Day 22 off to Demopolis, AL

     We left the dock at Bobby's Fish Camp at 6:00 am, and we headed toward Demopolis, Alabama some 96.8 miles (and 1 lock) up the Tombigbee River. Now that we have passed the first lock on the river we are no longer subject to any tides or storm surge. Also, as we proceed up river and through more locks, we will soon pass the flooding that we had seen between Mobile and the first lock. The dams on the Tombigbee do not impound lakes (aka reservoirs) so they have virtually no storage capacity to absorb flood waters. The floods basically pass through at will. The current is still about the same as the first two days on the river or maybe a little less (about 2+ mph) so we continue to make good time when we get out of the main channel into slower water with a current of 1 mph or less. We only passed two tows going in the opposite direction and none going our way with maybe a half dozen fishing boats. The weather was nice, but there were enough clouds that I wore a light jacket all day over my short sleeved shirt. Also, I was wearing shorts so I had my legs covered until about lunch time.

     We did not take any pictures until we got close to Demopolis. The boat launch ramp in the photo at the left has to be the steepest that I have ever seen. Boat ramps can be slippery if wet, and if you back the rear wheels into the water, the algae growing on the ramp can be very slippery. The bottom line is that I would think that you would need very good brakes to stop and a very powerful vehicle to pull a boat up that steep ramp. Even though it is Saturday today, we did not see any empty boat trailer here so maybe it does not get used very much???


     On the southwestern edge of Demopolis we came to the Demopolis Lock and Dam. We only waited a few minutes before the gates opened and  we were allowed to enter the lock. We had been travelling 12+ hours by then so the quick lock through was very welcome. In the photo at the right the lock with the gate closed is at the right side. Most of the rest of the picture shows the dam. Half of the dam has white water at the base of the dam, and the other (left) has bed rock extending up about half of the dam with no white water. These lower dams on the Tombigbee have no gates to control the flow of water over the dam. This fits with the idea that these dams do not provide any flood control by being able to trap or release water.

      The city of Demopolis got started as cotton farmers moved west seeking more fertile land in the early 19th century. It also sites at the junction of the Black Warrior and Tombigbee Rivers so the city was important in transportation. The Tombigbee River was navigable about up to Demopolis, and river traffic could only go further up either river during floods. Speaking of floods, the original town was built on high ground back from the river. This large city park is situated on the slope between the old downtown and the Tombigbee River. We will go by this park on land tomorrow when we do some exploring in Demopolis.

     There is little industry left here on the river today, but Demopolis seems to be doing well probably as a mini (about 8 thousand residents) regional center for commerce. Just past the park we come to the old Demopolis Marina (photo above). It still provides haul outs, land storage, service, motel, and a restaurant/bar, but the boat docks seem to have been replaced by the new Kingfisher Bay Marina where we are staying. You can see empty boat dock on the right, which no longer appear to be used. The large, high pilings in the middle are part of the haul out for pleasure craft, but on the outside they also serve as a dock for large tow boats. The tow boats use this marina as a fuel stop so there is a steady flow of large semi trucks delivering fuel here.

     Our marina is essentially behind all of this, and the entrance channel is behind the tall tees near the left side of the photo. We arrived about 7:00 pm and when we docked at our slip, we had a dock hand from the staff as well as several other boaters show up to help. I will give you a hint as you can see from the nearly mirror flat water, there was no wind. Also, inside the marina there is no current so it could not have been easer to "nail" a perfect stern first docking maneuver. In fact it was so good that we were exactly in the middle of the slip and could not step off directly onto the dock. A little pull on a dock line easily solved that. Most of the other boaters offered their congratulations on my docking, and (of course) I did not tell them that it could not have been any easier... ha ha

     It was a long (13 hour) day, but we have scheduled a rest day here tomorrow. So, early to be once again, but tomorrow I can and will sleep in.