A BEAUTIFUL RIVER
By: Kenneth Cole
Our family has had the privilege of traveling a very beautiful and unspoiled river. It is the great Alabama River. The Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers feed the Alabama River. Both rivers originate in west Georgia and form the Alabama between Wetumpka and Montgomery, Alabama. The Coosa River, being the largest tributary, has many lakes, including Lakes Jordan, Mitchell, Lay, Logan Martin, Neely Henry, and Weiss. The Tallapoosa River has 4 lakes in Alabama including Lakes Thurlow, Yates, Martin, and Harris.
Wetumpka is the northern most point of navigation on the Coosa/Alabama River. It is also the end point of a 7-mile white water adventure which starts just below Jordan Dam. It is from Wetumpka that we begin our trip down the Coosa/Alabama River. There is a good ramp and park in Wetumpka to launch our houseboat, and load up all of the supplies we need. Our houseboat is a 1974 Surfside, 31.5 x 11.5, fiberglass monohull, with a single 160 hp 6 cylinder Mercruiser I/O. We bought the boat in 1979 and completely rebuilt the cabin, in 1980 thru 1983, using only the hull and hardware, such as windows, cables, engine, etc. We have a personal watercraft lift/swim platform on the back that we can carry one of our Yamaha Waverunners on or use as a swim platform that can be lowered to about 4 inches below the water with an electric winch. This is by far the best addition we have ever made to the houseboat, since it allows us to swim most anywhere at anytime along the trip. A friend and myself designed and built it. Across the river from the ramp is a set of locks that were built back in the early 1900’s. There are a number of these locks along the Coosa River north of Wetumpka. Some were completed and some were not, as the one in Wetumpka.
As we leave Wetumpka, heading down river about 5 miles, we go by Fort Toulouse/Jackson. It is at this point where the Tallapoosa River just touches the Coosa River. The Tallapoosa turns away from the Coosa for about 3 miles to form Parker’s Island. The Coosa is somewhat narrow, which makes it easy to see all the wild life along the banks, the most prevalent being the Great White & Great Blue Herons. About a mile past the fort, A Canal enters the river. This is the "tail race" from Walter Boultin Dam that shares water with Jordan Dam. Walter Bouldin is a more efficient generating plant than Jordan Dam and was built in the late 60’s. The canal was dug through a swamp and the earth walls are full of beautiful colors, especially purple. As we go around Parker’s Island, we pass the ferry that farmers use to access the island where they raise crops and cattle. Soon we see the Tallapoosa enter the Coosa and we are now in the Alabama. Immediately the river widens and the bends are much larger. A few miles down stream we see the entrance to Jackson’s Lake, which appears to have been formed by the river changing course. It has Cyprus trees and an access park. About 28 miles, after leaving Wetumpka, we go by Montgomery with the old smokestacks, Montgomery Marina, and Union Station. The skyline is really pretty with all the new State buildings surrounding the Capital Building. Approximately 5 miles past Montgomery, Muscle Island is on the right. It is one of the many nice sandbars along the Alabama where people gather with their boats on the weekend to swim, ride personal watercraft and ski.
After traveling 43 miles, the first day is ended at Gunter Hill Park. Gunter Hill is a Corp of Engineers Park that has over a hundred full service camping sites, except for sewer hook-up, along the banks of Catoma Creek. There are just a few sites that are accessible for a houseboat, so we reserve our favorite site on the Internet weeks prior to our trip. The park attendants know us and tell people that use our favorite site that they are staying on the houseboat site. All our nights are spent at Corps of Engineer parks. They are very nice and well kept with bathhouses, washateria, playgrounds, etc. We pull our 150 foot cord out of the boat and plug up to the electrical outlet. We run the A/C, ice maker, and small refrigerator on the boat so the power cord has to be heavy duty. This particular site is 140 feet from the water and about 15 feet higher in elevation. We run a water hose up to the site and fill the tank at least once a day, since we only have a 30-gallon tank on the boat.
On the second day, we left Gunter Hill and headed down river. Just 2 miles down stream, we go by Pintlalla Creek, which has a marina about 1 ½ miles up the creek from the river. Pintlalla Creek is deep enough for a houseboat, but is too narrow for a houseboat much larger than ours to make the bends. The first sign of civilization that day was Swift Creek. The first time we went by there in 1993, there was just a little store that had ice and snacks. Now, along with the store, there was camping trailers, mobile homes, and pontoon boats. After traveling about 30 miles that day we pulled in at Langley’s to gas up. It is one of the few places to buy gas. Langley’s is located about 7 miles down a dirt road to the nearest pavement. We drove there weeks before the trip to make sure they were still selling gas and the rough road almost shook the car to pieces. We carried 6 six-gallon containers of gas for the waverunners and the boat tanks hold a total of 75 gallons. Our houseboat gets between 2 and 3 mpg, at a constant RPM of 2100 and a speed of about 7-MPH while pulling the waverunners and between 8 and 9 MPH without them.
Our second day travels end at Prairie Creek Park, which is about a mile up river from Robert F. Henry Lock and Dam. The last time we were there, 7 years ago in 1993, they did not have electricity at the camp sites, but now they not only have electricity but have built new flat sites right on the waters edge. They also have many new sites under construction, each with a wooden bench next to the water. With a new bathhouse within 200 feet of the boat, it was a great opportunity to drain the holding tank. Without a pumpout station, you have to do the best you can. Our setup consist of a hand pump and 2 five gallon buckets. My wife said that if she had to do that job, we would never again go on a houseboat trip.
