November 14, 2008: Bobby's Fish Camp

We cast off this morning under gray skies; our destination is Bobby’s Fish Camp, which is the only marina between Demopolis and Mobile. We are looking forward to meeting Tom’s sister and brother-in-law there. They are driving up from Mobile and taking the challenge of finding it from the land side.

We spotted the tugboat, Boliver Point and chatted with him. He was pushing a tanker carrying Zylene to Decataur, Alabama, and he plans to pick up a load there and take it to Texas. I’m not sure of his route, but he said “by way of Mississippi Bay”. He said they took on about 10,000 gallons of fuel every 7 days.

Bobby’s Fish Camp’s accommodation is a 160 floating dock along side the river. There is no protection from the river waves, but it was certainly a popular place. I have seen many patches of water hyacinth for the past several weeks, but at Bobby's I actually saw one blooming. It reminded me of a large lavender azelia blossom.

We were the third boat to tie up there, and then watched as the 140 foot yacht, Freedom, docked by dropping an anchor and bringing its stern to the dock. The captain wouldn’t tell us who owned it, but it was previously owned by Jimmie Dean (Jimmie Dean Sausage). It carried a ski boat and a jet ski on the upper deck that could be lowered to the river by a crane. The captain and 4 crew members were taking the boat to Key Largo to meet the owner for Thanksgiving.

Martha and Gil arrived mid afternoon and it was great to see them. They had left a car at the Ciba Chemical plant where Gil works and caught a ride to Bobby’s. We had dinner tonight at the old silvered wooden building that is Bobby’s restaurant. The sign on the door said that this was not a fast food place, so not to expect fast food; and they were right. All seven tables were full by the end of our meal, most of whom were boating folks. On the wall was a stuffed (apparently real) Alligator Gar that a local had caught in the river there. It had a mouth like an alligator but was a fish (so it had no legs). Pretty amazing. The table under the Alligator Gar was the last one to be filled. We all ordered catfish, and were served a 9x13 tray with paper towels in the bottom full of fried fillets, another tray of French fries and hushpuppies, and a bowl of delicious creamy white coleslaw. The fish was hot and crispy and yummy and we enjoyed the dinner.