Great Loop Adventures Aboard Next Chapter: Nowhere Alabama

Bobbys Fish Camp

On Saturday morning we had planned to make a 60 mile run down the Tombigbee to an anchorage however Mother Nature had a different plan. When we reviewed the weather in the morning there was a pretty ominous line of storms, meaning lots of red on the radar, marching directly east. It was looking that we would run onto them sometime after 11 am. And that’s just what happened. The good news was there was a place to pull off and tie up called Bobby’s Fish Camp. It used to be one of these iconic Looper places but has since fallen into further decay with the restaurant being closed and no other real facilities. The place is truly a fish and hunting camp located in the middle of nowhere. In fact we spoke to a fellow with his grandson as they were headed out to try to bag a wild boar. Well when we arrived we realized we were not the only Loopers that had the same idea. The dock generally has room for about 4 boats and even that is a stretch. Well by time we tied up the dock was three deep and there was 12 boats.

The rain had set in but fortunately on significant wind or lightning. The rain let up later in the afternoon but it was still pretty gloomy. Docktails were on Knot Dreaming which was the boat we were rafted to. Sue had a planned dinner aboard that we shared with the crew from Tomijean. The owner of Bobbys offered to open the shuttered restaurant for us to watch Alabama play football. He even bought everybody a couple of beers!

The next morning the fog set in even though it was forecast to be sunny later.

This is when we met the first Looper we did not care for aboard Only Fools Rush In. The Looper rumor mill was lit up from previous stories about this crew and them not playing on the Loop. You will see in a minute why their boat name is so appropriate. Well they insisted in leaving very early in the fog. They were dockside so two other boats had to break away to let them out.

The crazy part is the final lock at Coffeeville was only 2 miles down river. Remember locks don’t like to lock one or two boats every half hour. Well those that were waiting out the fog organized to hopefully send them a bit of a message. When they got to the lock and we heard them communicate, one by one of the rest of us radioed the lock and let them know that we were going to lock thru also.

That meant the Only Fools Rush In waited for over an hour for the rest of us to get to the lock and get tied up. How bout them red apples! Well as predicted the sun came out and we had a nice cruise to our intended anchorage at Alabama Cutoff. It also meant passing thru the last lock which brought us over 200 locks since starting the Loop.

In addition we would now be entering tidal waters and in the land of alligators. We began to see the flora and fauna change to a more southern scrub with Palmetto, Swamp Oak and Spanish moss covered Cypress trees. And yes we spotted our first alligator sunning on the bank. Four of us pulled into the anchorage and settled in for the night. Sue and I launched the dinghy and rode up the cut on an alligator hunt.

We cruised a couple of miles up this cut but no luck until right when we got back to the boat Sue spotted a small gator up on the shore. He would serve as our watch dog for the night. Docktails were aboard Next Chapter and a communal meal aboard Tomijean. Some were excited as we would be leaving the river system the next day by entering Mobile Bay.

Just a baby gator. I was trying to convince the captain from Knot Dreaming, and also a Canadian, that catching one of these guys was a right of passage to cruise the Alabama water. I would be happy to coach him through the process. You can imagine the funny commentary that followed.