Orange Beach Boating, One day/night
 

So I am taking the 342 down to gulf shores, will be parking it in a safe location, for the first week while I do the family thing at a condo.
we check out of condo on Saturday May 25th.

My Billy Bowlegs Boat trip (in Fort Walton), starts May 26th. (dont get house until that morning.)

SO i have one day/ night We are going to stay on the boat, and explore a new area, and Orange beach seams like a legit option.

SO any of you know a good place to launch, that I can leave the truck and trailer over night, safe and nice doc so the girl can hold boat with out it getting rocked into the doc?

Any good places to anchor fort he night? places to make sure and check out?

Lunch and dinner spots? coming and going by boat?

any info to make the one day one night would be great.

there is a launch off of Marina Dr that puts you at the opening to the bay or whatever that is under the bridge.

its a nice launch that you turn by the Walgreens, on Orange Beach blvd and turn right on Marina dr and go to the end. I launched my 25ol there one year and we went across and ran up on beach there..

You could probably overnight around there too. locals can chime in.. we are local for 1 week a year.. well 2 this year, we spent new years there too.

Bring the 33 over the week of 6/15 Nailit. We'll have a group of Baja's running between GS and Destin that week.

That ramp (in the cut) has some current and traffic to work around (talkin bout the lil lady holding the boat). There's another ramp down on the (West) end of Cotton Bayou thats real calm. Look on google maps.

You need to hit Pirates Cove for the Bush Wackers and resident beach bum dog pack. LuLu's is a "boat up" joint on the canal but typical tourist BS. Happy Harbor is cool dive bar on the east end of Cotton, live band every night on the dock. Peg Leg Pete's is a cool boat up spot off Santa Rosa sound around Navarre, great sea food. You might hit that one from your place closer to Destin for BB legs.

Boggy Point Landing is the one ramp a buddy told me about. sounds like the one your talking about Natilit. here is a link to it on a map. Seams like it would have lots of traffic.... and I am not sure about over night parking.
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Peg+L...h&z=19&iwloc=A

This is the far west end of Cottons Buoy. Looks like that would be easier to launch and not be rocked around. Just need to find out about parking. this the one your talking about hookem?
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Peg+L...h&z=19&iwloc=A


Yea I know about LULUs, going to pass on that, been there done that. Peg Leg Pete's is closer to where I will be the following week you are correct. the Pensacola run is fun from where we will be.

But the Pirates cove, and Happy Harbor is a possibility. need to know a spot to anchor for the night as well.

Cobalt is a pretty fun place right next to the big bridge. Large restaurant right on the water with plenty of outdoor seating. Their floating docks are new and usually empty, not sure about shore power but it's protected. You can always hit up the Florabama!

Cotton bayou is under construction. New docks and parking. If its complete no doubt that is the best place. If not marina road is second best option

I was down there this past weekend and they were damn close to having cotton bayou finished.

Pirates Cove is a must, tacky jacks and Lu Lu's on the ditch and then also happy harbor oyster bay. For a good dinner spot sunset marina is pretty good or even the oyster bar there at the bridge.

The no wake zone has also been extended to the east from oba pass. Heard they have been pulling people over left and right.

For anchoring, I would be east of the perdido bridge towards p cola. Plenty of room and cover from wind. Never done it but if I was making plans that would be first option

Good call on skipping lulu's. the place is a "touron" trap with terrible food. There is a brand new tacky jacs just across the ditch however where the food is good but also has protected parking. If I were headed that way, I would skip both and go to happy harbor oyster bay. Low key, good food and neat little place. If it is high tide you may have to go around the long way to get there. Ur boat may not fit under bridge. Just be careful, it gets a little hairy with the channel. Pay attention to your depth sounder.

Pirates cove cheeseburgers and bushwackers is where it's at. I haven't seen it yet but someone said they have all new docks there and dredged.

If you are staying on the hook one night I would suggest the channel that splits robinson island and the island to the north. I know it is right there by the launch but you really are not distracted by action there. This is also a great place to let your family enjoy the water, early in the year the jelly fish are not bad in the area.

If you are looking for a transient slip most of the marinas offer this but some lack the luxury items other have, call marinas and verify. I know that the Wharf has great dock age.

As far as restaurants go: Cobalt is a great location but as far as I know the docking is limited so coming by water is a maybe, Zekes has a few places to eat but no docking for coming by boat. Tacky Jacks on cotton bayou has many places to park and eat, Calypso Joes at orange beach marina has places to park and eat, bear point has places to dock and eat limited, Wharf has dock and eat.

Happy Harbor-call and check if these places are still open, last I saw several had been shut down. We will be in the area that weekend and have a house on Marina Road. We are supposed to be leaving Friday morning for a fishing trip but may get weathered out. Send me a pm if you need more info.

I have a place I can stay on a dock that has 110, So I may use my adapter, and tie it up there for the night and run AC all night. depending on weather. if nice, we will stay on a hook.


the problem i am having is a decent spot to launch/ park truck OVERNIGHT. everywhere I find is no overnight parking.

Call Orange Beach Marina. I know they have a large area that is trailer boat storage in a chain link fence an it is not too far of a walk from boggy point launch. Maybe you could pay to park for a night... I would offer our driveway but we will be out of room once my boat is there that weekend.

LC

I called Orange Beach marina, they wanted 350 bucks to unlaod my boat off trailer, and load it back the next day.

Would not let me park there, unless I paid for the unloading.

holly sh*t.

have you tried barbers marina, they are on the ICW. Its a bit further drive, but dam.

Marina Road launch is a good launch I use it all the time right next to the house.
Calypso's is closed. Other great restaurants Tacky Jacks, Happy Harbor and Cobalts. If you park at the Warf there are several restaurants to pick from. Pirates Cove is a must!!

