Great Loop Day 078 Nov 14, 2016. Chickasaw Bogue Anchorage to Bashi Creek Anchorage
Great Loop Day 078 Nov 14, 2016. Chickasaw Bogue Anchorage to Bashi Creek Anchorage
Chickasaw Bogue Anchorage to Bashi Creek Anchorage, Alabama
“The valleys are covered with fog; mountains are covered with fog; everywhere is covered with fog! What to do? Don’t worry, if your mind is not covered with fog, you will find your path! When the mind’s vision is clear, you can always see everywhere!” — Mehmet Murat ildan
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Day 78. Monday, Nov 14, 2016. Chickasaw Bogue to Bashi Creek anchorage. 41.9 miles. A quiet restful night at anchor. Last night the Supermoon didn't come up at the center of the creek as I hoped it would. Clouds obscured it most of the night. At 5 am it looked clear on the river. By 6 am thick layer of fog closed off the entrance. Nothing to do but wait it out. Getting ready to move out at 7:30 am as the fog showed signs of thinning. Wait a minute… I hear the sound of a tow going upriver. Going to wait for it to pass in the fog.
Retrieved the stern anchor then the bow anchor, good holding in the mud. Watched the waves from the tow wash over the sandbar. Made a mental note of its location. Need to turn left just past the creek entrance. Tow passed. Fog is still present but able to make out the outline of trees on the opposite shoreline. Time to go, start the engine, forward in idle. Watch the depth sounder. Move from the right side to the entrance then turn left. Looking good, depth of 5 feet then 4 feet then 3.5, and holding for several yards, then 4 feet, 5 feet… I'm in the river channel. Nothing touched the rudder. Now the fog gets thicker. I can barely see the red channel marker. Not a good time for a barge to move in.
Is it a red nun or a green can? Do I go left or do I go right of that navigation aid?
It’s a nun and should be red. Red Right Returning, but I am going downriver so it should be on my left.
Using my cell phone navigation app I move to the right side of the river. Good depth. The sun can barely be seen thru the haze. By 745 am the fog is burning off. But a barge is rounding the bend and coming at me.
I call the barge ahead on the handheld VHF radio on channel 16.
"Upbound tow, this is sailing vessel Sea Marie, do you read? over."
Captain of tow replies, "You can come up on the one whistle. I'll give you some room".
"Roger, captain, on the one," I reply.
I'm going about 3 mph. Still, it was a tight pass. Steady as she goes. Don't get too close to shore, it's pretty shallow. Tow passed with a little wake behind. The Sea Marie bounces softly over the wake. I move closer to the center channel. I've been traveling on these rivers since entering Chicago and have never seen two tows traveling that close together. The fog thins, and by 8 am it's gone. Then another upriver tow appears. Radio again, take him on the one. That's three in a row within 45 minutes. I'm doing 6 mph and going strong. Now I have the river all to myself. Full Steam Ahead, Captain, Full Steam Ahead! (You know I always wanted to say that).
Red nun on left and green can on right. Look how narrow this part of the channel gets. There would be no room for the Sea Marie if two tows were passing right here.
I am making good time on the Tombigbee River. Traveling near the shore, I watch closely for any wildlife. Most of the time I see nothing out of the ordinary, then among some trees that fell in the water a shape that is quite unusual, for me at least, brown-gray in color, but with a jagged back. 2 black eyes staring at me out of curiosity perhaps but watching me go by. OMG! An Alligator! Good size, as long as I am tall. With his jagged tail onshore. I grab the Canon camera with the 75- 300mm lens. Zoom in, focus, snap, then snap again and again. I review the shots yes sir! That's an Alabama gator. Lying on top of the water motionless, his snout and head visible. Note the location, Mile Marker 166.5. One for the books. Once I get good internet service I'll send the picture to my friends, family, and followers.
Several large cruisers pass me and they power down to give a slow pass. Thank you, guys. I listen to the chatter on the radio, they are heading to Bashi Creek for the night. The guidebook I'm using says it's a pretty small creek and these boats look pretty big. I radio one of them to ask them to leave room for me in the creek. They acknowledged my request. They're going faster than me and will be there a good half hour if not more. I motor on.
