16 DEC 2001 . . . ?
Mobile, Alabama - Dog River
Hey Y’all
So, here we are in the last stop of the river
system - OR - as we prefer, the gateway to the Gulf. Here we feel we have begun
another phase of our adventure. We’ll be here in Mobile 'til April, trying to
replenish the cruising kitty and rectifying every imperfection on Windigo. We
have established a home on a long pier in the Dog River on the West Side of Mobile Bay ten miles
south of downtown Mobile.
________________________________________________________________
Before I begin with the description of life here,
let’s review the Inland Waterway Statistics of the Voyage of Windigo (this
includes the trip from Chicago to Mobile, including our side-trip to Nashville:
Windigo log = 1600nm, (1840 statute mi.)
Engine hours & underway hours = 280*
{*there was time spent under sail alone, but the
amount of time the engine ran while NOT underway (in locks, before & after
anchoring, etc.) made up for the little bit of sailing time}
Average speed=5.75kts, (6.5+mph)
Total of 118 gallons of fuel used (446 liters)
2.33 hours / gallon of fuel
or
37 minutes / liter of fuel
0.42 gallons / hour
or
1.6 liters / hour
A teaspoon of fuel was burned every 11 seconds
________________________________________________________________
From our base here we venture out on our bicycles
[mine FINALLY was returned repaired], a 50cc Yamaha scooter I rebuilt, or borrowed
automobiles. Karin is working security for the FAA at Mobile Regional Airport.
I have yet to finish all the boat projects and will probably work in a boatyard
soon.
The marina here has a phone for local calls &
internet access, showers, laundry, courtesy car and a TV room. The are many liveaboards
here and a few transient vessel residents make an interesting(!) mix of
neighbors. There are many subtle differences and a few major ones from ‘people
up north’; but as we have pleasantly discovered everywhere we have visited -
folks here are very friendly & hospitable. We have learned a lot and have
managed to assist many fellow sailors with boating AND non-boating problems.
Right at the end of December they closed
everything here because of the threat
of snow, but alas, none came. I guess Birmingham got smacked and Atlanta got
buried – closing the airports for a couple days. There has only been a couple
times since then that the temperature has touched the freezing mark, hardly
long enough to actually frost anything, but the weathermen use “DEEP FREEZE”
graphics and there is a mild panic about burst pipes and inoperative vehicles.
About the only place with a legitimate concern is Flowerland, an enormous
commercial nursery right next to the marina here. They cover their acres of
plants with sheets and everything is fine.
My NetZero internet connection has been pretty
flaky, and for a while in January I wasn’t able to get online. The mail bounced
'cause I managed to get 'spammed' with hundreds of copies of the "make DVDs at home" message.
Great.
The biggest event occurring here so far was Mardi
Gras, the festival of excess prior to Ash Wednesday & Lenten sacrifices.
Parades and balls are scheduled for EVERY night for two weeks before Ash
Wednesday, with ‘Fat Tuesday’ being the climax. Doug & Shannon Perryman
befriended us just at the right time. Doug is a longtime member of the Knights of the Ecor
Rouge. The sole purpose of this organization of approximately 400
men is to conceive
and construct lighted
parade floats along a theme. They own a large building in which this is accomplished. Also
in this building
is a large party
hall, where monthly meetings and periodic gatherings are held to
eat, drink, dance & be merry. It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it.
A couple dozen men are assigned to each float. On the appropriate
day, they load up with thousands of bead necklaces,
MoonPies, aluminum
coins, stuffed animals, candy, cups, bags of peanuts, and dozens
of other types of worthless trinkets to throw to the masses
of people along the parade route. It is said here that it’s not
a parade unless you throw stuff.
So there is more than one parade every night. Each
parade has a couple dozen floats and about a dozen high school &
college marching bands.
Mounted police ride along with dozens of clowns and a few local celebrities.
Floats in each parade are manned by the private organization that built them,
with one or two others joining in from local governments or public groups such
as the Coast Guard; colleges; city or county employees; etc. On the weekend
before Fat
Tuesday, festivities ramp up – parades start in the morning and run
non-stop ‘til 9 or 10 at night. A couple hundred thousand spectators line the
streets of downtown and surrounding neighborhoods to grill-out, play music,
party, watch parades, and of course, fill bags with MoonPies!
The weather has been nice enough since the end of
January to warrant a few days of sailing out on Mobile Bay. This is a real
treat for a Great Lakes sailor like myself. Because of the uniform shallow
depth of the bay, sustained winds of 15 to 25 knots do not
kick up much wave action. And the wind can blow from the same direction ALL
day. So Windigo has enjoyed
speeds of five to seven knots all day, sailing with ‘planned’ sail changes. We
were able to utilize the Mainsail, Lapper, Trysail, Stormsail, Decksweeper, and
Spinnaker in that order in 9 hours of sailing without any panicking or being
uncomfortable. Try that on Green Bay!
We have been visited by our good friends the Hart’s & the Smith’s from Jackson,
AL. Bringing their Southern Hospitality along with a large venison roast and
HUGE soup bone. I had spent Christmas Day at Tommy & Brenda’s daughter’s
home here in Mobile where I was suitably ‘stuffed’ with all manner of holiday
treats.
I know this letter has been kinda boring – we
might as well live in a house! But the daily routine of caring for Windigo and
readying her for traversing the Gulf of Mexico has been paramount, and adds an
air of adventure to even this mundane dockside existence.
Just to mention one preparatory project in
particular . . .
We have pondered and debated and investigated the
‘self-defense’ thing for years. Some cruisers carry firearms aboard. Some have watchdogs that serve as pets also. Both of these have huge
drawbacks and are obstacles for staying in certain countries. We concluded that
we did not want the responsibility of either the animal with its enormous daily
needs or the guns with their legal tangles and ‘finality’ of use.
So I conceived and constructed a ‘weapon’
that doesn’t need to be “used” on a potential enemy. Simply displaying it’s
function to approaching ‘pirates’ should deter further advance. So much better
than whipping out an Uzi and starting a gunfight!
Kevin &
Karin Hughes
S/V WindigoIII
Grand Mariner Marina, Mobile, AL
http://www.ciekurzis.org
