Sweet Home Florida
12-NOV-2020 Thursday – Fairhope Docks Marina, Fairhope AL to Santa Rosa Island, Hurlburt Field FL (80.4 nautical miles 92.5 statute miles)
30°24’10.7″N 86°41’42.4″W
30.402972, -86.695121
Elevation: Sea Level
States (2): Alabama, Florida
Along the Way
Heading out and leaving the gray bleak yonder. Heading for sunshine.
Good bye rivers and Mobile AL
First 45 minutes out was snotty. We took 1 to 1.5 foot chop waves on the beam. They are annoying. Once we got around Great Point Clear we adjust our direction and had following seas, making a much more enjoyable run. All in all it wasn’t a bad run on the Mobile Bay. It cooperated both yesterday and today for us.
Even though Mobile Bay is a very large body of water it is not deep. Unless you travel in the marked channels you need to be alert and thread you way through.
middle of Mobile Bay and 2 feet deep humps
Leaving the SE corner of Mobil Bay and heading into the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway (GICW).
They are all getting new roofs curtesy of Hurricane Sally and Zeta. It seems to me our last time through here these condos were damaged too.
Some land developer should be sued.
Down the GICW 
downed trees
Lulu’s (as in Lulu Buffet, Jimmy’s sister) in Gulf Shores sustained damage. Parts of the operational but some of the marina is still not.
restaurant is open 
trashed boat in the marina. some slips open
Along the canal
there is a backroad running along the GICW 
wrecked boats being removed 
and dumped 
Gas for $3.48. We bought it for $2.13 at Gulf Shores Marina in Fairhope 
Hoity toity ‘The Wharf Marina’. Slips $4 per foot. 
Our friends white 47 foot Hatteras September looks like a baby boat. 
To heck with a big house. A great dock is where it’s at.
The huge Barbers Marina sustained a lot of damage and is still not operational.
one tiny section of Barbers Marina 
Barbers Marina docks 
dock menders 
at least the boat was spared 
I was wondering where people had their boats during the storm. I haven’t seen many derelict boats.
Found one.
Inter coastal side of Perdito Key.
Our friend Ron in Pensacola used to be a jet pilot. He stays connected with all the happenings at the base. He said the Blue Angels just started flying a new style of jet on Monday of this week. The jet is slightly larger than the ones they were flying. The pilots are just getting used to them which is why we could only see 2 or 3 jets out practicing together and not the whole group.
Thanks for the wake As_hole 
missing screens. lots of them. 
pretty little houses 
The Gulf is on other side of Santa Rosa Key 
The Narrows into Pensacola Bay 
Pensacola
Pensacola Inlet Lighthouse 
I couldn’t figure out what this is. Anyone know? 
Air base 
Coast Guarased ships at b 
Pensacola Beach 
Pensacola 
Navarro Beach 
Navarro Beach parasail 
ICW signs have a yellow square on them, both the greens and the reds 
pelicans 
chemical barge on the GICW
Neighbors
training jet. Both props and jet engine 
Osprey 
props upright for landing 
It was a little noisy till later in the evening as the planes were flying fairly close overhead. There was also practice night bombing going on a ways away. KABOOM.
Floccinaucinihilipilification
Mobile Bay is 413 square miles in area. It is 31 miles long by a maximum width of 24 miles. The deepest areas of the bay are located within the shipping channel, sometimes in excess of 75 feet deep, but the average depth of the bay is 10 feet.
The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GICW) runs approximately 1,050 miles from Carrabelle, Florida, to Brownsville, Texas.
Sweet Home Florida! Some where during the course of the day we crossed into Florida. Mary and Dale became Florida residents in August of this year.