New Territory

We spent a few nights at Orange Beach Marina in Alabama. It is a dock with a different vibe. Very few liveaboards. The majority of the boats are centre consoles or sport fishers. They are all well maintained. And we suspect only used to fish. No one uses them as a “cottage”, hanging around on the dock for the weekend.

The onsite restaurants are very nice. The pub does a tuna and dirty rice dish that is delish. It is open air but with curtains that can be drawn to block the sun or rain and heaters if it is a tad cool. We didn’t try the upstairs restaurant that was reported to be fine dining as we were trying to empty our fridge and freezer before returning home for the holidays. Maybe when we arrive back.

The marina manager has organized the transient slips so that they are near the showers, washrooms and outdoor laundry – how decent is that? Monday appears to be cleaning day when the captains and local boat detailers come out in droves to clean and polish. We picked up some great tips on products and lots of gossip. I also noted that they all wore ear buds while they work – so still very quiet.

Here is the boat slipped behind up. It was imported from Australia and is 26′ x 85′. The captain and first mate live aboard. The owner uses it for red snapper fishing. He has two other boats. This is the mid-sized in the fleet. The boat is normally in West Palm Beach at this time of the year. But a new management company overlooked paying the slip fees for the three boats and lost them. There is at least a 10 year waiting list to get back in the marina there. The owner is 80 so we suspect there is a lawsuit brewing if not already before the courts.

A few other loopers are here: some for repairs, some have left their boats here to go home for the holidays. Kathleen and Wade from Irish Lass are hoping to back in the water mid-December so they can finish their loop in Florida. John and Robin on Moonshadow whom we met on the Tennessee River were here for a few days. We managed to get in several rounds of docktails and they introduced us to a new card game. Jane and Ray from Barrie Ontario stopped for a few days before heading to Florida where they will leave their boat until mid-January. Altogether a very amenable stop.