We pulled 2 Yamaha Waverunners with us behind the boat. We found it was better to pull both of them instead of pulling one and loading the other on the lift. I made 2 towropes similar to the Towdsters that are on the market. They each consist of a bright colored styrofoam swimming noodle with a hole through the middle, a 3/8" nylon rope and 2 metal safety hooks. My daughter Shaunda and her friend Stephanie usually ride for a couple of hours a day, while we are traveling. They always stay ahead of us so that if they have any problems, we would soon be to their rescue. One day they ran over a snake and another day they found a very large dead Spoonbill Catfish floating down river.
The third day got off to a fun start by locking through Robert F. Henry Dam. This was Stephanie’s first time to go through a lock, so it was a real experience for her. Everything went well and we were soon on our way towards Selma, Alabama. The water level below the dam was very low since the dam wasn’t discharging any water and also because we have had so little rain. There were fallen dead trees and sandbars along both banks. We looked for alligators until we were tired of looking, but did not see any. They were there; we just couldn’t see them. On our trip in "93" an 8 footer met us in the middle of the river and 2 days later we saw a 10 or 12 footer laying on a sand bar. That was by far the most memorable part of that trip. On our trip in "93", we went all the way to Miller Ferry Lock & Dam and stayed at East Bank Park. It is a nice park and very much like Prairie Creek, except it has a store and small marina close by. On this trip we went only as far as Six-Mile Creek, which is 10 miles past the city of Selma. That is approximately 70 miles shorter than going to Millers Ferry. On this trip we wanted more stop and play time with the addition of the swim platform and 2 Waverunners. We were also traveling too slow, pulling the waverunners, to make the 70 miles stretch in one day.
About 4 hours after leaving the locks, we entered the city of Selma. We went under the famous Edmond Petus Bridge. Along the banks, the buildings seem to hang over the river. Two miles further down river we pull into Selma City Marina. It is a nice facility that was dug out behind the bank of the river. They sell gas and have a small bar and grill which floats when the river floods. We made the mistake of not cutting off the inverter that was running the refrigerator and icemaker, when we went inside for fries and corn dogs, and when we came out our battery was stone dead. Fortunately we carried an extra battery, which we quickly hooked up.
Eight miles down river, we go by Little Miami. Little Miami is a sand bar in a sharp bend that at different times has been very large and is well known for being one of the best beaches on the Alabama. After a 2-mile straight we turn into our final destination, Six-Mile Creek. With the water level a little lower than normal, it is tricky getting the houseboat to our campsite. With the I/O foot over half way up, we still hit bottom with the prop more than once. The water at the site was only 2 foot deep at the back of the boat. That night when the water went down, after the dam quit generating power, a third of the boat was stuck in the mud.
The next day was a fun day. We all got on the waverunners and headed up river to Little Miami for some swimming and sun bathing. Shaunda learned how to do the "spin" on the smaller waverunner. Then I tried it a time or 2 on the larger one. That afternoon we went back down river, past the park, and around a very sharp bend, to where the Cahaba River enters the Alabama. This was the site of the first Alabama State Capital. The Cahaba River water was very clear with cabins along the banks. We went about a mile up the river before returning to the houseboat.
We relocated the houseboat, while the water was still up, to a site that had a little deeper water, so we would be able to leave the next morning without being stuck. We left at 6:00 AM in order to make it back through the locks before 2:00 PM, at which time it closes. Although we had not bought gas since we left Langley’s, we did not stop in Selma to top off the tanks because we had more than enough to make it back to Langley’s. When the dam started generating, it slowed us down, but we still made it to the locks in plenty of time. As we entered the lock the air was still, but the minute the gate closed behind us, a strong wind came up and made it almost impossible to get the boat tied off. We had experienced very turbulent waters when being lifted in the locks in "93", but we had never experienced a problem with wind before. It wasn’t a pleasant experience, and I was a little shaken up for a while. Within a few minutes of leaving the lock, we were back at our site at Prairie Creek for a day and a half of relaxation.
A houseboat being at one of these sites is not an everyday occurrence. I would not be surprised if we were the only houseboat that has ever stayed at these parks. It is unfortunate that more houseboaters do not take advantage of the great facilities that are available.
After enjoying a relaxing time at Prairie Creek, we continued our trip back toward Gunter Hill. I really enjoyed talking to the people we met along the way. There were a lot of people with RV’s camping at Gunter Hill and Prairie Creek. I guess a houseboat, being out of the ordinary, creates a lot of curiosity. We stopped at Gunter Hill for one night and were up early the next morning for the last leg home. We needed to be in Wetumpka in time to unload our stuff and trailer the houseboat back to it’s home base on Lake Jordan that afternoon. Oh how nice it would be to have a lock in Walter Bouldin Dam instead of having to trailer the boat. The Corps of Engineers have had the construction of the locks on their list of projects for at least 30 years, and it looks like it may be on the list for another 30.
As we came in sight of the park in Wetumpka, we could see many of our family members waiting to welcome us and help us unload. They had a large truck and our boat trailer behind it ready to transport us back to the lake. The trip was trouble-free with great weather the entire week. I know of no better way for a family to spend time together. Living in such close quarters does have its advantages.
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