Wednesday, Nov. 28 – Monday Dec. 3
Life is so exciting when you (have to) get new things! Refrigerators, exhaust hoses, gaskets, generator fuel line air bleed washers… the fun never stops!
Brian was very involved in the installation of our new frig (which needed some woodworking for the extra 1” in height), replacement of the generator exhaust hose (nasty job), replacement of the raw water pump oil gasket (to stop an oil leak on starboard engine - also a nasty job), and an easy fix of the generator fuel leak. Ray, the mechanic with 35 years of experience, was really good. Brian’s extra pair of hands helped to keep the projects moving, plus he learned a few tricks along the way, including the need for thin contortionist-type people to reach some difficult places in the engine room. (Sue’s name was thrown around but quickly withdrawn from consideration). The charge for all this work was very reasonable, and they waived the cost of the slip (2 weeks!) since they were working on the boat. Four thumbs up for Dog River Marina! (It would have been 8 thumbs, but Bo doesn’t really have any thumbs, and Wilson certainly doesn’t!)
Last Friday was a perfect day to travel but Ray insisted on a sea trial and it was good that he did as a raw water pump connection line leaked and was in need of extra sealant. We’d set noon as the latest departure time in order to arrive at the next marina during daylight. Noon came and noon went, and we knew we’d be at Dog River another day. A couple of Loopers from earlier in the trip showed up on Friday afternoon and we would have missed them had we left. Delayed departure - good thing – bad thing - who knows?
Saturday was correctly predicted to be rainy with thunder storms and windy, so we stayed put for another day - thus completing another long stint at a marina. It seems we travel for a few stops, then we’re at a marina for an extended period for a repair, then the cycle repeats and repeats. By staying Saturday night, we were able to see the Annual Boat Christmas Parade down the Dog River! There were 5 or 6 boats in all, done up with lights and decorations, plus one boat with Christmas music. Lightning flashing in the background was an added bonus. We were informed that in previous years (most likely ones with much better weather), there have been as many as 50 boats! Since our slip was right at the end of the gas dock we had a great view of the procession from our flybridge!
Later on that night, we had another visit from the marina cat. This time he spent a lot more time looking around the boat - including looking into the boat with laser vision – see photos.
Sunday brought a warmer, partly cloudy day with a mostly flat Mobile Bay which made it a good travel day. Shortly after leaving the marina, we saw Capt. Sid (one of the shrimp boats docked across from us in the marina) working along the channel. It almost felt like seeing an old friend – maybe we were there a little too long!
We went south about 20 miles on Mobile Bay until we met up with the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. We’ve seen various abbreviations for this section of the trip: GICW, GICWW, GCIWW (here C=Coast not coastal), GCIW, GIW, GIWW… We’ll use GIWW per the USACE (US Army Corps of Engineers). It is a section of the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). The ICW runs south from near Boston (though many say it begins in Norfolk, VA) and around the southern tip of Florida, then follows the Gulf Coast all the way around to Brownsville, TX. The Atlantic side is abbreviated … you guessed it ... AIWW! We won’t see the AIWW until next year.
…back to the GIWW… Just before intercepting the GIWW, oil rigs began to show up in the bay. Something else we began to see around there was much more exciting - dolphins! Our first sighting was so exciting, and we were lucky enough to continue seeing little groups of 2s and 3s until we were farther inland on the channel. They would approach the boat and check us out, decide we were moving too slow to be fun, and be on their way. Catching them in photos was a little tough, but we got a couple decent shots.
We passed Lulu’s Restaurant (Jimmy Buffet’s sister’s place) in Gulf Shores, AL. Actually, we had to hold position in front of Lulu’s for about 15 minutes while a towboat pushed his barges into the shoreline. It seemed to take him a long time to accomplish this maneuver compared to what we’d seen done farther north on the rivers. Good to know that even the professionals can have a bad day getting the boat to do what they want while everyone is watching. Too bad Lulu’s did not have a drive-up window on the river. :-)
We pulled into The Wharf Marina in Orange Beach, AL, around 3:15pm. It is a very large marina – resort – condo - shopping complex. (There are some really nice boats docked here!) They have dock hands to help you in, floating docks and everything looks perfect and good repair. This is a little hard to adjust to after a few months on the rivers. We pulled in with our river-mud stained vessel, barking dog, and yelled “how y’all doing” and tried to look like we belonged.🤣