Traveling the Great Loop

Nov. 23; Day’s run: 95mi.

The Black Warrior River, the main tributary joining the Tombigbee River, is named after Chief Tushkalusa of the Choctaw Indigenous people. The English translation of Tushkalusa is ‘Black Warrior’.

It was American Thanksgiving and in celebration, we planned to cook a boneless turkey breast  for dinner that night. I could use some of the leftovers in turkey soup. But how would I make soup broth without turkey bones? While shopping at Walmart the night before, I spotted packaged chicken feet at the meat counter.  I grew up on beef tongue and chicken giblets but feet? My mother never introduced us to those.

Before we left the Kingfisher Marina near Demopolis the previous morning, I already had the broth started. While we were delayed in the lock, I had time to throw in the feet and add some vegetables. An aroma of chicken soup waffled through the boat all day long. Never before have I had the soup ready before the turkey had been cooked!

En route to Okatuppa Creek

Okatuppa Creek runs off the Tennessee River through Choctaw County, Alabama.

Creeping gingerly up the creek we watched for low depth soundings, anchored stumps and floating logs among brackish water.

The creek runs through the Choctaw National Wildlife Refuge and is too narrow for a single boat to swing on an anchor. We searched for where we could set a bow and stern anchor and not be under low hanging branches.

After setting the bow anchor, we lowered the dinghy and dropped a second anchor a few feet off the stern.

It is our custom, when anchoring in secluded locations, to plot an exit for when darkness falls; an emergency way out if needed: follow a beam from a lighthouse, a visual dead reckoning to a hilltop, something that would give direction if visibility was low. There was nothing here we could pinpoint other than the bow was pointing upstream and the stern towards the river. We would need to pivot the boat in tight quarters and feel our way around a curving of the creek to the river. We would not need to use the plan, but it felt good that we had thought it through.

It was dark when I cooked the turkey breast and heated some veggies. After diner, I took the spotlight outside and scanned the surrounding area. The night was deeply black, still and quiet. We went to bed and easily feel asleep. During the night, I was woken by the sound of an engine; a brilliant light sent a beam through the cabin illuminating it in an untimely glow. My first thought was unwanted visitors. I woke Mike; it was 3:00 in the morning. He said he had read that fishermen were known to use the creek. At 3:00 am, I thought?

It had been a highspeed boat driving insanely fast. Passing, it created a wake strong enough to significantly rock our boat. Letting go my thought that we had unwanted visitors, my thinking turned to concern for the fisherman; logs, stumps, bow and stern anchor lines, hanging branches over the creek, and little room to maneuver between us and shore. He must be familiar with the geography of the creek, I thought. But familiarity cannot account for constantly changing obstacles in his path. I took from his careless maneuvering that there was a message in his actions.

Not long afterwards, a second boat, traveling at lower speeds, approached. His green navigation light reflected off something inside our cabin and by the length of time that it stayed there, we could tell that the boat had slowed, or maybe stopped and was hovering alongside. We listened for anything that might confirm that he was in contact with the boat. But nothing; he carried on.

While it was still dark, and before we rose from bed, both boats retraced their paths to the river; the speed demon repeating his performance.

According to the Alabama Office of Water Resources, Alabama has more species of freshwater turtles than the rest of North America combined, 52% of the continent’s species.