Up and at em at 6 30 this beautiful Sat morn here at Demopolis Marina on the TTB Waterway. We are receiving a lot of new boaters from the Gulf daily. The marina is basically full at this time. Most everyone I talk to says even tho it is an extremely serious problem with the oil they themselves have not seen any oil in the waters. The new word as of yesterday was that a storm was brewing of the Yucatan Penn and could very well go thru the Gulf to Texas or to Louisiana. ....This marina sets here on the waterway as the water is running north to south. The fuel dock as is usually the case is the first part of the marina so it is easily accessible. The outside or western most section is for tow boats only. They come and go constantly for this is the first real fuel dock off north of Mobile. The inside of the dock is for boaters only for fuel and pump out. Then from west to east there are three docks hooked together in a pitchfork arrangement. A, B, and C docks as a designation. C dock is covered. I get up at apx 6 00 each a m and come to THE WALL in front of the boaters lounge and restroom area. This building looks out over the entire scene and is the site of our daily rondevous..knew I could not spell that word. We meet here in the late afternoon and visit socialize..c o for Jim Doane...These people are so nice . We share concerns ...talk about boating questions ...ideas....and solutions. They all work together ,helping each other to enjoy the pleasures of boating . It is really neat. Yesterday was Fri which is special but it was also Joy's b day so we all went to the local Mexican restaurant together for lunch and for her b day celebration. One of the gentlemen boaters who is a very nice guy asked Dale and I if we could lift a bid 8d battery off his boat for him this a m . That is the kind of cooperation I am talking about. Couple other examples would be that Dale has sewen window covers for the front and side windows on our boat. They are beautiful and the Capt is going to love them. They are really neat for you can see out but can not see in. Another helpful guy is Smitty fro New Orleans who tells of being laid up with leg problems as a kid so he got interested in ham radio and radios in general. He found out that we have a bad hum in our fly bridge radio so he has been on our boat daily checking and checking and I am positive he is going to find our problem. He is on a mission. As I sit here this morn and look out I see a tow fueling up and a huge pleasure boat at the fuel dock. A few sailors are up and working on the decks of their boats. One very interesting fact and I may be off with my facts a little but I am close some of these tows will buy 25 to 30 000 gallons of fuel at a time the tankers that deliver the fuel only hold 10 ooo so that takes a lot of tankers coming and going 24 hrs a day to keep the fuel dock supplied. P S the fuel dock is open 24 hrs a day....busy little place...hope that gives you a little thumb nail of what this place is like....Thanks for reading and following along stay in touch...have received emails and call and sincerely appreciate it...good to hear from you all...Tom