Mobile Bay to Pensacola

Going through the Mobile Bay Shipping Channel was quite the adventure. Huge ships, tows, tugs, barges, and small fishing boats were vying for space through the channel. It got a little nerve wracking at times, but we made it through unscathed. At times it was high adventure, but then, that's why we made this trip. It also helped that it was a beautiful, sunny day with calm seas.









From there we headed to Lulu’s at Harborport Marina in Gulf Shores. Lulu is Jimmy Buffet’s sister and she owns the restaurant there on the intracoastal waterway. An interesting and fun place to stop over. We, along with Morgan’s Dream and Sylvia J, stayed at the marina for one night. We had dinner and entertainment at Lulu’s then called it a night. Our waiter told us that Jimmy Buffet had been there about three weeks ago. According to our waiter, “Jimmy likes to come for lunch rather than dinner so that he can get out of there without being killed.”

All of us headed out from Harborport early Tuesday morning. Our destination was the Bayou Grande Marina at Pensacola Naval Air Station, for a couple of nights, mainly because we had arranged for someone in Pensacola to check our autopilot. Along the way, we saw dolphins, shrimp boats, fishing boats, and more beautiful scenery. We also saw the Blue Angels, the US Navy’s world famous demonstration team doing maneuvers in their FA/18 Fighter Jets as we traveled along. What a sight to see. Sylvia J decided to stay at a Marina in Pensacola and we hooked up with them for drinks and dinner Tuesday evening. Morgan’s Dream headed to Destin.

Today was a beautiful warm and sunny day. Shorts and T-shirts were the appropriate dress for the day! Most of the morning, we were entertained once again by the Blue Angels, who were practicing for an air show. We found out later that they practice every Tuesday and Wednesday. The marina we are in is in the path of the airfield so we had “front row” seats to watch this awesome sight.

The mechanic who came to look at our autopilot arrived (about six hours later than he had originally told us), but fortunately he was able to find and fix the problem rather quickly. After a sea trial, Mike was happy our autopilot was now working. This feature will be a great help to us for the gulf crossing.


We decided to stay another day in Pensacola due to high winds and small craft advisories. We rented a car to run errands and to drive around Pensacola. The area continues to be rebuilt due to Hurricane Ivan in 2004, and the locals have not forgotten what damage Mother Nature can do. As we sit here tonight, the winds are strong and the temp has dropped considerably. It looks like we may stay through Friday should the weather forecast hold true. High winds are also predicted again on Friday. We had hoped to be in Destin by now, but fortunately we are not on a schedule. This is not a bad place to be holed up under these circumstances. Tomorrow, if the wind lays down a little, we'll head to Destin, and Dennis and Jeanette Skelly's house. Stay tuned.