Scott here. November 5, 2023 will be a travel day from Grand Mariner Marina in Mobile, AL to The Warf Marina in Orange Beach, AL. Unfortunately, we are in a hurry to get to the East Coast to cross over to the Bahama’s for Christmas we just don’t have the time to explore as much as we would like. Maybe, I can use that to talk Rita into doing this again after we finish the first one. Just leave earlier to have the time to explorer more!

Navionics wants me to cross Mobile Bay through the “spoils”. We have read some posts where others have done that route and others have said it is really shallow. It could save us some time, unless we do a soft grounding. So, that will not happen! We will take the shipping channel south about 18 miles then take a left hand turn into another channel 16 miles to get out of the Bay. The “shortcut” is about 25 miles compared to 33 miles we will be going. I will go the extra 8 miles or 45 minutes to save the stress!!

We were going to stay at an anchorage, but we wanted one more day in a marina, and the Grand Mariner just isn’t that nice of a place and there is nothing within walking distance. Heck, I even called West Marine that is right on the other side of the river and they don’t have a dinghy dock anywhere for me to tie up to. Money saved I guess!! Here is Sunday’s plan.

Initial Plan
Date: November 6, 2023
Route name in Aqua Maps: TD: 11/05/23 (Mobile, AL to Orange Beach, AL)
Nebo Link: Click here
Crew: Captain Scott, 1st Mate Rita, & K9 Jazzy
Start at: 8:00 am
End at: 1:30 pm
Total Time: 5:24 hours
Distance: 48.7 miles
Fuel Plan: 24 gallons

Hazards for the day
TM 39.9 (mm149.9): Shoaling. Green marker is in less than 5′ of water and the shoal extends about 1/3 of the way into the channel. Hug the reds!