Mardi Gras In Mobile and Splash!

Greetings to all from Mobile as we continue to get cruise ready. While we made into the water yesterday... hooray!...
we think that it may be short-lived. Our dinghy davit system does not line up properly with the transom of the dinghy itself.  There will need to be some reconfiguring of the brackets that support the dinghy when it is in the upright position. This will mean that we will be in and out of the water several more times. We are not happy about this as this was all to have been completed before the boat was shipped..... but wasn't.

This event though was not without celebration though. Our new friends from Denmark have been on the hard all this time as well. Their sailboat was repaired and put in the water just after us. So a bottle of Prosecco was found, uncorked, and toasts made. They have to get their mast stepped and do a few other things before they depart. They will probably leave on Monday or Tuesday depending on the weather. Their next destination is Cuba.

On the lighter side we have spent some fun time together and enjoyed going to Mardi Gras parades a few times. Mardi Gras in Mobile has a longer history than that in New Orleans dating back to 1703. The celebration of "mystic societies" discontinued during the Civil War but resumed again in 1867. These societies continue today. The parade that we went to on Saturday night was put on by the "Mystics of Time".

The first time we attended we pulled off the freeway and asked a police officer where was the best place to park? We explained that we were both from out out the area. He said that we should park right behind his car in the freeway median. So we did. When we came back the next time we did the same. We like free parking with an armed guard close by.

As we walked to the downtown area

we passed many celebrations in action in hotel parking lots

where local walk around bands played jazz

and high school bands warmed up before the parade started. Of course there were street vendors everywhere selling all kinds of Mardi Gras memorabilia.

Along the way were entertained by street musicians and you can imagine the people watching opportunities at an event like this.

After dinner at an historic inn...

 we proceeded to the parade route up the street. We managed to get a spot where the police observation post was set up after we arrived. That made us wonder if what we might be in for but there was nothing to be worried about while there.

The parade itself was made up of large paper mache floats..

marching bands and groups of all ages...

And look who came home with all the beads. How do you think she got those?

Nautical Word For The Day: [from seatalk.info]         

Fetch:                                                                       

1. The distance over which the wind can blow unobstructed by land before reaching the observer.                         

2. The distance which the effect of seas can travel               unobstructed by land before reaching the observer.    

From Great Loop Jargon:                                            

3. A southern term indicating that someone is going to get something. Example: I'm fixing to fetch some grits... "wansum"?

       

                                                              

Johnny Cash Sang.....

... as he remembered hearing... "How high's the water, mama? And the answer eventually got to... "Five feet high and rising." Last week and again yesterday we were beginning to ask the same question.

There was quite a storm a week ago to the point where the marina was  closing the doors on all the out buildings which they had never done before during our time here. Loose items were picked up and some things tied down a little better as a storm was brewing. There was a low pressure area over us with a full moon and a big southern rainstorm headed our way. The winds peaked out at about 35 mph with gusts to 40.

The parking lot was not set to grade to let the water run off so some deep pools formed for a while. Because the tide was high [for them] at +2 feet, the water did not drain away very fast.

We were not concerned during this time though. What the heck... we were on a boat!

But it was a totally different story in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina came through. All those of us away from that storm heard about was the devastation around New Orleans. These guys caught the brunt of the storm as well. The picture below shows a glimpse of the waterway in the marina to the west of the bridge that is in the backgound.

There used to be a restaurant on the east side of that bridge but it is there no more. The water surge pushed that building under the bridge and through the marina wiping out boats, covered moorages, and docks. The pictures below show some of those that have been replaced.

These folks have rebounded really well but it makes us think that it is not so bad for us to put up with an occassional earthquake now and then.

Now... if Johnny Cash were singing that same song and asked during the middle of Katrina... "How high is the water, mama?"... he would have heard... "Fourteen feet high and rising"! The horizontal blue marks on either side of the doorway in the picture below were placed there after the storm to indicate the height of the water during the surge. It is amazing to us that they are still here and still in business!

Nautical Word For The Day: [from seatalk.info]

Bail:

1. To clear water out of a boat by dipping it up with a container and throwing it overboard.

2. To pump water out of a boat.

From Great Loop Jargon:

3. The money required to secure one's  release from jail after a particularly fun night out with other folks doing the Loop.

The Dog River Marina

The Dog River Marina .....

where we are staying is not only a marina but is also a working boat yard.

We are on "the hard" which is a term that we think means the "hard surface" which in turn means that you are not in the water.

We are on the black top next to the boat lift that puts boats in the water and takes them out. There is a lot of action around our boat from 7:00 AM to 3:30 PM. The boat to the right of the lift below is the stern of In My Element so the action is right off our back porch.

They, and therefore we, do get 30 minutes for lunch whether we need it or not..... usually we do! That is both good news and bad news.

The good news is that as long as you are "on the hard" here
 you are an active customer and are not charged a "moorage" fee or a "hardage" fee. The bad news is that as long as you are "on the hard" you can not run your heat or A/C or your septic system as there is no place to dump it. So we are on the routine that we had 48 years ago when we were first married and living in a small trailer [20 feet long]. Then we had an MJB coffee can.... now we have a 5 gallon bucket. What the hell has happened to us??!!

Part of the services they offer include.... outboard motor replacement. These guys went from two 200 H/P Yamaha engines to two 300 H/P Yamahas. Sometimes you just can't get there fast enough.

They also repaint boat bottoms which sometimes requires the removal of the previous layers of paint. This is tough work which is often done with grinders and sanders and a strong back. I will not comment on the usefulness of the mask that is hanging around his chin. There seems to be quite a few guys like him around the boat yard.

