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Date: Sat Jul 31, 2004
Subject: Crazy bay current
Was sailing in Dauphin Island this week and found that the current
flowing from
Mobile bay out to the gulf is faster than my boat can sail at winds that just
barely fill the sails (main and 165%). I had intentionally sailed out to the
abandoned lighthouse two miles off the island to see what damage I could do my
boat on the rocks of the lighthouse island when I could no longer proceed in
any direction. Just sat there floating with my 10 year old daughter for the
next several hours on a close reach which was directly opposite the direction of
the current. We felt like we were doing about 4 knots but were actually going
backwards and sideways. She (and I, secretly) was getting worried as Gulf
Shores slowly disappeared from view.
We got some wind later and managed to hit the gulf side tip of Gulf Shores where
we anchored a little before sunset. After the sunset we decided it was too
choppy to overnight there, so headed back across to Dauphin Island to overnight
in a protected lagoon near one of the boat landings. This is about a 4 mile
trip. About FIVE HOURS later, we were still floundering back and forth across
the shipping channel, getting nowhere. Huge freighters were passing close
enough to us that they had to spotlight us to see where we were, maybe 1/4 mile
or less. Finally having enough of this and being exhausted, I dropped anchor a
little way outside the red channel bouys and was headed to bed. Not 10 minutes
after dropping all the sails and setting the anchor, the wind picked up really
strong, so back up with the anchor and the sails and lickety split to the lagoon
which we now had to in the dark, never having sailed offshore in the dark
before. My daughter reminded me about Red-Right-Return and got us right back to
where we needed to be for some much needed sleep till 9am the next morning.
The same thing happened again the next night after another sunset on the tip of
Gulf Shores after exploring Ft. Morgan. The exact same sequence of events
occurred, except for us floundering in a different part of the bay, anchoring,
wind picking back up after anchoring, etc. Finally back to the lagoon at 3am
for another sleep till 9am the next morning. Needless to say, we didn't go back
a third time.
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