Sunday, November 30, 2014

Moving on - Nov 25-30


Tuesday after meeting with other Loopers and studying the weather forecast, we decided that we should leave The Wharf Wednesday morning. It's time to head east towards Apalachicola in anticipation of a Saturday night crossing of the Gulf. The day was busy preparing for our departure with getting provisions, loading the dinghy, the bikes and returning our rental car. The new "boat/ship" in town is Freedom, a 151ft beauty. We met the captain on the dock and he is from Grand Haven, MI. Small world! He had good advice for us for our future travels. (Thanks Captain Dan) 

Wednesday morning we left The Wharf by 7am. We left with mixed feelings as we loved our stay here and had so much fun. But.... time to move on. We had a beautiful, cool day to travel along the Intracoastal waterway. We travel about 100 miles and anchored for the evening toward the east end of Choctawhatchee Bay. We knew the winds were going to pick up during the evening and felt we would be somewhat protected here. The forecast was was right....but we were wrong. The winds picked up about midnight and we rocked, rolled, swung, danced and jitterbugged the night away!  Captain "  Get Me Out of Here" was up from midnight to 4am waiting for the anchor to break loose. Thankfully it did not!

Thursday morning (Thanksgiving) we gave thanks for surviving the night and continued on our way. It was another beautiful sunny day and the dolphins chose to spend the holiday with us. They played off our bow as well as in our wake. Wow, what a show! Mid afternoon, the transmission went out on our Port engine. Ouch! We continued on one engine 10 more miles to free wall at a park in White City to spend the evening. Our Thanksgiving meal was steak on the grill once we were safely tied up. 

Friday morning we contacted the nearest ALGCA Harbor Host for advice on repairs in the area. At his recommendation we traveled 5 miles to Port St. Joe Marina where he had a mechanic waiting for our arrival. What a great thing for us! 

By Saturday noon the broken transmission was removed. It will either be rebuilt or replaced. We will find out about this on Monday. We missed our weather window to cross the Gulf, but are hoping to have it repaired by next weekend as it looks like that may be the next window.

On Sunday we walked a block to the First Baptist Church.  The other 1st time visitors were from Dutton, Michigan! (Again...a small world). It was a warm sunny day so in the afternoon we took a bike ride and hung out at the beach.  

While this was not part of our planned itinerary, this is an adventure.....  Weather and mechanical issues will continue to dictate our schedule. Port St. Joe Marina is a great place! We are so happy to be "stranded" here. The town is walking distance with shops, restaurants, and a grocery store. And the Palm trees are awesome! 





Pura Vida next to Feedom.



Sheli next to Freedom


Beaches everywhere!


Dolphins!



Not us! 😃


Removing the transmission.

 Sunset at Port St. Joe Marina 

Monday, November 24, 2014

Groundhogs Day continues-The Wharf-Nov 13-24

We are beginning to feel like residents of Alabama, and guess what....we like it! We are hearing many stories of record setting snow back home in Michigan! While we feel the misery they they are going through, we don't miss it at all!  Our stay in Orange Beach continues to be great. We have had a mixture of weather. The artic blast that hit Michigan was spread across much of the country and we have had some cold (even some temps below freezing and ice on the docks) weather. The good news it the temps can warm up quickly and no snow! 

Our days are filled with fun adventures depending on the weather. On the cold days we have gone to a movie, shopped at the nearby outlet mall, and visited nearby Fairhope, AL. Fairhope is a small town on the Mobile Bay with many shops and restaurants (a lot like Saugatuck, MI).  A highlight was visiting the National Navel Aviation Museum in Pensecola.  We spent most of the day exploring the many aircraft from the beginning of military aviation to present.  We went in the Blue Angels simulator.  Steve was the pilot and Sheli was the screaming copilot. Steve's piloting included barrel rolls and backwards loops.
(On purpose even!)  

On warm days we continue to explore on our bikes or in our rental car, hang on the beach and scoot around on the dinghy. 

We are also becoming regulars at the Flora Bama church. This past Sunday our friends Russ and Elaine from Twelve Stones joined us.  A huge storm passed through during the service which led to many of us getting a little wet as the tent couldn't stop all the rain. 

