Four miles from our anchorage is the next lock. We had agreed on a 7am departure. Lauren and I got up around 5:30am, took Frank to shore and had the coffee going when we heard over the VHF the lockmaster would be ready and waiting for us at 7am. OK. we’re on schedule. Then I hear Trolly Molar pulling his anchor, and it’s only 6:20. Hmmm. We are ready, so we start our engine and prepare to follow along. A few minutes later, I hear Onward, who had anchored a few miles upstream, coming by and giving greetings to Molar. Now I feel like we have to go now. I ask Lauren to prepare, and we pull anchor. Lauren is awesome at steering the boat while we weigh anchor as I direct and secure the anchor from the bow. It is now 630am and we are on our way. I can see and hear Trinity getting going too as we pull out. We all arrive at the lock: Howell Heflin Lock and Dam. The four of us enter, and we are locked through. Now we are all heading to Kingfisher Marina in Demopolis, Alabama. Shortly after the lock is quite the view: The White Cliffs of Epes. “These white cliffs are located on the Tombigbee River at Epes, AL. They are part of the Selma Chalk formations which were deposited at about the same time as England’s famous White Cliffs of Dover. The cliffs at Epes are stunning in their own way.” We took turns getting pictures of our boats by them, and we slowed down so we could admire them a bit longer.
We are past the White Cliffs and I realize the steering is feeling funny. I add some fluid and it is good for a short time, then it feels loose again. WTF? Lauren has taken over the helm for me, and she comments on the loose steering. I run down to the rudder room and see a steady leak of steering fluid coming from the same piece I replaced this spring. As a refresher: upon launch this spring I had no steering- the fluid had leaked out of a copper tubing that had split a hole in it. It was refurbished by a plumbing supply store for six dollars. I never thought this would happen so quickly. The trip the rest of the way was intertwined with me pouring my backup steering fluid in it until I was out, then it was just trying to keep on down the middle of the river by over steering until the boat went one way, then over steering back the other way, creating a zig-zag down the river, which probably looked pretty strange to the fast boats that came past us later on in the day.
Eventually we came close to our destination, Kingfisher Marina, and we radioed in to the marina asking for instructions. They directed us to a slip and said someone will be on the dock to assist us. We were met by the harbormaster who runs a tight ship. She was in charge and let everyone know about it. Not by bragging she was the boss, but by her direction toward people and no mincing of words, and things WILL be done her way. We get tied up and secure and I head to the office for check in as directed. I am given the facilities information and take all of my information back to Lauren. At this point our friends on Trinity are pulling in after stopping at the fuel dock and waiting there for an hour, to a slip across from us on the same dock. I laugh as she admonished our friend for changing his mind from a port tie up to starboard, as that is where the power pedestal is. “You said port!” cried the dockmaster as Duane is tossing me a starboard line. “Move! I got this!” she told me, taking the line from me-“off the dock!” OK. I moved back to Klondike and finished tidying up our lines. I had advise them of our steering situation and Duane was more than happy to take a look at it with me. We huddle in the small rudder room and he sees the leak too. He gives me some advice, then has to leave to get ready for dinner to celebrate Sonja’s birthday, which is tomorrow, but they will be at anchor so they want to celebrate at a restaurant tonight. They have the courtesy car with another couple and are going to a Mexican restaurant in town.
Lauren and I take the bikes and ride over to the fuel dock, which is not easy to get to by land from our marina. We make it there as the shop is closing at 4pm and I find the steering fluid I need. This is going to be necessary once I get the leak fixed, but at $32 a quart, I am not going to pour it in and watch it leak out. I bought two just to be safe. We weren’t planning on going anywhere else, but Lauren suggested we ride a bit into town and see whats around. I agree, and think maybe we should stop at a Napa store for oil too since we’re here, as I need to do an oil change too. We biked around and saw the old, small square and tour through some of the downtown area. We then head over to Napa and I consult with them while buying the oil about my steering situation. They make hydraulic hoses for steering and could possibly help me tomorrow if I want to bring the piece in and they can look at it. I relay this info to Lauren and I am prepared to bike back here by 8am tomorrow morning to get this steering taken care of. We head back with our oil and steering fluid in Lauren’s basket on her bike; I can’t tell you enough how this basket has been handy! As we return, I get a call from Duane- they are back and he thinks we can fix it with hydraulic hose and an adapter from a tractor supply store. While on their way to dinner they passed such a store. All I have to do is get the courtesy car to get there. I call the harbormaster and inquire if the car would be available first thing in the morning? She tells me yes- then Duane says he will go with me tonight if we can get the car tonight? I call her back and inquire about tonight? “yes- it’s available tonight at 8pm.” Great! I disassemble the defective piece and all components. I get the car keys and let Duane know we’re in business. He meets me at the car and gives directions to the store. He knows what we are looking for and once in the correct aisle, he pieces together a replacement. All I have to do is install it. I can’ t wait to get back and get to work on this. We return the car, which requires me to ‘top it off’ and it only takes eighty nine cents worth of gas! We didn’t have to go far! Once the keys were dropped off, I went to work on the replacement. It didn’t take too long for me to install everything and then came the moment of truth: pour in the hydraulic steering fluid. I did and went downstairs to watch while Lauren turned the rudder. No leak! What a relief! I report back to Duane and thank him profusely for assisting me with this. They are leaving tomorrow morning and we will be staying one more night.
Day 2: Since we fixed the steering last night, today all I had to focus on was the oil change. This isn’t too hard but it can be a bit messy. There were some other small maintenance items I wanted to attend to as well, and by mid morning we went to work on our list. Lauren did a lot of cleaning while I tended to the engine. Later we finished up and decided we should make a last minute Walmart stop to add to our pantry as we will be anchoring out for three to four days on our way to Mobile. We got the car and went shopping. We again had to top off the fuel tank and this time it only took seventy eight cents, and gas was spilling down the side of the car! Lauren made fun of me for only putting that much in, but I couldn’t fit any more! We returned the car, had dinner and scoped out our next stop. We have to go through the Demopolis Lock and Dam first, and I tried to find out who was going and when. I was unsuccessful on finding anyone, so we decided we should be prepared for another 7am departure as that seems to be the time everyone else likes to leave. We also have a list of anchorages for the next 213 miles and only one marina in between, so we have some options…