DEMOPOLIS November 18, 2008

Last evening our locking friends stopped about two miles up river from us. We had Sumpter Recreation Area (above) Mile 269.9 to ourselves. We set the alarm for 6 but found that getting up was not so easy. We did not have ice on the outside of Catrina like yesterday morning but we also did not have electric to run our furnace last night. We had warmed the bedroom up with our ceramic heater before hopping into bed but by morning it was so chilly! Debbie had to shake Tom to make him get up. The sun as we left our secret hideway was just visible.

Nights are usually in the low 30's and days windy and (hopefully) not rainy with temps in the high 50's or low 60's. It is the wind and humidity that makes it so cold. Some people ask how we keep warm. Debbie layers clothing with warm socks, shoes, underwear and sometimes a tank top, tops and bottoms of long underwear, slacks, polar fur pullover or sweatshirt, wind and water proof pants, zippered polar fur, jacket with lining and hood and cap and mittens. Tom wears slacks, long sleeved shirt, jacket and hat. Our testerone levels are different! Debbie also gets up at least 5 minutes earlier than Tom just to get all the layers in place!

We continue to see green lily-like vegetation along the shores and floating in the river

I mentioned earlier that the air/heat furnace works off electricity. We can run the generator and use the furnace but so far we have used our little hearter sporadically and only in the bedroom to keep the boat warm. At night Debbie wears a long nightgown, jacket, slacks and socks. She has a hat and mittens if needed. Tom sleeps nude but sometimes wears a hat or hides under the covers so all you see is a lump! We have heard that opposites attract!

As we pull out of Sumpter, a barge psses us. With only three miles to go we did not even try to pass him. We knew the pusher would have already called in and gets preference at Heflin Lock. We drop anchor up river of the lock and wait. Soon three boats from yesterday and a new one join us. They are all headed for Demopolis yacht Basin.

Low sand cliffs and walls of light, crumbly rock appear along the river but most of the time it is scrub and trees. The leaves are brown or gone. Rarely is there any sign of human beings. We knew cell or internet reception was spacy and so is the population!

We were on the river by 6:30 and after many hours we departed the Heflin Lock at 9 a.m. This was much slower than we anticipated. If we thought it would take 2 1/2 hours to go three miles, some of us would have stayed in bed! The trawlers took off and we wandered along the curves at 8 mph.

The Cliffs of Epes were a wonder surprise, Mile 248.8. We will have to locate a native and ask what the type of rock is in these Cliffs.

The last 32 miles we passed a couple barges and enjoyed the countryside.

Demopolis Yacht Basin is an older marina with many different types and vintage of boats. One older building contained the shower and wireless, another a marine store, mast raising facilities ($400 plus labor) and a fuel station. We were the last of five boats to arrive so we got the bitter end spot on the end of a far out dock. A neighboring boater grabbed our line and asked if we knew about the underwater cables. No one told us and we hooked one with a rudder or motor. Fortunately, Tom was going very slowly so we did not sever it. We talked to the head maintenance man Fred. He promised to help us get out tomorrow. He also lent us the maintenance truck to run to town. We ate at Farmhouse Restaurant - a buffet of overcooked food. Showers next. We only had one key so we shared. Tom watched TV after dinner while Debbie went to the wireless shower building to work on this blog. Our boat was too far away to pick up their wireless.

We closed up for the coldest night yet. We were happy to have electric so we could run the furnace!