Mike’s log Sun. May 2 – After one day weather delay we’re away at 0830. Thru Madisonville bridge at 0930 and out to the Causeway North Draw at 1130, but the draw was broken. The tender stopped traffic and even walked out on the draw to look at something. Back on the radio he told us he was sorry but he’d have to call maintenance out. It was still blowing 20s and a bit rough but Patty was still fishing while I putted around waiting. At 1300 the draw was working again and we were thru. When I cleared Camelot on the radio I told him to make sure and thank the maintenance guys. He came back and said I just did.
We set a reefed head sail with 20+ on our north beam after the bridge and saw 9.0 kn on a gust. Lots of crab pots towards the Rigolets. Opened Hwy 11 at 1530, Hwy 90 Rigolets at 1630 and the CSX train bridge at 1730. Anchored at Rabbit Island at 1800 next to the small cut. We had 15’ of water next to a shell (dredger) beach in the lee of a few trees. If the wind switches tonight we’ll have to move. The little bait shack is mostly gone? Looks like nobody is staying there any more. While I was writing this Patty caught a big sail cat on my pole. We had to use the net but I didn’t feel like cleaning it so we let it go.
Patty’s log Day 1 – Started out nice and easy. Nice sail from T2 to Causeway, though we had to wait at causeway due to a bridge malfunction. Bummer, things were great till then. Finally got through causeway and it was a bit chunky there. The closer we got to the Rigolets the smoother the wind and water became. Dropped anchor at Rabbit Island and I went fishing while Mike made dinner. After dinner and clean up we put Salty to bed and came out on deck for night fishing. Mike caught the first fish, a big sail cat. So far I’ve had hits but haven’t landed anything yet. The night is still young.
Mike’s log Mon. May 3 – Left the Rigolets at 0630. North winds @ 10. Set both sails. By late morn the winds picked up still on our beam so we reefed to a head sail only. Early afternoon the winds were over 20 and we shortened the head sail. I took a flier outside of Horn Island looking for flat water but it didn’t help. I think it wasted a couple of hours. We came back at Petti Bous under motor. Sunset at Dauphin Island. Shot the channel following a barge. Cut across Mobile Bay with 25+ winds. Picked up another barge at the Bon Secour and followed him up the channel. Noticed that my chart doesn’t show some of the buoys we are seeing. Got into the mud right at the Alabama channel. Lost the impeller shortly there after. Ducked out on the north side of Oyster bay to change it. We were still very close to the channel and I was sweating all the traffic. Got it running about 0100 (May 4) and followed another barge (Marry Son) thru the rest of the ditch. The barge anchored about Gulf Shores and we were alone. Came around a corner and found a fixed bridge that wasn’t on my chart. Called Patty up on deck and snuck up to it to try to figure it out. Fortunately they had a clearance marker showing 75’ and we crossed thru. Got into Igram Bayou at 0530 after 120 miles.
Patty’s log Day 2/3 – What a day. Great launch from the Rigolets. Found most of the day markers but a few were missing or in the wrong location. Good sailing till we hit Ship Island. Decided to jump outside at Horn Island, the waves died down but the wind was still gusting. Came back inside looking for a place to anchor. No such luck, decided to run for the ICW (Inter Coastal Waterway). What an experience. Almost ran over some cans and got out of the channel and into some shallow water. Good thing for barge captains and their big spotlights. It helped us to find the marks, that and the full moon. Never want to shoot Mobile Bay in the dark again, even though I slept through some of it. Tried to sleep but the engine was noisy and Mike’s fast course corrections did not make for a comfortable sleep. Finally make the ICW about 1am. Had to drop anchor just inside the ICW due to a blown impeller. Its great to have spare parts onboard. Mike got the impeller fixed and away we went, still looking for our anchorage. Finally found Ingram Bayou about 530am. Set the hook and slept till Salty got up. Salty and I sat on the bridge so Mike could sleep. While sitting and warming up some dolphins came by and Salty was mimicking their blow sounds. It was a great start to a new day. Did some chores and took a much needed nap.
Mike’s log Tue. May 4 – Moved the boat to a better spot in Ingram’s. Cleaned up and slept a bit.
Mike’s log Wed. May 5 – Slept in till Salty woke up (5:30). I slept all night (except to check out incoming boats) so I got up with Salty. He was a little cold. Patty was cold last night too so she slept in her flannels. Salty crawled under the covers and warmed up. After a leisurely breakfast of pull-a-parts we went for a site seeing trip. We stopped at Southwind Marina for fuel and water. Harry was tending the fuel dock and was also a liveaboard. At his suggestion we had lunch at the restaurant. We both had hamburgers (the Wimpy) with coleslaw. I almost could not finish it off. (almost) We didn’t have dinner because of it. Coming back we set sail for a couple of legs but the barge traffic stopped us (in the narrows) and we motored the rest of the way back to Ingram Bayou. As soon as we anchored I dove the boat. Boy I miss the clean water! Looks like I put a scratch in the keel when I hit the mud in Mobile Bay. The rest of the new paint looks like new. In the eve we were planning the next day and I couldn’t remember what day of the week it was. Both of us figured it was Wednesday but I’m still not sure. We decided to stay in bayou another day. This water is so much better then what we have. I hope we have an extra day. (If you can’t remember then I think the vacation is working.) After dark when Patty was not fishing and not catching catfish we saw fireflies, satellites and shooting stars.
