Baytowne Marina

Since Tuesday, we have been tied up at Baytowne Marina. Yesterday, Thursday,  was a cloudy day.

Thick clouds coming...

Everyday, our marina buddy greets us.

Hello

We ride bikes to the Grand Sandestin.  A beautiful property which is even pretty in the drizzle. The resort is amazing and very large.

Grand Sandestin

Early evening brought windy conditions and Tom fought with our canvas to bring it down and keep it safe.

Superman!

Halloween night brought rain and wind.  We did not have live coverage on the Weather Channel, as Cincinnati did, which we watched non-stop. As subscribers of  Direct TV, we get few channels and no local, but today with the weather channel, it seemed to be a local broadcast! 

Around 8 pm., interrupting our Bengals football game, came fireworks.  I guess Halloween and fireworks go together down here. It was a great display, although Buster and Bailey not as thrilled.

Fireworks on a rainy windy night.

The night is not the best.  The wind blows hard, waves slap loudly, and the boat rocks and rolls  We open up the salon couch to sleep hoping this will be quieter.  Still not so nice.  In the end, it was a  long night into a very rainy day today.  We had a brief moment of sunshine at sunset. Tomorrow is another day...

Sandestin Marina - Flag Day

Today we slept in until the dogs started whimpering.  With nothing on our schedule, we are both in a relaxed mood.  At the marina, Tom meets a diver who agrees to check our zinc anodes along with any lines we may have snagged.  As we may have hit a few dead head logs during our river travels, especially in the early days of the flooded Ohio,  we want to be sure all is good to go for our Gulf run...and it is.

In he goes....

We head up to the bicycle hut, and grab two bikes, which are free, in a way, with our slip dockage. Along the way we notice several college flags flying in the wind at the bar and grill.

Not sure how this Yankee Flag is flying with Tennessee, Texas A & M, Louisiana, and Alabama,  but we like it!  We're Buckeye Proud!

We pick up our bikes and head to the bike path. This resort is massive and very beautiful. It is very bike friendly and we take the path leading to the white sandy beach.

Beachfront Condos from the bike path

View from the beach

Golf courses along the bike path

We arrive to the beach.  We spot another flag. It is a pretty yellow.

Miramar Beach

Perhaps yellow not so pretty for us! Small craft warning.

The beach is beautiful with the white sand and the white cap waves. We check the marine forecast and the Gulf will be rough until Monday, at least.  So, while we have been unusually blessed with sunny clear skies, our good luck is now balanced with an extended forecast of bad marine weather.  We will not be able to make the pass through the Gulf  to Clearwater until  sometime next week, weather permitting.

The churning Gulf

 Finally, our last flag of the day is a sad one.  Dulcinea's Dan and Nancy flew their white flag.  Due to work commitments and upcoming  family plans, they are not able to wait out the temperamental Gulf weather.  They decide to rent a car and head home to southern Florida. They secure a captain to bring their boat the rest of the way. They came a long way, from Minneapolis, and it was a blessing we crossed their path. We will miss them and now us kids will have to fend for ourselves.  Safe travels to them and to all  goodnight!

Sunset at Elephant Walk beachfront restaurant.

Pensacola to Sandestin

After an enjoyable stay at the Palafox Pier and Yacht Harbor, we head to the fuel dock for some diesel. After a discussion with the dock attendant, we decide to make the run to Panama City via the Gulf.  He informs us that it will be calm water today.  Panama City is a 100  mile trip, but with flat water and no wake zones, we should be able to get to Panama City in 6 hours or so.  We venture out to the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico at the Pensacola Inlet.

Gulf of Mexico from Pensacola Bay

Again, a lesson is learned. WE need to check the wave heights and wind speed and direction ourselves.  The waves were at least 4 to 7 feet.  This is not a fun experience.  After getting our butts kicked, we turn around and head back into Pensacola Bay.  Buster could not live up to the collar he sports; he was a wee bit seasick.

Not feeling too good.

We cross the Pensecola Bay and continue to the Inter Coastal Waterway.  We navigate through the narrows at  Fort Walton Beach and continue into Choctawhatchee Bay.  We pass through Destin and arrive to Baytowne Marina in Sandestin.  The marina is wonderful and the yachts in the harbor are amazing. 

Destin Florida

Not your average marina or boats.

