Log 63; Day 171; Nov. 8; Marina at the Wharf

After crossing the Mobile Bay, this is the waterway that we joined.

Just inside the waterway we were greeted by a pod of dolphins...it was awesome

This is our slip at Marina at the Wharf...yes, we're under another bridge

A shot from the bow of our boat...this is the bar (Fishtales) that is attached to the Marina office...which I think should be a requirement at all marinas

Looking down the street at the Wharf...this is 2 minutes from our boat

Dinner last night...Steve is in the yellow shirt, and his wife Diane is the blond sitting across from Deb. Han and Bill are sitting next to Diane.

Log 63
Day 171
Saturday, November 08, 2008

6:15 AM CST
Location: Marina on the Wharf...on the Intracoastal...about 40 miles east of Mobile
Weather: 56 and crystal clear...forecasted to be 73 and sunny.

Sitting on the back deck this morning it is crystal clear outside. There is no wind, and the eastern sky is very bright...I’m waiting for the sun to come over the marina and warm things up. A little cool, but it is going to be a beautiful day. We are docked at Marina on the Wharf...a first class facility on MM 159 of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. There is no doubt in my mind, of all of the hundreds of marinas we have stayed in over the years, this is the finest facility we have ever been in. The docks are first class construction; a Jimmy Buffet kind of bar is attached to the marina office; it has at least 15 stores where you can buy everything from a t-shirt to a fine outfit; 13 restaurants where you can get everything from a hot dog to a fine steak...as well as Mexican or sushi; a movie theater with 16 different movies playing; and even a Ferris wheel. All of this, 1 minute from our dock, in a setting like walking down the street in a very quaint little community.

How we got here...we left out slip in Dog River on Thursday about 9:45 am. It was a picture perfect day with calm winds and 75 degrees. It was about 2 miles back to the Mobile Channel and then 7 more miles south on the channel before we could turn east and cross Mobile Bay (with safe water depth). Another 8 miles SE across the Bay took us to the GIWW at Mile 142 (the waterway we will follow until Mile 380 at Carabelle, FL.) As soon as we got across the Bay we entered a narrow waterway and saw our first dolphins on this trip. It was like they were out to greet us and welcome us to the Gulf Waterway. Deb was on the phone, and taking pictures, and so excited. No matter how many times you see the dolphins...you never get tired of how cool it is. From the waterway, it was only about 8 more miles to Marina on the Wharf. Along the way we passed Lulu’s...a marina and restaurant owned by Jimmy Buffet’s sister...where they say Jimmy will stop by occasionally and sing a little.

Yesterday...I got up early and walked the entire complex to check out our surroundings. To sum it up...this is an awesome stop. Back at the boat, I washed the boat, while Deb cleaned the inside. At about 11 Deb and I went walking and stopped in several of the shops. I wanted to see the Columbia and Sperry shops in hopes they had something I could not live without. I guess I have everything I need, because I didn’t buy anything. Deb bought a pair of Crocks, and a Columbia shirt. For lunch we stopped at a Mexican place and had great burritos. On the way back I walked the docks and looked at all the new and used boats for sale. On site they have 3 very large boat dealers, and they have some beautiful boats. In the afternoon (while it rained for a couple of hours) we were getting ready to get together with Steve and Diane Stell...some friends that we have not seen for several years. They live in Kankakee, IL, but also have a condo down in Orange Beach, and they are here for 2 weeks on vacation. They joined us for cocktails on the boat at 5, and brought along some friends of theirs (Bill and Han) who live here in Orange Beach as well. For dinner we walked to the boardwalk and had a great dinner...thanks Steve for buying...now we can afford another day in paradise.

Today and tomorrow (Saturday and Sunday)...we have decided to spend another 2 days here. It’s a little pricey ($2 per foot per night...about 25% more than normal in this area) but has so much to offer. We also want to do some lunch trips on the dinghy. One day we want to go back about 3 miles to Lulu’s and check that place out. Another day we want to go about 5 miles the other direction back up in Roberts Bayou to a place called Pirates Cove Restaurant...a legend in this area for a great cheeseburger and fun local flavor. Any trip in our dinghy is fun, but when you can explore and end up with a beer and cheeseburger...all the better.

I’ll keep you posted.