Patty’s log Day 4 – It’s good when you wake up feeling rested and refreshed. A great night’s sleep will do that for you. Had a nice lazy day, slept in (as much as Salty would let us), made walnut pull-a-part for breakfast, did a few boat chores and them weighed anchor to go exploring (looking for fuel, food, ice, and water). We bypassed several locations due to no fuel, not deep enough, or we had to go inside the harbor without enough room for us to turn. Finally found a spot in Big Lagoon. There were two spots next to each other, but we chose the one that had its fuel on the T-pier. Southwind Marina – fuel, food (restaurant), water, and ice. The marina’s restaurant has a great burger. Make sure and bring your appetite, even for the Wimpy Burger. After lunch at Southwind we headed back towards Ingram Bayou. Mike got to put sails out and play a little. After dropping anchor in the bayou Mike went swimming. Salty wasn’t sure about Mike in the water. Since we had a late lunch, neither of us wanted any supper so we set outside and listened to the quite. Just after dark we both saw fireflies, a satellite and shooting star. What a way to end the day.
Mike’s log Thur. May 6 – No wind in the morning. A sea breeze built later on. Went to Wolf Bay to check it out. Anchored back in Ingram on the other side (west) because someone was in our spot. Took the dink out to the point and then back around the bend. Had another swim and Patty even got her feet wet.
Patty’s log Day 5 – Last day in Ingram Bayou, what a relaxing trip. Took a small trip to Wolf Bay to check it out. Not as nice as Ingrams. After a day of putzing around Mike and I took the dingy out to check around the corner at Ingram. We got around the corner in the dingy but no way in Camelot. Nice place to spend your vacation.
Mike’s log Fri. May 7 – Left Ingram at 05:30. Spent some time puttering around trying to get the bow lights to work. Somewhere in the trip we lost a wire. Rigged a temporary so we could run the lights. Quick trip back down the Alabama ditch and across Mobile Bay. Set sail after clearing Dauphine Island Bridge. It was nice to see all this in the daylight. We were making such good time we decided to shoot for Rabbit Island, only staying on the inside this time. Got dark just after Gulfport. Patty stayed up with me this time to keep me out of trouble. It didn’t work. The moving marks (old charts) and lack of a moon did us in. Got lost and couldn’t find a barge to follow. Ended up in the middle of the oil rigs with all the lights and couldn’t pick out the marks. I decided to go below for the GPS but when I came back up Patty said she spotted the Rigolets train trestle. I grabbed the binoculars (great Christmas gift from Patty) and sure enough. I even spotted the derelict rig next to where we like to anchor. We still had to putt in because we were in such shallow water but we never bumped. Dropped a lazy hook (didn’t set the anchor) because we kept drifting over the line with the current opposite a weak north wind.
Patty’s log Day 6 – Time to head home and I get to see all the things I missed while sleeping on the way in. It’s better to cross Mobile Bay during the day. Brought Salty on deck while things were calm. Salty seemed to enjoy the time outside of his cage. While Mike was below doing some chores I was on the helm and thought I was following a barge, boy what a mistake I made. The barge was coming towards us. Good thing Mike checked on me. Thought about going into Gulfport for the night and then decided to go ahead to the Rigolets. Still could not find markers and no barge traffic to help us out. After several hours, we finally saw a barge coming towards us. He hit his lights and we were able to determine where we were. Not as far off course as we thought. Still could not find the entrance markers to the Rigolets and ended up in the oil platforms and shallow water. Finally saw the train trestle and Mike saw the derelict platform. We knew then that we were at the Rigolets. Dropped anchor and went to sleep.
Mike’s log Sat. May 8 – Got up to find the anchor still under the keel. Decided to shoot for home and have an extra day to cleanup and the bugs at Rabbit Island were bad with no wind. Pulled the anchor up easy and started to motor out to the channel. Saw two barges headed in and on the radio heard the lead Captain say he just lost an engine. I didn’t want any part of that so we stayed inside out little gunk hole. Then after they passed and we made for the trestle we had to wait for a train. It was nice to be in home waters although it was brown. Whenever we shoot the I10 Bridge I go under the first beam with the engine in reverse and the boat almost stopped. (65’ bridge and 65’ mast) This time there was a party barge coming the other way so we waited for them to clear and started under doing my thing. The people on the other boat started hollering that we were going to hit but I snuck under with a smile and a wave. (But I wouldn’t want my hand between the bridge and my mast.) Called Causeway for a three-hour heads up just after Highway 11 Bridge. In the middle of the lake a crab boat was working a line of traps that intersected our course and we got to watch them work very close. I never had an idea it was done like that. They had an arm that looked kind of like a backhoe with a rake on the end. With the boat moving along they would put the arm in the water just before the buoy and grab the line to the trap. Never slowing down the trap would come to the surface and a deckhand would pull it onboard, empty, bait it, and throw it back over the side in just a few seconds. It made us both hungry watching. Got under the Causeway almost exactly three hours from when we called. Turned for the light house and set a headsail. Saturday afternoon in the spring and lake was full of boats. Had a couple of sailboats try to catch us but none did. (We still had the iron jenny running.) Came around the corner at the entrance of the river and there must have been hundreds of boats, everywhere, every kind. We swaggered on through like we just got back from around the world. These people don’t know what they are missing by not getting out of the mud. After we were back home and cleaning up one of the sailboats that tried to catch up to us came by and ask what our secret for speed and I answered “diesel”.
Patty’s log Day 7 – Heading for home with lots of bugs and no wind at the Rigolets. Pulled up anchor and had to wait while two barges went by. Then had to wait at the train trestle. Only while we were moving did the bugs go away. Got through the train trestle, Hwy 90, I-10, and Hwy 11 with no problems. Heading for Causeway we spotted a working crab boat. Neat way that they pick up the balls and cages. Cleared Causeway and headed for the mouth on the Tchefuncta. Nice head sail and iron jenny day. Hit the mouth and boy what a crowd. Made me want to turn around and go back to Ingram. Finally made it to our slip and started the cleanup process. I still want to go back to Ingram. Had a great trip and we’ll do this again.
Mike’s post log – Lessons learned: