Gulf Port Alabama to Gulf Shores Mississippi

We had a long run from Gulf Shores Alabama across Mobile Bay and into the GWII which is in the Mississippi sound between land and the barrier island. The wind was brisk, but we couldn’t sail as the channel is narrow and there are “spoil areas” or Obstn. Fish haven, Subm. Piling, marked out in nearly every blank spot on the charts. The one I particularly liked was marked EXPLOSIVES ANCHORAGE AREA. The few places we could duck into once we crossed the bay, were for boats with less than 4’ draft. We finally opted for the least objectionable anchor site off a wreck about 1 mile out from Petit Bois Island. We were hot and tired and the only saving grace was a strong wind coming through the open hatches.

Tom woke me about 5 am to close those hatches because a large angry red splotch on the Sirius radar gave us a good chance of getting dumped on. The storm petered out once it hit water nevertheless we pulled up anchor by 6:30 and were on our way again. We decided to run to Gulf Port Mississippi, the city marina looked inviting. Active Captain gives them a #1 rating … again I am puzzled. We called ahead and they were very busy … get back to us. Never did. Called again, they put us in a short slip after Tom repeated 3 times we are a 40’ sail boat, now she is puzzled, call back. We wanted to fuel up and called 4 times -someone was to be there. NOPE we circled around for five minutes. There is no WI-FI, no welcome package with maps of area; they leave you on your own. By the way not one boat has come in after us and we did not see one boat in the channel coming in.

I realize my expectations have changed considerable since we left Michigan almost a year ago. I look back at entries I made then, complaining about 40 degree weather for one, while Tom and I sweat buckets trying to get tied to our dock. We never complained about fixed or floating now we want Fixed. Now I ask if there is air conditioning in the Showers, also if the doors lock. Getting picky in my old age I guess.

We are here in Gulf Port for the weekend. Renting a car, going to try and find some maps of the GWII through New Orleans… So far it looks like one crazy mess.

Any one reading this if you have a clue, let us know.

Roasting in Mississippi

Shrimp boat passing us in the Ditch

Entering Mobil Bay

Mobile Bay is an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, lying within the state of Alabama in the United States. Its mouth is formed by the Fort Morgan Peninsula on the eastern side and Dauphin Island, a barrier island on the western side. The Mobile River and Tensaw River empty into the northern end of the bay, making it an estuary. Several smaller rivers also empty into the bay: Dog River, Deer River, and Fowl River on the western side of the bay, and Fish River on the eastern side. Mobile Bay is the fourth largest estuary in the United States with a discharge of 62,000 cubic feet (1,800 m³) of water per second.^[1]

Mobile Bay is 413 square miles (1,070 km²) in area. It is 31 miles (50 km) long by a maximum width of 24 miles (39 km).^[1] The deepest areas of the bay are located within the shipping channel, sometimes in excess of 75 feet (23 m) deep, but the average depth of the bay is 10 feet (3 m).^[1]

Pelicans are cool but they do make it difficult to read the
markers some time

derelict platform

Two Toot pass of tug

Offshore oil and gas in the US Gulf of Mexico is a major source of oil and natural gas in the United States. The western and central Gulf of Mexico, which includes offshore Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, is one of the major petroleum-producing areas of the United States. In 2007, federal leases in the western and central Gulf of Mexico produced 25% of the nation's oil and 14% of the nation's natural gas.^[1]