The marina is attached to a massive resort complex. There are 4 golf courses, 15 tennis courts, beach, day spa and salon, numerous pools, over 50 retail shops and 20 restaurants and even a dog park. We will be staying here at least two nights to enjoy the amenities and take a break from the water.

Resort view from the marina

Oh yeah, the sunsets aren't too bad either!

Baytowne Marina at Sandestin

Mobile to Pensacola

Today we leave Eastern Shores Marina around 10 am with sunny blue skies and the temperature near 70 degrees.

Sailing yacht club opposite Eastern Shores Marina.  So pretty in the early morning.

We enter Mobile Bay and head into the Inter coastal Waterway.  It is about 15 miles perhaps.  The depths can fluctuate from 250 feet to 12 feet or less in minutes.  It is imperative  to find the markers and navigate accordingly.

Captain Tom!

We enter the mouth of the inter coastal,, and just for old times sake, we need to pass a barge doing so.

Another barge.

This barge's name is Divine Mercy. Some things are not to be questioned and we thank God for our safe journey thus far and that hopefully this will be our last barge to encounter. 

Inter coastal waterway entrance.

We enter the Inter coastal Waterway and travel several miles and decide to stop at Lulu's in Gulf Shores, AL for lunch. Lulu's is otherwise known as Jimmy Buffet's sister's restaurant.  We pull in, tie up, let the dogs out, and then realize how warm it is.  They can not stay on the boat without electric. We hope they let the dogs stay with us at our table, which is on a deck outside.  This is not allowed;  but the manager is happy to take both of them into her air conditioned office while we dine. We enjoyed lunch and afterwards, when we retrieve the dogs,  Bailey is laying on  their couch in the office....typical.  Definitely a fun stop and all so friendly.

Tied up to Lulu's

Lulu's 

We continue on the Inter coastal Waterway.  Some of the bays, such as the Mobile, Peridido and Pensacola, are larger than what they seem to be on the maps we are given.  As it is our first time through this area, we navigate slowly and use our radar and even our I-Pad Apps.   The water, by sight, can be very deceiving.

Lots of water

We see white sand and the welcome sign to Florida.  Given the last couple of challenging days, our moods are lifted with the warmer weather, blue water, and the signs of civilization.

Welcome to Florida on the Inter coastal.

White sandy beaches. We arrived in Florida!

We arrive around 5:00 to our stop for the night, Palafox Marina and Yacht Harbor. We are met at the dock by an attendant who helps us tie up.  It is a very nice layover with wonderful docks along with a great sightseeing tours of unbelievable yachts. Florida is looking good!

Sunset over Pensacola Bay from Palafox Marina

We end tonight with dinner at Jaco's  Restaurant, near the marina.  Perhaps a little sun and wind burned, but  happy, actually thrilled, to have made it to Florida.

Jaco's Restaurant

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Onto Mobile Bay

After a night at an unexpected anchorage spot, we awaken to beautiful skies once again. It will be a little warmer today with temperatures reaching the mid 70's.

Crazy Eight and Dulcinea

With light, we are able to take the dinghy and find a better place for the dogs.  Better is underneath a railroad bridge on rip rap gravel. No grass for the dogs to sniff, only rocks,  but way less muck. 

Good Morning Alabama.

We leave our anchorage and travel 12 miles to Mobile, Alabama.  The last five miles are a no wake zone.  There is a lot of commercial traffic.  It is not the nice leisurely scenic city cruises we take on the Ohio in Cincinnati.  Truthfully, this was one of the more stressful days of the trip yet.  Mobile is the 12th busiest port in the US.  It is a Sunday morning, but that doesn't seem to make any difference.

Huge cargo ship, carrying goods mainly from China...what a surprise. The tugs are turning it around and we are told to pass quickly by.

Downtown Mobile, Alabama

Military ships too.

We are glad to get off the appropriately named Black Warrior River.  We venture out into Mobile Bay and the boat navigates through salt water for the first time.  It is great to finally run the boat on  big water, although the depth is not always so big fluctuating greatly. It is very important to stay in the channels, watch the markers, and be aware of the tides. We have had some long days to get to this point and we welcome the new sights of  dolphins playing in our wake and seagulls swarming the shrimpers.  We travel through the bay for about 8 miles and arrive at Eastern Shore Marina. In general, this marina is a disappointment.  The docks are rickety and the facilities not the best. We decide to take the courtesy car, which is on par with the rest of the marina, to the Marriott Hotel in Point Clear for dinner. It is nice to leave the boat for a while and see some sights off the water. Dan and Nancy treat us"kids" to a wonderful steak dinner.  The Marriott is a remarkable hotel, with a marina, but too shallow for us to stay there.  Oh well....things do not always work out the way you expect or want; we find this true everyday of our journey.  Tomorrow we continue on and will head a course to Pensacola.

