Mobile Bay

After a few days of foggy mornings and quiet anchorages, we approached Mobile, Alabama. We were in the salt water of Mobile Bay. The harbor is full of activity, particularly repair and boat building businesses. We continued on to our destination down the main ship channel, avoiding the shallow waters of Mobile Bay.

In the ship channel and immediately alongside it, many fishing and shrimping boats were operating. This one was fairly typical. Its name was important to us because one of our trawler buddies is named Anne Marie. So we took this picture in honor of her. She and Don have been delayed by repairs and maintenance on their boat, Might As Well V.

Our next destination was Dog River south of Mobile. We stayed at Turner Marine where we were to have our masts stepped. It was also the place where we would reunite with Jack and Sheila Adamowski, our traveling companions for several weeks. They were with the boats that had joined together to ship their masts from Wisconsin to Dog River. We raised the masts on all five boats in one afternoon. This is a picture showing Sabbatical at the short docks typical of marinas here in the South. With the tides moving the boat up and down, it could be quite a challenge to get on and off.

While we were at Turner's, we visited the USS Alabama which is at anchor across the ship channel from Mobile. The Alabama was the only battleship that went through the war undamaged, despite the efforts of the suicide pilots of the Japanese air forces and participation in several big battles and actions in the Pacific. It is an impressive vessel with those big guns and amazing in the facilities on board from print shop to hospital.

Look who got caught and put in the brig. Grandma Annette got out shortly after this picture after promising to be good.