Luxury yacht stolen from The Wharf's docks

55-foot vessel, the Full Moon, valued at $800,000
Thursday, July 31, 2008
By GUY BUSBY
Staff Reporter

Orange Beach police are looking for an $800,000 motor yacht that was last seen moored near the Intracoastal Waterway on Tuesday night, but was missing from its slip Wednesday morning.

The 55-foot vessel, named the Full Moon, was taken from its berth at a boat dealership, Gulf Coast Hatteras, at The Wharf sometime after 5 p.m. Tuesday, Lt. Steve Brown of the Orange Beach Police Department said Wednesday. The theft was discovered Wednesday morning, he said.

"We know for certain it was there between 5 and 7 yesterday and this morning it was gone," Brown said. "We believe it was moved in the middle of the night, but can't confirm that, yet."

Mobile Press-Register

Second public partnership sought by AIG Baker

Developers want rebate for each out-of-towner they bring to proposed meeting facility

Monday, March 03, 2008

By RYAN DEZEMBER

Staff Reporter

ORANGE BEACH -- Already engaged with the city in a 15-year revenue-sharing deal, developers of The Wharf seek a secondary partnership with the public, this time to build a 25,000-square-foot meeting facility.

The City Council will consider a resolution Tuesday that would kick start negotiations between the city and the Birmingham-based mall builder AIG Baker. Though the details are far from finalized, the developers have presented a sketch of what they seek from the city.

Essentially they want Orange Beach to rebate to them $1.20 for each day that each out-of-towner using the facility is in the city, according to a letter to city officials from AIG Baker's John Hogue Jr.

Click here to read the full article from the Mobile Press-Register.

Ice Skating at The Wharf for the Holidays

December 2, 2007

The ice rink at The Wharf in Orange Beach, AL will be open until January 2, 2008. While doing your Christmas shopping at The Wharf you can take a break and glide around the rink.

For great Christmas gift ideas for Chef in your family, be sure to visit: Distinctive Kitchens, for gifts of beauty visit: Merle Norman, and don't forget that gift certificates from Rafters Sports Bar & Restaurant, and The Big Easy Daiquiri Bar make great gift ideas.

Ice skating at the edge of the Gulf

by Guy Busby
November 29, 2007

Orange Beach, AL- Palm trees line the drive, and the white stuff on the ground is sand, and the skaters glide in circles just a few feet from Gulf yachts and fishing boats.

Welcome to the outdoor ice rink that opened Nov. 2 at The Wharf on the Intracoastal Waterway.

The 50- by 70-foot holiday-season attraction is the first of its kind on the Alabama coast, said Lesley Dethloff, Wharf special events coordinator.

"We've really picked up since it started," she said, estimating the crowd on the weekend before Thanksgiving at about 600 people.

Young skaters interviewed there recently said the ice was nice, once they got used to it.

Click here to read the full story from the Mobile Press-Register.

Ice Skating Rink at The Wharf Opens Today

Orange Beach, AL — The Wharf announces the grand opening of an all new ice skating rink for the Gulf Coast, Friday (Nov. 2).

The rink is located under the arch at Levin’s Bend condominiums at Main Street and Wharf Parkway. A treat for the young and old alike, the rink will be open to the public seven days a week through Jan. 1, 2008 — except for Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

All ticket prices include ice skates and are sold per person, per session. Individual tickets are $6 per person, or $9 combo/person. Combo tickets include a ride on The Wharf’s Ferris wheel, the tallest in the Southeast, and a 10 percent discount at The Wharf Store on Main Street.

Discounted group tickets are available by appointment by calling 251-224-1000. Groups also are invited to make lunch or dinner reservations at FishTales restaurant where they will receive a 15 percent discount on menu purchases. Reservations for FishTales must be made separately by calling 251-224-1007 or 251-224-1910.

Hours of Operation: Ice Skating Sessions have been established to ensure every skater has the best experience possible. Sessions are available Monday-Sunday and are also posted on www.TheWharfAL.com. For details about hours of operation, use the same website.

Hatten-Macik take pole position at Orange Beach

By Rob Newell - 19.Oct.2007

Orange Beach, AL – After a tortuous day one, the weather gods took pity on the 100 redfish teams competing in the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Championship on day two: the rain finally quit, the winds laid and the dark clouds began to clear away.

In essence, the window opened for long runs and the Texas team of Bennie Hatten and Randy Macik took advantage of it by running their Ranger bay boat full throttle across Mobile Bay and into Mississippi Sound to a secluded backwater pond that is apparently teeming with redfish.

Click here to read the rest of the FLW Redfish Tournament article from FLW Outdoors.

Distinctive Kitchens and Pensacola Junior College Form Partnership

Distinctive Kitchens(DK), serving Northwest Florida and South Alabama for 65 years, is pleased to announced a new culinary partnership with Pensacola Junior College, the first junior college chartered by the State of Florida.


Together, they have served the community for over 120 years. As the southeast's largest Culinary Arts Centers with "State of the Art" kitchens for cooking classes and private events, both the downtown Pensacola and Orange Beach locations provide a festive atmosphere of "edutainment".

The DK chefs blend fun with culinary skills to leave our students fully satisfied! With both demonstration and hands-on classes, you will receive a set of recipe cards, a sampling of tasty foods and a variety of wines that compliment the class menu.

Click here to visit the Distinctive Kitchens website.

