[Rick] We began the day at Bobby’s Fish Camp in the fog. We had determined that we needed to leave around 0700, get through the last lock on the trip, our 112th, and make time to Fairhope. The trip is to be 135 miles. Tied up near us is the “Big Brother” of the Rick ‘N Roll. She is 40 feet long and 20 feet wide. She has twin 90 hp diesels and at 9 mph uses one gallon of fuel per hour. Quite efficient.
So, we took off in the fog, cleared the lock, and ran as fast as possible. The Tombigbee joined with the Black Warrior River back at Demopolis, so we are technically on the Black Warrior. Since this section is not manmade, it was never canalized to shorten the distances. Here are a couple of screen shots of the GPS screen on this section. All along the way we have seen many blue herons. Along this section we saw hundreds of snowy egrets. Once in Mobile Bay, we started seeing pelicans. The river is much like a ditch with a lot of vegetation and marsh land on each side. Along the way, we passed mile 4,000 for the trip and mile 10,000 on the boat.
We arrived in the harbor at Mobile Bay to find that it is much like Wilmington’s harbor, but larger. There are a lot of cranes, barges, etc working on the waterfront. We thought our friend Jerry Edwards might need this lift if he keeps getting bigger boats!
A couple of months ago, someone sent me pictures and a write-up about a new anti-terror, anti-piracy catamaran vessel being built for the Navy. It is fast, up to 80 kts, and is loaded with firepower. Well, there in Mobile Bay, one is sitting, being worked on. It is an awesome sight to see.
We checked into Eastern Shore Marina in Fairhope. Having travelled 300 miles in 3 days, we need to rest up, do laundry, and reprovision so we may be here several days.
Within a couple of hours, it was dark but Betsy managed to get a couple of sunset shots. Enjoy…..
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