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November 14, 2012    Day 187                             

The Wharf Marina, Orange Beach, AL

Total miles to date:  3894.3

After saying goodbye to Ross and Laura (The Zone), and Brooks (Our Time) whom we had not seen since we were in Canada, we stopped for fuel at Dog River Marina.  We then left Mobile at 8:40am and entered Mobile Bay. We were pleased to find it was much calmer than forecast – we were quite content with two foot waves! Because the bay is shallow, waves can be close together and big.

At noon, we entered the GICW and followed the narrow channel to Orange Beach.  We were delighted to see dolphin several times off the bow of the boat. They are very graceful, but so elusive!  Joyce even stood on the bow of the boat for quite a while and still only got one photo (and that was taken from the flybridge later). We are sure we will have many opportunities to see them again and hope to have better pictures!

We arrived at the Wharf Marina at 1:30 and docked next to Don and Freya on The Last Resort. Bill cleaned the outside of the boat when we arrived. This will be a daily routine as we need to wash off the salt spray.

We took a walk around the shops that are part of The Wharf. There are boutiques, clothing stores, a theatre, restaurants, etc. There are also condos that are part of the complex.  According to one store manager they flourish in the summer, but this is definitely off season and most of the shops were empty.

When we returned to the boat, we invited Don and Freya over for docktails and had a very nice visit with them.  Afterwards we had a light dinner and finished the chart plotting.

We will anchor out for the next three days and then go to Bay Point Marina in Panama City on Sunday.  We will leave Carried Away there while we drive to Texas and Colorado to visit our children and grandchildren.