(Post is a day late, oops)

(Post is a day late, oops) Day 32: We made it to Salt Water!

Well, after 32 days of winding inland river, we have made it to Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico!

Woke up early to a strong tidal current pulling us on anchor. Got moving by 6am and was headed for mastless salvation in Mobile.

1/2 way to Mobile a fog started to set in, by the time we made it to downtown Mobile the fog was HEAVY. By the time we made it past the port you couldn’t see much past the bow of the boat. It was a bit intimidating navigating through a massive ocean shipping port and not being able to see. Watched my charts and AIS very closely as we inched along. We did see our first DOLPHINS! Which is always a treat. A very curious pelican followed us for a while. It seemed particularly fascinated by Hurley pooping on the foredeck 🤣

Finally by the time we made Dog River the fog had lifted. Came into port at the Mobile Yacht Club, and tied up. The dogs couldn’t wait to get on land (even though they had finally started using the grass mat).

MYC is a nice facility, several docks, a nice club house with full service bar/restaurant, and most importantly a Gin Pole! (Crane like device for raising sailboat masts)

All along the rivers I had asked marinas if they had one, no one did. The yacht yard here in Mobile that most loopers use to step their masts was a 12 day wait, which would amount to $500+ in transient dockage while we waited, plus the yard bill for the crane.. I refused to pay $1000+ for something you can do for free at most proper yacht clubs…

So after a quick walk on shore with the four legged crew, we started prepping to step the mast. After an hour of cleaning and “de-rivering” (remove temporary steaming/anchor lights, remove straps holding mast, take the boom off, replace the mast lights with LEDs, reinstall the VHF/AIS antenna, wind anemometer, etc)

Stepping a mast isn’t all that complicated, but it’s heavy and a bit cumbersome to maneuver. The gin pole worked great, I was able to step the mast solo, which was a new one for me. But it went smooth and took less than 40 min.

Back to our slip and the process of rigging began. Bent on sails, mounted the boom, stack pack, running rigging etc. Pulled all the braces off that held the mast and hauled them to the dumpster, did some cleaning then headed to the clubhouse for a long hot shower and a nice dinner. A great cajun seafood pasta dish was waiting for me!

I was wiped out and fell asleep before 9, which is rare. Spent the next day cleaning, tuning the mast, wiring the instruments, cleaning the interior, etc. Made a provision run, and did some weather routing for the next leg. It feels good to have her back to being a sailboat, and she’s almost ocean ready. Our next leg is TBD. Probably sail to Pensacola, FL tomorrow for a little shakedown cruise, if all goes well it looks like we have a nice weather window to hop to Sarasota from Pensacola on Monday.

It was a fun trip, but I’m glad the river are over. Looking forward to warm and being able to stay put for a few days or a week at a time. The adventure has just begun..

BY THE NUMBERS: Total Mileage: 1141nm Average Miles/Day: 35.68 Hours Underway: 208 (By Comparison you can drive from CYC Belmont to Mobile Yacht Club in 14 hrs, covering 937 miles) Days Since Leaving Chicago: 32 Days Underway: 30 Days Stopped: 2 Days at Anchor or Free Wall: 15 Days in a Paid Marina: 17 Average Marina Cost Per Night: $45 Total Dockage: $714

Fuel Burned: 127.39 Gallons Average Price Per Gallon: $5.82 Total Fuel Cost: $738.28 Average MPG: 9.14