I do believe the balance of Terrifying to Terrific is a bit skewed in the wrong direction so far on this Loop Experience for us aboard MY Happiness. If you read Scott’s recap of the day, you know what I’m talking about. For those of you who may not have read his post, as well as for those of you who just like short stories made long, here’s my version of Nov 3rd. I do hope you enjoy the read! 😉

We started out the day with a bit of fog surrounding us. We have an easy travel day ahead of us, and we are excited to finally be in salt water! I think we both believe the fun really starts once you get in salt water – dolphins, manatee, blue water, warm weather. The fog on the water with the sun coming up is actually quite beautiful. The river is calm, and the sun is shining, and it’s going to be a great day 😁

We went under the I-65 Twin Bridges which we were driving on in our RV last year about this time. Pretty cool! I also took a couple videos of a pelican that was entertaining me. Watch the one where he dives into the water – fascinating and it makes me laugh how fast he goes. Mostly we are just soaking in the scenery, looking forward to getting to Mobile Bay.

I went down below to tidy up and afterward went to sit on the bow and cool off. I was just living the good life and thanking God for my blessings when Scott slows way down. I turn around to see if everything is ok, even thought everything looks fine to me, and he motions me to come up. He informs me that we are in some very shallow water with no way around it and asks me to please keep an eye on the depth readings. Oh the heart pounding terror as we go from 5’ down, down, down to 1.5’ XXXX Whew! We made it through that! Praise the Lord! THAT WAS TERRIFYING!

The post-terror relief didn’t last long as we realized we were approaching another very shallow area. How is this happening? Our navigation app that helps map our route knows our boat’s draft (the area of the boat that is below the water). Surely it wouldn’t put us in harms way! Then again, the only boats I am seeing are small fishing boats. That could mean something. 🤔

We spent the next two hours traveling at a snail’s pace from one shallow to the next, eyes on the water, the depth readings, and the charts trying to plot the safest route on the fly. We make it to the I-10 & US90 bridges, and it should be deeper water after that. But first, we have to get safely under the bridges without grounding or hitting the bridge or that huge log on the other side of the bridge. By skillful captaining and the hand of God we managed that maneuver and make it into deeper waters. THAT WAS TERRIFYING 5 times over!!!

But wait, there’s more because what you can’t see on the maps are all the crab pots you have to dodge while not going back into shallow water or getting in the path of the oncoming barge on the way to the shipping channel. The wonderful captain of that tow (I wish I could remember the name) talked us through to safe waters. THAT WAS TERRIFYING!! On the plus side, we did get to see the USS Alabama, and just as we made the turn into the channel I saw a dolphin.

We reach our destination/home for the next two nights – Grand Mariner Marina. This place makes good use of the dock real estate. I don’t think we’ve ever docked so close to boats in front and back of us. Finally, we are tied up and ready to finally take a breath, give thanks and just relax. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings, but I’m pretty sure it won’t be terrifying.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter of “Why Are We Doing This? Oh Yea, Bahamas!” Not too many pics, but I think given the current, that’s ok. Make it a great day! Be a blessing and be blessed!