Sunday, April 10, 2016

Dauphin Island

Good News and Bad News.

The good news is the almost $7 million dollar Dauphin Island east end beach restoration project that brought in 325,000 cubic yards of sand is complete. The new beach is proving to be popular.


The bad news is the free east end parking is limited and my favorite east end sheltered kayak launch has moved so far away from the now crowded parking area that it is not worth using anymore. Most of the formerly sandy shoreline is now a kayak un-launchable rock shoreline.

The new long rock shoreline is visible on the right. To launch at the sandy beach visible on the left side of the photo will require carrying the kayak across a painfully long stretch of new sand.

The north side of Little Dauphin Island Bay is enticing.

All the sand that was moved to Sand Island Lighthouse has been swept away.

The Mobile Bay ship channel is next to the lighthouse so you may get to some big ships up close while kayaking near the lighthouse. A porpoise or dolphin jumps out of the water while playing in the ship's bow wake.

Not much of a wake from this big ship hauling railroad cars.

The Fort Morgan ferry passes nearby as I head back across Mobile Bay on this Double Crosser kayak trip.

Pelicans flying nearby with an oil rig visible in the background.

Unique looking beach house.

Nifty looking plant sculpture.

3 comments:

  1. That's a long haul across from Fort Morgan to Fort Gaines! Good news/bad news is right, but you got a really cool photo of the dolphin and the cargo ship.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is only about 4 miles from Fort Gaines to Fort Morgan. The short distance is easy. Dealing with larger open water waves and swift currents from water flowing out of Mobile Bay into the Gulf of Mexico is not so easy. Crossing Mobile Bay is not a trip for beginners.

      Delete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.