Bobby’s hasn’t changed much. No restaurant now but the scene is still the same. A trailer camp with friendly folks in their pick up trucks and confed flags. Such an interesting place. The dock has 50 and 30 amp power, no water. The kittens running around camp are really friendly too. I get my pet fix as several come up and visit. Apparently “Garfield” may choose to jump aboard your boat but we were not priviledged to have that happen. One night at Bobby’s is really all you need. Not much around but it is on the Choctaw Wildlife Refuge that sits adjacent to the camp.
Scott saw his first alligator today too. Swimming across the river between us and a tow/barge. We had to slow to allow him to dive. We passed a lot of tows and barges today too. I think there were 5 at least. The most we have seen in a day has been from Demopolis going south. It has been a challenging day for the Captain today. Markers/buoys are missing, water is at least 10 feet lower than on the charts and this part of the river is a constant turn in every which way. Along with passing tows that communicate when they see us on AIS because of the narrow channel we both must pass through and pass each other. We had to stop many times prior to passing because of the lack of buoys and tight channels on turns. Scott was exhausted by the end of this trip with a headache. It was a long day of 8 hours starring into and out of the sun, maneouvering through tight channels with no buoys and constanting relying on looking at charts and landscape. The anchorage was a welcome retreat at the end of the journey.
The Tensaw River flows into and parallel with the Black Water/Mobile Rivers running south to Mobile, AL. The natural path for boaters is to stay on the Black Water river system to Mobile. The Mobile–Tensaw River Delta is the largest river delta and river in Alabama. It encompasses approximately 260,000 acres in a 40-by-10-mile (64 km × 16 km) area and is the second largest delta in the United States. The delta’s northernmost point is the confluence of the Tombigbee and Alabama rivers and follows a southerly direction that ultimately opens into the head of Mobile Bay .The delta lies in a river valley which began forming several million years ago. Many separate inland streams joined as they flowed southward across land which was once covered by the Gulf of Mexico. By the end of the last major ice age (approximately 18,000 years ago), when the sea level was much lower and Alabama’s coastline was about 60 miles (97 km) south of its present location, the waterways of the delta valley extended much farther than their current-day southern termination at the head of Mobile Bay. As the ice age ended and global temperatures increased, sea levels began to rise again to their present-day level.
The anchorage has enough room for several boats with lots of swing room and a good depth. It is an area rich with owls, crickets, the sounds of night and a million stars. Completely recommend this anchorage for small and large vessels.
