We made it to Mobile AL!

I finally have reasonable internet so I’ll try to catch up on the past few days.

We got up at 5 Sunday morning with the intention of calling the lock at 5:45 and leaving the slip at 6:15. As we made our way up to the marina bathrooms we noticed one boat with engines running, getting ready to pull out. We were quick in the bathrooms and realized as we got back to our boat that a second boat had just pulled out. While Rich unplugged our power cord and started the engines I called the lock, said we were leaving the slip in 5 minutes, and would they hold the lock for us. The lockmaster was very nice and said it wouldn’t be a problem. We made it to the lock in record time and were through it and on our way to Bobby’s Fish Camp by 7. It was a quick trip down and when we got there, there was only one boat tied to the far end of the dock, so after fueling up we were able to walk the boat back to a spot directly in front of the sailboat. Bobby’s restaurant was open from 12-6 that day and we were starving, so it was time for some catfish. Lots of Loopers claim the catfish there is the best they’ve ever had – and they’re right!

Bobby’s catfish filet dinner on the left – and the fish Rich found in a strainer later that day.

This is exactly what I was expecting – and I wasn’t disappointed!

We stayed at Bobby’s for 2 nights. The sailboat that had been behind us left late afternoon Sunday and 2 more Looper boats pulled in soon after. The river was filled with branches and water hyacinths, many of which got caught under our swim platform. We cleared out a lot of it, only to have more get caught. When we got ready to leave Tuesday morning it took Rich and 3 people from the other 2 boats to pull out branches and huge clumps of water hyacinths that had collected around our boats.

This one was under Rejoice and was 8-10 feet long.

We had one last lock after Bobby’s and of course there was a tow that had to go through before us. All three boats were up at 5, getting ready to leave the dock at 6:15,only to find out it was going to be at least 7:30 before the tow got through. Time for some warm oatmeal!

By the time we finally got to the lock it was raining, and the temp was about 40 degrees. I handle the lines when we go through locks, so by the time we got through I was cold, wet, and downright miserable. Thank goodness I had purchased some lovely black rain boots with very pretty green soles when we went to Walmart back in Columbus – at least my feet were dry! I forgot to take a picture of them before I finally took the tag off the top of the right boot – I called them my Minnie Pearl boots😄

There was a good current pushing us along as we headed to Mobile, but there were so many tows that it seemed like every few miles we had to slow down. We got to the top of Mobile Bay and thought we would be able to get to our marina by 4, but that turned out to be soooo wrong. There was a small craft advisory with north winds 15-20 and waves 1-2 feet. We were headed south so we didn’t think it would be that bad. We somehow missed the markers for the shipping channel (how does one miss big 15’ tall markers??) and discovered the water getting very shallow. We eventually made it back to the shipping channel after a call to the marina got us back on course. We got really slammed around during this time and the rain was coming down, making it difficult to see (windshield wipers would be nice). We found the first set of markers for the channel going to Dog River, where the marina is located. But it was still raining, the wind had picked up, and the waves were growing higher. Our chart plotter had somehow lost our tracking and channels markers, so we were relying on visually seeing the rest of the markers. But we weren’t seeing them so we headed for the bridge we knew we had to go under. We eventually saw a set of markers off to our right, so Rich turned the boat in that direction, only to find a low spot that stopped us cold. After trying for several minutes to get us off, we decided it was time to call TowBoat US. At this point it was 5:00 and the sun had just gone down (too much rain and clouds to actually see sunset, but the weather on my phone said sunset was 4:55). They have a towboat right next to the marina, so it took about 45 minutes for Capt. Billy to get to the boat and out to us. It seemed to take forever to get us pulled into deeper water, and then back to the channel and into the marina. Capt. Billy said several of the markers are missing (no wonder we couldn’t see them!) and apparently lots of boats go aground in that spot. By the time we got into a slip and tied up we were so tired, cold, wet, and mentally exhausted that I can’t even remember what we had for dinner.

We spent Wednesday recovering from Tuesday, putting things away, drying out wet clothes, and checking out the engines. Luckily, nothing seemed to suffer any damage from running aground. Strainers had sand in them, which Rich was able to clean out. Engines run smoothly, no overheating, and no shudders, so no apparent damage to props. Phew!

Today we picked up a rental car from Enterprise – they really do pick you up! When I called to confirm the pickup time, the lady asked if we would be okay with a Dodge Challenger – seems they had no full-size cars available.

We certaainly won’t look like a little old couple in the typical white rental car 😀

After getting the car, we went into downtown Mobile and found a very good restaurant for lunch. (Actually, Rich decided we should try this restaurant because there were 4 well-dressed ladies sitting at a table by the window having lunch and wine and he figured they wouldn’t be there unless it was good. How’s that for choosing a restaurant?) It was nice to find food that wasn’t fried.

Deviled eggs with bacon and roe – and bacon, egg, and pimiento cheese sandwich – so tasty!

Did you know the first Mardi Gras was in Mobile? It is still a huge celebration here – there’s even a square block park with statues of various Mardi Gras kings, queens, and other Mardi Gras figures.