Nov. 7: Left Bashi Creek and continued south. A high bluff with muted fall colors greeted us as we rounded a hairpin bend in the Tombigbee River.Made it to Bobby’s Fish Camp, a must-do stop for first time Loopers. Only one other boat docked there (Randy/Michelle aboard Journey). Even though there were only 4 of us, the owner of Bobby’s had her cook come in (they are normally closed on Tuesdays) and we enjoyed their famous fried catfish. The record number of boats at Bobby’s was 17. Two nights ago friends said there were 12 meaning 3 sets of boats rafted 4 deep. Bobby’s is the only place to dock in the final 200 mile section of the River after leaving Demopolis.Lots of stuff/memorabilia on the walls inside. Bobby (who died about 5 years ago) caught this Alligator Gar when he was 30. It weighed 137 pounds!Light show by a passing tow. Glad we weren’t rafted four boats out!
Bird dance as we enter our last lock on the Tombigbee – Yay!The flotilla is glad to be done with locks for awhile (next up for us will be the locks through Lake Okeechobee sometime in December).Along this shore line you can see the line of darker bark indicating the last flood mark. You can also see the ensuant erosion. When the River next floods all these trees will be debris floating south making for nerve wracking navigation. Per Guide Book this stretch of the waterway has been noted for petrified sand dollars.What the Grand Canyon may have looked about a million years ago.Hard to read but at the top of the post is signage noting the historic high water mark of April, 1979.Lover’s Leap (per Guide Book).Wow that’s a lot of wood. Can’t say I’ll miss the smell of paper mills.Tight passing/crossing situation.We (and four other boats) anchored for the night in the Alabama River Cut Off. It was 20 feet deep almost shore to shore (all 60 feet of it).Tonight’s back yard.Nov. 9: Since fishing boats use this cut off we couldn’t tie off to the trees so for the first time we put out a stern anchor.Functional fitness in retrieving the anchor.Going by a random scrap metal loading zone. We passed this particular barge on Nov. 6.This is the gigantic Thyssen Krupps Steel factory.As we approached Mobile, the terrain changed over to a Cypress Swamp reminiscent of the Florida swamps.And around the next corner – blam! The busy port of Mobile! Took a minute to adjust to, we hadn’t seen a bridge for over 70 miles and only a handful of houses in the past 100.The port is in a relatively narrow channel way. Each green triangle represents a ship (mainly tows). Felt like we were going through a gauntlet.Palm trees on a parking garage – love it!We passed by Journey, our dinner mates from the other day, docked on Mobile’s Free City Dock. We choose to move on to a marina.Apparently Mobile is a cruise ship port as well as an industrial port.Going by the Convention Center whose steel sculpture denotes Mile Zero of the Tombigbee Waterway System. Darn, too early in the day to open a bottle of champagne!Bob noticed the Oceaneering Sign on this Oil Field Support Vessel. In Bob’s former life he used to work for this company. But that was long ago and far away in another galaxy.Colorful container ship. Still don’t know how these boats keep from tipping over. Precision loading I guess.And then the opposite, a boat being dismantled for scrap metal.All the big boats have to stay in a very narrow channel in Mobile Bay – most of the bay is only 10 feet deep. Can make for some nasty chop if the wind and current oppose one another. We turned west into the Dog River to stay at a marina for the night.Seagull support team guiding us into the marina.Nov. 10: A beautiful (but chilly) day! Uneventful crossing of Mobile Bay to head east. Now seeing dolphins!Turning into the Gulf Intracoastal Water Way (GIWW) we are greeted by a wide tow with little room to spare.This handy guide sums up the past 2 weeks. It lists 10 marinas (1 was closed and 2 were too shallow to enter) leaving only 7 possibilities for 450 miles. We started at Grand Haven Marina and after entering the GIWW we wound up at the Homeport Marina. New Loopers have to mindful of filling up with fuel and pumping out to travel the long expanses without services.Homeport Marina – home of Lulu’s Restaurant. Lulu’s is owned by Lucy Buffett, Jimmy Buffett’s younger sister. Jimmy has been known to show up occasionally.Lots of fun to be had here besides the restaurant.Inside was a framed boxed set of the only CDs we had on the Valkyr for a good long stretch. Our daughters Jess and Steph know every word of every song on those albums.We wound up eating at the restaurant two nights in a row because of the live music. There was a songwriters fest going on which apparently is an annual event.
Such incredible talent!! I liked the last picture of one of the performers listening to his fellow musicians. Another fun part of Lulu’s was meeting up with Paal (yes that’s how he spells his name) and Betsy from M/V Eleanor. Haven’t seen them in 1000 miles!So long Lulu – that was a blast!
Islandia Grabo's Blog 
Did you have a mullet smoothie? I loved Lulu’s. Love the bird shots.
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Funny! I noticed that sign after the picture was taken. I love the reference to the Baasomatic.
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Lulus looked like a really good time!!
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It was, thanks! There is another Lulu’s in Destin, Florida which we hope to visit as well.
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