Friday, April 29, 2011 – Bobby’s Fish Camp, mile 119

We were off and running at 6 am. It was cool, with a morning temperature of 53°F but the wind was calm and we saw very little debris coming down the river. Only ten minutes into the trip, the fog rolled in and for the next hour, we had difficulty seeing where we were going. Maureen stood out on the bow and kept a lookout to help Gale maneuver around any obstacles. We announced our position on the radio a couple of times in case there were any barges in the area and they could watch for us.

 

After the fog lifted, we enjoyed a great day of cruising. The current was somewhat stronger – more like 2-1/2 to 3 knots instead of 2 to 2-1/2 knots. We met one southbound sailboat, Clarity, just before we encountered our first “low” high-rise bridge. Chuck from Clarity gave us an update on the river conditions south of Demopolis. He indicated that we should not have any problems clearing the 52-foot high bridges.

 

It was a good traveling day. The railroad lift bridge was open when we arrived so there was no waiting. We cleared three 52-foot bridges and a low telephone wire with feet to spare. The debris stream was fairly easy to avoid and there was no waiting at our first lock of the trip at Coffeeville either. We motored up to the dock at Bobby’s Fish Camp at 5:30 pm and tied up for the night.

After fueling up, we ordered a couple of cold beers up at Bobby’s Fish Camp. We skipped the catfish dinner this time and, instead, enjoyed the meal we had smelled cooking in the crock pot all day.