WE woke up to clear skies and sunshine again. I actually didn't mind the rainy day yesterday as it had been so long without rain it was nice to hunker down and relax. We headed down the last stretch of the Tenn-Tom towards Mobile. The channel goes right through all of the docks and ship building yards. Quite the sight to see and very busy with traffic on the water.
 |
| Our first glimpse of Mobile |
 |
| Loading docks coming into sight and downtown |
 |
| A dredge working the ship basin |
 |
| These are another version of the Littoral Combat Ship built here for the navy. Word is they easily do 40 MPH and more. They are a trimaran hull and low radar signature |
 |
| There is a huge cargo door in the rear that is almost as wide as the ship to load cargo into or whatever else you might need, and a place to land your chopper. |
Independence, delivered to the Navy at the end of 2009, is a high speed, small crew corvette (although the U.S. Navy does not use the term) intended for operation in the littoral zone. She can swap out various systems to take on various missions, including finding and destroying mines, hunting submarines in and near shallow water, and fighting small boats (she is not intended to fight warships). The ship is a trimaran design with a wide beam above the waterline that supports a larger flight deck than those of the Navy's much larger destroyers and cruisers, as well as a large hangar and a similarly large mission bay below. The trimaran hull also exhibits low hydrodynamic drag, allowing efficient operation on two diesel powered water jets at speeds up to 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph), and high speed operation on two gas turbine powered water jets at a sustainable 44 knots (81 km/h; 51 mph) and even faster for short periods.
 |
| This must be (maybe) a drill rig service ship with a helicopter landing pad |
 |
| Container port cranes |
 |
| I have no idea what this old girl is but she is sitting on the bottom and looks to have been there a long time |
 |
| Out of the harbor and back to more open waters with active fishing just off of the main shipping channel |
We pulled into Dog River and took on about 650 gallons of diesel before moving to our slip for the next two days. Buy fuel and get a night's stay free. Nice! We took the courtesy car/van and went to the West Marine store on the property to buy some boat goodies and then to the grocery store for provisions. Later after cocktails we lowered the dingy and crossed the river over to the Grand Mariner for dinner at their waterfront restaurant. Life is good.
No comments:
Post a Comment