Arianna being towed into the Dog River

Mobile, Alabama. We arrived at the mouth of Mobile Bay on Monday morning, moving at a snail's pace abreast of five knot, variable winds. Flying wing-and-wing - the main over the starboard side and the jib to port - we were able to make headway at just over a knot. The ounce of control which that provided was a precious commodity considering there were oil platforms rising up out of the water to every side. Without a motor or any reasonable winds and fast approaching a busy shipping channel, the captain opted to contact a towing service to ensure we got to our destination in one piece. Unfortunately, we were still thirty miles from land. Without a clear line-of-sight for the VHF radio or any cellphone reception we were unable to contact Seatow, Towboat US or the Coast Guard. Eventually we drifted into an area of weak cellphone reception that allowed Anna to deliver a text message to friends. Via relayed communications a towboat was dispatched and appeared over the horizon within a few hours. The tow into Turner Marina was uneventful.

Mark and Anna's friends received us at the dock with smiles, handshakes, food and champaign. Within an hour of arriving we were ushered onto picnic tables crowded with snacks, wine, beer, mixed drinks and various other refreshments. I ate plenty of veggie pizza ordered by a friend of Mark and Anna's and drank more wine than I have in quite awhile. A few hours of exchanging stories, mixing up introductions, petting dogs, and stumbling through the boat yard later, I was fast asleep in my bunk aboard Arianna.

Although I received a generous work offer here in Mobile, I've opted instead to return immediately to Key West to begin formulating plans for the summer. Mark and Anna have bestowed a generous amount of hardware and equipment on me, and I'm anxious to get home and begin another round of maintenance and improvements. On the list this time is setting up the reefing system, reinforcing the transom and reinstalling the outboard mount, improving the MSD with a new Y valve, rigging a preventer for the mainsail, installing new navigational lights and exploring options for a hard dodger.

I'll be taking a bus back to Key West and should arrive tomorrow afternoon sometime. I'm looking forward to seeing friends and neighbors as well as sleeping soundly in Jordan's Ghost.