Day 74 – 76
Tuesday morning, 11/24/20, was clear and sunny with a forecast high of 71 degrees. We threw off the lines and cruised out of Turner Marina at 8 am, to cross Mobile Bay. The further we got into the bay, the more our scenery increased. I kept my eyes peeled for dolphins surfing our bow wake, but they proved to be illusive. Instead, we saw fishing boats, water fowl perched on channel markers, tows with barges, huge container ships, a light house that looked just like a house on stilts, natural gas rigs, not to mention a bazillion sea gulls, cormorants and pelicans.
Finally, at 10:45 am, we spotted our first dolphins playing in the waters ahead of us! Unfortunately, they were too far away for me to get any decent pictures, nor did they surf our bow wake as I’d hoped. I had my camera ready for that, but no such luck. When we started out, the waves were about 1 to 2 feet and the eastern winds were at 5 to 10 knots. That made the ride a bit bumpy since the wind was hitting our port side for a good part of the trip. We had the stabilizers on, so we had no side-to-side rolling, thank goodness. Still, just to be safe, I took a Dramamine tablet that morning. Once we made our turn to the east, we were cruising directly into the wind, which made for a much smoother ride, but also made for strong, chilly gusts coming straight into the flybridge at us. We closed the isinglass windows post-haste. This was our first time to have Legacy in saltwater! Well, brackish water, really, as the bay is where fresh water and ocean water meet. Still, whenever I went below and grabbed the teak railing to steady myself, I could feel the salt accumulating on it. Salt life! 🙂
After entering Bon Secour Bay from Mobile Bay, we arrived at the beginning of our first foray on the ICW (intracoastal waterway) at the mouth of the Bon Secour River, just west of Oyster Bay. This narrow and calm waterway was a welcome sight after bouncing around out in the bay for the past 3 hours.
The farther into the ICW we cruised, we began to see some of our first damage from Hurricane Sally, which pounded this area back in mid-September of 2020. Many riverside homes were still sporting bright blue or white tarps on their roofs, and several homes had dumpsters sitting out in front of them for the repairs underway.
About two hours into the ICW, we reached the LuLu’s location in Gulf Shores, AL, right there on the ICW. (LuLu Buffett is Jimmy Buffett’s sister. She has multiple restaurant locations in the southeastern U.S.) We had heard and read that we should stop at LuLu’s, if at all possible, and since we arrived during the lunch hour, we did just that. Steve checked with the restaurant to make sure it was okay for us to tie-up to the dock pilings right there on the water. As Steve slowly moved the boat toward the dock, I realized the dockside decks of the restaurant were filled with patrons, which meant I had a nice, big audience to watch me attempt to wrap our bow and stern lines around the large, round pilings. I’m used to “lasso-ing” dock cleats with the loop-end of our lines, but had no clue what to do with these giant pilings. Of course, my attempts to get the bow line secured were both comical and futile, as the crowd looked on. Ugh! Fortunately, Steve so excellently piloted the boat right up to the dock, I was eventually able to get my arms (and the line) around the piling without falling overboard or filling the skin on my arms with splinters from the wooden piling. The stern line was much easier to secure, thanks to Steve having the boat pulled up right next to the dock. We jumped down from the boat and walked inside the restaurant from the back. Sunshine and balmy temperatures made me remember how very close to the beach we were, which was exciting. We’d read some less-than-brilliant reviews about this particular Lulu’s location, so steeled ourselves to be ready. Sure enough, there were obviously way too many patrons for the scant number of staff that was trying to serve them. We opted to eat in the bar area, to avoid the 30-minute wait for a restaurant table, but ended up sitting and waiting for quite some time before the poor, bedraggled bartender was able to toss some menus in our direction. She apologized repeatedly for the wait and I felt sorry for her. She was trying to tend bar and serve the entire bar area all by herself. Still, the food and the atmosphere was enjoyable. After almost two hours, we jumped back aboard Legacy, I untied her without too much embarrassment, and we continued eastward on the ICW.
Farther eastward down the ICW from LuLu’s is The Wharf Marina in Orange Beach, AL, where we arrived around 2:45 that afternoon. Steve hailed the marina on the radio to find-out where they wanted us to tie up Legacy for her stay. The Wharf is filled more than usual right now with displaced boats from nearby marinas that were damaged or destroyed in this year’s multiple hurricanes, so not many transient slips are available. We were directed to tie-up inside the marina, but at the end of a T-dock, which was fine with us. After the boat was tied securely and plugged into electricity, we walked up to the office to check-in, and got our first glimpse of the impressive Wharf complex and all it has to offer. Two levels of shops, bars, restaurants line both sides of the palm-tree lined main drive down the center of the complex. Everything is decorated for Christmas and a nightly musical and laser light show entertains guests. We ate dinner that night at Villagio, which was delicious, and I made plans for which shops I was going to visit the following day. We had read and heard many good things about The Wharf and were not disappointed. We were given our own key-card to the Boater’s Lounge next door to the marina office. This lounge is by far the nicest one we’ve seen so far. Very clean, posh and welcoming. Full restroom facilities, along with a coin laundromat are off the lounge’s living area with nautical decor, sofa and club chairs which are complemented by a huge flat-screen TV with cable and internet connectivity. Speaking of internet, we have wonderful wifi access at The Wharf, which is both delightful and uncommon.
Wednesday, 11/25/20, was cloudy but WARM. Steve and I both spent the day in shorts and t-shirts. While Steve worked on the water-maker, I walked around The Wharf visiting the different shops. While we approached The Wharf, KC and Scott Calkin, aboard Jetstream, followed our journey on Nebo. KC invited us to join them for Thanksgiving Dinner at Ginny Lane, which is another great restaurant at The Wharf. KC and Scott are former Loopers who now live aboard their boat at The Wharf. They have been here for the past two years and love it. Their boat name, Jetstream, comes from Scott’s earlier career of piloting for American Airlines.
The Calkins’ invitation to join them for Thanksgiving Dinner was a welcome one, since we had no family or friends with us this year. Over delicious food and drink from Ginny Lane, KC and Scott told us stories of their looping days and all the friends they made during their travels. We are looking forward to meeting up with lots of other Loopers and experiencing the camaraderie we’ve heard so much about.
Position: N 30° 17.699, W 87° 37.816
Distance traveled: 42.2 NM
Total distance traveled: 1450.1 NM
Total marina nights: 61
Total nights at anchor: 15
Locks today: 0
Locks Total: 27