November 5, 2105 – Mobile Bay
We have successfully navigated from Lake Superior to Mobile
Bay. 1130 miles as the crow flies; 2280 miles for us, including our side
trip to Chattanooga.
So many sudden changes! Sunshine. Salt water. Heat. Humidity. Muggy.
Shorts, sandals and t-shirts again. Fixed docks with tall piles like tree
trunks. We wrap the lines around the piles instead of cleating them onto the
dock. I will have to practice to get that right and to avoid splinters. The
boat rises and falls with the tide, but the docks don’t. Seagulls. Pelicans.
Wide shallow water with a very narrow channel to enter the harbor. Industry.
Ship building. Navy stealth ships. Dockhands with no teeth. Palm trees.
Marshes. Spanish moss. Dramatic dead trees along the shore. Internet that
brings jury duty and real life reminders. Air conditioning. Tides. Shrimp
boats. Debris in the water. Trees that are still green. Shipwrecks along the shore
from Hurricane Katrina (2005).
The city of Mobile is at the top of Mobile Bay. We passed
through it at 6 knots, waving to tourists and shipbuilders. It took another two
hours to get here to Dog River on the western side of the bay, carefully following
the red and green markers because outside of the narrow channel it's only about
7 feet deep. We filled up with 220 gallons of diesel fuel when we arrived. That’s
a lot, but the tows on the river hold 20,000 gallons! KMG! Melinda B is having
some work done today and we’re getting our oil changed at 250 hours. We might head
east across the bay to check out a differnt town. Right now we’re sitting in a
working boatyard.
We are in Forrest Gump’s territory. He was from Mobile and
Bayou La Batre, just southwest of Dog River. We are in the seafood capital of
Alabama. Shrimp. Shrimp. Shrimp. With grits. That’s what we’re looking for.
There’s a new baby girl in the extended Clarke family! She
lives in Brooklyn.
Explorer, Adventurer, Traveler
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