Saltwater!

Yesterday we achieved another milestone and reached Mobile Bay and saltwater. The day began with a moderate north wind and current that broke loose a steady parade of weed mats that drifted past our anchored boat. Fortunately, none of them were a direct hit or fouled our anchor.

For the first hour we were still in relative wilderness, until we hit Mobile, AL. Then the pucker factor increase significantly as we cruised through the large, busy seaport, with both river and ocean-going vessels doing business. Here’s a photo journal of some of the things we saw:

Mobile Convention Center and paddlewheel tour boat

Ocean freighter

Massive container ship, loading even more cargo

Offshore oil rigs

U.S. Naval Service fleet oiler and hospital ship Comfort

After passing through the city of Mobile, we entered Mobile Bay, a 31-by-24 mile expanse of open water. The wind was 12 mph with a two-foot chop that was right on our beam, rocking our little boat enough to dump the contents of our galley and dinette on the floor and generate a few choice curse words. We met a large freighter from Singapore in the channel, which had a half-dozen dolphins frolicking in its bow wave. We were worried about getting rolled further  by this enormous boat’s wake, but it was upwind of us and actually created a slick of calmer water in its lee. 

The channel markers are very large, and they all had birds on them; these are cormorants. 

We finally made the turn to the west towards Dog River, and the seas were on our stern, making the ride much more comfortable. We docked without incident at Grand Mariner Marina, which was expecting us. After settling in, relaxing and napping, we went for a walk, our first time off the boat since leaving Demopolis early Monday morning. 

To close out an eventful day, we had an outstanding seafood dinner at the marina restaurant, complete with Christmas-themed cocktails.