Mobile, AL to Demopolis, AL

Total Miles Traveled 3142

We left Turner Marine early April 25^th and traveled only 14 miles up Mobile Bay to the Mobile Convention Center City dock.  This free dock is located a short walk to the historic district and Main Street. 

We passed a few fishing boats and a dredge on the way.

After a walk up and down main street, and a break for lunch, we walked to the historical museum covering the port city’s history going back 300 years.  I thought the civil war submarine H.L. Hunley, built in Mobile in 1863, had an interesting story.  It was the first combat submarine to sink a warship, but following her successful attack, was lost along with her crew before she could return to base.

After visiting the museum, we took a narrated tour bus ride around the city learning the history of this historic town.

One of the most surprising things we learned was that the Mardi Gras celebration started in Mobile in 1703, fifteen years before New Orleans was founded.

Something we found odd while on our tour was the New Year’s Eve celebration in Mobile.  Instead of lowering a ball from a tall building in the city during the countdown, they lower a 12 foot tall lighted Moon Pie.  A Moon Pie is a graham cracker cookie with marshmallow filling in the center, dipped in a flavored coating and made by the Chattanooga Bakery, in Chattanooga Tennessee.  The Moon Pie became the traditional item thrown from a parade float, into the crowd, during Mardi Gras in 1956.  Our tour guide pointed out the previous item was boxes of Cracker Jack’s.  I guess I would much rather be hit upside the head with a flying Moon Pie than a box of Cracker Jack’s.

An unexpected part of our tour was entering a tunnel that drops 40 feet under the Mobile River, taking us to the USS Alabama Memorial Park.  The USS Alabama is a battleship of the United States Navy that served in World War II in the Atlantic and Pacific theaters. 

Also located at the park is the B-52 bomber Stratofortress Calamity Jane, a long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber.  The bomber is capable of carrying up to 70,000 pounds of weapons, and has a typical combat range of more than 8,800 miles without refueling. 

Our first realization that we are heading back home, we had to wait at this railroad crossing while walking back to the boat.  I don’t think we have been railroaded since leaving Terre Haute, IN.

Just across the river from our boat is the Austal ship building company employing over 4000 employees and contractors.   One of their major contracts is with the United States Navy, building the Littoral (close to shore) Combat Ship (LCS).  I thought this ship was ready for painting, but found the design and existing paint is radar reflective.

Waiting for a ship to pass before leaving Mobile.

We left Mobile entering the Black Warrior-Tombigbee waterway and anchored in the Alabama River Cutoff Wednesday April 26^th.  There are no marinas and few good places to anchor in the 160 mile stretch between Mobile and Demopolis Alabama.  This is our anchorage at Okatuppa Creek April 27^th.

And our anchorage at Bashi Creek April 28^th.

While anchored at Bashi Creek, our fellow looper “0 Regrets” showed up to anchor for the night.  We haven’t seen Barry since leaving Panama City but will travel together  to Demopolis.

This alligator was swimming across the river just after the Coffeeville Lock and Dam.

One of the best investments we made when preparing our boat for the Great Loop was the purchase of an AIS system.  The Automatic Identification System is an automatic tracking system used for collision avoidance.  I have our system set up to alert me when another vessel transmitting an AIS signal is within 2 miles of our position.  I can see the name, speed and direction of travel of the approaching vessel, and they can see my information.  As we were approaching a bend in the river, I called the approaching tow  by radio and asked which side of the river he would like me to be on during our pass.  He responded that the approaching bend would be tight for him and asked if I would hold position until he made the turn.  Without AIS we would have met in the river bend with nowhere to go but to shore.

We arrived at Demopolis the next day staying at Kingfisher Bay Marina.  A major storm system was approaching from the west and arriving in our area on the 30^th so we wanted to be off of the river and secured to a dock before it arrived.  As luck would have it, we didn’t get any severe weather but a lot of rain.  The river isn’t expected to crest for a few days so we will stay here until things settle down.