I am taking a trip soon to Gulf Shores, Al and want to know if anyone knows of a good beach/launch area in the Mobile Bay/Gulf area. Idealy, I'm looking for a shallow area for teaching the basics. Does anyone know if Perdido Bay is a better bet for this? The links for the Mobile Bay windsurfing areas are dead from our site and on the web. I appreciate any and all windsurf related feedback or experiences on the Alabama/Pensacola area.
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Shawn - re: Mobile Bay, there is a small park (county, I think) a little south of Fairhope - has a woman's name, I forget what. It's right on the bend where the bay curves into the south facing caostline. When I sailed it on SE many years ago it was great. Should work SE to SW to NW, I guess. Bring insect repellant.
the most shallow water for a beginner on Mobile Bay would be at Fairhope, there is a park next to the city pier, the locals call it the Duck Pond because there is a fresh water pond on the bank with ducks, when I was there in 98 you had to pay to get in but not all that much, very nice
found the MBWA local sailing sites that I printed from their site in 01
Chris is suggesting Mary Ann park which is best site on the Eastern shore for SE
Duck Pond is good for N, NW -- wind shadow on S & SW winds
Bay Front Park 3 miles north of Dauphin Island Bridge, too far from Gulfshores but listed as the best beginner and intermediate spot on the bay
Thanks for all the great feedback! I plan on going to the Fairhope area, hoping to score some fresh seafood and will also scope out the Duck Pond and Mary Ann Nelson Park. Chris, I checked out the satellite images from the area you were talking about and it looks good for all different winds. I can kind of get a sense of the depth of the water from the images as well. Thanks again!
the wayback machine is your friend:
http://web.archive.org/web/20030628003153/www.mbwa.org/bayfront.html
the map is broken but click the links on the left.