#15 Demopolis to Mobile

11/9 Greeks Folly and Simpatico cast off from Demopolis yacht basin at at 6am.  This is the first day of 3 very long days on the river.  There are no other Marinas till Mobile Bay.  And actually very few anchorages that are OFF the river.

This is the 12th and last Lock we exited on the Tenn-Tom Waterway from Tennessee River. Dropping us a total of 352 feet to sea level in 350 miles. We have 140 miles to go.

The Tenn-Tom Has many switchbacks where you really don't advance very far at all.  In this instance we passed with in a football field length of where we were 3 miles ago. All the more reason for that great little electronic devise called AIS. (Automatic Identification System) Notice the little triangles on the screen - the two in front are other pleasure boats with the system. The one at the bottom of the screen is a tow we passed  a few miles back. Any tows approaching us will show pointing the other direction. On these curves, and sometimes very narrow curves it is critical we are aware of approaching traffic.

Thats Greeks Folly anchored in front of us along side the River. 

Mr. Sailor Man and his rum after a long day on the river.

This is the only "Marina" till Mobile.  Bobby's Fish Camp. Much too early for a stop.

11/10 this night along the River there were two tows, each the same distance from our spot but approaching from opposite directions.  We contacted them on radio to let them know where we were. Fortunately, we did not have to feel like the "double stuff" in an Oreo for long as one two stopped to let the other pass. They constantly swept their spotlights watching for us and the bouys. 

Affectionate name for this bridge is "Dolly Parton"

 11/12 After 3 nine hour days coming down the Tenn-Tom we are leaving the wilderness delta and before us is Mobile! It is cloudy and overcast and a bit hard to see how massive this port is.  First freighters we've seen since Chicago. Hundreds of barges and tows, ship repair docks, loading docks, and military vessels.

We have no idea what these stealth looking catamarans are for.  Definitely military.Hopefully if we get a chance to visit Mobile we will find out.

Never seen anything like this.  Traversing through this fairway was intimidating. Tows and tugs everywhere. And then - - we were in Mobile Bay; average depth 8-9 feet.  We followed the ship channel (26 feet) to bouy #72 and turned East to Fairhope and Eastern Shore Marine across the Bay from Mobile.  

This will be our home for at least a week while we regroup and plan our next leg across the Panhandle of Florida.  The trip down these great rivers has been very interesting and exciting.  We have traversed more than 50 locks and met great folks along the way. Now we will plan our  Gulf Intercoastal Waterway cruise.The portion of North Gulf called the Big Bend is shallow and we will have to be aware of Tides.