Tuesday, November 3, 2009

The original plan for the morning was to leave the marina and be on our way by 6:30 am, however, Ally’s Cat needed to fuel up at Dog River Marina and there was no one at the fuel dock until about that time. Not to worry – it was a lovely morning with a light breeze and we still had plenty of time to enjoy a leisurely sail across Mobile Bay when we did get away from the docks at 7:00 am. Just before noon, we entered the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) where we were escorted off the Gulf and into the canal by six to nine playful dolphins. Lucy wasn’t sure what to think of these huge animals in the water!

At 12:30 pm we arrived at LuLu’s Restaurant. Lucy Buffett, the owner, is Jimmy Buffett’s sister. Both couples shared the special noon entrée which was a pound of wonderfully spicy, barbecued, peel and eat shrimp. Our waitress was fun, the ambience a little “funky,” the food delicious, and the drinks cold. After lunch, we spent a few minutes walking around the restaurant, looking at old photos, and talking to a few people about the restaurant and the area.

By 2:30 pm we were on our way again enjoying the warmth of the day and the peaceful route. We passed The Wharf Marina in Orange Beach, Alabama, and were reminded that we stayed at this marina on Mark and Diane Holt’s boat, Adventure, last year.

At 4:00 pm and after traveling about 40 miles for the day, we dropped our anchor in Ingrams Bayou, ICW mile 164. It was a quiet and peaceful anchorage, beautiful surroundings, good wind protection and good holding in soft mud. We shared the anchorage with two other sailboats; however, the bay was large enough for all of us and several more.




After setting the anchor, we lowered the dinghy and took Lucy to the beach. After our walk and on our way back to Blue Heron, we were joined by a lone dolphin who circled the dinghy a few times making Lucy a little crazy. We took Lucy back to our boat and then dinghied over to Ally’s Cat where we spent some time with Don and Ally making a plan for tomorrow before returning to Blue Heron for the night.