We have entered Mobile Bay!!!

On day 84 of our trip, nearly three months since we started, we have reached the salty, open water of Mobile Bay in Mobile, AL!!  Entering Mobile Bay with us were with Water Music, Carried Away and The Zone.  After three days of travel and two nights at anchor, we were met yet again by many looper boats upon arrival at the marina.  As is typical, at least a dozen or more are here and last night many of us enjoyed movie night.  One looper graciously brought his TV and DVD off the boat and set it up in the common area.  The double feature was Captain Ron and Deliverance.  Very glad to be done with the river before watching Deliverance.

We struggled with fog 2 of the last 3 mornings and even though the fog has been discussed before, we got some really great pictures and video of the wall of fog to give an appreciation of how quickly visibility can be lost when you hit the wall of fog.

The "Wall of Fog"

Lead boat turning around to go back to the marina.

Because of a nearly 2 hour fog delay, we couldn't make Bobby's Fish Camp to tie for the night before dark so we chose to anchor off the main channel at Bashi Creek with Water Music about 27 miles short of our goal for the day.  Bashi Creek is about 10' deep, but narrow so the guide book recommends setting both a bow and a stern anchor to keep from swinging into the bank.  Because we were with our buddy boat Water Music, both boats set bow anchors and then back into each other and raft together, effectively setting the recommended two anchors to prevent swinging.  We had about half hour of daylight for docktails before darkness came.

Heading into Bashi Creek Anchorage
Deep but narrow

Water Music backing up to raft with us.

Debby from Water Music

Joel from Water Music securing a spring line between the boats

Rafted together for the night

Sunset during docktails on Water Music

The next morning - fog again and more waiting.  Once the fog cleared and we could get started, the river was like glass and we got some really neat pictures, including our first alligator.  We saw three on the way down at MM158, MM130 & MM123.  It is amazing that these creatures are so far up the river and above the last lock.  But as has been pointed out to us, the alligators can use the locks too!

Spillway at Coffeeville Lock - the last lock!

Coffeeville Lock - spillway side

Coffeeville Lock - still a bit foggy downriver

The river is like glass with a perfect reflection
of the trees back on the water.
Fog still looms ahead.

Smooth river - nice reflection

Alligator is there on the bank.
Click on picture to enlarge.

 The Black Warrior river has been very twisty as you can see from the chart plotter on the bridge.

We've gone north, south, east and west!!!

At the end of the day as the sun starts to set, it is beautiful, but blinding.  It reflects back off the water, so Bert came up with this hat configuration to protect his eyes from both the sun above in the sky and the sun below reflecting off the water.  The solution didn't last for long, because breathing became a problem.

Bert protecting his eyes from the sun and
the sun's reflection on the water

On the second night we anchored again with Water Music and Joel entertained us with some guitar music.  Joel is very talented and we all enjoyed singing along to the songs we knew.

Heading into anchorage night #2
at Three Rivers Lake

Joel entertaining us with his guitar
during docktails.

After weeks of a peaceful river ride, entering Mobile Bay was nothing but peaceful.  The northern part is very commercial with lots of activity and traffic on the waterway.  It was sort of shocking to see civilization after seeing only nature for many weeks.

Navy ships Freedom and Independence are being built in Mobile, AL by the Australian ship building company Austal USA.  These two vessels are part of the Littoral Combat Ship series (LCS) and will be used for patrols close to shore, sort of like Border Patrol.

Navy ships Freedom and Independence

Now that we have reached the gulf, where do we go from here?  Well, the answer to that question was answered for us last week.  Hilary received a great job offer in Biloxi, MS, only about 50 miles from here.  Our last travel day will be to our new home port in Biloxi, MS pending good weather on Tuesday.