Our first stop was for fuel – yes, we did make it all the way on what was in our fuel tanks when we stopped at Pirate’s Cove a couple of days ago and even had a few gallons to spare. After fueling up, we secured ourselves in the slip and headed to Walmart in the courtesy car. The next day, Friday, we took care of laundry and all the other chores before joining the folks at “The Wall” for happy hour. We were all set to leave in the morning.
The original plan, or should we say “intention,” was to stop at the marina in Demopolis for one or two nights in order to buy supplies, do laundry and take care of any other chores that came up. And we seemed to be right on target when we left the marina on Saturday afternoon. It was a nice day and we hoped to spend a few hours relaxing and fishing at the Foscue Creek anchorage two miles south of the marina and just above the Demopolis Lock. We would be in good position to lock through right away in the morning.
As we entered Foscue Creek, we admired the Coast Guard Cutter, Wedge, and noted that it was used for setting and repairing navigation aids in the river. Following the instructions for anchoring given in our guidebook, we let down the anchor and about sixty foot of chain. The Captain put her in reverse and was slowly backing down when there was a loud “BAM.” Not good. We hit a submerged snag and broke the yoke that supports the lower unit. Big bummer. We were lucky, however, to be able to limp back to the marina and tie ourselves up once again at the dock to assess the damage.
Since it was Saturday, we knew we wouldn’t be able to order any parts until Monday. We weren’t sure if we were going to have to get the part from England or if we could have one shipped from Annapolis.
On Sunday, Gale was able to remove the drive leg without a hitch. Step One: Great.
Monday, Step Two: The part needed was available to be shipped overnight from Annapolis. We were informed that it was the only one they had in the shop. Lucky Day!
Since we were caught up on a lot of things when we left the marina on Saturday, we took a nice walk to the cemetery we had seen from the river. It was appropriately called, Riverside Cemetery, and we found headstones dating back to the 1840’s along with a mausoleum just as old. Nowadays it seems odd to see a cemetery on such prime real estate, but the occupants had a great view of the daily comings and goings along the river. 
It began raining Monday evening and continued on into Tuesday morning until about 9 am. When checking the UPS status of our shipment, we learned that the part had been returned to the shipper. Not so great! The UPS rep told us there was no problem with the ‘ship to’ address or the credit card used. It seems that our supplier packed the part in a box labeled “Flammable.” UPS would not transport this box by air freight. Even though we were told that we got the last available yoke yesterday, “Amanda” said she would tear the shop apart in search of another. Happy Day! She found one and took it to UPS immediately. Would it arrive tomorrow morning??
Tuesday evening, we invited Roger and Dita, s/v Zephyr, over for a fresh fish dinner. Roger is a native of Switzerland and Dita has dual heritage in that her father was German and her mother was from El Salvador. Her father’s job took them to several Central American countries as she was growing up. Roger and Dita have lived in the United States for the past 25 years; 10 years in Miami and the last 15 in Mississippi.
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