After leaving Aqua Yacht we passed through 3 of the 12 locks between us and Mobile Bay. The first was the biggest drop of the whole trip in the Whitten Lock. Please forgive me if I repeat pictures from last year...I'll try not to.
We mainly stayed 1 night at each stop before moving on. The exception was 3 nights spent at Demopolis where we met friends Ed & Kyle who keep their boat there during the summer while they're in Canada. The following are some pics taken along the way. It was mainly just long travel days with a short rest stop each night.
1 picture I'm sure I used last year was the famous "White Cliffs of Epes" (I've seen it spelled Epps too)
In the "interesting things you see along the way" category
Below Demopolis Lock there is only one more Lock between there and Mobile Bay. This is the area where we start looking for gators. We saw a few but 1 was the biggest we've seen on these waters. I estimate it at about 10-12 feet! Where is T-Liz when you need her?
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| Shoooooooooot.... |
Next day we anchored in a side channel about 40 miles from the bay to have an easy run the next morning. Another boat in the anchorage got a nice shot of us at sunrise the next morning.
Next stop was another new one. We had heard about a free dock at the Mobile Convention Center and wanted to see the town. There was no power or water but the traffic in the busy ship channel was mostly polite and wakes weren't too much of a problem. We were right at the foot of Dauphin St. with it's many shops, bars and restaurants. We agreed it will be worth another stop.
Next day was a short run into Mobile Bay and the western shore stop of Dog River. We passed a ship in the bay that looked different from any we'd see before. From the front it was very wide for it's height. Once passed it we saw that the back was two decks full of railroad cars! I'm not sure where these cars come from or what makes it cheaper to move them by sea vs rail??
After Dog River we went across the bay to Fairhope for a night. We stopped here last year and really liked the town. This year we found a small, city run, marina attached to the fishing pier. It's just a few blocks walk into town and a very nice stop as long as the bay is calm.
Friday we traveled down the rest of the bay and back on to the GIWW for a 2 night stop at Homeport Marina in Gulf Shores. This marina is right behind the LuLu's restaurant we stopped at for lunch last year. The Saturday we were there was BooLu's where the kids came out for some Halloween festivities.
This stop was another first for us this season....toes in the sand! OK, maybe it's trucked in but it's still sand!!
Sunday (Funday) we moved the boat to an anchorage in Ingram Bayou and took the dinghy to Pirates Cove for their beach party and a famous Bushwacker.
We are now in a nice covered slip at the Orange Beach Marina for the month of November. The monthly rates are very reasonable here. We'll be getting some more boat projects done while we're here as well as exploring the area. Next weekend is the Blue Angels homecoming show not too far from here and we're planning to anchor out the night before for a good viewing spot. Another event is the Frank Brown International Songwriters Festival. This is a 10 day music fest full of people you've never heard of but know their songs! Many have had dozens of hits recorded by more famous artists that you have heard of. It runs between Pensacola and Bon Secour at various bars with the "main" club being the FloraBama.
After that....who knows. The "plan" is to slowly explore the Gulf coast before ending up in New Orleans next spring. We'll post again when there is something interesting to add.
I understand our tracker is a bit hard to follow now since we're covering much of the same ground. I'll see if there is something I can do to change the color of this year's tracks. No promises.......
Loved seeing you!
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