December 10 and 11, 2013 Mobile, AL

Tuesday:  Rained early this morning but by the time we were ready to go it had stopped. Had a hard time getting the anchor up because of the current and the anchor was really dug in. Overcast and chilly this morning. We had to wait on a train at Mile 14 Bridge and we got to downtown Mobile by 09:45. When we were just coming into Mobile the Coast Guard drove right by us and waved and then stopped "Pontus". We thought they stopped him because he was from Canada and we were feeling pretty lucky. But, after they were through with Pontus they came back and stopped us just before entering the shipping channel. So, about ½ hour later we were on our way again. All was OK except we needed 3 new flares that work for day or night and they told us to get them at Dog River Marina. There were several huge, ocean going vessels in port all loading up with coal to be shipped over seas.

Mobile Bay was very windy with winds up to 18 mph and gusts to 25 and we had 3 ½ foot waves. It was so windy and cold they had a hard time securing us to the dock at Dog River Marina.  Keith started his oil change this afternoon and we ordered pizza in and had a quiet night watching a movie.

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CO’s comments:  The Coast Guard stopped us because they had a brand, new, Gold Bar that they were training.  That would be a 2nd Lt in the Marine Corp.  Evidently his schooling didn't stick with him.  He had a hard time filling out the safety form and had to have a 3 Stripper (that would be a Sargent in the Marine Corp) explain it to him.  I don't think any of them knew what they were looking for except for the flares.  We have been stopped a few times by Homeland Security and they were all former Marines or former Navy and all had experience; they knew what they were looking for.  The poor 2nd Lt looked like he was 16 years old.  At least he was carrying a Sig and not a Glock. 

Wednesday:  Waited on mail and Keith finished changing the oil and filters.  The pump for changing the oil broke so we had to go to West Marine to get a new one.  We also had some miscellaneous work done while we were here.  While we were here we got 3 boxes of mail that finally caught up with us so that took several hours to go through.  We should be good now until Clearwater, I hope.

 
12-10-2013 Mobile Shipping Channel, ship loading coal