Trick or Treat???

Today was full of Tricks and Treats. It actually started off with the worst Trick…FOG! We were all ready to go at 7 am…but we "DON'T DO FOG." Chris and Earl on Noble House don't either…so we stayed at the dock until after 9 am. Larry and Lenore on Champ III awoke to a lovely aquatic garden off their stern. That's the "treat" for being at the upstream end of the dock.

We had to wait 40 minutes for the Coffeeville Lock…our LAST lock until we reach the Okeechobee Waterway! Yippee! Now when I clean the fenders, they may stay clean for several weeks! After the water was lowered, the lock doors started opening, then closed again. Another "trick". We sat for 10 minutes thinking we were being held hostage…until we gave the lockmaster candy... but the problem, whatever it was, was resolved, and we finally started our day's journey. By now, we had a three hour delay and knew we wouldn't reach Dog River Marina in Mobile before 5pm. Plan B was to anchor at Mile 12.2, in Big Briar Creek, off the Tensas Cut Off.

Shortly after we left the lock we spotted a very fat alligator on the sandy shore…it was a "treat" seeing one, but the "trick" is that we are now in brackish water, with tides, even 100 miles north of Mobile Bay. Two miles beyond Mr. Gator, we passed three deer swimming with a very little one in the rear. Their swimming ability would be no match to an alligator's….let's not go there….

We saw another gator on the shore just where our GPS chart was labeled Alligator Slide! There are so many tree trunks strewn along the banks that it is actually hard to find an alligator when they are lying still. 

We passed 4 barges, and it was such a "treat" that 3 of the 4 were on the straight-away! There seems to be much less barge traffic than we experienced in 2010 when we were here. 

The closer we get to Mobile, the more commercial the scenery.

We haven't seen "traffic" in 200 miles...locals call this the Dolly Parton Bridge!

Flotsam under these bows would go "crunch in the night"!

Over the last 2 days several cruisers reported a dog running after boats at Mile 46 and circulated his/her picture. When one captain blew his horn, the dog started swimming out! Well, we were all prepared to "rescue" the dog, if he/she chose to come to our dinghy. We traveled slowly, whistling, scanning the shore with binoculars, but all to no avail. No Dog! There were several fishermen around, and we surmised that the dog had already been rescued. That would be a really big "treat"!!! Just after we passed Mile 46, I checked e-mail. Katie and Jessie on Louise wanted to know if we picked up the dog. If we hadn't, they were going to!

At Bobby's Fish Camp we were surrounded by rescue dogs….Candy, a Golden, on Champ III and Reggie on Louise. I think we're getting the message!!!

Reggie...a wonderful boat dog!

Speaking of Bobby's Fish Camp, we took pictures last night after our delicious meal! Bobby's Fish Camp on the Tombigbee is an iconic place…just like Hoppies is on the Mississippi!

 An alligator-gar from around here

Every day is Halloween at Bobby's!

If I were a deer, I'd prefer this over getting eaten by an alligator...

We anchored around 4:30. There was already one boat here…another catamaran…Copacetic, an Endeavor Powercat that we met at Hoppies! The world is getting smaller!