November 1, 2009

Port Departed: Anchorage Taylor Creek, AL
Port Arrived: Anchorage Chickasaw Bogue
Miles Traveled Today: 56 miles
Total Miles Traveled to Date: 814
Hours Traveled Today: 7
Total Hours Traveled: 136.5

Slept in today and woke up today about 7:30AM. First item on the agenda was to made coffee. Second agenda item was to determine a destination for the day. Just about the time I was ready to weigh anchor I heard Tom calling my name. He said through the morning fog that I was invited to breakfast. He said that he had borrowed a kayak from a neighbor and would send it over to the boat if I was interested in joining them. I quickly accepted this unexpected invitation. Then told him that I would throw him a line so he could attach it to the kayak and I would be able to pull the kayak over to the boat. After several attempts to toss him a line, it was clear that I was not a cowboy. As each attempt went everywhere but in his direction. Finally he said that he would send the kayak half way with the short line he had. I would toss the line into the kayak and he would pull the kayak back to shore and attach the long line on his end. This worked! Tom attached the long line to the kayak, I pulled the kayak over to the boat and jumped in and paddled the 25 feet to shore. Stupid me I ended up sitting on the wet line that had landed in the water several times. Needless to say I had a wet butt when I got to shore. Tom had a friend with him named Greg. I followed them up the mud path that lead to their hunting camp. Turns out Tom’s hunting camp was a beautiful house that reminded me of some of the summer homes on Crystal Lake. The only difference was that Tom’s camp house was on stilts and in the middle of Alabama. .

Tom introduced me to his wife Sonee. Sonnee cooked sausage, eggs and grits. A gourmet southern breakfast to accompany their southern hospitality. After breakfast, I thanked them for their wonderful hospitality. I gave them the last deck of cards from Mike as a thank you. The we gathered for several group photos. After the photo session, I jumped into the kayak and paddled back to the boat. Pulled up the anchors and turned left out of Taylor Creek and south into the Tenn-Tom. As I made the turn, I heard them all yelling at me to have a safe trip. As I turned to look, they were holding a huge red University of Alabama flag. I snapped a picture and they vanished into the distance as the current and the motor pushed me south.

Arrived at Demopolis about 1:30PM. This was my original destination for the day. However, after gassing up, I asked the attendant about the Courtesy car and he said that it was booked until 5PM. With out access to a car there was no reason to stay, so I bought a bag of ice to keep the beer cold and tossed off the dock lines and continued down the river.

This was the day the time changed. It fell back an hour. Shane called to update me on the football scores and the continued misfortunes of the Detroit Lions. I asked him to look up the time the sun sets in Demopolis AL. He said the sun would set at 5:01PM. This meant that I had one less hour of daylight.

Just before 5:00PM I located Chicksaw Bouge. The charts showed this a nice place to anchor. Again I backed-in carefully watching the dept gauge. Tossed out the anchors and cooked dinner. The sun sets at 5PM and by 6 pm it is dark. The electrical system shorted out the cabin lights so I entered the days log information by candle light. Barges interrupted the stillness of the night. You can hear them coming from miles away. They sound like trains. You can hear them for 30 minutes after they pass.