Causeway to Mobile River 2005 I
Saturday, May 21, 2005 brint.adams@us.army.mil
Roland and I arrived at the Causeway Exxon parking lot at 5:30 AM and pushed off at 5:38 under clear skies, 72 degrees, a breeze out of the northeast and a rising tide. We headed toward the Interstate bridges, turned west between them and then turned north up Delvan Bay. The water was still a little low, so we stayed clear of a few shallow spots and then up along the west side. There were still a number of osprey nests in the tops of dead trees along the way. We were headed into a small chop which was not too bothersome, knowing we had the tide pushing behind us.
As the sun came up beautifully over Spanish Fort around 6:00, a few fishing boats passed us on their way north up the Tensaw River. We made the turn left into Spanish River, and out of the chop, towards our first drink stop and time check at the Pontoon Saloon. I was glad to see the rough two-story houseboat return, following Hurricane Ivan. Our arrival time was 1:02:20.
We continued up the Spanish among a number of flying mullet, to the high electrical towers at the entrance into the Mobile River. Our time there was 1:18, as we made the turn south, heading towards downtown Mobile. We followed the east shoreline down towards the highrise bridge, where we started to encounter quite a bit of river traffic, from fishing and pleasure boats to tugboats with their barges. Almost down to the highrise bridge, there was a large grouping of barges parked along the east shore, with two tugs working together to tie another barge to the group.
I made it to the bridge in 1:45 with Roland coming in about two minutes behind. He complained of "hitting the wall" and slowing down somewhat. But, I know how sly and tough he is, and after eating a snack bar, he was back ready to go again. As we came near the State Docks, there was a huge cargo ship coming upriver very slowly, in front of us. I crossed over in front of him and he must have taken exception, as he let out a couple of seven blast bellows of his horn. We stayed along the west side of the river past downtown, the new RSA tower under construction, the cruise ship terminal (Holiday not in port today), Centennial Park and then cut back across to the east side next to the Alabama Shipyards.
We stopped for a drink at the 2:20 mark, before continuing down to the cut-through east over to Mobile Bay. I showed Roland the spot where I fell off the gator-bucking ride last year, at the next time check of 2:31. We noticed about ten fishing boats lined up in a row just off the point out in the bay. Fortunately, we still had good conditions heading back north near the USS Alabama and the Causeway bridge. I hit it pretty hard, making it to the bridge in 2:49, with Roland just back. There were several old fishermen along the water under the bridge, just shaking their heads, as we gathered for our last push.
The water was still fairly low, so we had to pick our way carefully up to the Interstate bridges, to avoid the grassy shallows. Once under the bridge and out of the sun, I picked up the pace another notch and back to the parking lot in a total time of 2:58:55. Although we had very favorable conditions, it was still very gratifying to break 3 hours on the first Mobile River training run this year. The overall distance is around 18 to 18.5 miles, so we maintained a good pace the whole trip. The best thing for me, was Roland said he enjoyed it and was ready to give it a try again!
Roland and I arrived at the Causeway Exxon parking lot at 5:30 AM and pushed off at 5:38 under clear skies, 72 degrees, a breeze out of the northeast and a rising tide. We headed toward the Interstate bridges, turned west between them and then turned north up Delvan Bay. The water was still a little low, so we stayed clear of a few shallow spots and then up along the west side. There were still a number of osprey nests in the tops of dead trees along the way. We were headed into a small chop which was not too bothersome, knowing we had the tide pushing behind us.
As the sun came up beautifully over Spanish Fort around 6:00, a few fishing boats passed us on their way north up the Tensaw River. We made the turn left into Spanish River, and out of the chop, towards our first drink stop and time check at the Pontoon Saloon. I was glad to see the rough two-story houseboat return, following Hurricane Ivan. Our arrival time was 1:02:20.
We continued up the Spanish among a number of flying mullet, to the high electrical towers at the entrance into the Mobile River. Our time there was 1:18, as we made the turn south, heading towards downtown Mobile. We followed the east shoreline down towards the highrise bridge, where we started to encounter quite a bit of river traffic, from fishing and pleasure boats to tugboats with their barges. Almost down to the highrise bridge, there was a large grouping of barges parked along the east shore, with two tugs working together to tie another barge to the group.
I made it to the bridge in 1:45 with Roland coming in about two minutes behind. He complained of "hitting the wall" and slowing down somewhat. But, I know how sly and tough he is, and after eating a snack bar, he was back ready to go again. As we came near the State Docks, there was a huge cargo ship coming upriver very slowly, in front of us. I crossed over in front of him and he must have taken exception, as he let out a couple of seven blast bellows of his horn. We stayed along the west side of the river past downtown, the new RSA tower under construction, the cruise ship terminal (Holiday not in port today), Centennial Park and then cut back across to the east side next to the Alabama Shipyards.
We stopped for a drink at the 2:20 mark, before continuing down to the cut-through east over to Mobile Bay. I showed Roland the spot where I fell off the gator-bucking ride last year, at the next time check of 2:31. We noticed about ten fishing boats lined up in a row just off the point out in the bay. Fortunately, we still had good conditions heading back north near the USS Alabama and the Causeway bridge. I hit it pretty hard, making it to the bridge in 2:49, with Roland just back. There were several old fishermen along the water under the bridge, just shaking their heads, as we gathered for our last push.
The water was still fairly low, so we had to pick our way carefully up to the Interstate bridges, to avoid the grassy shallows. Once under the bridge and out of the sun, I picked up the pace another notch and back to the parking lot in a total time of 2:58:55. Although we had very favorable conditions, it was still very gratifying to break 3 hours on the first Mobile River training run this year. The overall distance is around 18 to 18.5 miles, so we maintained a good pace the whole trip. The best thing for me, was Roland said he enjoyed it and was ready to give it a try again!
posted by brint @ 2:23 PM
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