Sunset over Mobile Bay

Demopolis to anchorage??

Friday morning we leave bright and early and lock through  Demopolis, without any problem.

Goodbye Demopolis!

The water over the spillway is really amazing.  We have a good view of it from our fly bridge.

Demopolis Lock and Dam

Once leaving this lock, we are now on the Black Warrior River portion of the Tenn Tom.  It is a beautiful day to cruise, although a little chilly, but not snowing like at home!  We pass numerous barges, often in tight quarters, and watch for fishing boats as our wake could swamp them. In this neck of the woods, they are hunters too. Boats have been known to be shot at, so we take care. Around 4 pm, traveling 100 miles,   we arrive to Bobby's Fish Camp.  Just in time for docktails (we are on central time, so it is 5:00!).

 

We tie up to a floating dock next to the fuel dock and are in luck;  no one else is here so we grab one of the four electric services. There is no water, but that is fine. We have enough on board until we reach a marina tomorrow. (ha ha)  We  have no idea where  Bobby's Fish Camp is by land. It seems to be in a remote area to which our cell phones and Internet do not work.  However, it must be close to Tuscaloosa, as many locals are attending the Alabama/Tennessee game on Saturday. It was a big deal!

Four boats showed up. Four electric panels.  Time to celebrate with catfish at Bobby's. Best meal yet.

We wake at 7 am today.  We need to make an early start as there is over 120 miles to travel into Mobile and to Eastern Shore Marina.  We head to Coffeeville Lock in the fog.

7:30 am October 26th-

We lock through Coffeeville.  This is the last of the dirty dozen. The first lock of the dirty dozen we were 414 feet above sea level, now with no more locks  we are heading for the Gulf of Mexico.

Coffee cheers to the last of the locks, Coffeeville.

We leave the lock and proceed southbound.  There are weird crazy eight turns, fishing boats in odd places, and more barges than you expect in places where you least would want to pass them. Basically, it was not an easy run and takes a bit longer than we anticipated.   We know we are getting close to Mobile and making progress when we see the I-65 bridge, known as the Dolly Parton Bridge,.

Dolly Parton Bridge

But what is that saying....close only matters in horseshoes?  So true.  Our next bridge is known as the mile 14 (14 miles out of Mobile) CSX railroad bridge.  It is a new bridge we are told.  Today the bridge was stuck down and could not be raised. We are too high to pass under the bridge with a clearance this low.  At 3:00 they say it will be an hour.  Come 5:00, still waiting, it becomes a problem.  We will run out of daylight soon ( this is central time here, reminder).  6:09 is sunset. With 14 miles to get into Mobile, of that five miles are a  no wake zone,  and with another 10 to the marina, we come up with plan B.

It finally ascends as the sun descends.

We are able to pass the bridge around 6 pm. An alert for other southbound boaters, they will open every 6 hours for marine traffic...so plan accordingly. The bridge's number is 251-379-2690 so you can call and find out the status. 

Sun going down, unfamiliar waters,  need to find an anchorage soon.

We head south one mile and turn to our port into the Tensaw River Cut Off. From there we travel one mile and enter the Big Briar Creek. According to the Nitty Gritty Book it is a good hurricane hole. We navigate in the dark at least two miles looking for a good "pee" spot for the dogs.  There really is none. We anchor, along with our boat buddy, Dulcenea.  Tom and I head out on the dinghy with the dogs into muck and more muck.  The dogs do pee, of course it is almost 12 hours for them, so how could they not?  But they are dirty and Tom's gym shoes likely will need to be thrown out. It is not a pleasant experience. Plus we heard noises in the dark we never heard before.  I guess we need to watch swamp people more seriously.  We made it back to the boat, cooked some hamburgers for us and our buddies Dan and Nancy, and will now go to bed with the drag queen app in place. All I can think of now, as I sit in this cove, with only the battery to the boat working,  is that I wish I was in Siesta Key celebrating a wedding of our dear friend's daughter.  Goodnight All and Congrats to Erin and Ben!