Second Wave Goes Gold!!

The final departure on Second Wave out of Dog River Marina headed for Orange Beach, AL. Its hard to believe that this is the last leg of our Great Loop. What an adventure!


Nice flat water to start the day but our journey wouldn't have been complete without a little early morning fog. It looks like its going to be thick below.


Once through the fog (which lasted about an hour) we couldn't have asked for a calmer morning to cruise down Mobile Bay.


An amazing sunrise coming out of the fog.


Of course we weren't alone out on the Bay. Shrimpers, dolphins and pelicans kept us company.



Dolphins guided us to our destination.


After crossing marker G125 near the mouth of Mobile Bay we could claim GOLD!!


Here we are above celebrating the milestone and below is a photo of our Chartplotter as we crossed over the same travel path we covered in January.


Well, I guess the celebrating is below.


Smooth sailing now!


Back in the ICW, what a great feeling!


Manatee signs again in the picture above (at left). Haven't seen those in a looong time!



As you enter into the ICW on the east side of Mobile Bay heading east, you will come upon LuLu's on the port side. LuLu is Jimmy Buffet's sister and the owner of the restaurant and marina. But our destination today was The Wharf (one of the best marina facilities anywhere on the Loop - and we should know!).


So we continued on eastward in the ICW.


Finally The Wharf was in sight.


Here we are about to make our turn into the marina. Very excited at this point!



Coming into our slip for the 100th + time. I think we got this!




Wow, what a feeling!


The proud Captain!!


Time to change out the white for the gold flag!



This is the culmination of the adventure of a lifetime. Hard to express the feelings of accomplishment, pride, relief, gratitude and excitement all at the same time.



Second Wave looks good in Gold!


Celebratory meal with other Loopers afterward. A tradition we will dearly miss.







Celebrating with other Loopers in Orange Beach. All of whom will also cross their wakes in the coming weeks (one tomorrow at Pensacola, FL!).


As described previously, The Wharf is a great facility. So much so that they also have a wedding venue among other amenities. We couldn't help but notice the next evening that a wedding photographer escorted the bride and groom down on the docks for photos. Make your own joke below.


After spending several days packing, cleaning and completing some routine maintenance, we're finally leaving Orange Beach to travel back to Texas.  Taking one last pic with Doug and Dana.  We loved our travels with Misty Pearl!




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