Bob

Deb's 2 cents from Mobile, AL

A shot of our friends on Good News coming out of Mobile Harbor

Mobile Harbor...as we enter it

Cruise ship in Mobile Harbor

Mobile Bay

HQ as we enter Mobile Harbor (thanks to Mary on Good News)

11/6/08

Hey All!
Debbie here…I know it’s been awhile since I put in my 2 cents, but I’ve been busy. Er…um…I mean…my computer’s broken…uh…the internet was down? Okay – I’ve just been lazy and honestly…isn’t BK handling the logs just fine without me? J
As you already know…on Tuesday we left the Tenn-Tom Waterway and entered the salt waters of Mobile Bay. As we cruised through the incredibly bustling Mobile Harbor and left behind all its busy ship activity, it was an awesome sight to see the endless blue water spread out in front of our bow with the sun throwing a carpet of diamonds down in front of our boat for us to follow into our marina for the night on Dog River. But as beautiful as this is, I’m going to miss the security and constant changing scenery of the inland rivers. The Mighty Mississippi (even though to me it was akin to driving the interstate instead of the back roads) is steeped in history and there have been hundreds of great stories written with Old Miss as a main character…so it was amazing to travel those famous waters. The Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers were stunning in their simple beauty. The Grand Canyon-like cruise to Chattanooga was breathtaking. The winding Tom-Bigbee was peaceful and quiet. But still, even after travelling so many miles on these different rivers, the Illinois River remains a favorite. She’s like an old friend that we sometimes take for granted, and every once in awhile we need to rub elbows with others to be reminded of just how special she is. I will surely miss the rivers.
But on to new adventures…new harbors…no-see-ums…rinsing salt water off the boat after every cruise day…dealing with tides…beautiful, endless expanses of blue water off our starboard side…wonderfully balmy weather in the middle of winter…unchartered waters (at least to the Koerners)…meeting interesting new people and reuniting with old friends.
Right away, there is a feeling of nostalgia as we remember our years spent on the Chesapeake and the many trips we’ve taken on the ICW in the past. It will be fun checking out familiar marinas and exploring new territory…but this time at a much more relaxed pace. I never thought I’d get BK to slow down, and maybe he’s just shifted his focus from company concerns to boat concerns, but somehow it’s different. Yesterday, after coming back from his third walking trip to West Marine (yes I said walking), he tossed his bags on the back deck and walked over to me and gave me a big hug, saying… “I was born to this life on a boat…thanks for letting me do this!” Little does he know that I’m enjoying it as much as he is!
So here’s to the newest phase in our live-aboard lives...and avoiding the Midwest winter! I hope you are all enjoying your own phases as much as we are.
Here’s to warm breezes & calm seas-----------First Mate Deb.
P.S. I also want to echo Bob’s words about our reluctance in leaving Andy & Mary at Dog River Marina. It was an unexpected pleasure spending time with them. I’ll miss their smiles every time we pulled into a new marina or anchorage and especially our evening Captains’ meetings over cocktails. Hope you’re back on the move soon and we look forward to seeing you along the route!

Log 62; Day 169; Nov. 6th; Dog River Marina

This is Good News coming by some of the white cliffs on the Tom-Bigbee

More shots of the cliffs

The water plants that are everywhere

You can see that the water hyacints surrounded us in our anchorage at Sumter Landing

Typical foggy morning on the river...almost every day was like this when we left our marina

Deb in our dinghy as we go through the channel at 3 Rivers Lake

Our 3 Rivers Lake anchorage

Typical river banks along the southern waters of the Tom-Bigbee

A shot of our chart plotter that shows just how much the river winds around on the lower Tom-bigbee

Log 62
Day 169
Thursday, November 06, 2008

6:15 AM CST
Location: Dog River Marina, on the west side of Mobile Bay
Weather: 56 and partly cloudy...forecasted to be 78 and sunny.

It’s warm enough for me to sit on the back deck and write this log this morning...it’s great to be back out here. It starts to get light out about 5:30, and the sunrise is 6:04, so I am really enjoying this time zone. In a couple of days we will work our way across the panhandle and into the eastern time zone...neither Deb or I are looking forward to going back to Eastern time.

This morning there are a few puffy clouds in the sky, but the sun is a huge ball in the eastern sky and it looks like it will be a great day. We will be crossing the Mobile Bay this morning, so I have listened to the weather and it says 78* with winds light and variable out of the NE, and Bay waters will be smooth to a light chop. It’s going to be a great day.

