Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Alabama River to Mobile

Our anchor(s) held all night with no issues. The predicted storms turned out to be only some rain. We heard one distant rumble, and nothing more. 

We didn't sleep great though since our anchor monitor alarm woke us around 11 pm (if the boat moved more than 20 feet or so an alarm goes off -- and it's loud!). It thought we were in Paducah. Needless to say, we've switched alarm monitoring systems.

Up somewhat early but not in a massive hurry. We had 60 miles or so to get to Dog River Marina, where we'll park the boat for a week and drive to New Orleans. Not for fun, I'm afraid. Teeth cleaning, vet appointments, termite inspectors, you know, chores.

The trip down river was speedy. We had a current pull us along the way. Without trying we reached 10 knots on occasion.

While on the river I can see Mobile through the trees
Once on the bay the winds picked up -- the cold front started to move in in earnest. Small craft advisories were issued for the gulf, which we weren't traveling to thankfully. Most of the wind was on our stern (for a change) until we had to make a hard right to the marina. Note to any loopers going to Dog River, the channel is crazy small and crazy shallow. Laughable, even. And with the wind pushing us around, it made for a challenging run. And a challenging docking attempt to boot. I got it done, but it was ... stressful.

We're back in the Gulf. Well, Mobile Bay. Pelicans, terns, and even some dolphin sightings already. We haven't been on open waters since Lake Michigan. And we haven't had to deal with tides since the Hudson River. Lots of things to remember and relearn.

The top part of Mobile Bay is very industrial.
We are so tiny compared to the big shipping vessels.
At docktails tonight we also thought of all the things we have to unlearn. Like one or two whistles, or the term PCs. Now we're motor vessels. And no one in the gulf or on the ICW knows what the heck a one whistle is.


Once clear of the ship yards, open waters.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Not ours anymore

There's a saying in the boating world, that the happiest days of a boater life is the day he buys the boat and the day he sells it. This...