Adventures of Captain Kidd: Pickwick Lake and Peter Frank

A few months ago a fellow named Peter Frank popped up on our newsfeed. It seems Peter was doing the Great Loop in a canoe - BACKWARDS! I casually followed him from the Carolinas, down the ICW through Georgia (he portaged Cumberland Island due to bad weather and severe headwinds), down the coast of Florida and across. He portaged around Lake Okeechobee to avoid the mating alligators and low water. He made his way up the west coast and around the bend. He partnered up with someone due to the treacherous nature of that crossing. He paddled down the Santa Rosa Sound which intrigued me since Tiffany and I were just down there last October.

As he made his way up the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, I began to wonder if I could meet him. I calculated that he would be less than 200 miles away when he reached Pickwick Lake. And I knew he would have to slow up to lock through. Might be an opportune time to come alongside!

Next was my schedule. Could I work around my church services? I began carefully watching his daily progress and the mileage to Pickwick. He had a big Saturday. I began to think I could travel Monday and see him on Tuesday. Then he had a huge Sunday! He was only 10 miles from the dam. A three hour paddle would put him there. I would have to leave very early Monday morning. So - the plan was hatched.

We had no church Sunday since it was homecoming, so I was able to pack up and be ready to walk out the door. I set my alarm for 4:00 a.m. I pulled out at 4:30. First stop was the rest stop at Lake Nickajack.

Hubs were "room temp" - OK. 5 Hour Energy was working. Let's keep going: hit Rt 72 south, turn west at Scottsboro, around Huntsville and the rocket ships at dawn, around Muscle Shoals, and then into Mississippi. A right turn and another 25 miles to Pickwick Landing State Park.

As I traveled I kept watching Peter's live tracker to see if he was moving. He wasn't, so the pressure was off. I got the boat ready and launched about 9:00. Tied her up to the dock and relaxed a bit.

In talking to Robin I found out that I had forgotten to grab my overnight bag! What?! I had everything else but it was on the table while everything else was on the floor and it was dark. Ugh! The bag had a change of clothes, swimming trunks, toiletries, lanterns. What to do? Sounded like a trip to Dollar General! So off the Counce I went.

I bought a cheap flashlight and lantern. I should have bought some sunscreen too but wound up getting some at the park marina.

Around 10:30 I shoved away from the dock and rowed out. There was a mild breeze. Might make for some good puttering about. I tried to drop my daggerboard into the trunk but it wouldn't fit! I knew it was delaminated (cheap plywood), but apparently it had swollen as well. I wasn't going to force it down because I might not get it out. So I would have to sail without it.

I kept watching the tracker. No movement. As the day wore on, it became apparent that Peter wasn't going to move. No wonder - after two big pushes a rest was well-deserved! As it turned out, he was on Goat Island hanging out with goats (literally). Across the water was a campground. I think he went over and hung out with some natives as well.

I sailed around for a while and finally rowed back to the ramp. A couple brothers who had a pontoon workboat that they used to build/fix docks and boat lifts were there. They told me about a good place to eat so I headed over there. It was early but my body clock said it was an hour later. I had a barbeque sandwich and ice tea at the Out Post - neat place. Good thing I went early because they closed at 3:00 on Mondays. Yikes! Almost missed it.

After I ate, I had a long time to kill before bedtime. I went back to the park, found some shade and just chilled. I read my Bible, talked to Robin and enjoyed the solitude. My plan was to row up into the cove on which the ramp was located and anchor for the night.

Around 6:00 I rowed back up into the cove, It was very pleasant. I passed the marina and some cabins up on a bluff, and anchored. It was time to prep for the night. I had my new popup tent and was eager to use it. It went up just as I had hoped and planned.

I sat in the door for a while and finally got inside and buttoned everything up. The moon tried to poke her way through the clouds.

I've not slept very well camping lately. I have my fairly new air mattress and had hoped it would improve my sleep. Of course, on the water there are things to think about: dragging anchor being #1 on the list, some outlandish accident being #2. I fell asleep around 9:30 local time (10:30 body time) and woke up about 3 hours later. I was hoping it would have been longer. The wind was blowing some and I could feel the boat moving around, hopefully just around the anchor. I peaked outside and things looked fine. The sky was clear too. I read for a while and then went back to sleep. I did get some decent sleep through the night.

When I awoke, I ate my second nectarine and a couple bars, packed up my tent and stuff, and rowed back to the dock. It was time to watch for Peter again.

As I contemplated how this should work, I hatched a plan: I would shuttle my trailer and tow vehicle to the ramp on the other side of the dam, hire a ride back, and then lock through the dam with Peter. I drove over to the marina and asked if anyone could give me a ride. They gave me a business card of one "Happy Hippy" who had a ride-for-hire business. I called him and he set up a ride for me. I drove across the dam, parked at the ramp, and waited for my ride. After a few nervous minutes (I sure didn't want to miss Peter after all this trouble), she showed up and hauled me back to the ramp at the park.

Once back I rowed out into the middle of the lake to wait for Peter. If I let my boat drift, she would gradually move toward the dam moved by the current no doubt, so I kind of just circled around a little ways out from the dam.

I remembered to grab my binoculars. I was watching the tracker closely. And then... I caught site of Peter.

I called out to him by name and introduced myself. He said, "Hello, Dale Kidd." I asked if I could lock through with him. He really couldn't say no but he didn't have to pal up with me. He was very gracious.

We shook hands and took a couple pics.

In fact, we learned later that the lock attendants were taking pics too!

We rowed/paddled into the lock and maneuvered into place. The worker had me throw a line around a large post that would drop with the water. Peter grabbed my boat and planned to stay away from the lock wall. The current swung us around; however, and he was caught between my boat and the wall. I grabbed a line on his bow to hold him close to my boat and used my oar to keep us off the wall. He used his paddle to keep his end of things off the wall. It was fairly smooth after we got situated.

They dropped us 50'! The pics they took give a good perspective on the enormity of those locks.

Once through the lock, we took a couple more pics, he took my phone number so he could send me a few and we parted.

I rowed hard to cross the current to get to the ramp. Even though it was quite long, I had no trouble backing down to retrieve my boat. The current was a bit of an issue. My boat wound up and little cock-eyed but once up the ramp I was able to get her correctly settled on the trailer.