We have 150 miles to travel along the Florida Panhandle to reach our launch point (just east of Apalachicola) to cross the Gulf. We will be crossing from this area to Tarpon Springs (just north of Tampa).  "The Crossing" as its referred to, is 170 miles.  We will travel at approximately 8mph. The crossing with take 21 hours, so we will depart late afternoon, travel through the night with an arrival by mid morning. The reason we need to arrive at that time is that starting 30 miles out, we will need to watch for and dodge thousands of crab pots which are marked by small floating buoys.  The crossing will require a 2 day calm weather window. The last weather opportunity was on Nov 10 with no opening in sight through this Friday.  This is an unusually long span of time between windows. There are other loopers here with us and many more down the Panhandle waiting for a chance to cross. 

We are not sure where we will be for Thanksgiving, but we know we have so much to be thankful for.
We wish you all a blessed Thanksgiving!



 Sheli's friend we named "screechy"

 Cotton bale! One bale of cotton can make 215 pair of jeans.

 Leaving church at the Flora Bama

 Blue Angels simulator 




 The Blue Angels are shorter than the Pura Vida!


 Cubi Bar Cafe is a replica of a Officer's Club in the Philippines thru which many squadrons transited between the 1950s and 1992.



 Sunset at The Wharf 

 It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at The Wharf!


 Dinner at Moe's BBQ.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Groundhogs Day-still at The Wharf - Nov 4-12

We are still having a ball hanging at The Wharf Marina in Orange Beach. Near The Wharf is the Backcountry Trail complex consisting of 7 trails totaling nearly 14 miles of paved bike/walking trails.
Beautiful!  On Tuesday we rode bike via the trail to the beach. On the return we discovered a great little joint called Moe's Original Backyard BBQ. Wow! Best ribs ever! Tuesday night we enjoyed time on the dock with Patriot, Blue Willow, and TaTa.

Wednesday was spent prepping the boat for the arrival of our guest on Thursday. The Pura Vida looked shipshape after a little TLC inside and out.

On Thursday we drove to Pensacola Airport to pick up our friend LaNell from Petoskey, Michigan.
LaNell was welcomed to The Wharf by the dolphins dancing behind the boat and fireworks at dark! (All of which we took full credit for of course)

Pensacola Navel Air Station is home to the Blue Angels. To celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the base, they had a 3 day air show. The captain decided this was not to be missed. Friday noon we set out on the Pura Vida to Pensacola where we dropped the hook for the night at Ft. McCree Anchorage.
This is a beautiful spot between 2 sandy islands about 2 miles from the airbase.  It was a challenge to get anchored safely amidst the many, many boats also there for the events. LaNell treated us to some awesome Tbones which we grilled on the bow of the boat!  There was a night air show complete with fireworks launched from airplanes while flying, (pretty cool) a fireworks show (beautiful), none of which compared to the huge orange full moonrise! Unbelievable! 

Saturday we enjoyed the full airshow. The highlight of course was the Blue Angels mid afternoon.
What a show! After the show, we quickly pulled both anchors and cruised backed to the marina, arriving just as it got dark. 

While staying with us, LaNell intended to visit her friend Phil who was in the hospital under hospice care for cancer in Panama City. 

Sunday, as we headed out to church, LaNell received word from Phil's daughter that Phil was failing so we drove past church and on to Panama City to the hospital. LaNell had a nice visit and opportunity to say goodbye. (Phil passed away the next evening)

Monday was a warm, sunny day! LaNell and Sheli took a big bike ride in the morning where a deer ran across our trail! In the afternoon we enjoyed time on the beach at Gulf Shores. We introduced LaNell to Moe's famous ribs for dinner.  

Tuesday the 3 of us took bikes to the beach. Steve rode a loaner bike from the Marina which he referred to as the "iron monster". What a trooper! Later in the afternoon we took a dinghy ride. The dolphins welcomed us as we arrived back. What an experience hearing them breath as they exhale out of their blowholes. 

