Marina | Scott Fillmer :: Truth, Tech, Testimony, and Art

Dolphins Came to Visit Us and Mate in the Marina

27 Apr

The first time we saw dolphins from right here in our slip Deborah and I were very excited. Now, they seem to be here every time we come, but not like they were today. Today, a pair came into the marina (which is a dead end), went all the way to the end, came back half way, had some fun, they made their way out.

We filmed this a few weeks ago but I just now got the chance to upload the video to youtube.

Dolphins Playing (or Mating) in the Marina

It was so exciting to get to see them so close, and from right here in our slip. The dolphin boats here in the marina are always full (it seems) and I am sure they all have a great time, but we get to see them without having to go anywhere, what a treat. Not only did they come in where we could see them, we ended up getting some great (to me) video and photos too.

You can see from the video that they came all the way up into the small marina cove here. They are really neat animals to see in the wild and not in some trained setting. When they get into a feeding frenzy it is really quite something to see as well.

Walking on the Beach is My Favorite Exercise

26 Apr

Saturday, April 26, 2008

All the bad weather stayed well north of us today and left us with the most beautiful Saturday we could have asked for. Partly cloudy, 82° with a slight breeze, and enough humidity to remind us we were actually on the coast. Probably the nicest weather we have had since Deborah and I started coming down here more than a year ago.

We had breakfast at one of our favorite morning diners, Waffle House, then went over to a local public beach access point so I could get in a good walk on the beach. I was going to walk to where I knew the beach was blocked by a pier construction, then walk back. The pier was about 4 miles away, with a nice state park beach about 2 miles from my starting location.

Walking is Great Exercise

I have walked on this beach many times before, and sometimes it can be a fast walk, sometimes, very slow. It depends on the tide and how deep you sink into the sand. Today it was a slow walk that really works the legs, especially since I was walking in my jeans for some dumb reason.

I walked the 4 miles to the pier, then back 2 miles to the state park pavilion and decided I had had enough at 6 miles. I text Deborah who was happily knitting at my starting point and she came and picked me up. It was a 6 miles walk that felt like 10, but it was good exercise and I enjoyed it very much. Nothing relaxes the mind like a beach, a walk, and an iPod.

Flipper’s is Now Opened

A new restaurant opened that we were hoping would be good, since it is right near the boat. It has been several other establishments prior to Flipper’s but it opened yesterday and today lunch was good. I had a grilled Mahi Mahi sandwich with sweet potato fries, both of which were GREAT. Deborah is going to try out their hamburger for dinner. Hard to mess up one of those but we have been to many places that did.

Nature in View

Today with the walk on the beach I had an hawk or eagle fly over head, dive in the water and catch a fish with its talons. It flew within about 50 feet of me, I could almost see what kind of fish the bird caught. He flew off across the beach, road, and back to his nest I guess. Beautiful bird. No dolphins yet today, but there are some really loud party goers two slips over and if I was a fish I wouldn’t be anywhere near this place right now. Maybe later.

Slipping Into a New Home at the Marina in Orange Beach

15 Mar

We have been at slip E-12 for about a year now and it was not the most comfortable place for our sailboat. It was a little small and we never could get the lines tied off correctly to keep her from smashing into a pier once in a while when the winds or wakes peaked.

So, we moved. We are now in E-13 and we are enjoying this new location. Yes, we moved one slip over, farther out towards the inter coastal. Doesn’t sound like much but we have a dock that comes all the way out, almost to the aft of the boat where we had almost no dock space before, and, we now have no pier for the anchor to bang up against.

That’s us, last one of the end (left side of photo). We still stick out quite a bit but it is a better slip for our sailboat. Moving was not the easiest task in the world since our Perkins has a blown head gasket and once we were out in the channel it seems our prop or drive shaft or something was not giving me the power I know this thing has. It could just be lack of a cylinder or two (it only has four), but I am NOT a mechanic to know what the lack of power came from, but we muscled it into the slip and tied off without much issue.

