Causeway to Mobile River 2005 IV
Sunday, July 31, 2005 brint.adams@us.army.mil
Fortunately, the sky was mostly overcast this morning, as the temperature was a warm 83 degrees, with little breeze. I put in at the public boat launch near Felix's Fish Camp with a high water level and a still rising tide. This allowed me to start out the first several miles up Delvan Bay and Spanish River at a 5.6 mph pace, although there was a slight breeze in my face and some flood water was still coming downriver. I arrived at the Pontoon Saloon, covering the 5.6 miles in 1:00:42. No one was around the pontoon, so I continued up the Spanish to the entrance to Mobile River at 5.2 mph, against a stiffer downriver current.
After the turn south down the Mobile River, I moved out towards the middle to get the most downriver effect I could. For the next several miles, I picked up the pace to 6.6 mph, making the highrise bridge in 1:42:52 and by the Alabama Shipyards in 2:16:45. There was quite alot of river traffic this morning, from many tugboats, to two large tankers coming upriver, to numerous fishing boats and yachts. The shipyards were also busy with several ships in drydock getting exterior makeovers.
I moved down the remainder of the Mobile River to Choctaw Pass in a 6.4 mph pace, but after making the turn back north towards the Causeway bridge, hit the receding tide. This slowed me down to 5.3 mph the rest of the way back. The total distance of this trip was 17.27 miles paddled in 2:56:23, for an average pace of 5.9 mph.
Fortunately, the sky was mostly overcast this morning, as the temperature was a warm 83 degrees, with little breeze. I put in at the public boat launch near Felix's Fish Camp with a high water level and a still rising tide. This allowed me to start out the first several miles up Delvan Bay and Spanish River at a 5.6 mph pace, although there was a slight breeze in my face and some flood water was still coming downriver. I arrived at the Pontoon Saloon, covering the 5.6 miles in 1:00:42. No one was around the pontoon, so I continued up the Spanish to the entrance to Mobile River at 5.2 mph, against a stiffer downriver current.
After the turn south down the Mobile River, I moved out towards the middle to get the most downriver effect I could. For the next several miles, I picked up the pace to 6.6 mph, making the highrise bridge in 1:42:52 and by the Alabama Shipyards in 2:16:45. There was quite alot of river traffic this morning, from many tugboats, to two large tankers coming upriver, to numerous fishing boats and yachts. The shipyards were also busy with several ships in drydock getting exterior makeovers.
I moved down the remainder of the Mobile River to Choctaw Pass in a 6.4 mph pace, but after making the turn back north towards the Causeway bridge, hit the receding tide. This slowed me down to 5.3 mph the rest of the way back. The total distance of this trip was 17.27 miles paddled in 2:56:23, for an average pace of 5.9 mph.
posted by brint @ 10:01 PM
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