November 1, 2007 - Today' s journey is 88 miles to Bobby' s fish camp. The crew woke up early for a 7:00 AM cast off. Captain Kevin rushed to the dam to make the first AM lock through. We traveled 3.5 Miles to the Demopolis Lock and Dam, Demopolis, AL 213.2 LDB, 600' X 110'with a 30' Lift. The lock was full of with eight recreational vessels. We were quickly locked through and on way when Kevin noticed something wrong with the starboard engine. After some investigation we realized something was on the prop. It made a slapping sound, so we assumed it was a line. Kevin got out his wet suit, hookah (scuba diving regulator with an electric compressor, not a hashish pipe!) and necessary tools. With the supervision and carefully eyes of Barb, Ed and Debbie he dove in the water to check out the situation. Within a few minutes he was up with a 1" diameter rubber hose about 10 feet long that had wrapped it self on the prop.
We warmed up the captain with a large towel and our embraces. We took up the anchor and were on our way. The banks of the Waterway are smooth rock walls, rounded, shaped and carved by water. Moss grows on the rocks and hangs from the trees. For the next 6 miles the Waterway was beautiful. The lower end of the Waterway is known for its hairpin turns. Mile 187.7 is the first one and it's a real doozy. Although the Waterway is a scant thousand feet through the trees that we can see from the starboard side of the boat, we had to go almost three miles by water to get there. We have made reservations and confirmed our reservations this morning for Bobby's Fish Camp. The dock space at Bobby's can get used up fast, especially in the fall months when southbound transient traffic is the heaviest. Sometimes it is necessary for the boats to raft off other boats. The record for the number of rafted boats is 17 boats. We are hoping we don' t have to raft off. There is a restaurant on the premises that specializes in, yes, "CATFISH!" 
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