I am sure we gave someone a good laugh and pure entertainment value for the 30 minutes or so it took us to move over one slip, but that is the fun of a marina. You watch everyone else screw up and vice-versa. We are now happily in E-13 and just in time, the wind is blowing just under gale force now.

Pressure Washing a Sailboat in a Gale Warning, Really

10 Mar

Before we left from our other home, we had planned on using this weekend down at the boat as a cleaning weekend. We were trying to beat the Spring breakers who wereÂ arriving soon, along with all the regulars for the summer. We were hoping to hit a slow time in between Spring break, snow birds, and regulars, and I think we managed to do that just fine. Of course, there was just one reason for that. GALE FORCE WINDS.

Temps that dropped down in the 40′s would generally keep most people away from a marina, but the winds were something else. Prior to this weekend it had been starting to get up in the 70′s so we thought winter was over. No such luck. When Deborah starting taking photos of me doing the pressure washing it was rather nice, but a little cool.

As the day went on, it got colder and colder and colder and the wind started blowing so hard that I turned on the weather radio to hear, “gale warning in effect” for the next two days. Oh well, this is when we were going to clean the boat. There were two tasks to complete today, a complete pressure wash, and removing all the vinyl lettering.Â A job that didn’t really seem all that hard when we left Auburn and arrived at the marina to a nice sunny, and rather warm day, but oh how things change.

Pressure Washing and a Little Wind

So, I started washing to boat from top to bottom, or as much of it as I could reach. I started off in shorts and a hat and put on more cloths as the day went on. Being able to pressure wash a boat in the slip is a great advantage to having to haul it out or use a scrub brush or something.

Each winter an unbelievable grind and gray matter clings to the fiberglass and finds a home that seems impenetrable. A pressure washer does a cleaning job like nothing else I can imagine. I would highly recommend one to anyone looking to clean anything that can withstand the power of a real, genuine gas powered, not available in California, pressure washer. They work great.

Time To Remove all Lettering

Deborah and I decided to re-christen our sailboat, named the s/v Laughalot, to the name of our company, motto, and a name we picked together about a year earlier, the s/v Island Zephyr. The first step of course would be to remove the lettering and measure for the new graphics.

From some of the photos you can see that this was far harder than the washing and I think I had a headache for two days after I finished with the transom graphics. We are planning on putting the name along with the registration numbers at the bow, port and starboard sides, then a larger graphic in the back that has the name of the boat, home port (that would be Auburn, AL), and the website address. I will do another post with the actual graphic I have designed and hopefully we can get it made and put on the boat very quickly before someone gets upset with a boat that has no lettering. It won’t leave the slip at all so it shouldn’t be a problem.

As you can see from this last photo, the winds are now blowing quite hard, I am now in long sleeves, and all sane individuals are inside and warm. The photo of the tow boat at the top should have been an indication, they were pulling over and stopping along the inter coastal waterway because it was to dangerous to move the barges. At least we are done. Cleaning and all this is just part of the fun of a sailboat. Everyone else around here will be doing this same thing when it is nice and warm outside and I will be done and up in the cockpit, watching.

Cold Day on the Beach in February is Empty and Fun

15 Feb

Some days a cold day on the beach is better than a warm day inside. The beaches, in most parts of the country right now, are completely empty, but put a nice cool breeze and January into the mix and you get this (see beach image below). Not only is there a rare February thunderstorm in the distance but the only visible moving object on the beach is a tiny little bird in the very center of the image. The sunsets at the marina are always so dynamic and each one is different. The thunderstorms here made just enough of a hole in the sky to give us a great sunset today.

This image was actually taken by my cell phone. I am really amazed at the quality of images that can be taken by a cell phone these days. Not that it is worthy of publication but for just sticking a phone up in the air, its not bad.

