Orange Beach - The Wharf

Stats Thursday 10/31/19: Total days - 51, Travel days - 29, Miles today - 47, Total miles - 1683

So the plan was to stay at Dog River and take some much needed down time.  For those of you on Facebook, you know that this did not happen.  So sit right back and hear a tale.  (Yes - Gilligan's Island).

When we arrived at Dog River, they did not seem to happy that we were there.  Even though between us and R&R we took about $1500 in fuel.  The docks are OK, but really just a dock with electric.  There is nothing on site to see or do.  On Tuesday morning, our plan was to use the courtesy car and go to West Marine and then to lunch with R&R (Rick and Rhonda, but easier just to refer to people by boat name).  R&R was going to have some work done on the boat by Dog River, but again, they did not seem to motivated to help.  After looking at the weather, we decided to leave and go to Orange Beach.  The weather for Wednesday and Thursday looked worse, so we probably were going to have to stay until Friday if we did not go.  Crossing Mobile was another "new" for us.  As we left Dog River in 2-3 foot seas it began to rain.  When we got into the Bay, it was raining hard and visibility was very low.  I drove using the chart plotter with R&R following.  We turned left at the light house, and the chart and auto pilot took us right into the GICW (Gulf Intercoastal Waterway).  We arrived safely at The wharf around 2:00.  What a beautiful Marina.  

After check-in, we got cleaned up and R&R said that they rented a car and wanted to take us to dinner.  I know!  On the way back to boat, Marcia and I had a celebratory drink at the bar.  Drinks and beers were $2.00.  So I had 3 and Marcia had 1.   R&R treated us to dinner at Tacky Jacks.  Kind of a tourist trap, but then again, we are kind of tourists.  Dinner was good and we ended back on the boat as we were all tired.  

On Wednesday, Marcia and I walked some of the shops here at the marina.  Some nice stuff, but we managed to control ourselves.  We met R&R and went to Lulu's for lunch.  Lulu's is owned by Jimmy Buffet's sister, so had been on my list of things to do for awhile.  We did drive right by it in the boat coming into the GICW.  After lunch we stopped at Walmart.  Rhonda, Rick and me all ended up getting haircuts there.  Yep, another first.  After Walley World we went to West Marine.  Got back to the marina and had a couple of drinks with a few other Loopers that are here.  Plan was to go to the bar and have 1/2 priced margaritas, but it was raining hard and we were all kind of tired, so that did not happen.  Also, I had a electronics guy come by the boat and look at my displays.  The lower display is not working correctly.  He thinks it is a faulty port, but he is supposed to come back on Thursday to confirm and replace if needed.

Thursday morning now.  We decided to stay another night until Friday.  Us and R&R were going to drive over to Pensacola to see the Aviation Museum, but nasty rainy day, so we are going to see a movie instead.  Part of the museum is outside, so probably not a good day to go.

Our plan is to head out tomorrow for Ft Walton Beach.  It is about 70 miles, so a little farther than we wanted to go, but we have plans to meet up with Mike Trainer.  A lot of you know him, but for those that don't, he is a friend who we boated with at Four Seasons that lives in Ft. Walton now.

Clearing debris at Bobby's Fish Camp

Leaving Dog River

 Lulu's

 Where the coyote buys all of his stuff.  (Bugs Bunny / Road Runner show)

 Tacky Jack's

 The Wharf

 Bar at the Wharf

 Tacky Jack's

Lulu's for lunch

 Some marina shots

 Pelican on my boat - yes I chased him away. 

Mobile Bay - Salt Water!

Stats Sunday 10/27/19 : Total days - 47, Travel days - 26, Miles today - 98, Total miles - 1503
Stats Monday 10/28/19: Total days - 48, Travel days - 27, Miles today - 133, Total miles - 1636

Feels like it has been forever since I have done a post, but I guess it has only been a few days.  Feels a lot longer to us.  We ended up staying at Kingfisher Marina on Saturday as well as it was predicted to be a rain out day.  It pretty much was, only clearing up late in the afternoon. Friends, Gregg and Rhonda had a rental car arranged as they are driving home later in the week.  After breakfast on Saturday, we went with them to do a semi needed Walmart trip.  On the way back we stopped at Sonic for lunch.  Can say that is the first time that I have been to Sonic.  Foot long cheese coney was not as good as Skyline, but hit the spot.  After lunch we did some chores on the boat as it was raining anyway.

The big question of the day was, is the river going to be good enough to travel on.  At 5:00 there was a group meeting with most all the Looper boats to discuss the river conditions.  After hearing from the locals, it was a mixed decision.  Of the 20 boats, 10 had said that they were going to travel.  River is near flood stage and a lot of debris.  We figured, "Oh just like home".  Mike from Carousel had arrange to call the lock and the plan was to depart at 1st light, around 6:45.  Bad new in the morning was that the lock had a pump down and they were waiting for a needed 2nd person.  Also there was a tow fueling and he needed to go down also.  We would not be able to lock through until around 9:00.  With the river up, our plan to anchor was not going to happen, which meant that we would need to go all the way to Bobby's Fish Camp, 98 miles.  Not locking through until 9:00 would not make that possible with the current river conditions.  At 7:00, the lock called and said if we came now we could get through.  Seven boats untied and headed out.  River was full of debris, but manageable as we were only going about 12-13 mph.  Long day, but we got to Bobby's around 3:30.  Now Bobby's it just a 150' dock in the river, tied tot he bank.  there was a broke down sailboat that was at the dock, so only 2 other boats could tie off to the dock.  The other boats had to raft off to them.  We were the 3rd boat rafted off.   The restaurant was open, so we all went up and had catfish for dinner.  Whole catfish on the bone, fried.  Such a long day it did not matter.   I ended up having a stiff bourbon and a cigar.  We went to bed, but could not get to sleep.  Since we were the farthest boat out, the amount of debris hitting the boat was incredible.  Some of the bigger logs felt and sounded like they were coming through the boat.  Neither Marcia nor I slept much that night.  

