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.

http://www.al.com/news/mobile/index.ssf/2016/03/no_alcohol_ban_for_dauphin_isl.html

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.

05/21/2006 – Mobile Bay Double Crosser

Launch: Southeast end of Dauphin Island by the rock jetties. Launch Cost: Free. Route: Southeast about 3.5 miles across the Mobile Bay to Fort Morgan, break, then southwest about 4 miles back across Mobile to Sand Island, break, then along the north side of Sand Island, then east along the south side of Dauphin Island back to the launch site. Distance: 17.3 miles. Average Speed: 3.3 mph. Time: Approx 6 hrs. Pace: Leisurely. Weather: Sunny and warm, minimal wind and current. Type kayak: Pedal. I like using a stable pedal kayak in open waters. The 34” wide Hobie Outback is quite stable.

(1) Above left. An early morning launch meant getting to enjoy watching the sunrise from the middle of Mobile Bay. (2) Above right. You can see Dauphin Island in the background from this break spot on Fort Morgan Beach.

(3) Above left. These are spiderwort flowers growing in the sand on Fort Morgan beach. (4) Above right. Crossing the ship channel twice gives you double opportunity to catch sighting of huge ships. Beware! Big ships can move surprisingly fast.

(5) Above left. While shell hunting on Sand Island, a couple of ultra-light pilots flew in from the St. Elmo airport and landed. I got to learn quite a bit about the relatively safe planes. (6) Above right. Check out all the high-tech toys. While the thought of flying is luring, I think cruising on the water is more fun.

(7) Above left. As usual, after the Blessing of the Fleet, you can look forward to seeing one or more shrimp boats in Pelican Bay. (8) Above right. A lot of black skimmer birds can now be seen along the beaches of Sand Island.

(9) Above left. This is the shell game. Which shell is the hermit crab hiding under? (10) Above right. It may be difficult to see in this photo, but there is green growth coming out of the middle branch on the dead looking shrub on the left. I’m thinking that if Dauphin Island wants to improve its ability to withstand storms, there needs to be some major planting of trees along the beaches to replace those trees that have succumb to past storms.