Rollin' on down the river

 

Saturday 9 January 2021 Bobby’s Fish Camp near Coffeeville, AL

This day went well, as we got underway at 0620 and were through the Demopolis lock by 0710.  We ran at 2500 RPM making up to 13-plus MPH at times.  Along the way the overcast and leafless trees on either bank made for a very dreary passage, but at least the blinding glare of the winter sun we have experienced on sunny days was not an issue.  In total, we saw one southbound tow, two northbound tows, one yacht bound for Chattanooga from Annapolis, various bird life and two pigs swimming the river, one adult and one piglet.  Goodness knows what forced those two into the river.

Upon arrival at Bobby’s, we went alongside their tee-dock at the south end where the fuel pump is located.  An earlier phone call to the listed number connected me to a Laura Jane who admitted to ownership of the place and who told me that she would send her husband down to attend to the fueling but that we would wait a bit for him to show.  Apparently, they do not live on premises which in addition to the office and former restaurant up the hill a hundred yards consists of a few small ramshackle waterfront houses which I would term “rustic” with the associated pickup trucks and detritus found in “alternative” communities.

An hour after we arrived the man of the hour, decked out in full camouflage, arrived in his Gator four-wheeler and shouted down the hill that I could start pumping.  With winds roaring right down the river and air temperature 41 degrees Fahrenheit, pumping 120 gallons of gas into the tanks was a chilly process indeed.

During the last hour of our run today, we picked up speed to 2800 RPM to see how the engines behaved and the associated fuel usage.  Remembering that this boat ran at 4400 RPM making 22 MPH during its sea trial, there was not much concern for bad things happening.  By sticking the tanks both before and after the hour-long test, we found that the boat uses 20 gallons of gasoline per hour at that RPM and that with the push of the river, we were making 14 MPH. 

This information helps us determine if we will be anchoring out north of Mobile tomorrow or if perchance, we could make the entire 130-mile run through that city and to Dog River Marine 14 miles south of it.  We need a reserve of 10-20% of our fuel to ensure we don’t end up running short which means there is roughly 200 of our 240 gallons of gas we can plan to burn.  At 2800 PRM making at least 13 MPH, we would arrive in ten hours just at sunset (we have no radar) having burned 200 gallons.  Coffeeville lock, two miles away, will be our last lock before entering tidal waters where our predictable river current no longer pertain.  If we stop making that 13 MPH speed due to tidal effects, we will be in the dark arriving at Dog River as well as eating into our reserve fuel supply.  We will see how things go tomorrow and play it by ear as we near the anchorage north of the city.

Tonight’s low temperature is predicted to be 25 degrees F.