Hangin In Mobile

We arrived in Mobile on Monday afternoon and tied up at Turner Marine on the Dog River. Since then we've been doing a variety of things. The mast was quite dirty from getting trucked from Chicago and then sitting here. We washed it, then spot cleaned with Fantastic, then rubbed with a cleaner compound and then polished with two coats of paste wax. On a 68 foot long mast. I use the term "we" very generously. Chris did about 80% of the work. I was busy getting lines rigged, checking the internal wiring and various other maintenance details. I've also been busy producing a video for the marina. Happy to continue using my 30 years of experience. Hopefully I'll pick up many more productions along the way to help fund our excursion.

We also borrowed the courtesy car for a half day to go shopping and to get a long overdue haircut! Everybody noticed that one, I hadn't had it cut since late August!

We're taking the car out to Mobile on Sunday to shoot some of the local attractions I'll feature in the video. I'm interested in seeing the USS Alabama battleship. There's also a lot of museums here for a relatively small city.

We're not sure exactly how long we'll stay here. I have a fair amount of work left on the video and we need to get the mast stepped onto the boat plus other projects. We may stay here through Thanksgiving! Hard to say. Currently the weather is very pleasant. Hi's are in the 70's and lows in the 40's to 50's. That will start to drop in December and we hope to be in St. Petersburg by mid-December.

Video: Appledore V Mast Raising

Video: River Locks

Goin' Mobile!!!

We couldn't resist the lure of salt! And our boat really missed its mast. So we got a good start this morning and pushed on down the last of the river, into Mobile harbor and out into Mobile Bay. The harbor is a narrow fairway lined with ocean going ships, tugs and barges. I love heavy metal! The bay was wide open water, the first we've seen since Lake Michigan. There were waves, real waves! Not just wake from passing boats.
Because we pushed on faster than we had planned, I got caught not updating our towing policy till this morning. Boat US is the AAA for boaters. The annual premium for inland waters is quite low but they charge extra for coastal coverage. Towing is NOT cheap. So this is a good deal even with the higher coastal premium. But the update can't take effect till midnight after signing on!!! Everyone we talked to about the approach to the marina said Do Not Leave The Channel! The channel has 8' of water and out of the channel it gets as low as 2'. We draw 5' 6". I just knew we'd run aground and get stuck with no towing coverage for this one day. But that was just one more nightmare that did not come to fruition. Me worried? Naah. (Chris, not a word!).
Even this morning it was quite chilly, low was around 40d on the river. But the gulf water is 77d and wow that makes a big difference. Shorts & T-shirt weather!!

I've contracted with the marina to produce a marketing video for them. We'll be hangin around here for 10 days to 2 weeks. We'll get used to it!
We've gone Mobile!