This weekend we did spend the day on the beach (see all the photos below) but we came down to be on Laughalot. We did enjoy the peace and quiet that the marina always has around this time of year, and of course on the beaches too.

We have several favorite beaches down here, some are in Florida, some in Alabama, but depending on the time of year, you can usually walk several miles in either direction and enjoy a quiet walk. As is customary for me, I try to get in about 5-7 miles while I am on the beach, here I am on my way, yes, it is cold. I don’t look all that thrilled but I really am glad to be there, even if the weather is a little harsh.

Of course, DK has here own way of keeping warm, stay in the tent, don’t move much and have a ton of layers on. We do have some larger shots of the tent area on the beach but this close up gives a better idea of how cold it really is down here today.

It still made for a very nice sunset at the marina and we had a great weekend on Laughalot.

What You Do in January in a Cold Marina

11 Jan

Now that the cold weather is here this is what you do, sit and knit. It is now to cold to sit outside in the cockpit for any extended period of time but we can still come down for the weekend and enjoy being here. Here is Deb sitting under a bunch of blankets knitting on the boat. Surprised she doesn’t have on her mittens and ear muffs but we did get the heater working this summer, thank goodness.

There will be warmer days but we still had a nice weekend down on the boat. Once again we were treated to wonderful sunsets, right off the transom but it was a little to cold to go outside and do much. What I should be doing right now is getting a list of all the things I want to do on the boat when it gets warmer but who can get motivated in this cold.

We did take several trips over to the beach where I could do some much needed walking and DK could knit, in the shelter of our tent. Photos of that will be coming soon, pictured above are two shots I took with my iPhone, not bad for a phone camera. The first is of Deborah of course, knitting on the boat in the heat, the second was taken from the cockpit, both with my camera phone.

Christmas at a Marina is Beautiful with Light on the Sailboats

14 Dec

Christmas time at a marina is really pretty. All the boats get all dressed up and at night they light up the sky with Christmas lights. Sailboats with masts rising 40 feet above the water line is really a site to see. I can’t imagine how it looks up north where it is so cold there is probably not a sole that wants to step outside, but down here in the Gulf Coast, it is at least bearable (for us that is mid-60′s).

We made it down to the marina tonight just in time to see all the masts with their lights on (our is the one in the middle that has no lights on it at the moment).Â Trying to take a photo on a moving platform, in the dark, of lights, is not the easiest thing to do, but you get the idea.Â If you have never visited a marina in the winter or during Christmas, it is one of the best times to be there.

Christmas Light on the Marina

Being that I have been a photographer for more than 10 years now I have a hard time adjusting to taking images without a tripod, especially AT NIGHT. But, a tripod does little use on a sailboat that is constantly in motion, so this is the best I could do with hand holding, lights, at night. It was a wonderful site at night.

There were some very strange unique displays as well, but I always love seeing lights to celebrate our Savior’s birth. DK and myself would just assume you leave lights up for Christmas all year round but that doesn’t seems to want to catch on (unless you are really lazy). Maybe we will start a trend.

Christmas Light on the Marina

This display was one of the rather unique ones of the season. This is not a sailboat but a charter boat and yes, that is a Christmas tree at the top.

Christmas Light on the Marina

We didn’t put up any lights this year but we did enjoy those who did. Maybe next year. That is DK’s head just over the rail line (knitting) as the sun is going down. It was a wonderful weekend.

The Thanksgiving Non-Event for 2007 and the Marina

20 Nov

Cooked and carved the turkey on Saturday, check. Made the stuffing, and the baked sweet potatoes, too, check. Sealed it all up in bags to freeze so we could have it on the boat on Thanksgiving Day, check. Loaded the car with clothing, food, ice chest, etc., check. Made sure to take computer to the boat too, so Secret of the Stole KAL members wouldn’t miss their final hint this Friday, check.

