We ate a quick breakfast and I showered while Glenda and Dani did some housekeeping and took Daisy for a walk.
About 8:40 we untied the lines and headed down Dead Lake again, this time with The Original Oyster House and Five Rivers as our destinations. On the 21mile trip down Dead Lake, the Mobile, Tensaw, and Apalatchee Rivers, and Pass Picado to the Oyster House, we saw Osprey, herons, egrets, cormorants, duck, and Dani's first ADULT bald eagle!
Going under the "14 mile" Railroad Bridge" was an adventure too. 2 years ago we had managed to squeeze under the bridge without the Tender having to raise it, but the bridge had been rebuilt, and I wasn't sure about the water levels. We needed about 8 and 1/2' of clearance, and it looked close. As we approached, I was talking with the Tender by radio, and I noticed the water gauge read 10', just as he said he had a train coming. Rather than try to pass under with a roaring train only a few feet overhead, I shifted into reverse and gunned the throttle to overcome the 2 mph current, and backed away until the train passed. Then we squeezed under with about 2' of clearance.
After eating our fill of seafood ( Dani had chicken ), we pulled away from the Oyster House dock, and got another quick glimpse of the bald eagle before he flew away. As we rounded the point to turn South on Blakely River, we saw an osprey doing construction work on her nest. As we snapped pictures (not easy on a rocking boat), her mate arrived with a load of Spanish moss. Their nest hung out over the water on a tall tree limb, giving them and us a good view as we watched each other!
We had fun at Five Rivers at the Learning Center, Museum, gift shop and walking trails. We are tied up at their dock now, but we'll anchor out a few hundred yards away for the night. The last picture on this post is the two osprey we are sharing an anchorage with. I'm not sure if they like us being only 100 yards away, but we're enjoying watching them!
Glenda says:
The morning was beautiful!! The sun was shining right in the door of the boat and I had high hope of a warm sun shiny day. But high clouds quickly covered the sun and we only had filtered sunshine throughout the day. The 20 mile trip down to the Mobile causeway was nice however. By the time we arrived at the Oyster House restaurant on the causeway it had warmed up nicely. Just as we pulled up to the dock a young man unloading a truck yelled out "that's a nice ride you got". It's always fun to talk to the different kinds of people that enjoy seeing our little tug. We enjoyed our lunch and headed on to 5 rivers. On the way we had an exciting sighting of our national bird, the majestic bald eagle. Tom got great pictures again. We feel right at home at 5 rivers. Dani loved seeing the wildlife exhibits and climbing trees. It is so quiet on the water. The sounds of the birds and the water lapping against the boat are so soothing. I may just let my husband talk me into doing more of this.
Dani says:
The sleeping bag is warm, so I slept good. I ate pecan spins on the dock before we left. I took Daisy on her morning walk. I went with papa to dump the porta potty YUCK. Today's topic is birds. We started our trip and I saw a tow boat pushing 7 barges. Then we saw a train go by on tracks that we went under! It was awesome! We saw lots of white egrets, some ospreys building their nest and the eagle. We also saw ducks and lots of loons. We got a salute from a man on the shore when he saw our boat. G.G. said that meant he liked our boat. When we got to 5 rivers papa bought me a toy eastern bluebird that makes real tweets. Tonight we are anchoring out. We are right beside an osprey nest I can see the mother and father watching out.
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| Dani enjoys her breakfast on the pier at Mobile Delta Marina |
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| There are lots of tow boats and barges on the Mobile River! |
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| The Knot-So-Fast is about 8.5' tall in the water. After this train passed we slipped under the "14 mile Bridge" over the Mobile River |
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| Dani, Daisy and Glenda were kind enough to let me drive most of the time! |
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| One of the many osprey we saw on our trip |
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| We spotted this bald eagle just before we arrived at the Oyster House. He was so far away, it pushed the limits on my camera to get a shot of him. |
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| These Osprey built their nest overhanging the split between the Apalachee and Blakely Rivers. |
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| The Knot-So-Fast tied up at Five Rivers dock. We anchored for the night about 100 yards to the left. |
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| From our anchorage, we had a great view of this pair repairing their nest. It was better than TV! |
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