Our Routes



River route 1500 miles

Gulf route 1000 miles

day 25 on the river part 2

Today is the last day on the river, yeah.  We got an early start so we could get into the marina as soon as we could. We had a little fog and one of the boats radioed that a barge was headed our way in a narrow spot so we waited till it got by. That gave the other boats time to catch up with us. Part of the way in there was a swing bridge that they changed to a lift bridge. We heard the river was closed for 3 days about a week ago. We we missed that one. Going through Mobile, all you see is large ships and lots of traffic on the river. It is a working harbor.

After we got to the mouth of the the bay it was about 10 -15 miles into Mobile Bay to get to Dog River Marina.  We did see 3 dolphins in the bay toda.y That was cool. We got in about 2 or 3 in the afternoon, and got fuel and water. We arranged for the mast to get set up for 1:00 tomorrow (11/23/11). As soon as we got to our slip, we started to unload everything off the top of the boat and started to take the wood frame apart. We worked till after dark.

Day 25 photos part 2

Day 25 photos part 1

Day 25 on the river part 1

We made it to Mobile, AL, 1500 miles in 25 day. More later.

Day 24 on the river

Finally we had some warm weather. We are 60 miles from the marina and about 80 miles from the gulf. This afternoon was near 80 and sunshine with a light breeze. This is what the 2nd half should have been, not just the last two days. We should be dockside about 2 or 3pm  tomorrow.  We are starting our list of what we need and what we need to do. Tuesday and Wednesday will be full days setting up for the 2nd part of the trip.

Today when I was at the wheel I was in part of the river called newman bend with a barge coming at us. That part the is about 5 miles on the river but is a big S. At two points the river doubles back on itself and the banks have about 1000' of land between itself. If there was a cut through at both points, the river would shorten from 5 miles to 1 mile. Anyway back the the barge. He had 3 wide and 2 deep in front of him. It is hard to judge the distance sometimes when everything is bendy. I was running as far to the side as was possible while still inside the buoys. As we got closer, it looked like I would not have much room. I slowed all of the way down. I kept watching the buoy between us. when he did get to it, it was in the middle of his outside barge.  He drove right over the top of it. about 10 to 15 seconds later it popped out the side.  Now we were along side each other. I decided i was best to go outside the channel a bit till we went by each other.

Day 23 on the river 11/19/11

We are done with all of the dams. Weather gets better each day. Tonight we are anchored off the river in a part of the old river just few feet from old lock 1, which was used from 1908 until 1960. Most of the lock and dam stucture is still here and it is a park now. We are are less than 100 miles from Mobile Bay, 110 miles from Dog River Marina, and 135 miles to the Gulf of Mexico. Looks like we'll arrive at the marina on Monday afternoon.

day 22 on the river 11/18/2011

Today started with 28 degrees and fog we waitied about 20 min to head out to the dam about 3 miles away. When I called ahead to the lock, they said that there were 5 other boats in the lock going down. We had to wait an hour before we could get in the lock. By the end of the day we caught up with 3 of them parked together in a small creek. Three of us are tied together side by side. We have to be the first boat out in the morning.  Weather is getting better finally.

day 23 photos part 2

Coffeeville dam and old lock and dam #1 site