A Cruise Around Middle Bay Lighthouse

While staying on Hunky Dory at Turner Marine on Dog River, we decided to take the boat out into Mobile Bay for a day cruise to Middle Bay Lighthouse. Debbie and I were joined by friends Byron, Cynthia, and Chris.

We started the engines at about 10:30 that morning and left Turner around 10:45. It was low tide, although a relatively high low tide at about 0.4 feet MLLW (Mean Lower Low Water). The channel getting out of Dog River and into the bay was shallow enough to keep my attention. At the shallowest point we had only about two feet of water under the keel, with most of the channel giving us closer to three feet.

Once we reached the main channel in Mobile Bay, conditions were comfortable. The forecast called for waves of about one foot, which was pretty close to what we saw. Hunky Dory had very little rolling, and it was an easy ride across the bay.

We reached Middle Bay Lighthouse at about 12:15 and circled it a couple of times. Sitting by itself in the middle of Mobile Bay, it is a much more interesting sight from the water than it would ever be in a photograph.

A Lighthouse with Some History

Middle Bay Lighthouse, also known as Mobile Bay Lighthouse, went into service in 1885. It is a screw-pile lighthouse, with the wooden keeper’s house supported above the water on iron pilings.

The original light used a fourth-order Fresnel lens and displayed a fixed white light interrupted by a red flash every 30 seconds. The lighthouse was automated in 1935 and deactivated in 1967.

The lighthouse has survived hurricanes and more than a century of exposure in the middle of Mobile Bay. One of the more unusual events in its history occurred in 1916, when the lighthouse keeper’s wife gave birth while they were living at the station. According to Coast Guard historical information, the keeper even brought a milk cow out to the lighthouse and kept it on part of the lower deck because his wife could not nurse the baby.

Living aboard Hunky Dory occasionally has its complications, but we have never had to find room for a cow.

The lighthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985, its centennial year. Restoration and stabilization efforts over the years have helped preserve it as one of the more distinctive landmarks in Mobile Bay.

Hat Overboard

Our own memorable event happened while we were circling the lighthouse. Debbie’s hat blew off and landed in the bay. Since it was her favorite hat, we immediately turned what had been a sightseeing cruise into an unplanned “hat overboard” drill.

We circled back as if returning to pick up someone who had fallen overboard, maneuvered Hunky Dory alongside it, and recovered the hat. It was actually useful practice, although Debbie probably would have preferred that we practice with something other than her hat.

With the lighthouse sufficiently circled and the hat safely back aboard, we started back toward Dog River.

Dolphins for the Ride Home

On the return trip, a couple of dolphins joined us and stayed with Hunky Dory for roughly half the way back. They would disappear for a while and then show up again near the boat, making the trip back across Mobile Bay considerably more interesting than simply following our track home.

We arrived back at Turner Marine at about 2:00 PM. That made the trip just over three hours underway (reminds me of the jingle from an old TV show).

It wasn’t a particularly long cruise, but it had a little of everything: a shallow-water departure from Dog River, comfortable conditions on Mobile Bay, a historic lighthouse, an impromptu hat recovery, and dolphins escorting us part of the way home.

That made it a pretty good day aboard Hunky Dory.

References

Alabama Historical Commission — Mobile Bay Middle Lighthouse ↗

National Register of Historic Places information for Middle Bay Lighthouse ↗