Luckily, my less-than-gentle commentary that this place was
horribly boring and I would vote to get the hell out of here as soon as
possible, was well received by both the Captain and Chuck. Leaving Sunday morning was absolutely assured
when the Captain – going to the office for a day refund as we were leaving
“early” – was embarrassed to find that he had paid for three days and Thursday
night, Friday night and Saturday night used up his pre-payment. So, we gladly prepared for departure on
Sunday morning after a short visit to the fuel dock for a pump out.
For the un-vitiated, a pump out involves hooking up a strong
suction hose to a fitting on the boat’s deck (in our case two separate tanks)
to remove the “brown water” and replace it with the emptiness needed for a few
more days of three people using two heads on the boat and all the gray water
from sink drains going into the holding tanks as well.
Since we needed someone on the dock to help tie up, I walked
off the boat and over to the fuel dock to assist. The Captain backed out of the slip without
too much trouble (other than using the damned bow thruster instead of the more
efficient rudder), went forward to make his turn and lost control of the 44
foot boat which weighs 34,000 lbs. He
was stuck in forward gear and could neither put it in neutral or reverse. Without knowing the specifics, I knew that
one of two things had happened – neither of which could be easily remedied
until one was stationary at a dock.
There was a terrifying moment where the bow rose up over the
top of a floating dock but miraculously slid off and they went by the end of
the fuel dock with the Captain screaming about being out of control. Between Chuck (aboard at the time) and myself
)shouting from the fuel dock), we convinced him to make a large circle,
approaching the dock with some momentum and then killing the engine and sliding
up to the dock where dock lines would stop all forward progress and secure the
Dutchess.
We did that, and after the Captain made the repair below (loosened
shift cable clamp which prevents the outer cable from moving when the inner
cable moves to shift), we pumped out, rinsed out and got underway.
We are now on the “downhill only” portion of the trip as we
enter the Ten-Tom Waterway which will take us 253 miles through 10 locks and
drop us 341 feet down to sea level.
Although proposed as early as the 1700’s this waterway
project was not completed and opened until 1985 and made it possible to go down
the rivers and enter the Gulf of Mexico at Mobile, AL instead of the former
method of going down the Mississippi River all the way to New Orleans.
This project was massive and actually moved more earth than
was moved in the construction of the Panama Canal. With the exception of “Loopers” like us, its
existence is relatively unknown to most Americans.
After we move 253 miles down this waterway and drop down
through 10 locks – including one that drops us a whopping 84 feet – we will be
in the Black Warrior Tombigbee Waterway which will take us into the Mobile
River and eventually Mobile Bay.
Today is a relatively short day since we are only travelling
about 40 miles to Bay Springs Marina in Mississippi. We’ll be in either Mississippi or Alabama for
the remainder of our river trip.
y car and drive the 20 or so
miles to Boonville, Mississippi which reportedly has a restaurant with
outstanding Southern Fried Chicken.
Stand by, Zac Brown, we three Yankees are on the prowl for Chicken
Fried!
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