The pilot-boat Alabamian will be found cruising outside the bar or at anchor near the entrance buoy; it is equipped with wireless telephone and reports vessels through the Coast Guard. Vessels up to 31 feet (9.4 m) of draft are taken in or out at any time, day or night. Tugboats and ocean-going tugs are available at Mobile. The harbormaster assigns berths in the harbor and enforces the rules and regulations of the port. The pilots only handle ships between the sea and the dock; the harbormaster has charge of shifting between berths in the harbor. The harbormaster's fees for shifting are as follows: Shifting or mooring vessel in harbor (less than 1,000 tons, $5) $10 15 20 Quarantine. The quarantine station is on Sand Island at the entrance to Mobile River. Vessels subject to quarantine inspection are boarded at anchor or under way in the quarantine anchorage off the station. Customs and Immigration. The offices of both the customs and immigration services are located in the Customhouse at St. Joseph and St. Louis Streets. Both the United States Coast Guard and the United States Steamboat Inspection and Navigation Service have administrative offices in Mobile. Supplies. Full stock of deck and engineer's supplies are carried in Mobile. Almost chemically pure water is piped to the principal wharves and piers. Three oil companies provide oil bunkering facilities with capacities up to 1,000 barrels per hour and all the State Docks are piped for fuel oil with a loading capacity of 1,000 to 1,500 barrels per hour. The State coal handling plant has a bunkering capacity of 600 tons per hour. There is floating equipment available for delivering bunker coal and bunker fuel oil to ships anywhere in the harbor. Repairs. There are excellent facilities at Mobile for practically any class of repair work to the hull or machinery of steel or wooden vessels. There are five floating drydocks, the two largest with capacities for lifting 12,000 and 10,000 tons and handling vessels up to 550 feet long by 24 feet draft and 480 feet long and 2012 feet draft, respectively. There is a marine railway with a lifting capacity of 2,500 tons and capable of hauling vessels up to 290 feet long and 10 feet draft (6 feet forward). There are also several smaller marine ways for handling smaller vessels. Salvage Facilities.-Sea-going salvage tugs are available which are equipped for heavy work and able to go anywhere. Barges, derricks, pumps, diving outfits, etc., are available for practically any type of work. Storm warnings (day only) are displayed at the First National Bank Building in Mobile, at Fort Morgan, and at Sand Island Lighthouse; also at Gulf Shores from June 15 to November 15. The Marine Hospital (United States Public Health Service) is located at St. Anthony and Bayou Streets, about three-fourths mile from the water front. There are three additional hospitals in Mobile. (22) PORT REGULATIONS 189 Small Boat Facilities.-The principal basin for yachts and small boats is along the north side of the Arlington dock to the south of Sand Island. There are several small wharves opposite the north end of Pinto Island used by fishing boats and other small craft. There are several small yards available for hauling out and repairing smaller boats. Communications.-Mobile is served by five trunk-line railroads and improved highways lead to Pensacola and New Orleans and to interior points. There is regular steamer communication with New Orleans, Pensacola, and Tampa, and occasional connection with other points on the Gulf coast. There are also regular sailings to Atlantic and Pacific coast ports, to the West Indies and South America and to numerous world ports. Inland boats and barges serve the river ports in the interior of the State and also connect with New Orleans and occasionally with Texas ports. The Tropical Radio Telegraph Co. has stations at Mobile (WNN) and at Fort Morgan (WIO) which handle general commercial radio business. Mobile is on an air line between Atlanta and New Orleans and there is a municipal airport. Port Regulations.-The following local rules and regulations have been proscribed (1927) for the port of Mobile by the State Docks Commission. RULE 1.-Masters of vessels entering the port of Mobile must, on arriving in the river, rig in the jib-booms and other outriggers, cockbill their yards, and take their anchors in on deck when not in use. When permission is given by the chief wharfinger or deputy to allow a vessel to keep the jib-boom and other outriggers out, the vessel having such permission will be held responsible for all damage done to other vessels. RULE 2.-The arrival of all vessels in the port of Mobile shall be immediately reported either by the master or ship's agent to the chief wharfinger's office. RULE 3.-The chief wharfinger is charged with the duty of selecting and changing anchorages for ships, with the movements of vessels into and out of slips or berths, and with all other ship movements that affect a fair joint use of the facilities of the port, and his instructions will be obeyed accordingly. RULE 4.