I decided to paddle to the Indian Mounds this weekend, both to see the mounds and see how accesible Jessamine Bayou was. I arrived at Rice Creek Landing about 10:30, alone and lightly loaded this time. The water levels at Rice Creek were much lower than the last time I was there, but still easy paddling out to Briar Lake. I saw two gator's, one in Briar's Lake and the other at the mouth of Jessamine Bayou, herons, and lot of turtles laying out in the sunshine. Jessamine Bayou itself is a mess, I was out of the boat a half a dozen times before I got to the split for Jug Lake. I was glad I went light, I hauled the kayak over several tree's and even had to swim alongside the boat at one point when it wouldn't float over the debris with me in it (the debris wouldn't support my weight, so in I went).

I figured that given the difficulty of passing through Jessamine, there wouldn't be any gator's around, but about a quarter mile past the Jug Lake split I rounded the corner to find a gator slightly larger than my kayak forcing it's way across the debris pile about fifty feet in front of me. Luckily it was heading away from me and after I shoved my heart back where it belongs and did a little risk-assesment I decided that I didn't give a fig about the Indian Mounds and wouldn't it be nice to see if I could paddle through to the Jug Lake platform and enjoy my cold pizza there?

Well folks, Jug Lake is easily accesible and contains at least two more alligators, one of which is of a decent size and has the disconcerting habit of surfacing in front of you, then swimming along for a few minutes before thrashing around like crazy and disappearing from sight. Cold pizza has never tasted so good. The trip back from Jug Lake was easier than the trip in, the water levels had risen, so several of the logs that I had to carry the kayak over were sufficently submerged for me to glide over them.

All in all, an exciting day. And whoever says "you're lucky if you see an alligator out here..." obviously hasn't paddled alone on through the bayou's.

Trip to Dead Lake Island Platform

At last, we made an overnight trip in the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta! Dan, Justin, and Kona drove in from Pensacola on Saturday to meet Christina and I in Daphne. We loaded up the truck with boats and food (some beer and wine found it's way in too) and headed off to Upper Bryant's Landing. We had a slightly later start than planned and didn't get off the landing until nearly sunset, leaving us to navigate in the dark to the Dead Lake Island platforms. We made it there in time though, and quickly set to making dinner...scrumptious shrimp in gorgonzola cheese and angel hair pasta. We had a great night out on the platform, enjoying wine and shining the flashlight at every splash in the bayou until the flashlight became a splash in the bayou. Then we suffered through every splash wondering if it was that 26-foot 'gator...Everyone survived the night, no one rolled out of their hammock, and the we had perfect camping weather, nice and cool.

The following day we paddled about 1/2 mile up Tallapoosa Bayou before it was almost completely blocked by a fallen tree. Probably navigable with some work, but not something we wanted to attempt with Kona in the canoe doing his best to herd everyone together. So, we paddled back out and circled Dead Lake Island and explored some of the surrounding bayous before stopping back on the platform to collect the equipment we left behind and eat lunch before heading back to Upper Bryant Landing. On the way back, we did see one gator, which was great. All in all, an excellent trip with good company and good food.

All the good pictures below were taken by Dan, all the larger ones (DSCN###.jpg format) and the map are mine.

Post-Katrina

ok, so the blog was a good idea until the power went out and fried the internet! The rest of the storm was uneventful for me here, the power came on again that night, although the internet was offline for a while. I did get a call saying that some pilots had seen COBIA underway in Bayou Le Batre during an overflight. Turned out to be a rumor, it was only a 41' Utility Boat that they easily pulled out of someone's front lawn. Once things had settled down, we (the crew of the COBIA) loaded up the ships small boat and went down to Hancock County to help out. Our jetdrive boat was ultimately very useful for accessing some of the shallower bayou's and we were able to search several neighborhoods that had been inaccessible by vehicle due to the quantity of debris on the roads. Navigating with a highway map and a tourist information map isn't exactly a Coast Guard standard method, but it was interesting! Folks had evacuated all the areas we searched fortunately...the devastation in that area was incredible. Some of the places we visited had nothing left except debris in the trees...the houses were all literally washed miles inland. Nothing but trash and foundations left. The smell was just overwhelming as well, something that doesn't convey well on CNN.

Searching in the Bayou


Tough place to get stuck when the water recedes.


This 41' was tied to two concrete blocks, there is another one on the other side.


COBIA, safe and sound.


Tuesday morning at Sector Mobile....