Great Loop Day 077 Nov 13, 2016, Demopolis Kingfisher Bay to Chickasaw Bogue Anchorage
Demopolis Kingfisher Bay to Chickasaw Bogue Anchorage
The sea hates a coward. – Eugene O’Neill
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Day 77 Sunday, Nov 13, 2016. From Demopolis Kingfisher Bay Marina to Chickasaw Bogue Anchorage. 29.3 miles. Yesterday Saturday morning I heard several boats were heading out to the Demopolis Lock. I heard early that the lockmaster wants all boats to coordinate their travel to enter the lock together. Today I was lucky as I was the only boat in the lock and had no immediate upbound or downbound traffic.
Demopolis Lock and Dam (Mile Marker 213.3)
Several miles of white rocks line both banks.
Further downriver 2 barges passed me and the second was a tight squeeze on my port side.
The high water mark on the bridge supports
A great blue heron is on the lookout
Light downriver current, little to no breeze, a warm hazy sun, perfect day for motoring the river. Made the Chickasaw Bogue anchorage by 12:30 pm central time.
Skipper Bob’s Guidebook had a significant notation about this feature. It’s known as the Old Rooster Bridge. Back in April 1979 it had a collision with a tow and was recorded by a fella with a camera. Thought it would have been bigger. A tug boat hit it at high water, capsized then righted itself up past the bridge to continue under its own power
April 1979
Yep came completely under the bridge with one of his engines still running. the skipper stayed with the boat
Read the rest of the story and more photos on the M/V CAHABA here
Lucky for us the water level would not be that high.
This being my first time seeing the word, I had to look up in the dictionary the pronunciations and meaning of the term Bogue. Pronounced b-oh-g. In Gulf states, it means, bayou, stream, or waterway.
Entering Chickasaw Bogue made my heart skip beats. At first, the charts were not very helpful. The Navionics app showed a very narrow and shallow opening just to the south but not into the stream. I'm traveling south and Chickasaw Bogue is to my left. No visibility below the water. No ripples or other telltale signs of a shallow channel. It's all intuition and luck. My depth sounder is located on my rudder so going in very slowly as I watch the monitor on the depth sounder. If it gets too shallow my rudder will be the first to feel the bottom. Being a pop-up shouldn't sustain any damage as long as the bottom remains muddy. No signs of any rock formations nearby. I move very cautiously past the outlet. Swing the boat to port. Motoring in forward idle. Making forward progress slowly against the light current. 6 feet then 5 feet looking good so far. 4 feet then at 3 the depth alarm is sounding off. The guidebook says it gets deeper once in the Bogue so I ignore the alarm. 2.7 feet 2.5 feet. The rudder touches the bottom. It pops up halfway. Then 2.8 feet. 3 feet I continue. 3.5 feet 4 feet I center the boat in the middle of the stream channel. 5 feet, the stream widens but up ahead it gets narrow again with trees on both sides of the bank. Small branches are falling into the water as my mast does a little tree trimming. 6 feet. This is good. With the motor in neutral, I move to the bow and grab the claw anchor from its mount. The boat stops moving forward. The anchor drops straight down. Make sure the trip line with the repurposed Tang bottle float goes unimpeded down with the anchor. I let out 30 ft of anchor rode and secure it to the forward cleat. Walking back I check the depth, 6.5 feet which should give me a scope of 4 to 5:1. The minimum is 3:1. That would be fine if I had an all-chain rode but I don't. Reverse the outboard give it some gas and make sure the anchor grabs the mud below. I was checking the condition of the bottom on the monitor for submerged trees, logs, and rocks. Looked all clear. The anchor catches and the Sea Marie stops. Getting my stern anchor ready I fling it as hard as I can back out behind. Let it sink - I reel it in till it grabs. Got it. Motor off. I'm anchored. One thing for certain, ain't no big boats coming in here tonight!
Satellite view of the entrance to Chickasaw Bogue in low water.
Refitted my anchor trip line float. Used an empty Tang plastic bottle. A hole is punched into the cap and the bottle holds the line and inserted a battery-operated led fishing bobber to light up at night. Works great!
Looking out from the bogue to the main channel of the Tombigbee River. That underwater sandbar just about crosses the entire entrance.
It's all quiet again, I listen. Crows in the distance cawing at each other. Ahh, I recognize the jungle calls of the pileated woodpecker and his familiar hammering in the treetops. A few birdcalls I have never heard before. Time to scan the shoreline with my binoculars. The water laps up to a muddy bank that goes up a few feet. Vegetation starts out sparse but a few more feet back it thickens up. Something unusual about this shoreline. The mud bank up to the vegetation appears to have been disturbed. The color is a deeper brown and rough not like the mud at the water's edge. Something has been digging there recently. And that something showed up a few minutes later.
Feral Pigs! About 10 to 15 hogs worked the shoreline from my left to my right on the starboard side. Sticking their snouts in the dirt and kicking it up. Another pig follows after the first and does the same. They travel closely together, one pig is eagerly digging up grass near the edge oblivious to the others as they moved further away. Then perhaps he felt like being left behind he scooted to catch up with the others. I had the Canon camera in my hand and was shooting away. Before I could get the cell phone, Mickey jumped up at a fly, making a disagreeable noise and the pigs ran all in unison back into the underbrush on the higher bank. Here's hoping they come back again.
Back to the boat business. I unplugged my Garmin handheld GPS, auto tiller, and depth sounder. Brought out the battery-powered lights I will need later. Move the microwave off the burners to the side. Frees the alcohol burners to cook. With things in somewhat order, I can relax a bit.
Phyllis Lemasters Love this picture
Bronwen Somerset great picture
Carolyn Collins Lupica, Cute! You guys are twins with your white chins, lol.
I check my email and answer a few text messages. Beth from Mystic texted and sent a link to an article. A Columbus, AL newspaper wrote about her and David about their voyage and doing the Loop. I posted the link to my timeline if you have a few moments, great reading.
Beth and Dave Rogers's article in the Columbus Dispatch.
With daylight still with me, I set about to make dinner and open a can of tuna for Mickey. Mickey always seems more interested in what I'm cooking up than the tuna. Tonight's menu is teriyaki rice but instead of margarine, I used a little Olive oil. While the rice was cooking I reached into the cooler for the lettuce salad bag. Topping it with shredded cheese and French dressing served on my finest make-believe "porcelain" Styrofoam plate. With dinner done and the pan cleaned, I check my email and search for any breaking news stories. I miss my Sunday morning political pundit shows, Meet the Press and Face the Nation, and my diet of Fox news. I hear Paul Ryan wants to privatize Medicare which I'll be eligible for this coming January. Is that good news or not? Don't know yet. Can't voice an opinion until I get some facts.
Anyway got my plans in place for the next few days. I'll be traveling the stops Pogo Bob took back in 2007 when he and his wife did the loop. Pogo Bob and I have been communicating long before I started this voyage and owe him my deepest appreciation for the wealth of knowledge he shared and continues to provide. So remember if I screw up it's all his fault. Just kidding. I'm looking forward to that dinner when I get to the east side of Florida. Tomorrow night Bashi Creek, a 42-mile ride downriver to the anchorage. Then Bobby's Fish Camp. Well, the pigs returned to the shoreline and this time got them on the cellphone camera. Hope you enjoy the pictures and all... Fair winds and gentle seas...
My innovative anchor trip line with a lighted plastic bottle makes it possible to see it in the dark.
