Back to the Sea

. . . Carina Returns to Her Watery Roots

For most of her existence -- 10 of almost 12 years, our Carina has been an Atlantic saltwater boat. Her first owners docked her around the North Carolina coast, then moved her to Norfolk, Va.  Her first time in fresh water was when we bought her and brought her to Tennessee. Sailing from the waterway into Mobile Bay on last Friday, she returned to seawater, the type of water she knows best.

Although Carina was new to the Gulf, this area is like a second home to us. We’ve taken our trailerable sailboats and sailed these Northern Gulf waters with friends many times.

Pogopelli and Carina leave the freshwaters of the
Black Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway to head into Mobile Bay.

Losing Our Traveling Companions

We are grateful to our good friends Bob and Trish for showing us the ropes of Looper cruising. Now they are leaving to dry dock Pogopelli for a few months at another friend’s home, pick up their new RV and have some land adventures by themselves.

What a troubadour Bob is – even more than we expected!  And speaking of more than expected, Granny Bird (a nickname for Trish) has quite a sense of humor. You guess how she earned her nickname.

They are just about the best traveling companions anyone could wish for and will be truly missed when Carina pulls away from the dock by herself. They’ll probably be missed most at sundowner time when we usually share food, drinks and stories with them.

Bob and Trish with fenders out on Pogopelli, ready to lock through.

Taking a Brief Break

We’re going back home for a few days to check on the house, take home the things we don’t need and bring back a few things we do.

Over the week, we’ll bring you up to date on our adventures and our immediate plans. Right now, we’re running about a week behind in telling you about what we’ve seen.

In the meantime, please check out our Picasa photo album on the Chattanooga to Mobile part of the trip. It contains some photos from the blog and some that will be new. We hope you enjoy seeing them as much as we enjoy sharing them with you.

Click on: https://picasaweb.google.com/115770960046090306716/SailingSouthOnCarinaFromChattanoogaToMobile?authkey=Gv1sRgCNLPh-jZlriL9wE. Set it on slideshow and sail south with us down to Mobile.