From the swamps at mile marker 9 on the Tennesee-Tombigbee Waterway (aka Mobile River), we could start to see the skyline of Mobile, Alabama.

Interestingly, you will not need any bug spray in these swamps … thanks to huge volumes of Purple Martins. One of my favorite species of wildlife to watch. They are voracious bug eaters, and thousands of these beautiful birds, could be be seen swooping, diving, and playing all around our boat keeping us clear of any flying insects! I hope you enjoy watching them as much as I do when you come through here!

Time lapse through Mobile to the Gulf of Mexico!

Here are some pics to give you a slower view of what we saw going through downtown Mobile’s waterfront.

First palm trees seen this trip!

I am always amazed to see Archimedes Principle applied to lift giant ships out of the sea!

And then there are the cargo ships from all over the world.

The Gulf of Mexico and Mobile Bay. Merchant mariners call it The Ditch

… as it will get very shallow outside the marked channel.

Here’s an interesting fact:

Loopers must have noticed that VHF-16 is the “working channel” on these rivers north of Mobile.

FYI: According to one of the tow captains, south of the Cochrane Bridge (only bridge in Mobile that crosses this waterway) all commercial traffic reverts back to the more standard VHF-13 for bridge-to-bridge communications! VHF-16 reverts back primarily to International Distress.

Why is it different on the rivers?

Your guess is as good as mine! Probably, just one channel to pay attention to.