MBCKC Paddle Reports

Bayfront Park, Daphne to Fort Morgan
October 23, 2000
by Bruce Zimmerman

Larry Mickelson, Jr. led a full day trip from Daphne Bayfront Park to Fort Morgan. Five paddlers showed up at 0600 to make the trip. Yes, it was dark when we were unloading boats from cars and stowing gear in the boats. One of the Daphne police stopped by on his rounds and recognized Larry,Jr from his restaurant. Having the police keep an eye on your vehicle while you are out messing around in boats makes for one less thing to worry about.

We slipped into the water at 6:50, with a nice pink sunrise coloring the clouds over the eastern shore. A flock of skimmers buzzed us once. We set course to 179 degrees, by Mike Predmore's GPS, for Point Clear. The wind was light and from our left on this leg. The air was hazy, so we did not see alot of detail on shore, half a mile to a mile on our left. We just paddled and visited, to make the miles roll by. A light sea built up by mid morning, which kept everyone's left arm wet. Wet elbows were the general rule of the day. We passed Fairhope pier at about 9 AM, and crossed some open water to Point Clear, where we landed for lunch at 10:10.

Mr. Watson spotted us on the beach and came down to visit. He asked first, "Are you going to Fort Morgan?" He is one of our members on the e-mail list, and he was aware of our plans this day. He looked over our boats, which included two homebuilt 17 foot Chesapeake wood boats, a 12 foot Necky Santa Cruz, an18 foot Necky Arluk III, and a 16 foot Perception Vizcaya. The home built boats looked really sharp with wooden decks and epoxy/fiberglass-coated wood bottoms and sides.

We left the Grand Hotel at 11:45 for Mullet Point Park, on a course of 172 degrees. As we passed two guys fishing by the hotel, one of them asked, "Where are you going?" Larry, Sr. told them, "Fort Morgan". I don't think they believed him. This was a short run to Mullet Point, which was near the halfway mark of the trip. South of the Grand Hotel, the shoreline looks fully developed. Piers and boathouses jut out into the bay at each lot.

At Mullet Point, Mrs. Ruth Mickelson met us with refreshments. Mullet Point does not have a sand beach. It is reinforced shoreline made of rocks and cement blocks. We landed on the cement ramp, and we had a break. The day was warming up to near 80 degrees, from the 60 degrees we had at dawn. A steady wind from the east kept us comfortable, but the seas remained 1-2 feet the rest of the day, coming from our left. As we put into the water, a small gull paddled over toward us. First, Larry, Sr. tried to see how close he could get to the bird. Then Mike took up the chase and caught the bird with both hands! That bird was defective to somehow just let us catch it. It looked normal and undamaged, but stupid.

As we left Mullet Point to turn for Fort Morgan, on a course of 208 degrees, everyone was wearing a spray skirt. We were planning on getting wet on this crossing. Our destination was 12.4 miles away. Sunset was in a little more than 5 hours. We were in good shape to make the distance, as we headed towards a hazy featureless horizon.

Wearing a spray skirt is a funny thing. The function is to keep the ocean out of your boat. Unfortunately, it also keeps humidity in. Sweat trickles down and moisture condenses on the underside of the skirt and drips on you. And what do you do when you need to scratch an itch?

This leg of the trip had little to tell about. Seabirds, especially pelicans, were our main companions. We saw a few insects fly past, dragonflys and Monarch butterflies. When we lost sight of land, we steered by compass and guessed at correcting for set and drift. When we saw the oil rigs, then we had something to gauge our progress. Eventually, we settled on a crab angle of 190 degrees, to keep us upwind of our destination. As we closed on the land, the seas were less choppy, but the current leaving the mouth of Mobile Bay was more of an effect on us.

As the sun set into the thick haze over Dauphin Island, we could identify the ferry landing at Fort Morgan Park. We were watching the beach, looking for Steve Delker and a boat trailer. We headed towards three flashlights, blinking on the beach. We had arrived 11 hours and 40 minutes after leaving Daphne, 24 miles ago.