Still in Demopolis, AL-Tornado Warning!

Date             November 16, 2011
Day              141

Departure     No travel today                                        

Arrival          Kingfisher Bay Marina, Demopolis, AL        
Miles                0
Cumulative   3153.9

We have all heard that "things happen in threes".  Well, we have experienced our three today and I hope we are done!

1.  This morning we woke to a TORNADO WARNING.  Fortunately we didn't experience any severe weather, only some heavy rain and some moderate winds.  After the storm had gone by, I did hear sirens from the direction of downtown Demopolis and later learned that a motel had it's roof blown off.  Thankfully, there has been no report of anyone being hurt.  We did experience something that indicated a storm had passed, however.  We are approximately 1,000 feet from the shore and trees.  After the storm had passed, we found pine needles and small bits of leaves on the boat.  There was also a small pine bough on the dock.  These had to have been transported by the storm's wind!

Pine needles and debris on the foredeck

2.  After the storm passed, Lynda was on the back deck of our boat talking with Jim on Sweet Pea.  All of a sudden they both smelled a strange smokey smell.  The electric cord on Sweet Pea was smoking!  Due to Jim's quick reaction to the situation and immediately unplugging the bad cord, a potential crisis was averted. 

Jim with the melted cord

The sky after the storm passed

3.  We had talked of leaving the marina this afternoon and heading to an anchorage downriver a couple of miles, to stay for the night.  We learned that the lock, which is just beyond the anchorage and what we  have to go through to continue on down river, is not currently working.  They hope to have it fixed in a few hours, but aren't sure of the status.  So rather than leave the marina with the status of the lock unknown, we'd rather stay at a comfortable dock than be at anchor if the lock repair is going to take an extended time.  Again we will spend another night at Kingfisher Bay Marina (which is not a bad place to be!), where it is an easy walk down the dock to get the dogs to shore.