August 31, 2007
Barron’s Landing, Tombigbee Waterway
Ah, air conditioning! It stayed on through the night, which means my moronic friend didn’t bother trying to “fix” anything else. We were able to sleep late.
The plan was to leave as late a possible, a minimizing the amount of time without the ability to charge the batteries. Tomorrow, we will leave early, getting into Demopolis and getting tied back in to shore power (and more air conditioning!) I have installed the big solar panel and it is helping a lot. We aren’t expecting any issues.
We left Bobby’s at 10:40 a.m. We were the last to leave. We’ve had the whole river to ourselves all day. We didn’t waste any time. We grossly underestimated our fuel consumption, so it is full throttle. The added speed is great and we need to burn off some of this fuel, as it won’t keep long term in storage. I had hoped to have just enough to get us there, but we have way more than enough.
It was overcast today, which is nice. We have come as far as we can on the river, to the last anchorage before Demopolis – Barron’s Landing. It is really just a niche in the river, but the cruising guide we are using is recommending it. We have put out both bow and a stern anchors to keep us from swinging into the river. Our last two anchors – I have rigged them both with trip lines for easy retrieval.
We’ve just finished enjoying bucket baths on deck. Dinner is sandwiches and chips – no cooking, as we don’t want the extra heat in the cabin. Tomorrow, we’ll leave early and finish off. Looking forward to getting it done.
Today’s run: 43 nautical miles in seven hours.
– Steve