Columbus Marina, MS to Kingfisher Bay Marina, Demopolis, AL

We stayed 4 nights in Columbus, Mississippi. Each day was in the teens, with Tuesday being exceptionally bitter cold with wind chills below zero.

ICY

It is so cold during our stay that the marina water starts to freeze and the marina’s water lines DO freeze. Therefore, no additional water for our tanks during our stay; conservation is the name of the game now. At the marina building, however, we manage to do two loads of laundry in their laundry room. Unfortunately, though the water lines to the washers weren’t frozen, the drains from them were. Water flooded the room causing a wet mess for the staff . 💦

Thankfully, we had access to a loaner car during our stay which allowed us to get off the boat at times. It was nice to run several errands during our down time, including purchasing additional warmer clothes from a nearby TJ Maxx. Two things aided us tremendously during our cold confinement onboard during these bitter days and nights: heating pads (one for each of us!) and a subscription to Starlink. With reliable access to the internet, we were able to binge on the NFL football playoff games along with the most important game of all… the college football championship game. Congratulations to our OSU Buckeyes!! Awesome game!😊

By Thursday, the temperatures moderated slightly, reaching the mid 20’s during the early morning hours. At this point, warm enough for us! Our destination is Demopolis, AL.

This morning, as we departed our slip, we had our first experience of using Prime 11 as an ice breaker. The ice crackled and crunched as she fought her way through.

Crunch, crunch, crunch

Our trip today to Demopolis, AL is approximately 115 miles with 3 locks.

At Demopolis, we will leave the Tenn-Tom waterway and enter the Black Warrior River, which will take us south towards Mobile. Demopolis, while a small town with population under 7,000, is a huge stop for boaters along the Tenn-Tom providing fuel and water along this very isolated route.

Our trip today was very scenic, due perhaps to the bright sunlight, or the warmer temperatures, or just simply a different view out the windows. Likely, all three reasons combined!

As soon as we leave Columbus Marina, we come upon our first lock of the day, Stennis Lock. We call the lockmaster prior to leaving our slip and schedule the opening. At 7:30 am, we arrive to the lock with the chamber opened and a green light. Again, we are alone. A good start to the day!

The decks are a still icy, so I am careful when catching the mooring post with our line. One lock down, two to go.

We cruise pass a flock of American White Pelicans, who seem to be enjoying the sunshine.

The White American Pelican can be 2 times bigger than the Brown Pelican. Weighing up to 30lbs, the White American Pelican has the 2nd largest average wingspan of all North American birds, just behind the California Condor. It also differs from the Brown Pelican as it does not dive for food, but catches its prey while swimming. They eat about 4 lbs of fish per day.

About 27 miles down river, we come upon the Tom Bevill Lock. Adjacent to the lock are two tourist attractions for those many visitors of Pickensville, Alabama. The first is the U.S. snagboat Montgomery.

The Montgomery was in operation from 1926-1959. It is called a snagboat as it traveled up and down the rivers removing hazardous sunken logs, called “snags”. It now sits on the riverbank as a historical exhibit as one of the last two steam powered sternwheelers remaining in the U.S. The rivers could certainly use a snagboat today as snags are quite plentiful!

Next to the Montgomery is the Tom Bevill Visitor Center.

The visitor center is a reproduction of a Greek Revival Antebellum home (1930-1960) and was built in 1984. It houses exhibits on the Tenn-Tom Waterway and was named for former U.S. Representative from Alabama, Tom Bevill, who chaired the congressional committee approving funding for the waterway project. Admission is free.

Today, the attractions are deserted, similar to our lock chamber. We are solo again in our passage.

I suppose the river today is just “for the birds” as we do not pass much other marine traffic, besides the occasional barge and crazy avid duck hunters. While it is a little warmer, it is still a cold day and ice is slow to melt.

The blue sunny skies provide the perfect backdrop to the White Cliffs of Epes.

The White Cliffs of Epes, formed roughly 80 million years ago, around the same time as their famous cousin, The White Cliffs of Dover. They are made up of microscopic algae shells that drifted to the seafloor creating a massive chalk formation that spans three states. The chalk is so dense that it doesn’t allow water to pass through them. The chalk also produced a rich soil ideal for cotton growth.

We pull into Kingfisher Bay Marina around 2 pm. We head to the fuel dock to fill up with diesel. The water at every dock is turned off. However, the friendly dock hand was kind enough to lug the marina office’s water hose down the hill and to our boat. We now have a tankful of water!

We tie up in our slip, choosing an uncovered dock for Starlink purposes, and spend the rest of the day finishing our laundry, preparing dinner, and enjoying a little longer of a hot shower!

Kingfisher Bay Marina has one of the better laundry facilities with a large TV, books and games. Only issue is that the washers are one side of the room and the dryers way on the other. A man, wanting to give his woman some steps, must have designed this floor plan. 😜

All in all, a good day on the river with only one small fishing/duck hunting boat semi-waked. It’s amazing that anyone would be out fishing in this cold, dressed in camouflage, in a camouflaged boat, and hiding in the brush blames you for not seeing him. 🙄

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