Orange Beach to Perdido Key

     Before leaving the Wharf Marina, Tom and I walked the docks at the local marina, while the girls went for supplies.  Dinner was my first attempt at trying steamed oysters (doesn't "taste like chicken!").  Beth, even with her cold could taste the very aromatic French Onion Soup and said it was delicious.  Mildred enjoyed the sea food platter and Tom revelled in the raw oysters.
     Beth kept noticing small saran wrap bags of water with a penny in the bottom, hanging above the entrance to the local restaurants.  Apparently, these are hung around the tops of the doors as they believe that it keeps flies and flying insects out of the dining areas. " How do they work?" we asked almost in unison and definitely in disbelief when the response from our hostess was, "The insects see their reflection  magnified and think its a bigger bug so are scared away."  All I can tell you is, we had an occasional fly and mosquito eater enter the boat and there were none in any of the restaurants or stores we entered. We need to try this in our camp in Piskahagan, New Brunswick!

                                                          Alabama Insect Repellent.             

     As the weather cleared and the sun came out we left for our next stop, an anchorage. ( Fort McRee Cove North in Florida.)  Our first peaceful cruise since leaving Gulfport.   We cruised in serene, soft  blue/green water with Dolphins cavorting in our wake and swimming up beside the boat.. Now I believe my niece Tina when she travelled with us across Galveston Bay and said she could hear the dolphins outside the hull chattering.  They surfaced beside our side door on several occasions and with a whoosh through their "blow hole" gave a high pitched chatter.

                                                      Here's looking at you kid!          
                                                                             


      It was heaven.  Just what we have been in search of.....until......(you just knew there was going to be something didn't you!!)  Well, there was and it was not my fault, damn it!  It wasn't in the weather reports when we took off.   Fog!... damn thick Fog!....  Pea soup thick Fog!......and!!......we ran out of detailed chart markings on the Nobeltec Navigation system!!   What!!  Well, if we are anything we are resourceful and we have double and triple backups for everything on the boat.  First move was to extend the radar range,  turn on the second radar, and put Beth and Mildred out on the front deck to watch for barges and boat traffic.  Second move was to turn on the fog horn (Hee!Hee!Hee!-the girls looked over their shoulder's at me with the first blast.  I just smiled and shrugged my shoulders! We turned on the apple Ipad which has a navigation system called "Charts and Tides" (ps. cost $40.00 compared to the $450.00 I paid for the updated Nobeltec maps!)  which helped us navigate. The girls could barely make out the no wake signs which we passed (using mainly the radar) as we inched into the anchorage.
                                                                          

                                                                Where is that lagoon? 
                                                                                                                                                       
  Wouldn't you know it, within the hour the fog lifted and we found ourselves in a wonderfully protected  lagoon (the closest thing in Florida to being in a south seas atoll.) 
     Relieved and excited that we were in such a beautiful spot, Beth cracked a coldie while I launched the dingy.  We were going to the Beach.  Beth, Mildred and I were going to explore the beach and the Fort McRee ruins.  While we were "grundging" our way with a flashlight through the catacombs of the ruins, Tom sat peacefully on the  aft deck listening to the trumpets play as they lowered the colours at the nearby Pensacola Naval Base.

                                               Our peaceful lagoon off Perdido Key.           

      Next day dawned, with the sun slowly rising in the east and the faint sounds of the trumpets from across the water playing revelry.(Tom with a warm reflection on his face commented, "Thats the first time I've heard revelry in 60 years.)  Peace, at last.  It was fun being the first foot prints in the sand.  I inhaled deeply through my nose to get a hint of what I truly miss about Maine and the Maritimes, the smell of fresh salt air.  The rigour of getting this far was now worthwhile. 
     As we were basking in the serenity of our anchorage Beth noticed some misting coming in on Pensacola bay.  It would be 2 days before a tropical like storm was due to enter our area but despite Beth's desire to remain,  I elected to err on the side of the avoiding the "colonoscopy gods" and get the boat into a safe harbour before the winds came up.  We motored across Pensacola bay to the Santa Rosa Yacht Club to wait out the storm.
                            

                                       ok. ok. Enough! We are going into a safe harbour.