Demopolis Alabama

Enjoying a campfire at Sumter

Cooking dinner while our boat is dragging anchor

Wild pig

White Cliffs on the way to Demopolis

Pickensville Recreation Area

Deer at Pickensville Rec Area

Sunset at Rattlesnake Bend anchorage

We left Columbus Marina without first calling the lock. When we did call, we were told there would be an hour and a half delay while a northbound tow locked through. We turned around and went back to the fuel dock to wait. We chatted with fellow boaters and were soon on our way again. We anchored with 2 other boats at Pickensville Recreation area (N33 7891 and W88 17.1502) and took the dinghy ashore to explore the park. There is a small beach, a boat launch and restrooms as well as a fish cleaning station. We quite like these as they are usually in a scenic location and quiet at night when the fishermen are gone.  The weather was really nice so we decided to stay an extra day and take our bikes ashore for a ride. We saw 3 deer come out of the woods for a drink in the river. We spent most of the day trying to get out of the sun since it was exceptionally hot at 98 degrees. It does cool down quickly when the sun goes down.

We set off on Monday for another Recreation area 60 miles downriver. It was already over 80 degrees at 7:30 in the morning. The same two boats from the Pickensville anchorage were also anchored at Sumter Recreation Area but there was lots of room (N32 52.429’ and W88 11.060’). Three more boats arrived later. The scenery along this stretch of the Ten-Tom Waterway is mostly pines and cypress with some deciduous trees. The shore looks like gray rock but it is clay. There are not the brilliant fall colours we are used to as the leaves seem to be too dry. There are very few homes and cottages.  The traffic is quite light mostly Loopers, small fishing boats and very few tows.  We saw a flock of Wood Storks along the way today. We went ashore to explore the Recreation Area and chatted with hunters at a campsite. They are bow hunting deer but had only succeeded in killing a wild boar. It turns out they are feral pigs but there are wild boars around.  The deer are small and plentiful so hunters are allowed 2 a day for 150 days.

Tuesday the wind came up in the afternoon while we were preparing dinner on an open fire. This is the campsite that the hunters had vacated without fully dousing the embers. As we were cooking dinner, I pointed out to the captain that our boat had just gone by while we were ashore. We finished our meal and put out the fire as it was now dark and the wind was building. We gathered all our things and went back to the boat that was now really close to the shoreline.  Our anchor was dragging in this heavy wind. There were 5 of us anchored and only one boat was secure everyone else was frantically trying to move and reset anchors. We picked up the anchor and went to tie up to the small boat dock near the boat launch.  Luckily we had already sounded the water there and we knew there was enough depth.  We then went back out in the dinghy to help two other boats that were rafted together and having difficulty.  By 8:30 everyone was secure and holding in this protected anchorage.

The winds brought in a cold front and the temperature only managed to climb to 60 degrees on Wednesday.  We decided to stay an extra day. At 3:00 our friends arrived and rafted up to us for the evening.  We had not travelled together since Green Turtle Bay  so we had lots of catching up to do. We had a very pleasant evening. We called the Lock on Thursday before leaving Sumter and were told that we could lock through at 10:00.  We waited at the anchorage and saw another tow go by so we were delayed another hour. We finally locked through at 11:30.  This was the first time we have had to wait for locks on the Ten-Tom Waterway so we can’t complain. Our friends went on to Demopolis and we anchored at Rattlesnake Bend which is 5 miles from Demopolis (N32 36.947’ and W87 53.943’).  It is not a recreation area but very quiet and picturesque. We saw a feral pig and a small deer on our way here today.  There are white cliffs in many places that appear to be rock but they are clay.

We woke up to heavy fog this morning so we delayed our departure until it cleared. We took pictures and by 8:30 it was clear enough to set out for Demopolis Yacht Basin. When the fog lifted, we spotted several wild turkeys on the shoreline.

We are now at Demopolis Yacht Basin for the night.  We will set off tomorrow for more anchorages.  Hopefully we will have internet access from here on.