We’ve decided that anchoring is awesome. At least, it’s awesome when the weather is perfect.

We awoke to the blaring alarm – thankfully not the anchor alarm – in the pre-dawn. I made some coffee and stepped onto the back deck to see the first rays of the sun creeping to reclaim the sky from the waning crescent moon before. The air was crisp (about 45 degrees) with a light breeze. The quiet occasionally punctured by the pop of a twig or splash of a fish as the wildlife stole the last moments of protective darkness. It was beautiful.

We pulled the dinghy back up and got ready to retrieve our anchor. It was another first of a trip of many, many firsts. Thankfully, with a little coordination, the anchor came up clean and easy. Wendy used the washdown to clean the anchor and rode while I idled back into the river. We were welcomed by one of the more beautiful sunrises I’ve ever seen.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. The Howell Heflin lock was open and ready for us when we arrived. We had to wait about half an hour for a couple of Loopers to catch up, so we took the opportunity to enjoy a little breakfast. After exiting the lock, we cruised at about 1,200 rpm or 10 mph for the rest of the 50 or so miles to Demopolis.

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We passed by the white cliffs of Epes and closed in on Demopolis. This stretch of the river is very rural with the wooded banks punctuated by the occasional rustic abode. We only saw a handful of fishermen this day.

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When we arrived at Kingfisher Bay Marina in Demopolis, we fueled up and found our slip. There is a daily captain’s meeting / docktales at 1600 every day to prepare to go through the Demopolis Lock in the morning. We arranged to lock through with seven other Loopers at first light.

Dinner, check engines, clean up, and that’s the day!