December 2nd
After a little cleaning, filling the tanks with water and a bit of chitchat on the docks, we are on our way. Good-bye to Mobile and Dog River Marina. You were great hosts and we enjoyed our stay, but it feels so good to get underway again. I'm always surprised at how large Mobile Bay is. It took us four hours to cross and enter the Intra Coastal Waterway near Gulf Shores, AL. We were welcomed by a pod of dolphins that seemed very excited to see us. They continually taunted us by breaching beside, in front and then behind with no pattern that allowed for easy photographing. We'd see a couple, I'd grab the camera and they'd be on the other side of the boat. It must be comical to see us yelling there's two on the port side, no quick in front, gone.... darn I missed them again! We decided to stop for a late lunch at LuLu's Restaurant. As we pulled up to the dock, another boater (Tom Hines) came running out to help us with our lines. He and his wife, Jan, are heading south from Indiana. They invited us to join them at their table. I decided that we could never travel together. Their boat is called Laughter....Gotta Smile and Laughter...just a little too much! While untying our lines, Last Dance passed with Jill and Glen. They are one of the couples that we had dinner with our last night in Mobile. The sun is quickly setting and we need to hurry to our anchorage. We didn't get in place until 5:15. As we set our anchor, we could hear the dolphins flopping around us, but already it was too dark to see them.
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| Entering the Intra Coastal Waterway |
December 3rd
6:30 and we are on the move. We have about 70 miles to go today. A lot of the ICW is narrow. Almost like being on a river. However, in some sections it opens up and is quite wide. As we entered Pensacola Bay we were in very active water. We had been checking wind and wave action on the Gulf....5 - 7 foot waves with high winds but, hadn't expected much on the ICW. We were in 2 - 3 foot waves for the whole afternoon. Luckily we have stabilizers on our boat. They keep the boat from rolling side to side. Nothing can stop the roll of the boat tackling waves head on. What the boat can take and what the passengers are comfortable with are two different things.
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| WE MADE IT!!!! |
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| White sandy beaches of Florida |
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| The very narrow entrance to Destin Harbor. |
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| A dozen or more dolphins met us at the entrance and followed us to our anchorage. They continued to circle us for another twenty minutes. The boat that does dolphin tours even backed up to follow us to our anchorage. It was quite a welcome! |
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| Destin has a circus-like atmosphere. We are anchored in the middle of this very small harbor. Docks, condos, shops and restaurants totally surround the water. The lights at night are spectacular! |
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| A preview of what is to come... This boat is anchored behind us. For Brian's birthday (December 4th) there will be a parade of decorated boats and fireworks. Locals told us we are in a perfect location to see it all tomorrow night. Stay tuned.....
Gotta Smile -- We're lovin the ride!
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