Trip Report: Dauphin Island to Ft. Morgan
Dauphin Island-Ft. Morgan-Sand Island
Saturday, June 12, 2004
by Brint Adams - brint.adams@us.army.mil
I met Rob Nykvist, our trip leader of two, at 6:45 AM adjacent to the auto ferry on the east end of Dauphin Island. There is a very nice, white sand beach suitable for launching kayaks, with 15 min. parking right in front, to allow unloading of equipment. After moving our cars down the road, we returned to launch promptly at 7:00 AM under near perfect conditions, with partly cloudy skies, very light breeze, only slight tide movement and about 0-1' seas.
Our first leg took us across to the fishing pier on the north side of Ft. Morgan. We only encountered a few fishing boats with little ship traffic, as we crossed the channel. It took us about 1 hr. to travel the 4.2 mi. and reach the beach.
After resting for a few minutes, we decided to lengthen the paddle by heading over to the west end of Sand Island. Visibility was excellent as we focused on a couple of oil rigs in the distance, until the red buoy on the end of the island came into view. As we approached the ship channel again, we picked our spot to get across, as the ship traffic picked up. We reached Sand Island, also in about 1 hr., covering about 5 mi. We travelled down the calmer, north side about half way, until we came upon the large black skimmer nesting area. We got out and walked over towards the grassy dune area, until we got too close to suit them, and they began to voice their disapproval. We continued paddling down along the island, with about five dolphin just out in front of us, lazily surfacing and checking us out.
We turned back toward the east end of Dauphin Island and our last leg back around Ft. Gaines, to the takeout point. Again, the 4 mi. leg took about 1 hr. It was a very nice trip on a beautiful morning.
Brint Adams
Saturday, June 12, 2004
by Brint Adams - brint.adams@us.army.mil
I met Rob Nykvist, our trip leader of two, at 6:45 AM adjacent to the auto ferry on the east end of Dauphin Island. There is a very nice, white sand beach suitable for launching kayaks, with 15 min. parking right in front, to allow unloading of equipment. After moving our cars down the road, we returned to launch promptly at 7:00 AM under near perfect conditions, with partly cloudy skies, very light breeze, only slight tide movement and about 0-1' seas.
Our first leg took us across to the fishing pier on the north side of Ft. Morgan. We only encountered a few fishing boats with little ship traffic, as we crossed the channel. It took us about 1 hr. to travel the 4.2 mi. and reach the beach.
After resting for a few minutes, we decided to lengthen the paddle by heading over to the west end of Sand Island. Visibility was excellent as we focused on a couple of oil rigs in the distance, until the red buoy on the end of the island came into view. As we approached the ship channel again, we picked our spot to get across, as the ship traffic picked up. We reached Sand Island, also in about 1 hr., covering about 5 mi. We travelled down the calmer, north side about half way, until we came upon the large black skimmer nesting area. We got out and walked over towards the grassy dune area, until we got too close to suit them, and they began to voice their disapproval. We continued paddling down along the island, with about five dolphin just out in front of us, lazily surfacing and checking us out.
We turned back toward the east end of Dauphin Island and our last leg back around Ft. Gaines, to the takeout point. Again, the 4 mi. leg took about 1 hr. It was a very nice trip on a beautiful morning.
Brint Adams
posted by brint @ 4:09 PM
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