Leave on Monday and make the 4.5 hour drive to the marina, check. Upon arrival, found out the marina wi fi was not working and would not be working until after the holiday week was over, CHECK. Made the 4.5 hour drive back to the house in the same evening, of course. What else were we supposed to do? Visions of Secret of the Stole members coming up the road to get me with lighted torches and pitchforks in hand went through my head.

Mr. K and I will be having our “leftover, prepared ahead of time” Thanksgiving dinner back here at the house. Luckily, Mr. K and I embrace change so it’s all good…

Annual October Shrimp Festival in Gulf Shores

13 Oct

We were able to come down for the weekend but not much else. When we got here we discovered that this was the time for the annual shrimp festival so we figured we might as well check it out while we were down here. We didn’t get much work done on the boat but we did see several beautiful sunsets while we were here this time.

There really is not much better a time at a marina than those months between Memorial Day and Labor Day (or vise-versa I can never keep them straight in my mind). Anyway, the time between October and April at a marina is cold and dreary sometimes, but is usually void of all the rebel that comes with the warm weather, so it is a toss up for us. This photo above was taken on our boat from the slip just as the sun set over the gulf. It is amazing we can still be out here in relatively warm weather in mid-October but we will take it.

The annual shrimp festival was a lot of fun and there was tons and tons of food. We did not come down here for the festival but to enjoy being on the boat for the weekend but it was nice to get a flavor of the local society while we were here.

Thunderstorms on Perdido Key and Bearpoint Marina

16 Jul

Friday morning we left for the boat for a long relaxing anniversary weekend on the boat. Scott’s parents had rented a condo for the week in Perdido Key, so when we arrived in Orange Beach we unloaded the boat stuff and headed over to the condo to visit. Scott and his parents went for a swim while I watched from the beach. They all headed out of the water when something kept stinging or biting the guys. The stings weren’t terribly painful, something like ant bites, but they couldn’t tell what the culprit was so they opted to depart the waves for a shower in the condo and dinner.

We dropped them off back at the condo after a good, but odd dinner at Doc’s Seafood Shack, Orange Beach and went for a walk on the beach before returning to the boat. If you haven’t been to Doc’s, you are missing quite an experience. The restaurant is an interesting little place to say the least. It is truly a shack in every sense of the word. Structurally sound, it is not. Driving by the place one has a sense that the food must be very good because the parking lot is always full. Upon closer inspection it is revealed that the parking lot is just woefully inadequate. This is not a reflection on the food, just poor planning.

This planning runs over into the construction of the shack itself. A building that should have been condemned many years ago, the restaurant consists of three to four rooms that seem to have been added one at a time to the initial existing structure, accommodating the increase in patronage through the years. Hence the lack of parking space. The walls are buckled in all the rooms from years of leaky air conditioning ducts, salt filled air and humidity.

There is a sign out front that reads “Local Food, Local Atmosphere”. Inside the entryway is a gum ball/game machine that we have personally witnessed several kids and more than one adult loose quarter after quarter in because they could not make the suction cup stick to a gigantic gum ball, which is the objective of the game. Even Scott’s father gave two quarters to his mom so she could try her luck. In another corner sits another game machine.

This one filled with water and a couple of pathetic looking lobsters. A claw hangs from above and for $3 you can try your hand at catching one of the lobsters with the claw. If you are lucky(?) enough to capture one of these creatures the restaurant will cook it for you for free. The place is quirky indeed, but the food is local seafood and the price is very reasonable.

The remainder of our weekend was spent listening to NOAA weather radio and watching the skies. The “showers and thunderstorms” that the NOAA voice reported to be imminent were and we enjoyed watching them roll in and over the boat. We were even treated to a rainbow while Scott tried his hand at fishing again. Dinner’s out were at the Oyster Bar in Perdido Key, FL and the Jolly Roger at the marina. Here are the photos, enjoy.

Scott Fillmer

Dolphins Came to Visit Us and Mate in the Marina

Dolphins Playing (or Mating) in the Marina

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