-All vessels mooring in the river either to receive or to discharge cargo or ballast, must be moored on a line parallel to the channel of the river. If more than one vessel is so moored in the same vicinity, they must be moored on the same line. All such vessels must be moored at both ends with anchors sufficiently heavy to hold them on the line as specified above. RULE 5.-Lighters, barges, timber, rafts, or similar floating objects placed alongside vessels, wharves, piling or dolphins must be placed so as not to unnecessarily obstruct navigable water and must be made fast securely at both ends to prevent swinging with the tides, and must display conspicuously, suitable lights at night. RULE 6-No vessel in the channel shall be allowed to make fast a line ashore, except in emergency and then only for the shortest possible time. RULE 7.-No vessel will be allowed to receive or discharge cargo while anchored in the river below Cochrane Bridge without permission from the chief wharfinger. RULE 8.-Masters requiring anchor berths for the purpose of laying up their vessels will apply to the chief wharfinger who will designate a berth where the vessel can be anchored. RULE 9.-When vessels are ready to proceed down the channel and they find themselves blocked by other vessels to the extent that they cannot get under way the officer in charge must report the same to the chief wharfinger at once. RULE 10.-The maximum rate of speed of vessels through the water from Chickasaw Creek to the mouth of Mobile River shall be as follows: All vessels of 500 tons gross and under (except launches), 6 miles per hour, and all vessels over 500 tons gross, 4 miles per hour. RULE 11.-When requested, the chief wharfinger will inform masters of vessels as to the maximum draft to which vessel can be safely loaded for passage through the channel. RULE 12.-Vessels lying in slips at drydocks must not project out into the river beyond the harbor line. Vessels lying in slips other than at drydocks must not project out into the river beyond the harbor line unless the slip is shorter than the vessel, in which case the vessel must occupy the entire length of the slip. RULE 13.-Vessels, barges, and boats must not be berthed more than two abreast at marginal wharves, on ends of piers, or alongside piling placed on the harbor line. RULE 14.-The officer in charge of a vessel lying alongside a marginal wharf or at the end of a pier must have the anchors up into the hawse pipes. When impossible to heave anchors up into hawse pipes they must be taken up on deck. RULE 15.-When the master of a vessel lying in the inner harbor of Mobile desires to shift his vessel, he shall apply to the chief wharfinger for permission to shift such vessel and for the services of a deputy wharfinger or pilot licensed and employed by the Alabama State Docks Commission to assist him in making the change. However, should the master desire to shift his vessel without the assistance of a deputy wharfinger or pilot licensed and employed by the Alabama State Docks Commission, the chief wharfinger is empowered to grant permission to the master or some other duly licensed navigating officer selected by the master, to make such shift, provided the chief wharfinger is of the opinion that such master or navigating officer has sufficient knowledge of the local conditions in the inner harbor to enable him to safely make such shift without endangering other shipping. Under no circumstances will a vessel shift or change its anchorage or mooring without the assistance of a deputy wharfinger or pilot licensed and employed by the State Docks Commission unless the chief wharfinger has authorized such movement to be made by the master or some other duly licensed navigating officer. RULE 16.—The Inner Harbor of Mobile comprises that portion of Mobile Bay lying north of an East and West line drawn through Beacon 40, and that part of all tributary streams flowing into such harbor in which the tide ebbs and flows. RULE 17, SECTION 1.-No manufacturing or repair plant, no steamship, oil tanker, barge, or any other vessel shall, within the waters of the harbor of Mobile subject to the jurisdiction of the State Docks Commission, cast, discharge, or suffer to flow into and upon the waters of such harbor any oil or oily mixtures having an oil content greater than .05 of 1 per cent, or any other oily mixtures of a character that would cause an oil film on the surface of the water that would be visible to the naked eye in daylight in clear water. SEC. 2. No vessel or craft of any description carrying fuel oil, crude oil, or diesel oil in bulk as cargo or as fuel for boilers or engines, shall pump bilges containing any oil or oily mixtures of the character described in section 1 hereof, into the waters of Mobile harbor within the jurisdiction of the Commission. SEC. 3.