M/V Next Aventure passes me on my starboard.
M/V Bee Haven passes me on my port.
Giving this big fella a lot of room.
Good thing the railroad bridge is already up.
Cormorants playing in the river. These diving ducks can usually outswim their prey.
This section of the Tombigbee never got straightened out like the Tennessee River back up north. One bend after another. My GPS says 5 miles but it's more than 9 with the twists and turns. The GPS only gives straight-line measurements from point A to point B. Doesn't take into consideration the bends. Great for marking distance on the Great Lakes, lousy for river travel. I use the mile markers on the navigation program and the Garmin also shows mile markers. Subtracting my mile marker location from my destination mile marker gives you your distance to travel.
After a couple more bends I see the opening to the creek. It's small alright. There's a large cruiser anchored in the river across from the creek entrance. Way too big to get inside. The guidebook says to enter in the middle of the channel. With the auto tiller on standby, I swing the boat around manually. There I see a line of cruisers anchored near the middle of the creek which is about 40 ft wide. I move in forward idle and gingerly glide past the first cruiser which is pointing out from the creek. Look for his anchor rode. Don't run over it. I keep the big boats to my starboard side. Being cautious I look up at the trees and their branches are crowding the creek like a canopy but I see enough daylight, I think I can avoid hitting them with my raised mast. The first boat passed, the second passed, and got good depth at 6ft close to shore. There's a small concrete boat ramp to my port with a tiny dock sticking a dozen feet out. It is way too small for me to dock up, besides there were no dock cleats attached for a tie-up. The third boat is a power catamaran, named Next Adventure, from Florida. One and a half times wider than the other big cruisers. Feeling good I can pass.
The trees still have their leaves on making this creek dark even with the sun right overhead. I slide past the cat, the skipper comes out, says hi, and asks if I would like to raft up alongside. Thank him but respectfully decline.
I'm at the end of the boat line. The Bashi Creek continues up, I make a slow turn facing the entrance just like the other boats. There's very little current here but will use my stern anchor to keep straight. The cat was using a stern anchor and so were the others. In neutral I walk up to the bow, remove the claw anchor from its PVC mount, drop straight down, and get the trip line bottle out of the anchor well on the bow. Open it up, turn on the battery-powered LED fishing bobber inside, close it, and drop it next to the anchor which is already attached to the trip line. Let out about 30 ft rode, Walk back, put the outboard in reverse, set anchor, and it holds. Throw out stern anchor way out as far as I can, let it sink, reel it in till taunt. Done. I'm getting pretty good at this anchoring job. I beam with confidence. Mickey looks out from below, "Oh yeah? so what, where's my food?"
Turn off the motor, unplug electronics, and open Mickey a can of food, it's Miller Time! Soon a dinghy approaches me, the captain and his admiral coming over to say hi and chat a bit. They are on their way back to Florida to complete their loop voyage. Gees, I feel like I just started. It seems the other boats are traveling together and they dinghy to one of the boats anchored in the river for docktails. I'm just as happy sitting with Mickey back here eating my beans and franks with a salad and coleslaw. A hot cup of coffee and some cranberry bread for dessert. It’s 5:30 pm and it's dark. I can barely see the full moon thru the trees. No cell service on either my Tracfone or AT&T cell phone. Nothing to do but update my logbook and get to sleep. Set my anchor alarm on my phone and it's a good night..solitude at long last. Fair winds and gentle seas...
Mickey gets in a good stretch, wishing he had a nice wooden dock to scratch.
Boat card
Map
Comments from 2016:
Camille Sandrock Did a map search to pinpoint your location, getting closer to FL; safe journey today!!
Phyllis Lemasters Don't let mickey go swimming.
Henry Krzemien RN You know I would get some great shots, wouldn't I?
Barb Cerrito Nice! That eye is looking at you.
Susan Christine He's a big'un!!
Kelly Carr Gangl Wow, he's big!
Karen Ingram
