We left Pirates Cove and headed up river. The weather was a scorcher and as a result we decided to leave quite late so we didn't end up sitting in the sun at another marina waiting three hours for it to cool down. I may have mentioned that the air conditioners on the boat pull the water that the boat is sitting in for its cool. Well, when the water you're sitting in is ninety degrees, we're not talking very efficient.
We had just entered the Armory Lock when we started talking to the lock master about the little marina ahead at Smithville, MS. He advised that they had just had a bad tornado about six weeks ago that had torn the town down. But he said that the marina was open for transient boats. Meanwhile, the computer generated support service from home is telling us that the marina is closed. A call to the marina via the number we had yielded no answer. Well, it was getting dark and we had no choice but to go and check it out.
When we arrived, we found the marina intact. However there was no one around and now the second number that we found and called was not answered. By now our minds had zeroed in on the name Smithville. Both Eric and I remember seeing and hearing about this little town in the news. At any rate we parked the boat and plugged in. We figured if we turned out to be unwelcome, we would just pull away and anchor out. By now it was dark and the sun wasn't beating down on us. We were ready for dinner and sleep.
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| What remains of Smithville, all the rest of the town is gone. |
It's only a few minutes before a car pulls into the parking lot and "John" arrives. He comes right over and introduces himself. No hint of a Mississippi accent here. Big man, soft spoken and looking to tell all he knows about the current situation and anything else he thinks you might have an interest in. The good news is he didn't start out with, "You gotta go!", or something like that. He is in possession of a cell phone number for the owner and actually gets through to him. After a brief, "We got a boat, uh huh, uh huh, see you in a few", he tells me that the owner is on the way. The new owner of the marina is the son of the old owner and that is because the old owner had been killed, at age 84, in the recent tornado. His wife is still in the hospital recovering. I finally find out that John is a live aboard at the marina, complete with a bumper sticker that says "Noah was a live aboard". He is a retired diesel mechanic from Chicago who bought a house boat down the river someplace and ended up here for a little while... and that was eight years ago. I don't think John has a wife or significant other, and the boat resembles that remark. For the recent history, he has just spent his days helping his friends and neighbors who had been affected by the tornado. And, true his word, the next morning as I was drinking my coffee on the porch of the marina, so as not to disturb my sleeping crew, John was headed out with a bunch of tools and a rather large compressor in the back of his little S-10 pickup. Talk about hoarders, where does a guy who lives on a boat, keep all this stuff? He was also kind enough to tell me where the hide-out keys were for the loaner car that the marina keeps for those of us traveling-by-boat types.
The owner had come the night before, took our money, sold us some sodas and tried to give us a black and white cat which I declined to take even though it did match the boat. After rousting the crew, we departed for yet another Wal-Mart where Eric and Mitchell were able to arm themselves with some light fishing tackle that they just couldn't live without. Up to now Mitchell, Ronnie and Jeff have been using lumber rods so big that they turn heads. Mitchell just goes about his business with this "One cast, one dinner" attitude and looks at 'em like, "Well, if you knew anything about catching big fish?" But now Dad is on the boat and a little more sophistication is called for. We also bag a few much needed groceries. While returning to the marina, we decide to take a look at Smithville or at least where Smithville used to be. I won't even try to describe it except to say that a 1/2 mile wide, three mile piece of it, which was pretty much the entire town, is missing! They have erected a temporary clinic, bank and brought in about 6 house trailers for temporary living quarters. The devastated town is being hauled away in trucks like so much garbage.
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