Loren,
I have not sailed on the river at Decatur, but my wife and I have been sailing our Hobie 17 Sport on Lake Gunterville. (By the way we live in Harvest, AL) I use the Browns Creek Marina http://sailbrownscreek.com/ to put in. They have a small (small) sandy/muddy beach to trailer your boat into the water. Little tricky getting out of the dock area depending on the wind. It has been the only place i have found with soft beach to land the boat. There seem to be several Hobies over there. In summer just have to keep out of the milfoil. It will stop you dead, or at least kick the rudders out of the water. At least the Marina gets a channel or two cleared to get out to the deep water.
Without a motor on my Hobie 17, I don't believe I would like try to sailing on the river..(No Wind, you go with the current... Althought I have family near Kentucky Lake I don;t think I would like to make the trip on my Hobie to see them..)
Paddling on the Lake with no wind is hard enough.
Have you found any good places to stay in Florida Panhandle that you can leave your boat setup on a beach. I don;t have beach wheels to roll the boat. So i have to carry or trailer into the water. With an 17 it is a pain to setup and break down every day. So I been wanting to take it to the gulf but I need to leave it setup.. Have you been anywhere that allows this or has ramp access to leave on the trailer with staying ?