debris in the river!)… We left at 8:30, and all in all it was smooth sailing as long as we watched carefully for the debris. We encountered more barges today than any other day on the Ten-Tom. Grant is getting pretty good at the radio, so we had no problems passing them… We had one mishap today on the river. We were passed by another pleasure craft around 11:00 who was very inconsiderate. The idiot flew buy us going about 20 mph (a lot for a crusier) and was only 20 feet away! Grant had slowed down for him, but he did not return the favor, and there was no time to react to his wake, which we took sideways. During the entire 1,200 miles we have traveled, we have not come close to rocking the boat so drastically. Everything fell off the table, and the TV crashed 6 feet to the basement floor causing it to damage the wood trim on the boat, and crack the casing on the TV. (Somehow the TV still works!). Grant is hoping the boat is at the marina we are going to so he can have a few words with them…

We arrived in Demopolis about 1:00, and were lucky, because we got the last slip… Both of the other boats we anchored with were already there, including another boat we had seen a couple of days ago. In speaking with the dock master, we found out that the river south of the Demopolis Dam was 40 feet above normal stage level!! They predicted we would be here for a week waiting for the water to go down enough to travel… What is there to do in Demopolis you ask?? Well, good question, we’ll get to that later on….

We ended up slipped right next to “Trust Me” (one of the boats we anchored with). They are a retired couple from Oklahoma that has done extensive traveling on the boat, usually ending up in the Bahamas for winter. Grant hit it off right away with Jim to help him fix the outboard motor on his dingy, and Tabbie made friends with Shelly and the cats! There plan was not to stay all that long in Demopolis, but due to the water are going to play it safe and stick around a few days… I think we will listen to experience, and hold out until it is safer to move…

We biked into town to stop at the Library to check emails and such, and then poked around town for a bit, wanting to get back to the marina to watch the Monday night Packer game! We got back to the marina and found the bar/restaurant with a big screen… This is were we met Randolph and Jerry… Talk about true southerners. Jerry moved to Demopolis 30 years ago from New York, apparently as part of the witness protection program. Randolph has lived here all his life and used to be a professional cockfight gambler! They spoke with the strongest southern brawl we have ever heard… They had some “unique” stories to tell, and so we tried to avoid them by sitting at a table to watch the game… Unfortunately we were the only others in the bar and so they kept trying to talk to us. Jerry “proudly” displayed his swastika tattoo on his arm, and Randolph kept talking about how you shouldn’t mess with a southerner who has a belt buckle as big as his… OK, time to leave…

Fortunately the game was also on in the marina lounge and it ended up another Packer fan was staying at the marina. He was from Shanno, WI, and Grant immediately struck up a conversation with him… We got some good information on navigation through the gulf from him, and the “do’s and don’ts” of gulf travels…