We stayed at The Wharf, Orange Beach for three nights while a front blew through. We were glad to be tied up as the winds picked up to about 25 mph and the temperature dropped about 20 degrees. Tim made a pot of his famous Timmy White Beans and did some research on our Raymarine. Monday a couple young guys from 30 degrees North came over to try to help solve the problem. Some background- The back light on our upper Raymarine unit started going out, so Tim switched the lower unit and the upper unit to see if the problem was with the unit or with the wiring. The back light still went dim downstairs and the lower unit worked fine upstairs. Now we knew the problem was with the unit. Another issue arose though because the upper (formerly lower) unit would not read the CF card only the lower (formerly upper) unit would. We need the upper unit to be fully functioning so we can send the non working unit off to be fixed. Tim tried everything he could think of and was unable to get the upper unit to read the card. Our guys from 30 degrees North were equally baffled. Calls to Raymarine didn’t help . It seems the card reader is bad and cannot be repaired. The part is no longer made. So we have 2 partially working units. We decided we can live with this for the time being since we have Navionics on our Ipads, but we’ve also decided to purchase a used unit and have it shipped to St. Pete. Dorothy’s aunt lives there and she will receive packages for us to pick up. With the weather so blustery and cold, there wasn’t a whole lot to do in Orange Beach. We did see the movie Inferno and we watched a lot of football.
Once the 30 degrees North guys gave us the bad news that they couldn’t help us, we untied the lines and headed just a short ways down the ICW to Ingram Bayou for our first anchorage of the trip. Oh my, what a beautiful spot. It was getting late in the day when we dropped the hook so we hustled to put the dingy in the water. We were in a secluded, pine tree lined lagoon. Ospreys perched in the tops of old dead trees, cormadants swam and dove for their dinners and a few dolphin came by to check us out. We quickly skirted the area in the dink before night started to settle in. We bundled up and huddled on the back deck under blankets while the stars came to life. It was a beautiful night. The next morning we awoke to a 50 degree interior, glad for the extra blanket I pulled out.
We pulled the dingy up on the davits at the stern of the boat instead of loading it back on the roof since we were heading to Robert’s Island for a second night on anchor. Friends, Steve and Deidra, posted pictures of their stay here a few days earlier and it looked like a perfect spot. I can’t say any more than the pictures do. It was wonderful and Maggie was in heaven
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Thanksgiving was rapidly closing in and we were looking at spending it in Panama City. It was a 2 day trip to get there and we needed to get moving if we were going to make it. We had heard about the free dock at Ft. Walton Beach and it was about half way between Pensacola Bay and Panama City so set off. The problem with a free dock is 1. It’s free, so a lot of boaters like to go there, 2. It’s free, so cities don’t make them very big. 3. It’s free, so there aren’t many amenities. When we arrived at the Ft. WaltonBeach Free dock, the T head on the end already had 2 boats tied up, a 33′ Morgan sailboat and an older Grand Banks. Also, the 2 slips on the western side were taken and one boat was pulled into the 1st slip on the eastern side. Having done our research on Active Captain, we knew the other slips were most likely too shallow for us. As we pulled closer, other boaters came out to warn us off even trying the other slips. After another circle around, the people on the Morgan popped their heads out and we asked if we could tie up to them. Without hesitation, they said “sure” and started making ready for us to come aside. As we got closer and I was able to get a good look at the couple, I couldn’t believe it. “I know you!” This was the boat of DeeAnn Pillow and her husband, Mark. I had met Dee Ann at my buddy, Beth’s, yoga class. Small world. DeeAnn had mentioned that she and her husband were taking off in their sailboat about the same time that Tim and I were planning to leave. How cool! In all there were 6 boats at the free dock that night and plans were being made for Thanksgiving the following day. We decided to forgo our plans for Thanksgiving in Panama City and stick around an extra night with this group. Other than DeeAnn and Mark, the rest were loopers. It would be fun to hear stories about their time on the water.
