Wonderful Weekend!
We had a great weekend aboard DreamBoat. After some last minute repairs, and a new bottom-paint job, we left Beachcomber Marina at Dog River about 3:30PM on Friday, and motor-sailed back home to the mouth of Fowl River. Saturday morning, we got the boat cleaned up and provisioned, and headed south for Dauphin Island. We planned to meet up with my brother and his family at their new beach house. We arrived at Dauphin Island about an hour before dark, but could not find the unmarked channel in to his house, so we had to anchor out. It was not a restful night, with south-southwest winds about 10 to 15, seemingly constant boat traffic, light chop, odd boat noises and worry about a dragging anchor. Saturday morning we went around Fort Gaines and out into the Gulf. After we negotiated the ship channel and Dixey Bar, the Gulf was beautiful. Southeast winds at 10 - 15, blue-green water, 4 foot swells, just about perfect. We eventually turned around, passed Fort Morgan, and headed for Bon Secour River. About halfway across the bay, a thunderstorm popped up, and things got exciting! Lightning was flashing all around us, the wind picked up to 30 - 40, and the raindrops felt like bullets. We furled all sails and motored into the intercaostal waterway to hide. Found an empty dock and tied up to wait for the storm to blow over. After about another hour of wind and rain, things settled down and we motored back into Bon Secour River and anchored behind Plash Island. This was a much more restful night, with gentle breezes and calm water. On Monday morning we set out for home, and when we poked back out into Mobile Bay, we were greeted with southeast winds at about 15 - 20, which allowed us to sail wing-and-wing all the way home, 22 miles in just over 4 hours. We are lucky to live in such as beautiful area, with good sailing and other water sports available nearly year-round. And yes, we are lucky to live in a country where all this is possible. I have family members that have served and are serving in our military, and I had family members that gave their lives for our freedoms. I remember that every day! It's a shame that Memorial Day has been turned into the long weekend that kicks off the summer season. Much more emphasis needs to placed on the original meaning of the holiday.
We had a great weekend aboard DreamBoat. After some last minute repairs, and a new bottom-paint job, we left Beachcomber Marina at Dog River about 3:30PM on Friday, and motor-sailed back home to the mouth of Fowl River. Saturday morning, we got the boat cleaned up and provisioned, and headed south for Dauphin Island. We planned to meet up with my brother and his family at their new beach house. We arrived at Dauphin Island about an hour before dark, but could not find the unmarked channel in to his house, so we had to anchor out. It was not a restful night, with south-southwest winds about 10 to 15, seemingly constant boat traffic, light chop, odd boat noises and worry about a dragging anchor. Saturday morning we went around Fort Gaines and out into the Gulf. After we negotiated the ship channel and Dixey Bar, the Gulf was beautiful. Southeast winds at 10 - 15, blue-green water, 4 foot swells, just about perfect. We eventually turned around, passed Fort Morgan, and headed for Bon Secour River. About halfway across the bay, a thunderstorm popped up, and things got exciting! Lightning was flashing all around us, the wind picked up to 30 - 40, and the raindrops felt like bullets. We furled all sails and motored into the intercaostal waterway to hide. Found an empty dock and tied up to wait for the storm to blow over. After about another hour of wind and rain, things settled down and we motored back into Bon Secour River and anchored behind Plash Island. This was a much more restful night, with gentle breezes and calm water. On Monday morning we set out for home, and when we poked back out into Mobile Bay, we were greeted with southeast winds at about 15 - 20, which allowed us to sail wing-and-wing all the way home, 22 miles in just over 4 hours. We are lucky to live in such as beautiful area, with good sailing and other water sports available nearly year-round. And yes, we are lucky to live in a country where all this is possible. I have family members that have served and are serving in our military, and I had family members that gave their lives for our freedoms. I remember that every day! It's a shame that Memorial Day has been turned into the long weekend that kicks off the summer season. Much more emphasis needs to placed on the original meaning of the holiday.
