Demopolis to Columbus

Demopolis Northward to Columbus

Sorry for the lengthy delay between updates. We are now actually in our home port, but I will continue to update the blog as if we were moving daily.

Our layover in Demopolis was very nice. We arrived at a decent hour (3pm) and after checking in at the fuel dock, we were assigned our overnight slip. Once in the slip we noticed there were but only two 30amp power receptacles in the connection box and no 50amp receptacle. I do have an adapter that will allow us to connect to the two 30amp receptacles and provide a single 50amp power source, but either because of operator error or a failure of the equipment; I wasn’t able to get power on the boat. My only solution was either to connect two 50 foot power cords so as to reach the only 50amp receptacle or move the boat to another slip. I explained my dilemma to the Harbor Master and they had an easy solution! They would put in a 50amp power source at my current slip and would do it ASAP! Wow!!! Talk about customer service! Within thirty minutes an electrician was at the slip and replaced one 30amp service with a 50amp service. Presto… power to run everything!

Since we had been “on the hook” the last five days, our provisions needed restocking and as with many marinas, a courtesy car was available for doing such errands. We had the car reserved for the hours between 6pm and 8pm, but Wayne (the night watchman) told us to keep it as long as we wanted and if there was a request for the car he would call me on my cell phone. We then embarked on our mini tour of Demopolis and the re-provisioning of BlissFull.

The homes in Demopolis were absolutely beautiful! In my opinion there is no better example of Southern Elegance as there is from a well taken care of antebellum home. And the streets were lined with them up one side and the other! As the night began to fall, you could see the “haunting decorations” of the upcoming Halloween evening! We finished our mandatory stop at Wal-Mart then found a local restaurant that promised a good seafood and steak menu!

Just one comment about the Demopolis Marina; in several resource documents, there has been negative comments made about this Marina and its staff. Yes, the docks are worn and could be very hazardous to splinter prone feet, the marina lounge has seen better days and the laundry facility needs to be updated, but all of that was overshadowed by the sincerity of the warm and friendly staff as well as the fellow cruisers staying there. So, if you are undecided whether to stop or continue… I recommend you stop and enjoy the sights, the people and of course that good ol’southern hospitality.

The next morning we were up and off as the sun began peeking over the horizon. The river was a little foggy and I was truly proud of my radar. Since we had three locks to transit today, I wasn’t sure what my progress would be. I had heard from several other cruisers of lengthy delays waiting as a commercial tow was transitioning the lock. As it should be, those of us using the waterways for pleasure should come behind those using the locks for business. Fortunately we were able to make good time and only experiencing one minor delay as a group of ten boats transited the lock. We had several choices of anchorages that night and we made 71 miles to the Cochran Cutoff for our overnight stay. Once again, the experience and beauty of spending the night on “the hook” was exceptional! I am starting to truly enjoy this anchoring thing!

The next day we departed our anchorage shortly after 8am since our journey today was going to be a relatively short segment.

Almost immediately after leaving our anchorage we came upon a dredging operation. Many of these dredging companies are contracted by the Corp of Engineers to maintain the integrity of the channel along the waterway and there are certain protocols and procedures as you approach these operations. We gave them a call on channel 16 to inquire about transiting their area. There are times they are actually dredging in the channel itself and you have to wait while they disconnect everything to allow you to pass, but today they were working on the edge and we had a clear passage through their area.

The further we moved northward, we began to see vast improvements in our speed over the ground (displayed as SOG on the GPS). We now were going almost 8mph!!! I even decided to turn my hat backwards for fear of losing it in the strong wind!!!

The weather was starting to improve in the temperature in the temperature arena and we are beginning to see more barge traffic as we go north.

We arrived at Columbus shortly after 4pm and were welcomed by “T” (harbor master) and Al and JoAnn Barr from the boat “My Turn”. Al Barr had been very helpful in providing guidance on overnight anchorages while Kris and I moved from Mobile to Demopolis, so it was important for me to see him first hand and thank him for his help!

Later that evening we were the guests of Al and JoAnn on their Defever 44 for cocktails and snacks. Kris and JoAnn immediately became good friends while Al and I swapped common interest stories of flying. While we were there, we were joined by another Defever 44 owner (Charlie Liffick from “Slow Flight”) and coincidentally was a retired commercial airline pilot.

It would be hard to put into words the gracious hospitality Al, JoAnn and Charlie showed to us while we were moored at the Columbus Marina. There seems to be a special bond between fellow aviators; Al is a combat wounded Marine helicopter pilot, while Charlie served our nation flying the Birddog in Vietnam. Al continued his service to our country in the FBI while Charlie continued his flying at a major airline. Kris and I decided to stay a second night at Columbus so we could continue the fellowship of our cruising friends.

The next night we gathered with several other cruisers in the “social area” of the marina before we walked over to “Woody’s” for a great supper. One of the attractions to the cruising lifestyle is the opportunity to meet wonderful people and this was no exception!

The boat moored next to us was completing their Great Loop aboard a Four Winns power boat. They had already completed a Circumnavigation of the WORLD aboard their sailboat. This in of itself is a herculean feat, but they passed around both “Horns”…. Located on the southern tips of Africa and South America! I tried to learn as much I could about their three year adventure in the short time we were moored next to them. Another truly interesting gentleman was a fellow traveling alone on the Great Loop aboard a 19 foot American Tug. I honestly believe we will read more about his interesting voyage in widely circulated magazine. I could fill this entire blog with the number of interesting people and I wouldn’t be able to describe the wonderful folks we have come in contact with.

Al and JoAnn left for their home in Texas on Friday and we originally had planned to leave Columbus that day as well, but like all good plans…..

I had a very important conference call set up for Saturday morning at 10am and it was imperative I have a solid cell signal to conduct this call. With the experience of the spotty reception along the waterway we decided to delay our departure until Saturday after the meeting. We struggled with the desire to get home after spending over three weeks on the road, but decided it was best to wait an extra day.

The conference call was completed and now it was time to get on the “river” again.

As I began the “preflight” process and starting the GENSET, everything was progressing normally. I then went to start the port engine and nothing….nada…zippola… I try the starboard engine….. ditto… nothing there either! Dang, must be dead batteries. But how could they be dead? We have been on shore power for 4 days and I do have a battery charger that is supplied by AC 110 volt power!!!

I look over at my electrical panel and notice the circuit breaker labeled “WASHER/ Battery Charger” is flipped to the OFF position. Aha….There is my problem… but how did it get selected OFF???? I certainly don’t remember turning it off, but no problem, just flip it back on…let the batteries recharge and then on my way.

I let the batteries charge for a couple of hours and make another attempt to restart the engines. The port side starts almost immediately while the starboard would barely turn over. I decide the best thing to do is let the batteries charge for a few more hours longer and try again. It was getting late and I had already made the decision to stay another night and try again tomorrow, so we weren’t going anywhere.

As I was making the second attempt to start the engines, there happened to be a couple of diesel mechanics by the boat who diagnosed my situation as a “dragging starter” and not a battery issue. I was a little suspicious with the coincidence of multi failures in separate systems, but hey… they were the professionals. Their theory was starting to look like the real thing after I had swapped the battery from the “good side” to the side that wouldn’t start and the symptoms stayed. What I thought was the bad battery started the port engine without any trouble. If it truly was a battery problem, then logically the problem “should” follow the battery, but it didn’t!

I knew there was a place in Columbus where I could have my starter checked, so I take the starter off and find a ride to town to have the starter analyzed. I find the store, we hook it and “spin the motor”. The “young man” tells me in “his opinion” my starter is bad and I should immediately purchase a new one from his store. In my “opinion” the starter is fine and works as advertised. I return to the marina and along with Charlie Liffick’s help I put a new “loaner” starter on the engine. Just a side note, Charlie’s boat (another Defever 44) had been set up for long range, independent cruising and had many many spare parts, one which was a starter! Now if the problem was truly the starter, and once I replace it, then it should start without a problem…. Right?????

Yes, you guessed it! Same symptom! A lethargic rotation of the engine with no start! Dang…. Is it something other than the starter or battery? Could it be a problem with the engine? A hydraulic lock somewhere? My mind was racing…..this was turning into something serious. It was late and Charlie and I decide to call it a night and start fresh in the morning.

That night I dreamed about engines… I dreamed about solutions…. I dreamed about single engine cruising!!!! To say the night was restless was an understatement.

There was something I hadn’t tried the day before and that was to “bypass” the cables from the battery going to the starter. This was something I was going to do first thing in the morning when I get up. However before the sun was up I hear this knocking on the door and it is Charlie. He also was thinking about my problem through the night and had come to the same solution. In his opinion it had to be the cables from the battery to the starter; after all this is a 20 year old boat and cables do deteriorate. We bypass the cables and cross our fingers for a good rotation….. ugghhhhh, still the same thing. A slow lethargic rotation of the engine.

I have one more idea and that is to put both batteries in parallel and see if that will improve the rotational speed of the starter. Both engine batteries are less than one year old and are considered to have relatively larger cranking amperage, but keep in mind they were drained DEAD! I hook up the port battery to the starboard battery and press the start button!!!! SUCCESS!!!! The engine starts.

Now I have located the problem and it is after all the batteries! It appears the boat needs a little more battery for starting and sustaining “house power” while without shore power. I now need to add more battery power, especially for the starboard side which also supplies the majority of the “house power”. The solution is easy so I decide to purchase a battery from the local marina and then hook them up in parallel to begin our trip northward!

What happened next is what cruising friends are all about and that is the extreme hospitality shown to basically a stranger passing through. I won’t go into the boring details, but the management of the Columbus Marina is second to NONE! They provided me with the additional battery capacity I needed and saw to it we were safely on our way. Thanks Mr. T.!!!

We got underway that morning at 1030!

Oh, did I mention how the battery charger got turned OFF?? The admiral of my boat has made it very clear she was NOT going to wash clothes on the boat. You see, the washing machine/dryer is located just past the engines which require a little agility and balance to get to, and it was made clear to me that THAT wasn’t going to happen!!! When we left Indiantown Marina three weeks before, she noticed the circuit breaker labeled WASHER in larger font, but didn’t notice the small font reading “battery charger”. Since the WASHER wasn’t going to be used, there was no sense in having this breaker closed, so she opened it thinking it would save power usage. Because we were on the move constantly the batteries were being charged from the daily use of the alternators from the engines, but since we were on shore power with the battery charger OFF the 12 volt side of the system was being constantly drained, hence a dead battery.

Oh…. Did I mention forgiveness is the key to a good marriage????

Tell the next time.

Rusty and Kris