-The Pilot boarding any vessel entering Mobile Bay shall immediately serve the Master of such vessel a printed copy of these regulations; and all seagoing vessels, other than war vessels, carrying crude oil, fuel oil or diesel oil in bulk as cargo, or as fuel for boilers or engines, shall be boarded immediately, or as soon thereafter as practicable, upon arrival at wharf or anchorage within the harbor of Mobile, by a Representative of the State Docks Commission, who shall serve the Master (unless this has already been done by Pilot bringing ship in) and Chief Engineer of such vessel with a printed copy of these regulations, and shall with wire and lead seal bearing the impression SDC (wire to be not heavier than 22 gage), seal all valves and suctions of such vessels. SEC. 4. All vessels before loading or discharging crude oil, fuel oil or diesel oil as cargo or bunkers, will see that all hose through which such oil is to flow, is in good condition, and that connections are oil tight; also cause all scuppers to be closed with wooden plugs packed with burlap, burlap and cement, or similar material, in such manner as to prevent any oil, in case of accident, flowing into Mobile harbor. Masters and Chief Engineers of such vessels will be held jointly responsible and accountable for compliance with this regulation. (22) MOBILE BAY, DIRECTIONS 191 SEC. 5.-Where, in the process of drydocking a vessel, it is necessary to remove from the bunkers mixtures containing more than .05 of 1 per cent of oil content, a special provision shall be made for a place outside of the waters of Mobile harbor into which such material is to be pumped. The method provided for preventing the above oily mixture from getting into the waters of Mobile harbor shall, before being employed, be approved by the State Docks Commission. SEC. 6. Ships bringing oil cargoes into the port and pumping the same from their holds into tanks must submit to the State Docks Commission for approval the means adopted by them for preventing discharge of oil into the waters of the harbor of Mobile. The Port Series, volume No. 3 (Part 1) gives further detailed information regarding the port of Mobile. See page 4. Fogs.-There is considerable fog during the early spring months with southerly breezes; northerly breezes clear it away. Winds. The prevailing winds are southerly and southeasterly in spring, southerly in summer, northerly in fall, and northerly and easterly in winter. The strongest winds are southerly in summer and northerly in winter. Severe northers occur occasionally during the winter; they lower the water in the bay so as to interfere with the deeper-draft vessels bound through the dredged channel. During heavy southerly gales it is not always safe for vessels of over 25 feet (7.6 m) draft to attempt to cross the bar. Tides. The tides are chiefly diurnal and the rise and fall is small, averaging about 1 foot at the entrance and 112 feet at Mobile. During the winter months northers may depress the water surface as much as 1.6 feet below mean low water, while hurricanes have been known to raise the level about 11.6 feet. Currents. The currents vary with the force and direction of the wind and are sometimes apparently suspended or reversed by heavy gales. The main body of the flood enters the bay through the Main Ship Channel with a normal velocity of about 2 knots, diminishing to about one-half knot in the bay channel. The ebb ordinarily has about the same velocity in a southerly direction and with a strong southerly breeze the sea on the bar is dangerous for small craft. With strong winds the maximum current velocities may be 311⁄2 knots on the outer bar, 21⁄2 knots in the bay channel and nearly 2 knots in the river channel. At the outer bar, the flood tide has a tendency to set toward Sand Island while the ebb sets diagonally toward the shoal on the east side of the Main Ship Channel. DIRECTIONS, MOBILE BAY Courses and Distances for approaching Mobile Entrance Lighted Whistle Buoy are given on page 61; and also under Coastwise Courses (Position No. 13). The following Courses and Distances lead from Mobile Entrance Lighted Whistle Buoy into the bay. Inland Rules apply as far as Choctaw Point on the Mobile River. Mobile and Tensaw Rivers are crooked streams with many ramifications, flowing in a general southerly direction from the junction of the Alabama and Tombigbee Rivers, 37 miles above the head of Mobile Bay, and emptying into the head of the bay through several mouths. Mobile River, the deeper and more important of the two streams, empties into the northwest corner of Mobile Bay at the city of Mobile. It has a depth 32 feet (9.8 m) to Chickasaw Creek, 412 miles above the mouth, and 14 feet (4.3 m) to its head. The deepest draft navigating Mobile River above Chickasaw Creek is 9 feet (2.7 m). There are no towns of importance on the river. A draft of 8 feet (2.4 m) can be taken into the Tensaw River directly from the bay, but by a roundabout route, leading up Mobile |