On to Mobile Bay—

It took us a while to pull up the anchor because of a deep muddy bottom—the sailboat is long gone (turns out he pulled anchor in the middle of the night and drifted out into the channel--more later about this guy's tale) and we pass it within the first couple of hours. The Tombigbee turns a little trashier and a little less brown. Civilization is around the corner. We met 2 Tows running together with a big load of coal abruptly around a bend. Fitz passed this test but we were glad to be seasoned warriors of passing tows. Then we hit Mobile Bay—oh my-- open water and totally different. There are at least 30 tows moving around hundreds of barges. There are old battleships that are open for tours and new battleships (totally sand color for camouflage, I guess) that are being built. Lots of activity. Notes: We start with radio out of Jackson, MS and the Ric and Bubba Show and then move on to a Mobile radio station that played Joe Walsh, quoted Glen Frey and played the full version of Freebird.

Traveling buddies gather for dinner in Mobile