September 1, 2007
Demopolis, AL
River Splendor
Not far to go, we are up early to get it done. Coffee’s made. Anchors are on deck. At 06:15 a.m. we are underway.
In just a few short miles, we would make our last bridge at the Meridian & Bigbee Rail Road. I hailed the bridge tender. No answer. I hailed again. Static.
“What are we going to do?” Vanessa asked.
“Well, the markings on the bridge piers say there’s almost fifty feet of vertical clearance. We might fit. Come up here and take the helm. We’ll inch up to it and see if we can pass under,” I replied, knowing Vanessa would be completely unhappy with my decision. The only thing she hates more than running into things is running aground.
“Nice and easy,” I said.
She was a little heavy with the throttle and we began to back away slightly.
“Easy. Easy. Come on forward a little bit.” As we inched forward, I stood at the base of the mast watching. The wind vane at he top of the mast cleared under the bridge. “We must be fine,” I thought to myself.
“Bump it in forward and ease it on through,” I commanded. The boat moved and the VHF whip antenna made contact and bent backwards, scrapping the underside of the bridge grid-iron and knocking rust loose all over the boat.
“What is that!?”
Demopolis Lock & Dam
“Oh, just the VHF whip. We are all right. Come left a little. The antenna won’t have as much to hit.” We made it. It was a pretty hair raising experience that we could have never accomplished anywhere else. The river and wind were both calm and the water surface was glass. “Kids, don’t try this at home!” I exclaimed at our success. We made it: throttle up!
The scenery up here is beginning to change; more cliffs, deeper river channel – pretty. We are also seeing more recreational boat traffic. It is a week end and we are getting closer to Demopolis.
Approaching the big doors
We have only one obstacle left: the Demopolis Dam and Lock. With a lift of forty feet, it is the only thing standing between us and Demopolis Yacht Basin. We radioed ahead to make a “reservation” and let them know we were coming. They weren’t quite ready for us when we arrived, but we only had to wait fifteen minutes. Into the lock we went. This one was a doozy! It had the worst turbulence of any lock we’ve ever been in. We probably should have picked a different location to tie, but with forty feet of water on the other side of the doors pushing to get in, I was not surprised. It is a lot of water and the whole process, doors-to-doors, only took twelve minutes! We spent every minute pushing Nereus off the walls and watching the lines stress under the load.
Out the top side, forty fee higher
Out the top of the lock, we headed straight for the yacht basin, making our official arrival at 1:46 p.m., just 41.2 miles in seven and a half hours, including lock time and waiting.
It feels good. While the whole experience wasn’t great, we did it. Tomorrow, we will pack everything back up, bid Nereus farewell and return to Florida. I’m satisfied. There are other boaters who come here from the Gulf area to avoid hurricanes. The yard itself is well above the river level. The staff here seems friendly and knowledgeable. The price is right. I thinkNereus will be in good hands.
Tied and stowed at Demopolis Yacht Basin
It is funny, as I must not be the only Westsailor who thinks so, as the Westsail Pamela is already secure in the yard. No matter what odd places we go to, we continue to see these boats. Must be something to that!
Well, it’s been an experience. Thanks for sharing it with us. Until we have further cruise news, we are signing off.
This is Nereus. Whiskey-Delta-Bravo-six-five-niner-one. Over and out.
– Steve
[google-map-v3 width=”600″ height=”350″ zoom=”15″ maptype=”satellite” mapalign=”center” directionhint=”false” language=”default” poweredby=”false” maptypecontrol=”true” pancontrol=”true” zoomcontrol=”true” scalecontrol=”true” streetviewcontrol=”true” scrollwheelcontrol=”false” draggable=”true” tiltfourtyfive=”false” addmarkermashupbubble=”false” addmarkermashupbubble=”false” addmarkerlist=”Demopolis Yacht Basin, Demopolis, AL 36732{}sailing.png{}Demopolis Yacht Basin” bubbleautopan=”true” showbike=”false” showtraffic=”false” showpanoramio=”false”]