Day 145 & 146: Big Briar Creek Onto Mobile Bay

Day 145: December 10: Rainy overnight lasted into the morning making us glad we had collected the catfish jugs last night. We got UW at 9:26 under overcast skies. Pictures tell a thousand words; erosion, absence of glorious colors and a chill in the air remains. 


We passed a small sailboat named Slainte; we had cruised by her a couple of days ago when we headed onto the Tensaw. She was heading our way at that time and here she was heading back with us on the Mobile River. We made a slow pass, waved and continued on by. 

We approached the "14 Mile Bridge" and saw it was lowered and is only 5' when in this position.  We hailed on VHF 15 and were told a train was coming so we would have to wait; ended up idling for about 1/2 hour. During that time Slainte caught up to us once again. David and John conversed with the captain for awhile; just friendly chatter until the train had passed and the bridge was lifted. 


We passed under the bridge and headed the one mile or so into Big Briar Creek, proceeding SE from the Mobile River into the Mobile-Tensaw Cut Off. Water depth was only about 9 feet so it was certainly a great spot to drop the hook. Shortly after we pulled in we saw Slainte heading our way. Once she was anchored the captain dinghied over to our boat with his two dogs onboard. We chatted for a bit and invited him for dinner. After he brought the dogs to shore to do their business he came back and the fun began. 

The captain's name is Mike Watt. He has been traveling alone with only his two dogs for company. We had a fun night and a delicious dinner of catfish, orzo, veggies and brownies. Loopers never go hungry. 


We traveled 30.5 NM in 4 hours 20 minutes


Day 146: December 11: Today is the day we leave the rivers and head toward Mobile Bay. We pulled up anchor and waved to Mike anchored close by and got UW at 9:00 a.m. 


In no time we could see the environment changing. The lazy rivers were giving way to the busy Mobile Ship Channel; buildings and huge vessels, private & military, the radio squawking with the voices of tug captains and cargo ships; the channel was buzzing. 


What a difference a few miles made. After having been on the rivers for so long we felt as though we had entered another world. Our boats looked like small tenders next to the gigantic vessels coming and going. 




Mobile Bay is one of the largest seaports on the Gulf Coast. Ships of every description berth there. The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWE) crosses the Mobile Ship Channel near the mouth of Mobile Bay. The Mobile River delivers vessels cruising down the Tenn-Tom Waterway into Mobile from the north. 

We cruised through the channel, watching the comings and goings of the constant commercial traffic and entered Mobile Bay at Mile 127.8. Mobile Bay is a large, but shallow body of water. Winds against the tide can result in some serious wave action but we had no problem today; the cruise across was pleasant! 

When we reached the end of Mobile Bay, Zendeavor and we turned to port heading to Nelson's Boatyard in Gulf Shores, AL. Sandra and David had arrived home and this was their last stop; their boat was being hauled and put on the hard. We had made arrangements to pull our boat in order to get a few things done. Now that we are in salt water we had to put on zincs. Also a thru hull had to be replaced; with repairs, we should be able to have AC on the boat once we get to really warm weather (if that ever happens). John also wanted to remove the stabilizer pistons; David is going to bring them to a ship to be repaired and get them back to us when possible. 

Meanwhile, Mona and Frank continued on the GIWW to Homeport Marina where they were planning on staying for two nights. They were meeting friends and picking up a package they had mailed there. 


We pulled onto the dock right by the travel lift. Once settled in David, Sandra and we headed to pick up Frank and Mona. We had dinner at Wolf Bay Lodge, a family friendly restaurant with a great menu that included grits, shrimp, catfish, sweet tea and more! We had a wonderful waiter and a delicious dinner. 


David and Sandra then drove us around the area pointing out some of the local landmarks. Dropped Frank and Mona off and headed back to our boats. Tomorrow will be a busy day. 


We traveled 44 NM in 5 hours 40 minutes













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