I have a LIST of places to see, and go, but still nothing solid on parking truck and trailer.

Boggy point is a maybe but legally over night parking is not allowed. BUT several have said they do it... but not sure i want to chance being stuck like that.

may look into something around the pensacola side. I hear Fort Mcee is the place to be.

Your going a week before the races ?

Yes the following weekend I will be in fort Walton for billy Bowlegs

Did you call Sportsman Marina?

They dont have a ramp. and they dont really offer trailer lift service on busy weekends... and if so 10 bucks a foot.

340 bucks man, F that.

SHerman Cove Marina, on base will let me launch and park over night. so that's my best bet, I am a GOV contractor so they said I am allowed to use it, as long as i have my ID.

May stay in FORT MCree cove that night. sucks I am on the far side of the LONG no wake zone though.

I could go to pensacola instead of orange beach though. how long does it take to get through that no wake?

launch at Marina Dr and leave truck and trailer there.
lunch at Pirates Cove
eat dinner at Cobalt inside Caribe Resort.
beach your boat on Robinson Island and enjoy your night.

all of these places are within 5 miles of each other.

Ill be there from Saturday to Tuesday. enjoy.

Rafe

here is another option. Ive never been here by boat though.

http://www.alwharf.com/

here is another option. There is a camp ground on the north side of the ICW at Perdido Bridge. There is also ramp there. You could rent a cheap small camp ground space to leave your truck and trailer at.

Nice place by boat, but No you cant luanch there, and park. called them already too.

I have probabyl called 10-12 marinas.

Do you launch at Marina Road? and leave your boat there all night? the other plroblem with that ramp is parking i am told it will fill up FAST let alone a big weekend like memorial day.

Your right there is not a launch at the Wharf. However they have some HUGE parking lots.

This may be too complicated but you could always put your boat in at Marina Road or Cotton Bayou. Drive your truck/trailer to the Wharf and take a 5 Minute/$10 cab ride back to the launch.

Ive launched at Marina and it does fill up quickly, its all locals. My buddy has a house close by so Ive never left the truck there. i wouldnt have a problem leaving my rig there for the weekend though. try to get in there by 10am and youll be fine.

Cotton bayou is normally empty but I've never launched there.

Think I am going to stick with the Sherman Cove Marina. as its on base, I can park over night, and close to where I want to stay at night.

I will just have some running to get back to orange beach area for the day. and there is no places for dinner close to that cover really. hopefully have a nice calm day and can make a the run back in the gulf.

Not knowing how far the new no wake has been extended...who knows. I think it adds about 20 minutes to the trip from Pensacola to Orange beach running the ICW vs running in the gulf. If memory serves I ran from Pcola to OB "outside" (in the Gulf) in about 20-25 minutes.

Your right on going on the outside. The extention of the no wake is only going east from the bridge. It used to end there at the Caribe. Now it ends, as I am told, when you make that first turn left away from the docks.

I just heard the story today of why it was extended. Evidently a CC hit a wake off of a sport fish and either the passenger or driver hit the throttle on the way down. The cc hit the dock.

I can see where that would be easy to do if you were going too fast. That turn did get a little hairy at times especially if there were multiple boats.

I am told that you can jump outside the channel and run at high tide. The only part that is no wake is the channel. I just don't know that area well enough to do that. I only trailer down 1-2 times a year and the rest of the time I am a passenger on someone elses rig. An extra 5-10 minutes of idling is not that bad.

Reguardless shoot looseconnection your contact info as we will both be down that weekend. I HOPE we have good weather. But the way it has been down there over the past few months, anything can happen.

Have no problem running the gulf, just dont want to make a16 miles gulf trip big waves beatingt he boat up for nothing.

Heard that. Hopefully u will have a north wind early in the morning and it will be slicker than owl ****

However in a 342 u won't have a bit of problems.

This time of year the wind starts to shift westerly. This is no issue from oba to pcola but the trip back will certainly not be fun. The waters right out from the beach is 35 foot or less and a 15mph west wind can mix up a short, no rhythm, pound around chop. If you so make sure you plan your trip with that in mind. An east wind isnt that bad since you can tuck close to shore and deal with it. Ideally a n wind will be present and you can scoot with flat water.

Read your charts coming out of pcola pass! the bottom shoals up making the turn to the west plus there is the Massachusetts wreck , you have to go south farther than what you think, plus the amount of water coming out of the pass on a ebbing tide is crazy and can make some holes in the water that are hard to see....

LC

More info on the shoals, Massachusetts wreak and how far I have to go out before coming west would be helpful. I have nice lowrance unit, and updated charts from navinonics as of yesterday. So you would think it would be pretty accurate. But who knows.

You can see on Google Earth how far the shoal extends on the West side of Pcola pass. It's way out there, but as I recall there's a huge channel marker on the end of it. Feels like at least a mile out to it.

Where is the wreck Loose?

Well we had a great day/ night.

Left out from Sherman Cove Marina and headed to Robinson island, then back to pirates cove for lunch. Was packed but a guy in a 310 SS formula gave me his spot as he was leaving. Great burgers, and bushwakers, like everyone has told me. Then back to fort McRee. Stayed the night, had a awesome spot, deep water, checked out the fort and met some nice people. Then the next morning, we left out the pass, found the "Lulu" ship in tow they are going to sink, it was about 3-4 miles out. Checked out the sunken Massachusetts. Then played in the gulf for a little while and came back in. 50.3 miles total. Loaded it up and am now at our house in fort Walton/ Merry Ester Florida at our house for Billy Bowlegs. We will be here, and playing in waters here until next Monday.