Irish Attitude's Adventures: Mobile, AL (Mo-Beel!)

Tuesday, November 20 – Thursday, November 29, 2012

Irish Attitude, Blue Grass and Headquarters weighed anchor on the morning of November 20^th. We were not looking for an early start since we only had 16 miles left on our river trip before reaching Mobile, Alabama. What a change from the bayou to the big city! Swamp land to a huge shipping port in only a few miles. Forget the usual etiquette we showed the tows. They were too busy shuffling barges around to speak with SPOREs like us. (The modified version is Stupid People On Recreational Equipment.)

Bridge Construction

Down on the Bayou

Doing the Barge Shuffle

Enter the Port of Mobile

Skyscrapers

Shhhh... Stealth Naval Ship

Ornate Buildings Line Waterfront

Cargo Ship Towers over the Tow at its beam
(You can imagine how small we felt)

Exiting Mobile Port

Pelicans

Their

Meal

Ticket

Entering Dog River

Our starboard engine had developed a knock in it and Mike planned to have Turner Marine check it out. Maybe it’s a lifter? Done Dreaming joined us later in the day having limped in on one engine. Turner’s is known for hosting a Thanksgiving Dinner for loopers on the day before the actual holiday. We all planned to partake in this looper tradition. They provide the turkey (3 deep fried!) and everyone brings a dish to pass. Dog River Marina is right next door and they too were invited. There were probably 60 people in attendance including the Turner Marine employees and a few locals from the marina. We discovered there were many more loopers around than we first thought. We ran into some friends from the rendezvous and met many more. What fun! I supplied a crock pot of green bean casserole. Everyone made a traditional dish from home. It was a delicious tribute to our various home ports. We were all thankful for our safe journeys, especially a family that was just towed in from 200 miles out in the gulf. Seventy-two hours sharing watch, fearing their wobbly mast may fall over. The mother said her 13 year old son stepped up when she was injured and helping her husband. With obvious pride she said, ‘He became a man that day’. Yes, much to be thankful for!

Delicious dishes but the turkey still rules but the day

Thankful for new friends!
Clockwise: Tony, Mundy, Mike, Tom, Margie, Tony, Stephanie, Michael and Shirley

Dig in

Save room for dessert!

Back to the engine knock…. The service guys, Billy and Shawn, worked on our engine on Wednesday morning, before the Thanksgiving dinner. Both men believed it was more serious than a lifter. It could require us to replace the engine’s long block. We would have a long weekend to contemplate our options since work would not resume until Monday.

It was time for Headquarters and Blue Grass to move on. It’s hard to see our new friends leave but we plan to stay in touch and expect to meet up again as our journey carries us along.

We used the courtesy car for provisioning and visiting local eating establishments. Mike fears we are eating our way through the south! So we walk a lot. Over to Dog River Marina we found Kermit and Katherine from Good Karma. They were the only one from their group around. The others had left their boats and heading home for the holiday weekend.

To while away our time we explored Dog River, with our dinghy. It’s more like a lake as it widens out. We saw Bama Belle tucked safely in her slip having crossed her wake in Mobile but Charlie was not aboard. There were 3 West Marine stores to visit, one right on site! Mike and I rented a car for a weekend special of $9.99 a day. What a deal! Wait…, which car? A Smart Car…? Do we have to plug it in? Only a two seater but we (it?) did get a lot of stares and finger pointing. It was not that bad. Then we would climb out and remember it resembled a yellow clown car! What a disappointment to our audience, only two clowns!

Saturday day we drove to Fairhope on the other side of the bay. It’s a cute, artsy town with many individualize shops and restaurants, not chains. Sunday we checked out downtown Mobile. It is very progressive along the port area but has a New Orleans feel to it. Mobile had the oldest organized Mardi Gras celebration and parade in the U.S.!

Typical Architectur Style in Downtown Mobile

Mardi Gras U.S.A.

After a long weekend of thought and research on the internet a decision was made to travel to Legendary Marine in Destin, FL to seek out a Carver dealer and certified Crusader engine rep. Mike was looking for explanation for the problem and a warranty should we need a new engine. With low engine hours and a second engine on the port side Crusader expertise was needed. Billy and Shawn were also working on Done Dreaming so it was Thursday before they were able to return to our boat and put the engine cover back.

While walking the dock one afternoon we got to know Linda and Fred off The Young American. We joined Michael and Mundy onboard. They shared their experience as gold loopers and gave us a tour of their 37’ Great Harbor. Fred added some clever renovations to personalize their home i.e. TV storage and portal exhaust fan. Cool! I spoke with another couple, briefly. They were from Sweden and had sailed the Atlantic, Caribbean, Mediterranean, South America and now the loop. His English was good but hers was limited. They would be on their way again after getting their mast steeped.

Aboard Young American

We ran into Kermit again. Good Karma was now on the hard preparing for their trip to the Bahamas. An overboard pump out installed. They too are from the Great Lakes area and this is such a foreign idea to us. But, when in Rome…. He suggested we get all the loopers together for dinner at the Mobile Bay Yacht Club across the street. Excellent! The word spread and surprise, 25 people celebrated together. Charlie from Bama Bell joined us. It was a great night with great people. Good Karma, In the Zone, Tranquilo, Karma, Proud Lady, Done Dreaming, When Pigs Fly, Catmandu ……