Carousel called our LAST lock in the morning and we headed out.  Had to clean the debris out, and get everyone untied but all went smooth.  Our original plan was to anchor out and the head down the Mobile the next day.  With the river high and more rain predicted, we did not feel safe doing that, so we decided to go the whole way to Mobile, Dog River Marina.  133 miles, 1 lock and 2 lift bridges.  R&R and Carousel had the same plan.  River was full of debris, but we ended up running most of the afternoon to try and get to Dog River before they closed at 5:00.  R&R ran with us.  Entering Mobile Bay was really cool.  Passed the war ships and headed into salt water.  We saw a dolphin off the bow within the 1st 10 minutes.  We got tied up and just cooked up some burger for dinner and ate with R&R.  Carousel came in later, but had hit something and damaged a prop.  They are going to try and pulled tomorrow and get the props pulled and repaired.  As much as we want to head over to Orange Beach tomorrow, they are calling for more rain, so we decided to not travel.  We need a break and some sleep after the last 2 days.  Basically, instead of traveling 4 days to get from Kingfisher to Mobile, we did it 2.  We may try to go on Wednesday, but they are predicting rain for, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  We are hoping we get a break on Wednesday to make it happen.  Wind is up so it might be a little choppy, 3 footers, but should be on the bow.  

Sorry so long winded, but it has been a long couple of days.  Enjoy the pictures.  Not much of the Tenn-Tom as it was almost all flooded and just trees.  Good news it that there was not many fishing boats out to slow down for.  Nobody shot at us as we slowed down for the ones that we encountered and the camps.

Demopolis Lock

 High water and current

 Something swimming across the river.

 Bobby's Fish Camp

 Some debris

 Bobby's

Clearing debris from under the boats in the morning before we left Bobby's

 Carousel in the lock

 RR lift bridge

 Coming into Mobile

 Mobile Bay

 Dog River Marina

Sumpter Anchorage & Kingfisher Marina

Stats Wednesday 10/23/19 : Total days - 43, Travel days - 25, Miles today - 64, Total miles - 1352
Stats Thursday / Friday:  Total days - 45, Travel days - 26, Miles today - 53, Total miles - 1406

Today is Friday, and we are stuck at Kingfisher Marina in Demopolis, AL due to rain.  Might be a longer post than my last one.

We were up at the crack of dawn, technically even earlier, to coordinate locking through with several other boats this morning.  The lock was literally just outside the Columbus Marina.  The fog was extremely thick, so even though the 1st boat left, several us decided to wait for the fog to lift.  Very narrow channel going out and we were unable to see the channel markers.  When we did leave, we got out of the marina OK, but the fog on the river was pea soup.  Good thing for radar, because you were unable to see more than 10-20 feet.

Looking at the fog from our slip at the marina. 

 Fog in the lock. 

Once we got through the lock, the sun came out and it turned into a great day.  R&R and I sped up and ran on plane for about 45 minutes.

Typically what our bridge looks like when we are cruising.  Have had the isenglass up for the last few days as it has been cool and Dewey in the mornings.  (Yes, Mark and Matt - Dewey's favorite donut - vanilla nut tap)

 We stopped and started calling you guys until we ran out of quarters.  No-one answered.

 Totem pole?

Pretty sure the 2 leaning on the trees are mannequins, but the guy at the river is real.  Think he wants to be sure nobody wakes him.

 Don't think this is open anymore.

We arrived at Sumpter Anchorage, and we ended up tying off together with R&R.  A couple of other boats came in later.  It turned out to be a great place to anchor for the night.

Anchor spot.

Tied off with R&R.

Thursday 10/24/19

We left the anchorage Thursday morning in a light fog.  Us and the 3 other boats where the only ones to lock through 3 miles down river.  The other boats had anchored about a hour before us in a different spot.  After the lock we had about 50 miles to Demopolis Yacht Basin where we took on fuel.  Kingfisher Marina is right next to it.  Turns out that Gregg and Rhonda, caught up to us and there are here now also.  We took the shuttle into "town" for dinner.  We ended up at a pizza / Italian restaurant.  No alcohol, not that I needed anymore, and you ordered your food at the counter and they call your number.  Food was surprisingly good.  We sat up and had a few more cocktails and called it a night.  

Raining this morning, Friday, so glad we decided not to travel.  We did some chores that needed to be done on the boat and some trip planning.  Sounds like Saturday might be another rain out, so thinking we may try to go all the way to Bobby's Fish Camp on Sunday.  1 lock and 98 miles.

Leaving anchorage Thursday morning.

 Don't think this tree is going to make it.

 A tug pulling dredge pipes.  Thought it was tress from a distance. 

 Clear day.  Not sure what these clouds mean.  Dave W.?

 White cliffs along the Tenn-Tom

Hoping for better weather.  I will post again when I can.  Quite a few boats here heading up to Docktails now.  Guess it is not going to be an AFD day.






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