Beautiful Mobile Bay

If this trip were about setting speed records, we would have just left Dog River and gone straight to Orange Beach. But, then again, if this were about speed we would have driven a car. We set out on Saturday morning from the western shore of Mobile Bay, bound for Fairhope, AL on the eastern shore. The winds were out of the north at 10-15, so we raised the sails as soon as we cleared the bridge leaving Dog River. We had a fun and rapid sail across the bay that brought us to Fairhope before 11:00 a.m.

We entered the narrow fairway, hoping to see a sign for a marina. There were boats everywhere, and no signs. There was a nice lady sitting in her sailboat and I asked if there were any transient slips for rent. She said, "No, this is a yacht club, but you are welcome to stay here if you'd like! Just pull up to one of the T-docks right over there and go see the lady in the bar at the clubhouse." Damn, we liked this place already.

The lady in the bar was one Sue Brown, a 17-year employee of the Fairhope Yacht Club. She made us feel at home instantly, and didn't even seem to mind that we were from Tennessee (smile). We ordered a cheeseburger and a beer and settled in to watch some SEC football on the flat screen TVs.

By multiple conversations, we learned that the Fairhope Y.C. had been devastated by Hurricane Katrina. In fact, it was a total loss. But three years to the day later (August 29, 2008) the club dedicated a brand new clubhouse which has to be the envy of any club in America. I'll let the pictures do the talking.








We also met up with a friend of a friend, Will, who drove us around Fairhope and Point Clear and gave us a "Chamber of Commerce" tour. He showed us his beautiful 49-foot Pilothouse cruiser and gave me some valuable tips about the waters ahead. Once again, we were wowed by Alabama hospitality.


After watching the Vols get whipped by LSU, we walked over a mile to get to a restaurant that was only 100 yards away from our boat. It was on the other side of the cove, so we had to walk into town, down the street, and back out the other side. We needed some exercise anyway. We had a great grilled seafood basket outdoors on the beach of the Fly Creek Cafe. There were no flies. Only good food and nice people.

The next morning, Sunday, we pushed off at 6:45 as the sun came up to sail South to the bottom of Mobile Bay. We motored about 6 miles to get west of the shallows of Point Clear, then we turned southwest for the entrance of the Gulf Intra Coastal Waterway. On this heading, the wind speed and direction was perfect for sailing, so we hoisted the mainsail and launched the spinnaker. We sailed on the same heading for about 3 hours (over 18 miles) which is something you never get to do on Lake Chickamauga. At one point, we hit seven knots as the big "chute" pulled us along.


The view from my cabin

When we turned the boat into the GICW, the wind was on our nose, so we doused the sails and motored the remaining 15 miles to "The Wharf" -- a beautiful marina in Orange Beach.


We arrived about 2:00 and it was a very warm day in the mid eighties. The forecast is for a cool front to come through on Tuesday, so I decided today was the day for me to get in the water to scrub the "Looper's Mustache" off of the bow. I was almost proud of the mud stain that forms from powering through 700 miles of muddy river water, but my desire for a clean boat won out. The water was warm (82) and it felt good to get in. As they watched me get in the water, the other boaters in the marina seemed totally convinced that people from Tennessee are nuts. Case closed.


Looper's Mustache--before I scrubbed it off

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