Many of these guys here are "died in the wool" Alabama football fans and their trucks clearly demonstrate that. I can remember a day when the Huskies had some bragging rights. When will that time come again?

One of their fortes is the refurbishment of local classics. Below is one of their 20' Bertrams that has been redone. It is a 1968 model and is now in great shape.

The next is a boat that is being updated after having completed the Great Loop this past year. They are having new bottom paint done, new canvas, and everything cleaned up. It is looking pretty good and should be a good

ride for someone looking for this kind of boat.

Lastly, the boat below came into the boatyard about an hour before we arrived. Some friends at the marina whom we had previously met at a boat meeting thought that it was our boat finally showing up and were wondering what we were thinking! Gilligan may have been on this one in the past.

Nautical Word For The Day:  [from seatalk.info]

Decommission:                                                  

1. To formally take a ship out of service and relieve the crew

of duty.                                                                       

From Great Loop Jargon:                                               

2. Dat is da money dat one pays the sales guy when you buy da boat.                                                            

                                          

Update

Hi All,

At the suggestion of a few folks we want to send a quick update to let everyone know we are well and warm in Mobile. The weather has been in the 60s and low 70s most days. We are incrementally getting things done on and to the boat with some long days so have not had much "umff" at the end of the day to do any blog postings. But, there will be more to come soon.

It looks like we will be here another 3 weeks depending on when our supplies arrive from the boat builder. We can't believe that we have been gone 3 weeks already.

Hope that all is well with each and everyone of you!
Love,
Bob and Debi

The Boat's Trail To Mobile

The boat's trail to Mobile was much different than ours. After starting in La Conner the trucker with his wife in the chase car went east to eastern Washington crossing Sherman Pass into Idaho and then south to Boise. The truck driver's wife took these photos and sent them to us at the end on the trip. Thank you, Jeanne!

They thought they had a weather window that they could stay ahead of the snow and the cold but  were delayed in Provo, Utah so the weather caught up with them there. The snow storm left them there for an extra day until the highway department was able to get the roads cleared enough for passage.

Next the boat passed through a portion of Wyoming where they spent the night in the town of Rawlings.

This was followed by a journey through a portion of Colorado skirting the Denver area.

 In each state the truck was preceded by a pilot car in front and back. The truck driver's wife drives the chase car. The front pilot cars are hired for each separate state and have poles extending up in the air in the front of the pilot car just above the height of our boat on the truck. That height was 15'7". In Texas they were re-routed from the original state generated plan which added 200 miles to their trip.

After they passed through Mississippi they too ended up at our destination, Dog River Marina in Mobile, AL. They showed up at 4:00PM on Thursday, January 17.

The boat was in good shape but mighty dirty as you might expect.

The next day the boat was unloaded with a lift similar to the one that loaded it in La Conner earlier in the month. These guys at Dog River have a well orchestrated operation as it was off the boat and positioned on "the hard" [or hard surface] in short order.

They set it on its keel on wooden blocks with support stands in all four "corners". By three in the afternoon the boat was washed and starting to look like our boat again.

Over the next week or so the boat will be recommissioned including washing and waxing the whole thing, putting the top back on, the radar mast back on, and a number of other things to get it ready to cruise. Our next job will be to move our things onto the boat and organize ourselves for our boating life to come.

Nautical Word For The Day:

Purchase:

1. A grip achieved by attaching a mechanical device such as a windlass or block and tackle.

2. An advantage applied to the lifting of a heavy load.

From Great Loop Jargon:

3. What one constantly does when one acquires a boat. This includes the boat itself, fuel, supplies, charts, provisions, and all sorts of gadgets. This has given rise to the acronym for B-O-A-T which is:                                
Bring On Another Thousand.

The Trail To Mobile - Day 8 and Day 9

The trail from San Antonio to Baton Rouge, LA proved to be the longest so far. We covered 485 miles which is the most for us on this trip and should be the last big travel day by land. After spending parts of four different days in Texas, happiness truly was seeing it in our rear view mirror. We knew we were getting really close to our destination.

Once in Louisiana we retraced some roads that we traveled with Randy and Karen last September after a UW Husky football game in Baton Rouge. That was just after Hurricane Issac which had left a lot of water standing in the  bayous and the low country. Well it turns out that Louisiana has been having some record rains which we got to experience first hand.

 There were similar water levels now as there were then. I guess the difference is that it took a month and a half of steady rain to duplicate Issac's performance which took a couple of days.

                             

Day 9 started with the knowledge that we would only be on the road about 3-4 hours. In short order we passed through the remaining part of Louisiana, crossed through Mississippi, and then into Alabama.

We drove into the marina yard just after noon on Wednesday, January 16. We were met by the marina folks whom had been expecting us. They were a little surprised by what and how much we had inside the truck. I know that they were not expecting to see the dinghy and outboard motor with the radar mast laying over the top.

Within two hours we had our truck unloaded and possesions stored in an old trailer on the property.

What a relief that was. We were then able to arrange the return of the truck to Budget the next day and pick up a rental car from Avis while on the way. It could not have been smoother.

We feel very fortunate to have traveled 3,440 miles without incident as well as having the opportunity to visit friends along the way. The next part of the story is: The Trail to Mobile for the boat. We were in regular contact with the trucker on most days and watched their progress from afar.

Nautical Word For The Day: [from seatalk.info]

Port:

1. A coastal harbor offering safe anchorage, dockage, and facilities for offloading cargo.

From Great Loop Jargon:

2. A suitable adult beverage useful for toasting whether one's successful arrival in that coastal harbor is by sea or by land.