We Have A Palm Tree Sighting

Day 189 |  Tensas River Anchorage to Mobile  |  5.6 Hours  |  48 Miles  

Knowing today would be a short mileage day, we delayed our departure until 7:30. This allowed for a little more sleep after a late night and time for a light blanket of fog to burn off. The morning was chilly, but not cold and the Tensas River provided the perfect mirror-like surface for a stunning reflection. The journey down the Mobile River was more of what we've seen over the past week -- remote areas sprinkled with areas of heavy industry. Today we passed a steam/power plant and many more birds. The egrets were active today.

As we neared Mobile we spotted a group of white pelicans. We had not seen these in a while and it was nice to see another species. A two-knot current of an ebb tide aided our trek to Mobile and we arrived at the Cochrane Bridge ahead of schedule. The harbor was very busy with tugs moving barges, barges being unloaded, and pleasure craft heading both up- and down-river.

Australian shipbuilder Austral has a yard in Mobile that produces warcraft for the US Navy. We spotted our first palm trees outside of the convention center. Miss Utah followed us through the harbor and was dwarfed by her surroundings. The 35-story Retirement Systems of Alabama Tower is the tallest building in the state.

The container ship RDO Concord was being unloaded as we exited the harbor into Mobile Bay. We were heading due south at this point and quickly remembering what its like to cruise in the light chop of tidal waters. We passed a fishing boat that was pulling its nets in the channel, and didn't answer the VHF radio. As we neared our turnoff for Dog River, the chop and wind combined to send spray over the bow and onto the pilothouse windshield. The falling tide that we were thankful for in the river turned into our nemesis in the channel. The low tide water level left us with only two feet to spare and I counted out our depth readings as Barry fought a strong crosswind to keep us in the channel.

We pulled into Dog River Marina just as it started to rain. Our first stop was the fuel dock where we took on 350 gallons of diesel and got a pump out. That was a lengthy process and I was thankful for the lone heron that entertained me as I watched the nozzle and tried to stay dry.

We tied up to the transient dock just as the heavy rain began to fall. Accompanied by some sporadic thunder and lightning, the storm lasted well past nightfall. By that time the tide had flipped and was coming in. We must get used to the delicate balance that results from staying on a fixed dock in a tidal region. We'll stay here a few days and have plenty opportunity to work out the details.