Click here to view Distinctive Kitchens' Calendar of Events for its Pensacola, Florida store.

Click here to view Distinctive Kitchens' Calendar of Events for its Orange Beach store.

Click here to view the Pensacola Junior College website.

Mobile Native Marcus Kennedy takes 1st Place in FLW Tournament

Tournament Wrap-up

Orange Beach, AL — October 6, 2007 — Team “Kwazar” captained by Marcus Kennedy of Mobile, Ala., won the Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series Championship and $50,000 Saturday in Orange Beach, Ala., with a total catch of two kingfish weighing 77 pounds, 1 ounce. The top prize included a $20,000 Yamaha bonus.


Kennedy and his teammates Max Williams of Milton, Fla. and Mike Ward and Todd Kercher, both of Mobile, ran approximately 65 miles southwest of Orange Beach and caught a 25-pound, 6-ounce kingfish over an area of rocky bottom in 180 feet of water. “This was a place that we usually bottom fish and we’ll occasionally catch a big king off the bottom, so this is a good time of year to go get them.”

The team’s final-round kingfish ate a live blue runner set about 60 feet deep on a downrigger. Kennedy fought the fish and Williams gaffed it after a 25-minute fight. Team “Kwazar” caught 11 kingfish and a white marlin Saturday.

Inclement weather caused the cancellation of Thursday’s scheduled start, so teams competed Friday to qualify for Saturday’s top-five finale. While some teams struggled with the shortened schedule, Kennedy said he relied on his local knowledge to overcome the loss of a qualifying day.

“It didn’t affect me any, I just went out and did the same thing I was doing,” he said. “It just saved me $600 in gas and another day of butt-whipping.”

Team “Kwazar” advanced to the final round of five boats in first place Friday on the strength of a king mackerel weighing 51 pounds, 11 ounces. They caught this fish by slow trolling a live blue runner on a downrigger. For Saturday’s competition, the winners returned to the same area they fished on day one and caught their winning king about a mile from where they caught their Friday fish.

“We had an idea of where the fish were and we stuck with our plan,” Kennedy said. “Fortunately, we got a big one yesterday and went out today and got a big enough one.”

Rounding out the top five teams were team “Old School” captained by Scott Jennings of Port Royal, S.C. (two kingfish, 69-7, $7,800 plus $5,200 Evinrude bonus and $5,200 Wellcraft bonus); team “Sake” captained by Neil Nix of Okeechobee, Fla. (two kingfish, 67-3, $6,500 plus $4,160 Yamaha bonus and $4,160 Wellcraft bonus); team “Square & Level/Reel Wild” captained by Frank Eldridge of Waycross, Ga. (two kingfish, 66-13, $5,200 plus $3,640 Yamaha bonus); and team “Catch 22” captained by Kevin Arnold of Houston, Texas (two kingfish, 51-6, $4,420 plus $3,120 Yamaha bonus and $3,120 Hydra-Sports bonus).

One hundred and twenty five teams – the top three from each of 15 qualifying tournaments and the top 16 in the points standings from each of five divisions – qualified to fish the tournament. After Friday’s weigh-in, the field was cut to the top five teams based on the heaviest kingfish. The final standings were determined by the total weight of the heaviest kingfish from Friday plus Saturday’s catch.

The Kingfish Series Championship will be featured in a one-hour episode of “FLW Outdoors” broadcast to 80 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) households in the United States and more than 429 million households in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom on Dec. 9. This reach makes “FLW Outdoors” the most widely distributed fishing program in the world. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 servicemembers stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on the American Forces Network.

The Alabama Gulf Coast Sports Commission hosted the FLW Kingfish Series Championship along with The Wharf, Brett-Robinson, Live Bait at the Wharf and the cities of Orange Beach and Gulf Shores.

Day One of FLW Kingfish Series Canceled due to Weather

Orange Beach, AL- October 4, 2007 — Day one of the Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series Championship in Orange Beach has been cancelled due to high winds, strong thunderstorms and turbulent seas.

“With the present and forecasted conditions we have deemed it unsafe for our crews to head out today,” said FLW Kingfish Series tournament director Chris Hoover. “Our main priority is the safety of teams. We don’t want to do anything that will jeopardize their well being.”

With the cancellation of day one, competition will start Friday morning at the regularly scheduled time. The full field will compete Friday, and the top-five teams based on the day’s heaviest catches will move on to Saturday’s final round. The winner will be determined by the total weight of both Friday and Saturday’s catch.

The winning team will earn as much as $70,000 cash, which includes $30,000 for the win plus a $20,000 bonus from Hydra-Sports, Scarab, Seaswirl or Wellcraft and a $20,000 bonus from Evinrude or Yamaha if contingency guidelines are met.

Teams will take off and weigh in at The Wharf located at 23101 Canal Road in Orange Beach. Friday’s takeoff is at 6:45 a.m. with the scales opening at 4 p.m. Saturday’s final takeoff is at 7 a.m. followed by the weigh-in at 4 p.m. The FLW Kingfish Series Family Fun Zone will open at noon Saturday and will include a National Guard HD theater, rock climbing wall and Humvee display. Admission to all activities is free.

The Alabama Gulf Coast Sports Commission is hosting the event along with The Wharf, Brett-Robinson, Live Bait at the Wharf and the cities of Orange Beach and Gulf Shores.