Wednesday is was time for LaNell to head back to snowy Michigan. BooHoo! After dropping her of at the Pensacola Airport, we spent some time on Pensacola Beach. It was another warm day. We took a long walk on a very empty beach. We love the off season!  


 Our anchorage for the airshow.


 Captain & LaNell

 Full moon!

 Blue Angels over our anchorage.

 Wow!

 Small stingray on the beach

 Captain and his beach!

Month Two Stats

OCTOBER 2014

Number of days:                 31.                    Trip to date:          60
Miles traveled:                    770                                            1780
Engine hours:                    101                                               236
Locks:                                 18                                                 32                             
Gallons of gas:                   Yes
Nights on anchor:                  5                                                 11
Nights on free wall/marina:     6                                                 11
Nights at marinas:                20                                                 38

States covered: Alabama, Mississippi 

Snakes 1, alligators 1, dolphins, pelicans, "screaming to scare the First Mate" Great Blue Herons - to many to count.

Highlight: AGLCA Rendezvous 

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Hanging at The Wharf - Orange Beach, AL - Oct 29-Nov 3

Our home for the next several weeks will be The Wharf Marina in Orange Beach. We won a stay here for a month at the AGLCA Rendezvous! What a great place to relax and enjoy the beauty of the area. 
Next to the Marina is a complex of shops and restaurants with a nightly musical Palm Tree light show. It reminds us of the Musical Fountain in Grand Haven except with palm trees. Sweet!

Wednesday we decided to check out the area on our bikes. We rode 6 miles to Gulf Shores beach and enjoyed the awesome miles of white, soft sand.  The Pura Vida is slipped with our stern facing the Intracoastal. Everyday we get to watch the dolphins play from our back deck. What a treat! 

Thursday morning "Captain Fix-all" went to work on repairing the generator which stopped running our last night on the anchor. It turned out we needed a new governor which is obsolete and no longer available. Amazingly, two phone calls later, we found a marine repair shop a short bicycle ride down the road that had a used generator out back and they were willing to sell us the governor off it! 
An hour later she was purring like a kitten!  At night we joined a couple other loopers for dinner at the Mexican restaurant at the Marina.

Friday morning we picked up a rental car that we will have for our stay here. We found a Tommy Bahama Outlet Store with a big sale and we scored some great deals for Steve. Another beautiful day so we hit the beach for a few hours in the afternoon. Halloween night is a fun night at The Wharf. They hold what is called "Trunk or Treat". Cars line the complex with their trunks open full of treats. Wow what a turn out of kids in costumes. They offer free rides to all on the Ferris wheel. Dressed as pirates, we joined in the festivities and took a ride which gave great views from high above. 

Saturday was cold and windy! A good day for Sheli to have her hair done and did some chasing and shopping. Jim and Connie from Patriot joined us on our back deck to a fantastic dolphin viewing. What fun! (Have we told you we love the dolphins?)  After the "show",  the four of us walked over to Bimini Bobs for dinner.

Sunday morning we attended Worship on the Water at the Flora-Bama Beach Bar. Although this seems like an unlikely place to worship, it was a great service. The church has a very active outreach program in the community. Typical Sunday morning attendance is about 700 people. Over 2000 people attend Easter service.  Our friends on Priorities anchored near Pirates Cove Marina which is nearby, so we met them for dinner. At dinner were, Randy & Sherri from Priorities, Jim & Sharon from Blue Angel and Paul & Stephanie from Infinite Sea - all from Michigan! Small world!

Monday morning Steve helped Jim from Patriot change the oil on his boat while Sheli and Connie took a walk and did a little shopping. In the afternoon the four of us went to a cool little outdoor restaurant on the beach named The Gulf for lunch and then walked out to a sandy point where Perdido Pass meets the Gulf of Mexico. At night the four of us went to Toby Keith's "I love this Bar & Grill" for Bingo.
Our table won 6 of the 8 games! Whohoo!

 The Wharf Main Street

 Selfie!

 Sheli hugging Palm tree! Looks like Banana Cabana!


 Pirates on the Ferris wheel.

 View from top of Ferris wheel

 Church at Flora-Bama

 Outside of Flora-Bama



 Connie and Jim from Patriot.