Danny used two anchors last night to keep us from swinging in the very narrow river. The smaller one on the stern came up just fine, the larger bow anchor wouldn't budge. It had caught on a HUGE submerged limb, maybe a tree. After a lot of maneuvering, Danny was able to break the limb, thank goodness. I thought we might have to leave the anchor in Big Bayou Canot.
You can see Mobile long before you get there. The area is flat, of course, and there are no buildings or big trees to block the view. We knew that we would go through a large industrial area as we entered the city, but were not prepared for the immensity. Refineries, manufacturing facilities, boatyards, monstrous cargo wharves, downtown Mobile right in the middle of it, then more and more and more cargo container facilities. Mobile is the 10th largest port in the country and it shows! Since it was a Saturday, there wasn't a lot of activity and we were grateful!
One interesting thing we saw was the Navy shipyard that makes the "stealth" ships. That's not the right name, but it describes them pretty well. They are right on the shipping channel, so there isn't much stealth about their construction. Check our Facebook pages for pictures.
We headed due South in the shipping channel and finally had a wide open view of the Gulf of Mexico. We were headed for Eastern Shore Marine in Fairhope AL. The directions said go to a certain channel marker, then turn due east for so many miles, then 165 degrees for so many more miles. Well, there are no mile markers in Mobile Bay! Thanks to Skipper Bob's guide book and Danny's sharp eye, we found the cliff, then the gazebo roof to guide us in. It was exciting and just a little scary. Did I mention that the wind was really whipping, too?
Our first "visitor" was a cat! He jumped on board and ran down into the cabin. We heard later that Charlie the Cat runs the marina. As long as he runs it from somewhere besides my boat!
Jan and Kent aboard Follow that Dream were docked right in front of us and asked if we wanted to ride into town with them in the courtesy car.. Publix was our first stop, then ACE Hardware for a saw in case we anchor another log, then downtown Fairhope, then the pier where we watched young guys throw nets along the sea wall to catch shrimp. They offered to sell us some, but we didn't have cocktail sauce and horseradish on the boat.
Julie and Curt from CJ were walking by and we invited them on board for a drink. I poured myself a glass of what was called "White." When we were all seated I turned up the glass and choked. It was white RUM. We all had a good laugh, and I drank straight rum. It was pretty good.
The day ended with a Bulldawg victory!!!
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