We have a decent internet connection, so I have put quite a few pictures on the log. It’s too hard to arrange them exactly as they happened (or at least too hard for me) so I just put them in random order...but they sure do help with the story of our trip the last few days.

On my last log we were sitting in the fog in 3 Rivers Lake. It took a while for the fog to lift, and then (although forecasted to be 78 and sunny) the day turned out to be overcast and so damp there was a light mist in the air. The last 65 miles of the Tom-Bigbee, which ends at Mobile Bay, was like a lot of rivers in the US. It actually reminded me of the rivers in Georgia...with low banks and swampy areas. Pretty...but nothing special. The last few miles became much busier with lots of barge traffic, and then very busy with big ships in the Mobile River and Mobile Bay. To get to our marina we had to travel south about 7 miles down the ship channel in Mobile Bay before turning west, and then going about 3 miles to Dog River...a fairly wide and deep river on the western edge of Mobile Bay. Our marina is nothing special...except for the fact is has a West Marina on site...I was there 4 times yesterday!

Today...is actually kind of a sad day for Deb and I. After traveling for several days with Andy and Mary on Good News, we will be leaving them here at Dog River. A few days ago when Good News was passing a barge they hit something under the water, and has had a vibration they needed to get checked. After they pulled the boat yesterday they found out the prop was bent, and also they had cracked the shaft. So they will be here for a few days getting that fixed. We will miss being with them. While we have met many folks along the waterway, we have never traveled with anyone for a few days...Good News was the first. They are great people and a lot of fun to be around. We’ll look forward to seeing them later on our trip. Once we leave Dog River we’ll head across Mobile Bay and join the Gulf Intracoastal Water Way (GIWW). I have planned a route in my chart plotter to join the waterway at MM 145 and then we will follow the GIWW all the way across the panhandle to Carrabelle, FL...which is MM 380...so about 235 miles. Our destination today is MM 159 in Orange Beach, AL. We have reservations for at least 2 nights at Marina on the Wharf...a high rent marina that is supposed to be very nice. We’ll see.

I’ll keep you posted.

Bob

Log 61; Day 166; Nov. 4th; Three Rivers Lake Anchorage

Log 61
Day 166
Tuesday, November 04, 2008

5:30 AM CST
Location: Three Rivers Lake Anchorage...68 river miles north of Mobile
Weather: 53* and clear...forecasted to be 79 and sunny

We are sitting in a very beautiful anchorage off the Tenn-Tom Waterway. It is a picture perfect morning...like it has been for 2 weeks now. There is a very light fog/mist on the water, and it’s like something out of a movie set. Very cool. Yesterday we took the dinghy and went exploring this great interior lake and saw lots of wildlife...including a HUGE alligator

The last couple of days...we have been working our way down the last 218 miles of the Tenn-Tom Waterway. The section we are on now is officially called the Lower Black Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway. We still don’t have enough internet signal to send pictures, but when we do you’ll see some cool shots of this waterway. It is nothing like the Tennessee River, but still very pretty. We are still traveling with Andy and Mary on Good News, and it is very enjoyable. We leave at the same time...communicate a little as we travel the waterway...and then get together when we stop. We’ve anchored twice, once we tied up together, and last night we dropped the hook a few hundred feet from one another. The other night we tied up to a dock and rafted off one another. A couple of those nights we had a “captains meeting” which consists of a cocktail and discussing the next days travel plans. Last night we took our dinghy over for a meeting and dinner. This is the first time we have ever traveled with anyone...and we have really enjoyed the experience.

Today we travel the last 64 miles to the Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. We are now in tidal brackish water and will be for the next several months. While I have loved traveling the rivers, I am looking forward to the Gulf waters. The panhandle of Florida is very pretty with great cruising waters, and it has many great marinas that we plan to visit. We are also looking forward to have constant communication capabilities. Cell and internet coverage should not be a problem for most of our time now.

Well, the fog has set in since I started writing this log, so we’ll have to see how long it takes to burn off. We have a very narrow and shallow channel to go through to get out of this anchorage (and back on the river), so it will be impossible to do that in any kind of fog. We only have 64 miles to go today and no lock, so we have plenty of time. We should be in Mobile by mid afternoon.

I’ll keep you posted.

Bob