GLORY DAYS ON THE GREAT LOOP: 80 MILES TO A BEAUTIFUL ANCHORAGE

DAY 150, TUES. NOV. 8, 2011
AM COOL & CLEAR NO FOG!! PM CLEAR, SUNNY 77*
DEP. DEMOPOLIS (mm216.9) 06:15 ARR. BASHI CREEK (mm145.0) 2:30
D. 81.9 sm / 2732.7

Today is a long day. We have to get to Bashi Creek, the first anchorage down river from Demopolis, 82 miles distant. At 10 mph, which is faster than we usually cruise it will take 8 hours, plus the time to get through the Demopolis Lock. The “plan” is to start at first light. There will be 8 boats leaving, and the lockmasters like to get as many together to lock down as possible. We call the lock at 5:30 to see how soon the lock will be ready, so we can leave together, (in an orderly fashion). Unfortunately, today there is a tow in the lock and we can’t get in until 6:30. We see on the AIS, there is also another tow on the way to the lock about 5 miles north, so we have to get there before him or wait another hour. We were all into the lock by 06:40 and departed the lock at 07:15. Fortunately, there was no fog this morning, so we were on our way, or so we thought. By 10AM we encountered 5 tows, 4 meeting and 1 overtaking. The thing that slowed us down was that 2 of the tows were coming around corners, and we had to slow way down, even stop, so we didn’t meet them on a turn. These tows are so big that they can take up a whole bend just crabbing around it, and we need to be out of the way. The other issue we have is “anchorage anxiety.” It comes from having little or misleading information about an anchorage. In the case of where we plan to anchor out tonight, we have had conflicting reports. People who know the anchorage well, say there is no problem. However, I spoke with someone who was there last week and they said we couldn’t get into it because a tree was submerged in the entrance. If Bashi Cr. was closed we would have to travel another 3 hours and risk getting to Bobbies Fish Camp in the dark. About 1 PM I was able to call Ed from KayDeeAnna. He was in there 2 days ago and gave me the real story. Yes, there is a tree in the entrance, but “keep the tree to starboard, and the dock to port, and you will not have a problem.” This anchorage really is a creek. It is about 75’ wide, 300’ long, and 5’-6’deep, with trees and dense undergrowth on the banks. We followed the directions in and rafted with Kismet, bow to stern, with each of our bow anchors down. It turned out to be a very secure and snug place to be.