Day Thirteen -  Saturday - Bashi Creek to Sunflower Cutoff

          Today is another long travel day as we hope to reach Sunflower Cutoff 72 miles downstream.  Today is also a milestone day.  We will lock through Coffeeville Lock and Dam and it is the very last lock heading south on the Tenn-Tom Waterway.  Once we pass through, AURORA will be at sea level and will have dropped an astounding 415 feet since Pickwick Dam.   That is a long way down even if it is only 30 or 40 feet at a time.   I was going to put a picture of a 40 story building in here and then I thought, “Just to satisfy those who need pictures in their reading material?”  Nope. No skyscraper pix today.  Sorry for you word challenged souls… I won’t mention any names, Jerry. 

          While I am thinking about this last lock and dam I cannot help but hear the voices in my head of my conservative friends (yes I have far more than you would imagine in spite of my liberal leanings) who eschew not only government mega projects paid for with tax dollars but generally wish to get rid of government in it’s entirety. Do I think there is government overreach? Of course! Are there useless people in government? Of course! Do I want to get rid of government? Let me just say that in my life, I have traveled in places without government. It was never pleasant. It was never a place I ever wanted to be then or again. Never. Not. Ever. Again.  And yes, I can hear those voices of close friends who excoriate me for my unbridled paranoia about Big Brother.  If truth be spoken, there are many things our government has done right.  Our National Park System is one, but right up there with that mega project is this Tenn-Tom Waterway and the entire system of locks and dams throughout the eastern half of the US.

And here is another personal observation.  AURORA has now traveled through a dozen locks and dams all of which work 24/7- 365 days a year manned by people who are employed by that Big Bad Government so many of us love to hate. And to a person, every one of them we came into contact with was helpful, gracious, friendly and courteous. And I mean EVERY single one we dealt with on this trip.  Not one individual had a bad day and was curt or discourteous to me, not one individual was arrogant when a newbie like me did or said something stupid, not one individual was anything but highly professional. Where in the world do they find these folks? I would have killed for employees with those attributes while I was in business. So thanks and gratitude to all those folks who safely dropped me from the equivalent of the top of a forty story building to the basement! I am quick enough to find fault with Big Brother and think it only fair I acknowledge a Big Brother success. Thank you. 

Our last lock at Coffeeville is no different than any of the previous ones except that locking through has become old hat and Brett is now multi-tasking. 

Locking and multi-tasking

I also want to point out the alacrity with which the herons and egrets use the leaky lock gates to scoop up small fish slipping through the openings. Oblivious to us, they are steadfastly focused on the warning bells as a lock begins to empty and swoop in to claim the best vantage point for acquiring snacks.  

Dennis on VELA NARCOSIS just ahead of me, radios to ask if I saw the alligator as we came out. We have finally arrived at sea level but still have many miles to go before we enter the Gulf so we are surprised about the gator. Both Brett and I grab our binocs and scan the shoreline. We see nothing but I am anxious to spot my first gator on this trip so for many, many, MANY miles I spend far more time scanning the overgrown shoreline than watching the chart plotter and my course headings.  Finally Brett, who has grown weary of the sharp corrections in my steering when I do look at the chart plotter, gently taps me on the shoulder tells me to go sit on the back deck and look for gators. I get the hint. I am still uncertain that Dennis is not laughing this very moment and telling everyone within earshot of RK’s erratic steering ever since “gator watch” commenced at his instigation.  One word, Dennis… Karma.  I expect to see you again and will demand answers. 

Tonight we will anchor on the river proper but outside of the navigation buoys to be well out of barge traffic lanes.  We’ve not seen a great many barges, averaging perhaps 2 or 3 a day as we’ve come down river but as I have mentioned, they are massive and a bit scary.  I do not expect to sleep well tonight knowing they will have to pass me while I am at anchor and am totally helpless should something go awry with their steering.  Our anchorage is on the main river but at a wide bend and any barge coming from either direction has plenty of room and can easily spot us from a long way off.  We give the required radio warning about anchored boats and our position but I wake and climb up to the pilot house several times during the night regardless.  Although the sound of the passing barges is noticeable, it is not overly loud. It is the incredible intensity of several million candlepower lumens from their spotlights invading my aft cabin as they scan the width of the river constantly checking buoys and shoreline that is so disconcerting in the black of a moonless night.  My aft cabin lights up as though a lightning flash has penetrated the decking.  I estimate 9 or 10 barges pass us in the night more than we’ve seen during any day the whole trip.  None come even close to us and my uneasiness is groundless. 

But my uneasiness is not groundless regarding the remnants of Hurricane Patricia and her precipitation amounts.  Flooding across Texas and continuing to blow towards us, she definitely is not dying out. We may have weather decisions to make on the morrow.