Leaving Anchorage and Rivers to Mobile (#80)

We woke to the morning ready to leave early. However the winds and rain had other plans. We knew the weather wasn't ideal, but when you are anchoring (and don't want anchor) you need to move regardless. Once we entered Mobile, we finished with the inland waterways of our journey.

Leaving the anchorage the rains started coming down harder and harder.

Overnight our anchor had pretty much held. Once the winds kicked up our anchor started to move. Instead of anchoring again, we left when the winds and rain were quite strong. Ted put on his wet clothes to pick up the anchor. If Laura hadn't been preoccupied with driving, she could have got a magnificent picture of Ted in the wind and rain picking up the anchor. As we pulled the anchor and headed down to Mobile, we found we were at the heaviest rain and wind of the day when we pulled anchor.

In order to make our way to Mobile, we used Navionics (also Garmin) to plot our way to our next stop. At the Rendezvous and on the forums, we wer warned that our chartplotters could send us down the Tennsaw river. Laura had to place to waypoints along the main shipping channel in order to go the correct way. At our next location, we met a couple who had taken the Tennsaw based on thier autoroute and had to be towed because of shallow waters. Another instance of the importance of being an expert in waters you have never travelled along the Great Loop.

Most of the day on our trip to Mobile had both rain and wind. We knew it would calm down when we arrived at our marina so we were going as slow as we could.

We were lucky to find the 14 mile rail bridge open. The loopers behind us had to wait an hour because the bridge was stuck and then had an oncoming train.

Our trip through mobile was rainy and the current kept making us go faster and faster. There also was significant debris from the rains so we kept slowing down the boat and watching to dodge logs. Once we left the city channel of mobile and entered the bay, we were greeted by dolphins and some 2-3 ft waves. As we traveled for the next hour the waves and wind decreased so we had a fairly calm arrival at Dog River Marina.

Our transient slip was a side tie up. The current pushed us into the dockage and we had a fairly easy time. The next day when our friends on Dream Looper and Therapy arrived the wind and current were much stronger.

The next evening we shared the courtesy car and Dream Looper shuttled 6 boats across the water to the restaurant. This should be an easy dinghy ride, but the winds and waves were such that no one wanted to get wet going to dinner. The picture above shows the view from the restaurant.

Our fun dinner included Therapy, Dream Looper, Roundabout, Sacagawea, and Jessica Grace.

Therapy got a car, and Monica drove Julie and I for a sightseeing adventure to Mobile while Ted, Ken, Ed, and Ben worked on boat projects.

The museum was a great hands on museum for kids K-5 and we had fun trying out all the exhibits.

At the top of the musuem was a viewing deck. We were able to see the dredging operation from the top of the museum. Ted and Laura saw this section with rain, wind and waves so it was nice to have clear skies.

The captain of this "water-uber" was staying at the marina next to us. We had a long conversation about the loop and it was fun to see him in action. Someone is boarding the larger vessel in this transfer.

We had a wonderful tour of the Conde-Charlotte Museum and learned about this home that was a converted prison on top of the grounds of a fort.

We had a great tour of the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (Mobile, Alabama)

In the front left section of the church between the pews is a circular staircase leading to the crypts of bishops.

Julie and Monica know Laura's aversion towards rocks. This pier was in the middle of the dock with no clear explanation.

Overall this was a nice three night stay after many days of anchoring, but is not a must visit. Luckily there is a courtesy car so you can get around. But there is only one with a 2 hour limit. Many loopers get cars to see the sights like Therapy did.

Stay: 3 nights

Dog River Marina

Pros: Courtesy Car, Sheltered bay, Mobile Yacht Club restaurant (only Thurs-Sun), laundry

Cons: Twice as expensive as Turner next door with similar amenities but no courtesy car, fixed docks

Rating: 3 Stars