Alabama River Cutoff, BWT Mile 52.8

This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)

cruising adventures on the Great Loop!

DAY 194 - October 11,. 2017

We got up early, and against my better judgment, left in the fog with the two big yachts and Desperado headed for the Coffeeville Lock three miles downstream. The two big yachts had pre-arranged an opening, and Patty's thought was we could keep them in sight and did not want to miss the scheduled lock opening. Turns out she was right, but it was still not comfortable cruising with such limited visibility. We all had our running lights on and did not encounter any traffic on the way to the lock.

Out of the lock, visibility improved significantly. Our run was a nominal 64 miles, and it could have been a long day, but running at 2,400 RPMs we were burning about 1.0 GPH per the Navman, and making about 8.5 MPH with the current, which allowed us to keep up with Desperado. We soon passed Rico on Ossaze. We don't know where Rico had anchored, but it must not have been too far below the Coffeeville Lock. Rico runs at about 6 MPH with his little 9.9 outboard, so we waved as we went by!

Passing Rico on Ossaze on Black Warrior - Tombigbee Waterway

We left not knowing where we would anchor, although we had read about all the possible choices in both Skipper Bob and Active Captain. Not one was a good choice - none apparently had any shore access, and I was thinking Baxter just might have an uncomfortable night and next day. He would rather explode than go on the boat. We had narrowed our choices down to Bates Lake and the Alabama River Cutoff. Desperado told us they were heading to the Alabama River Cutoff anchorage, but we were leaning toward Bates Lake because Navionics showed that there was a boat ramp there, and the Active Captain reviews mentioned a fish camp, either of which might have provided possible shore access.

We let Desperado know that we were going to explore Bates Lake, and if we liked it, we would be anchoring there for the night, but otherwise we would join them at the Alabama River Cutoff. It turned out there was no boat ramp, or at least no public boat ramp at Bates Lake - we saw several private boat ramps at the numerous lakeside cottages. The fish camp was at the far end of the lake, and it turned out to be a floating fish camp with no shore access. So we turned around and headed back out to the river and down to the Alabama River Cutoff, which was a mile or two farther downstream. It looked bleak for Baxter, since not only do the reviews all say there is no shore access, but they also mention the family of alligators that lives there!

As we pulled into the Alabama River Cutoff with Patty driving, I scanned the shoreline and had the first glimmer of hope for Baxter. First, the shoreline was flat, unlike so much of the high bank shoreline we had been passing on Black Warrior - Tombigbee.  Second, although it was wooded, I could see that the ground was flat and appeared firm. Third, maybe, just maybe, I could get the nose of the kayak in between a couple of bushes, Baxter could jump out on a long leash, do his business, hop back on, and I could paddle back to the boat.

Screenshot of Alabama River Cutoff anchorage

The first potential hitch in this plan was the current in the Alabama River. I have no way to measure its speed, but everything coming downstream was literally whizzing by. Our anchor set immediately, and the current held us absolutely straight. I started doubting my ability to paddle the kayak upstream, and I certainly did not want to be swept out to the Black Warrior - Tombigbee. I don't know how long I stood on the bow debating whether to take the kayak down, but there was a lot of vacilating and  it was not a quick decision! The second potential hitch was the alligators, but I scanned the shoreline and did not see any alligators. That is not to say, (A) there weren't any alligators there, or (2) they were not watching me!

Patty came up with a plan. We would attach one of the 50 foot lock lines to one of the stern D rings on the kayak, I would see if I could paddle upstream, and if not, I could pull myself back to the boat by the long line. It turned out paddling upstream was easier than I anticipated, and although I would not have wanted to paddle very far upstream, all I had to do was paddle across the current to the shore and then back. We took the lock line off, got Baxter in his doggie PFD, and headed off with a longer than normal leash (a length of utility cord attached to his normal leash). He hopped out, did his business, and promptly wrapped his leash around a tree! My plan had been to stay in the kayak, but now I had to get out to extricate Baxter!  I was hoping a cute little dog wrapped around a tree would not look like food to some alligator!  It  turned out not to be too difficult for me to get out of the kayak, untangle Baxter, and get us both quickly back in the kayak!

Patty and I had a very pleasant evening on the cockpit listening to our favorite classical guitarist, Javier Van Velthoven, courtesy of the iPad Music app and our Bose Soundlink Mini. Twenty years ago we were in Barcelona, and stopped to listen to this fantastic guitarist playing on the steps of the Gothic Cathedral in Cathedral Square. He was playing melody, chords and bass line all at the same time, simply astounding to me, a mere chord banger. He had his guitar case open with CDs, so I bought one. We later Googled him (Google was brand new back then, and Patty was an early adopter!) - turns out he was already a world famous classical guitarist who had studied under Segovia. Every track on the album, entitled simply Guitarra, is a masterpiece that we never tire of hearing. This album is our usual sundowner music. Pure serendipity that he was playing on the Cathedral steps!

Tomorrow, at last, we will reach Mobile. Our goal is the Dog River Marina, and we will, finally, have completed the Chicago to Mobile leg of our Loop! The following day we will be in Florida, and on our way to visit our friends Bob and Marie Austin in Pensacola, where we visited on our way down back in March!