Mobile Al.

Mobile

Well it has been a while since I posted on our blog, but it is with good reason.

We have been in Mobile, Alabama at Turner Marine for the past week and a half. We were waiting for an auto pilot part that seemed to go missing every day until it finally showed up on Thursday.

Pelican Perch

The first few days the temperature highs were in the 80F (high 20C) but on Friday night it dropped to the low 60F in the day and 30F at night (15C- 0C) The high winds from the north would make for a nasty crossing of the Bay so we decided to stay put and wait the weather out.

In the process met some many wonderful people.

Martin, who helped us sort out our TV, my iPhone and took us shopping.  He gave me a disk with all the charts for the US and more. He helped me set up a program on my laptop and even helped me upload all the charts too.

Martin

Gary helped us tie off when we arrived and was just a great neighbour to have on the dock.

George went through all the charts with us and showed us all the great anchorages along the way.

Ed made a recommendation and helped us sort out the escaping-cat problems.

We fished with Martin and Keith.

We got invited to the annual Halloween party where we met even more wonderful people and heard great sailing stories and shared many laughs.

Gypsey Christelle

Gary and the crew off SV Flying Free spent a day exploring the US Alabama, WW2 Battleship. They went to the air force museum and also went on the submarine on display.

US Alabama

Gary in the sick bay onboard the US Alabama
(sorry about the tan line)

Model  of the US Alabama

P51 Mustang with a likeness of a Tuskegee Airman , a famous
group of African American fighter pilots in the WW2. They escorted Allied forces bombers.

SR 71 Black bird that set records for the fastest and highest flying.

Left: A4 Skyhawk - Right: Cruisader

The conning tower of the USS Drum, a submarine

Tiny hatches for crew to crawl through.

Gate guard for the museum - a F4 Phantom

I finally got to go to Target and iHop. Target is just like Wal-Mart but more expensive and iHop was great!

We bought shrimp right off the shrimp boat and enjoyed them boiled and BBQed.

On Monday we moved to Dog River Marina where we fueled up and pumped out. You get to stay there for a night for free when you fuel up so it is a bargain too.

At Dog River Marina we met up with several Looper friends, MV Say Goodbye, MV Lauren grace, MV Blue Angel and MV Wild Goose.

We look forward to the next part of our journey. Tomorrow we cross Mobile Bay and for the first time we will be entering the Intercostal waterway (ICW) and carry on towards Florida.

……………………………………………to be continued