Dog River Marina in Mobile
Ananda
Ron Welch
Thu 16 Dec 2010 03:47
We completed the TennTom Waterway today...510 miles and 14 locks from Joe Wheeler Marina...wow, what a journey. The further we went south,
the colder it became...until finally we are at the Gulf and a little bit warmer weather. Part of the magic of this journey is the people we meet. Because
we went aground on the waterway we stopped at Bobby's Fish Camp and met Laura who was so gracious and took us 30 miles to see a doctor.
In addition we met the wonderful people on "River Cities". Dave and Renae, Bill and Gale have become friends and helped us in so many ways...
an accidental encounter on the river. River Cities is a concept of floating condos. Instead of having a permanent residence, the floating city would
travel all over the US rivers during the year so that people on board would have ever changing vistas and different things to do. For those who
are drawn to condo-living, this appears to be a great concept.
In the intense cold between Bobby's Fish Camp and Mobile, the River Cities folks invited us to sleep in their spare room...what unaccustomed luxury it was! Warm
and comfortable surroundings one night. We are much appreciative of their hospitality. We traveled down the waterway together for two days and
then stayed next to each other at Dog River Marina in Mobile Bay, right next to the Nina. Dave had to inspect the prop on their boat at the marina and
so donned his wetsuit...it was freezing cold but he swam over to Ananda and removed a line that had wrapped around the prop shaft...what a wonderful
gift. At one lock we tried to tie up on one wall but the wind pushed us off and we had to change sides...in the confusion and rush the original line was
not tied off and it went into the water...later to foul the prop and set us grounded. What a learning lesson about caring for your lines, and also what
a blessing to meet such gracious and wonderful people.
To top it off we meet Conrad and Bonnie aboard Hallingdal. They had been just two boats away from us at Joe Wheeler Marina for six weeks but
we had never met. Then we all just arrived simultaneously at Dog River Marina. We had a difficult time finding a restaurant and the short of it is
that all eight (Conrad, Bonnie, Dave, Renae, Bill, Gale, Sharon and Ron) of us piled into the marina courtesy car...quite a site and something none
of us has done since high school....another adventure along the way.
It is difficult to part ways when such beautiful people come into your life...but such is the way of the cruising lifestyle it seems. Yet cruising creates
strong and lasting friendships, and we hope to meet our friends again along the way. Safe cruising to all.