Day #94 - Bladon Springs, AL
November 3rd, 2008It’s a big day aboard Good News. We are headed to the ever popular Bobby’s Fish Camp. Expect it is as the name implies. Bobby has regular fish fries on the weekends but think we missed it by a day.
Traveling today with Mr. Chips and Headquarters. Mr. Chips, we have encountered on and off since Green Turtle Bay. It is a captained boat (68 foot Neptunus) and the captain is a really nice guy…24 years old.
We adjusted to the daylight savings time set back and headed to the only lock for the day, Demopolis Lock. Had to wait for a bit of fog to clear but we were through there with five other boats by 8:00. Nice start for a long day as it is 96 miles to Bobby’s. Going off daylight savings allows for an earlier start but it will get dark shortly after 5:00.
We will travel today exclusively on the Black Warrior River. It is a series of switchbacks and the terrain has become much more sandy. Fred Myers stated in his Nitty Gritty book that this section of the river is known for its hairpin turns. Although the waterway is only 1000 feet through the trees you have to travel over three miles by water to get there.
Demopolis was a popular stop for tugs on the river to stop and refuel. One while we were there took on 35,000 gallons and was there seven hours refueling. Yikes, can only imagine what his bill must have been. That fuel stop pumps between 250,000 to 450,000 gallons per month.
Some of the local residents have an interesting way of decorating their boats.
Although we didn’t see either, the captain on Mr. Chips says he saw wild pigs and an alligator. Guess we had better watch more closely.
Made it to Bobby’s as hoped, 95.5 miles, 8.75 hours. Do not mistake Bobby’s as a marina as all it is is a dock on the river. There is no electric and no water. He still manages to charge $1.00 per foot for dockage and we had Headquarters rafted off of us. Didn’t get to experience Bobby’s famous fish dinner as they only serve on Fridays and Saturdays. Instead had a pot luck dinner with Bob and Debbie. Very nice day and evening.
