November 9, 2008: Cochran Cutoff, Alabama

This morning we borrowed the van from Cove Marina and went to the Pickensville Baptist Church. The crossroads that is Pickensville is a flashing stop light and a small Police station with a big blue mailbox in front. Around the corner we found the First Baptist church with its street filled with cars and several little boys playing on the sidewalk. So we figured that Sunday School must already be out.

As we found our way into the large modern sanctuary we met Pastor Tim. Tim is a bivocational pastor who has served at this church for the past 15 years and is also employed by a firm selling educational software. The church had a grand piano that was played for the service and sang wonderful traditional hymns (He Lives) as well as some newer Christian songs (Shine, Jesus, Shine). It was a very friendly church and many people spoke to us during the pause in the service for a Christian greeting and also afterwards. They sang Happy Birthday to two members who were celebrating today, one little girl who was 6 and the other sweet lady who was 89. Entitled “Gifts Fit for a King”, the pastor’s sermon was on giving and his text, Genesis 43:11-14, drew on the example of what Israel prepared as his best gift for the ruler of Egypt in sending his sons. He sent honey and pistachio nuts... from a land that was in famine. The message was full of insight in identifying that we should give God our best. Pastor Tim’s humor made it easy to listen to his presentation, and he admitted that you never get an “Amen” when you’re preaching about giving. Tom and I enjoyed the fellowship with God’s people.

After soup and sandwich lunch on the boat we cast off into the chilly afternoon. We immediately pulled into the Bevill Lock where we had visited the Montgomery Snagboat yesterday. Tom’s guide book had suggested that we watch for the snowy white egrets at this lock, because they have been known to come when the horn blows. Sure enough, there was a beautiful white egret that came as the lock doors closed. As the water flowed out of the lock lowering the water level, he was fishing in the lock door for little fish that were stranded in the recesses of the doors. It was clear what he was doing, because he moved lower and lower on the door as the water receded 27 feet. It was a treat to watch him; the price of the book: $15.00, and knowing to look: Priceless.

We passed a tugboat pushing four empties upstream from Mobile. Tom chatted over the VHF radio with Captain Larry Barks who answered in a very interesting South Louisiana, French/Cajun accent. He was on his way to the Vulcan quarry on the Tennessee River to reload his barges with a load of riprap. He said he didn’t “have many ponies downstairs so his max was about 4 barges”, each weighing 1100 tons each. I guess it takes a lot of horsepower to manage that much weight.

It began to get really cold as the sun waned in the west, and we found our anchorage just where the TomBigbee crossed the Tenn-Tom waterway. So we are anchored in the old channel at a place the map calls Cochrane Cutoff.