Stats for November 11, 2018

Origin:  Mobile Convention Center Wall

Destination:  The Wharf Marina, Orange Beach, Alabama

Distance:  44.2 miles

Speed:  9.5 mph

Time on the Move:  4 hours and 37 minutes

We were anxious to get moving again after a few days in Mobile.  It was fun, but we were done and ready to move on to the next adventure.  Which we heard would most likely include DOLPHINS!!  Traveling through Mobile Bay is a magical experience for many loopers after the long, busy, muddy river section.  The experience has been described to us by several people and they all seem to remember sparkling water, warm sunshine, and dolphins jumping all around their boat, as if to welcome them to salt water.  We were sure hoping for that kind of an experience and the day didn’t disappoint from the first peek out the window.  

A cruise ship had returned to port overnight and was docked a ways behind our boat.  It was fun to look out and see the ship with the big red and blue fin that is a trademark of Carnival. 

We were excited to see what the day would bring, so we finished our morning “prepare to leave” chores and then pushed off from the Mobile wall.  I was a little nervous to see what the waves would be like out in the bay because we were supposed to have a slight chop about a foot and a half or so.  We didn’t have to worry about these kinds of open water things for SO LONG that I wasn’t really looking forward to analyzing the weather constantly again.  My friend Laura gave me a little texting pep talk, reminding me that is isn’t that far through the bay and we would be seeing DOLPHINS!!  

After we got out into the bay there really wasn’t anything to worry about wave-wise.  It was a little bumpy and busy at first, but it smoothed out nicely and turned out to be a beautiful day. 

Of course the kids heard the rumors about dolphins, so they were hanging out on the flybridge just waiting for the big show to start.  Sure enough, Hayley was sitting next to me when she jumped up and said she saw almost a whole dolphin’s body right next to the boat.  She seemed to think the show was over, but it was actually just beginning.  We were all so excited to see the dolphins swimming and jumping right there next to us.  You can tell by the screeches and screams in the videos that we were THRILLED to see dolphins.  They swam with us for a few minutes and then just as quickly as they showed up, they were gone, with no warning. 

I felt slightly offended they didn’t want to hang out longer, but the kids were so thrilled that they ran to get some dolphin books we have on board and started reading all about them.  The motivational power of real experiences is amazing!  My teacher-mama heart was so happy to see them huddled over the books, so excited to read and learn more about dolphins.  And sure enough, before too long, more dolphins decided to swim along with us and the squealing came back with a vengeance!!

Mike and I were thrilled to be heading through Mobile Bay, giving INNTW her first salt water bath.  We felt like we really made it to a part of the trip we had been waiting for and dreaming about for months.  We saw several looper boats along the way and there was a lot of chatter on the radio about where people were headed and how we were so thankful to be done with the rivers.  I love the feeling of comraderie along the loop!!

Turning out of Mobile Bay and onto the ICW we had another dolphin escort and now we have a tight channel to stay in.  There are bridges and other boats, some going fast and some going slow, all trying to stay in the same channel.  It is the most like driving a car on a road that we have felt yet on the boat.  We passed by LuLu’s Restaurant, sister of Jimmy Buffet who built one heck of a colorful, tropical restaurant right off Mobile Bay.  Many loopers stop here on their boats, but we wanted to go with Have Another Day who was a few hours behind us, so we decided to head back later by car.  We passed by some HUGE boats in marinas and a boat with the biggest props I’ve ever seen.  It was a Sportfish pulled out of the water so we could see props that had to be about 36″ in diameter (ours are probably about 18-20″ for comparison).  Mike let me drive for about 2 minutes so he could work on some project.  Of course in that 2 minutes, we got passed by another boat, had to move around a construction crane, and also saw a manatee in the river.  I was too busy driving to really pay attention to the manatee, but Mike saw the tail so we knew that’s what it really was.

Pulling in to The Wharf was a bit overwhelming because the fairways are very narrow, the boats are HUGE, and they all stern in (back in to their slips).  We  have not typically sterned in, but it seems to be the thing to do here in the south, so it looks like we will get plenty of practice.  Mike did great maneuvering and backing in, of course, and I am the one who caused a slight problem when I told him we were going to hit on the back corner when **maybe** we weren’t.

We checked in and called for a ride back to LuLu’s.  We were ready to celebrate FINALLY making it to a tropical location that actually felt tropical.  We had an amazing time at LuLu’s–live music, sand for the kids to play in, and sunshine.  We probably stayed too long and drank too much, but it was a celebration with friends of finishing the rivers and starting a new leg of our journey.  It was just what we needed.

The next morning we woke up and it was rainy.  It seems like we just can’t win, but we had great memories of sunny yesterday.  It actually rained off and on all day long.  I did laundry at the marina, Mike worked on some troubleshooting (always something–heat’s fixed because we knew we’d need it the next day), and the kids played.  Hayley went to Have Another Day to play with the Stein girls for quite a while and the boys were so busy playing bro-bro spies (or something) that they didn’t even seem to notice.  

There were so many loopers in the marina that we decided to get together for docktails at a restaurant right there at the Wharf.  The Wharf is a full community of shops and restaurants (and even an ice rink!!) built around an upscale marina.  It was very convenient to have all kinds of shops and restaurants close by!!  The kids stayed on the boat and ate bagels and watched a movie while Mike and I met other loopers for docktails about 5 boat slips down from our boat.  It was the best of both worlds!  And again with the looper camaraderie and helpfulness…the night was full of troubleshooting, planning, and remembering boats and faces from cities we’ve already passed through.  

The next day was Mike’s 36th birthday!!  Yay!!  It was freezing cold and raining–again!!  Boo!!  But Mike handled it like a champ–he refused to celebrate his birthday unless it was warm and sunny out, so we showered him with homemade cards, but then spent the rest of the day doing very un-birthday like things.  

You might remember that when we were headed into Mobile, we had some water in the bilge that we weren’t quite sure why it was there.  Well turns out the carpet in front of the fridge was also soaking wet.  So we ran through all the possibilities–fridge, freezer, water heater.  We kept striking out until we opened the access panel in the floor right there and found that it was filled with water.  Hmmm…  So apparently that water was splashing/spilling out the top of the access when we ran up on plane.  That leads to the next round of troubleshooting.  Where is the water actually coming from??  Fresh water tank, thru hulls, leak??  Not knowing the answer to that second round of questions, we just decided to pump it out and keep an eye on it.  For some reason the bilge pump light would go on, but there didn’t appear to be any water actually pumping out of the boat.  So Mike took 10 giant buckets of water out that he pumped by hand.  Yay!  Just what everyone wants to do on their birthday!

Next up, we said goodbye to our friends, The Steins, as they were getting ready to head home to Chicago for a month or so.  We were sad to see them go, but we’re hopeful maybe we can talk them into the Bahamas later this winter.

There was a movie theater right at the Wharf, so lucky Mike got to see “The Grinch” and have dinner at a restaurant just a short walk from our boat.  I’m sure it wasn’t his ideal birthday on the loop, but we’ve learned to roll with the punches.  If every day was sunny and warm, that would seem so boring.  With all the rain and cold temps we’ve experienced, we’ll be sure to appreciate the nice days!!