October 11, 2015
We awoke to another foggy morning, but we weren’t in any
hurry today. We only had about 50 miles
to go to Demopolis, and there were no locks to go through. We had breakfast, and then I played ball with
Sasha until it was light enough to go to shore.
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| Lorelei IV at Tombigbee Ox Bow on a foggy morning |
We had a nice long play session and walk. When we got back to the dinghy, there were 3
guys putting a boat in. They had both
fishing poles and guns, so we asked them about their plans for the day. Apparently there are wild pigs in many parts
of Mississippi, and since they are considered a nuisance, they can be hunted
year round.
It was still foggy when we got back to the boat, so we
busied ourselves with various tasks. Rob
checked the engines then found homes for things that we had temporarily put in
the middle stateroom. I finished up the
blog entry for the previous day, but I didn’t post it because there wasn’t good
internet service at our anchorage.
Finally the fog was lifting, so we powered up and weighed anchor.
It turned out to be a beautiful sunny day with highs in the
mid-70’s and a light wind. It was a
peaceful easy cruise with lots of beautiful natural scenery. We saw the boat from the access ramp, but
there was only one guy in it, so the other 2 were on shore somewhere. He said that they had only seen one small pig
so far.
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| Rob at the helm |
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| Sasha enjoying the breeze |
We had read in the guidebooks that the white cliffs at Epes,
MM 249, were not to be missed, so we were eager to see to them. I don’t know that our photos really do them
justice, but they live up to all the hype.
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| White Cliff of Epes - view from the upstream |
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| White Cliffs of Epes - view from the downstream |
When we got to Demopolis Yacht Basin, MM 216, we pulled into
the fuel dock first to get diesel. The
fuel is all self-service here in contrast with the other fuel docks we have
been at so far. The attendant seemed
surprised that other fuel docks would pump fuel for a boat, explaining that the
dock’s insurance did not allow it. He
said that it was a liability issue since putting the wrong type of fuel in –
gasoline vs diesel -- could do a lot of damage to an engine.
We actually have been very involved in the fueling process,
because our boat has some peculiarities due to its age. If the nozzle is put in from the outside the
rail, the fuel tends to “burp” – think about a baby spitting up. If the nozzle is brought over the rail and
put in from the deck, it fits the curve of the fuel ports better and burps
less. We still wrap a rag around the
nozzle just in case. The other thing
that happens is that fuel bubbles out of the vent holes along with the air
while fueling. Because of this, fuel
attendants tend to try to pump slower when pumping faster actually decreases
this issue. Aside from the fact that it
is illegal to spill, dump, or otherwise allow petroleum products into the
waterways, it also stains the boat paint if it is not scrubbed off fairly
quickly. There are products available to
prevent spillage – one of our previous dockmates even offered to give us one
since it didn’t fit his boat but it didn’t fit ours either. Our boat’s age is a disadvantage for trying
to use a ready-made product, but it is an advantage in fashioning something on
our own since the systems are fairly simple.
Rob rigged up something for this fuel stop and plans to work on a better
solution tomorrow. Some of you may be
thinking, why didn’t we do something before now? We actually only had to fuel our boat twice
in the 3 years we owned it before embarking on this trip, so we really didn’t
realize what an issue it can be.
We got done fueling and went to start the engines, but the
port engine would not start. Rob found a
loose battery connection, so he tightened it down but still nothing. He tapped on a couple things – maybe the
starter? – and…nothing. Finally he tried
taking all of the battery connections off, cleaning them (although we had just
replaced the batteries shortly before casting off from Polestar Marina), and
then reconnecting them. All the while he
had the engine doors open and a fan blowing on the block just in case cooling
the engine down a bit might help. Now we
were out of options that we could think of.
Since we were at the fuel dock, we couldn’t just stay there, so we
decided that I would drive the boat to our reserved slip on one engine.
Neither of us had ever driven the boat on one engine in
close quarter maneuvering, so were we ever nervous! Rob figured that there wasn’t much he could
do to help me from the deck, so he launched the dinghy so that he could help
nudge the boat in the right direction if needed. It did help tremendously in getting turned
around to get out of the fueling area.
Because I only had the starboard engine, it was hard to turn the boat to
starboard going forward, because I couldn’t get up enough speed in the
relatively tight space for the wheel -- and therefore rudder actually -- to
help. I could turn the boat to starboard
by putting the starboard engine in reverse, but there was only so much backing
I could do before I needed to go forward more.
So Rob nudged the bow to starboard using the dinghy until I had a clear
shot back into the channel and could get up enough speed to steer using the
wheel.
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| Entry/Exit for fuel dock - Mistral is parked in the same spot we were when the port engine wouldn't start |
To get to our slip, we had to go back out to the channel for
a short distance and then into the basin where the docks were. Getting into the basin was easy. Getting into the slip was difficulty. Once again, I had to inch forward, then
reverse the engine to bring the bow around.
Rob was standing by to nudge the bow again if needed. With more practice I’m sure I could do
better. I did get the boat in the slip
without hitting anything but it wasn’t real pretty. Fortunately, Terry, a guy who works for the
marina and lives on the dock, was there to help. Whew! Of
course, 15 or 20 minutes later, when Rob tried the engine again, it started
right up!
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| Entrance for the marina |
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| Fairway between docks - looks wide now but seemed more narrow coming in on 1 engine |
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| Other boaters probably worry a little when they see all of our fenders |
We didn’t feel like cooking, so we borrowed the courtesy
truck and went into town for some Chinese food.
Since we were there, of course we went by Walmart and Tractor Supply to
get a few things we had forgotten the last time.
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| Lorelei IV secure in her slip at sunset |
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