Finished the inland rivers and made it to Mobile in the Gulf!

Monday we left Lower Cooks anchorage on the Tenn-Tom early to get to Heflin Lock 12 miles away. We went through with 3 other boats and then headed to Kingfisher Bay Marina near Demopolis, Alabama. On the way there we saw the White Cliffs of Epes! These are chalk formations deposited about the same time as England's White Cliffs of Dover. They were stunning! We arrived late afternoon to Kingfisher Bay Marina. We walked into town and ate at SVH Bistro with Kacey and Jim from Current Affair. They have done the loop before so they gave us some great tips!

Tuesday was a beautiful day and this marina still had their pool open so we hung out there in the afternoon. In the evening we took a courtesy car to a famous local dining spot called The Red Barn. We went with Bruce and Sarah (boat Square Peg).

Wednesday we left Kingfisher Bay Marina with 7 other boats to get through nearby Demopolis Lock. This lock asks boaters to sign up the night before at the marina for either 6, 8, or 10 am. We opted for 8:00. I have really enjoyed the white birds that are around all of the time and especially in the locks. I believe they are called Egrets, but if anyone knows better please let me know! Our friends Bruce and Sarah sent us a photo of our boat leaving the lock. After leaving the lock we picked up speed so that we could make it to a dock at Bobby's Fish Camp. This was more popular in the past as they had a great restaurant with fresh fish. After the owner passed, his daughter and son-in-law still rent dockage so we opted for that as the anchorages before that were not as appealing to us. We made the 97 miles by 3:30. We had a nice evening there and heard jets training from the nearby Naval Air Station at Meridian, Mississippi, although we were in Alabama. We got some good photos of the "super moon" reflecting on the water that night.

Thursday was cause for celebration as we went through our final lock of the inland rivers!! This is Coffeeville Lock and we made it though pretty easily early that morning. By the way, Coffeeville is not named for the drink, but for General Coffee, a war hero in the early 1800s. The population is 263. We were not close enough to visit from Bobby's. It was too far to make it to Mobile that day so we found a popular anchorage called Tensaw, where the Tensaw meets the Tombigbee. There were a dozen other boats in there and it reminded us of the Leclaire Canal back home where many people anchor.

Friday was another day to celebrate as we made it to Mobile Bay in the  Gulf of America!! It is quite the shipping port so it was very crowded with barges and large cargo ships. We also saw the downtown area where many boaters choose to stop and dock in front of the convention center. It was amazing to see the large equipment for loading the cargo ships, as well as the large naval ships. We then entered the bay and made our way to the channel to Dog River on the west side of the bay where we stayed for a few nights. We were about to turn where we thought we could for the channel, when our friend, Bob, from his boat "Southwind" behind us cautioned us not to turn too soon as there can be some shallows there. Bob and Wanda are not loopers but take there 50 foot Carver from Nashville to Marathon, FL every year. They have been a big help to us. The channel itself was a bit shallow at times but we made it successfully to Dog River Marina. There are lots of marinas around, but they are all filled to capacity with mostly loopers, so we were happy to get a spot! For dinner we learned that it was a short walk to the Mobile Yacht Club where we had dinner. They are mostly a sailing club. It was an awesome dinner and we enjoyed talking to a few other boaters. We will be exploring downtown Mobile and heading to a marina on the east side of  Mobile Bay and then make our way over to Orange Beach on the ICW soon!