Friday 8 January 2021
Demopolis, AL
The Vacuflush toilet motor,
piston and pressure valve arrived today as did the piezo-electric alarm for the
firefighting system in the engine room.
All were duly installed (I only had to disassemble the vacuum generator
on the toilet system once to resolve a leaking o-ring. Thus, we are in all respects ready for sea,
or at least to proceed on to Bobby’s Fish Camp, about 93 miles down the
waterway.
The plan is to call the Demopolis lock master (the dam is just a couple of miles away) on the phone at around 0530 tomorrow morning to get a handle on when he can give us a drop. If it looks bad, back to sleep; otherwise, it will be hurry up and get moving! That will be our only lock for the day. Our last of fourteen locks is the Coffeeville lock just a mile or so south of Bobby’s Fish Camp where we will repeat tomorrow’s plan in an effort to see how far we can run in one day. The rain we had over the last two days, while not an inundation, should give us a pretty good shove downstream as we exit the locks. Winds are forecast from the NNW and not too strong tomorrow and more northerly but lighter the next day. We are hoping for enough sun to help warm the cabin because it is going to be in the low forties both days.
