11/12 – 11/14/2015
Scenes from Mobile Bay
Cold front coming at us across Mobile Bay
Scenes from the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway
Sunrise over Pensacola Bay
We left the dock at Dog River Marina before 8 a.m. and as we
went down the waterway lined with docks and sheds filled with vessels of all
kinds, we passed “Holiday VII”, and Richard was out on his deck waving
“good-bye” to us. We signaled back with
our horn, which probably woke up the whole marina! We now entered the Dog River Channel which
led to large Mobile Bay, which was quite docile this morning. A little while later we noticed two
white-hulled vessels to our port stern, and then with our AIS we were able to
identify them as “Ivory Lady” and “The Next Chapter”, who had just left the
Eastern Shore on the other side of Mobile Bay.
They, too, were headed to Pensacola, as we were, but they would be
staying at a marina there, while we would be docking at the Pensacola Yacht
Club. Eventually we looked behind us,
and noticed that ominous cloud cover was forming, which was the pre-cursor of
an up-coming cold front which was predicted.
Luckily for us, as bad as this formation looked, though the winds did
pick up, we were able to continue to travel safely. The scenery along the way as we moved through
the Gulf Shores area of Alabama and Florida continued to change, and now we had
large sand dunes on our starboard side, and eventually we saw a number of naval
vessels on our port side as well as military air-craft in the sky as we
approached Pensacola. After 65 miles, we
got tied up at the lovely Pensacola Yacht Club by early in the afternoon. Pat was beginning to feel the on-set of a
cold, and we ended up spending three nights here. We had two excellent dinners at the Club, and
George also enjoyed their luncheon buffet one afternoon. This was also a chance for us to avoid the
windy weather on Pensacola Bay. We even
got to observe a lovely wedding ceremony that took place on the Yacht Club’s
lawn late on Saturday afternoon, but Pat
did not envy the bride and her bridesmaids who were obviously freezing in their
strapless gowns!
11/15/2015
Sand dunes on the way to Fort Walton Beach, FL
Our destination today was the Fort Walton Yacht Club in Fort
Walton Beach, Florida, a trip of 46 miles.
Though the waters were choppy with the wind on our bow, it was sunny,
and we arrived at the Yacht Club at 12:30 p.m., just a little too late for
their Sunday Brunch. We were helped in
by two gentlemen, one of whom was the Vice Commodore. There were lots of
sailboats from the Club out on the nearby waters, either racing or practicing,
and it made for a lovely scene. In the
early evening we had a knock on our door, and it was the Commodore of the Club,
Reddoch Williams, who had come out to welcome us. We invited him aboard, and had a terrific
visit with this charming Alabaman gentleman.
He invited us to go out to dinner with his wife and him, but we declined
his kind offer, due to Pat’s feeling “under the weather.”
11/16/-11/18/2015
Florida's "Grand Canyon"
Panama City Marina
 |
|
This morning we left the Fort Walton Yacht Club before 8
a.m. for Panama City Marina, a distance of 68 miles across the Florida
Panhandle, and we arrived there in the early afternoon. After filling up at the fuel dock, we were
assisted into our assigned spot by a helpful dockhand. A number of other “Loopers” were already
here, and with rainy, windy weather expected in two days, we suspected that
they would be here for awhile. Also,
since there were no expected good weather windows for making the 170+ mile Gulf
of Mexico crossing from Apalachicola/Carrabelle to Clearwater, Florida on the horizon, boats were backed up in ports
all across the Panhandle. We were lucky
to have pre-arranged a spot at Port St. Joe Marina in Port St. Joe, Florida,
and the only reason we were able to obtain this last open spot was because the
slip-holder was having his boat hauled out of the water for three weeks, and we
planned to move there on Thursday. For
the next two days we used our time well to do laundry, rest, and to get in
touch with our friends, Ray and Caryl Houle, who might be joining us aboard for
our jaunt across the Big Bend, depending on the time-table for good weather and
meeting up. They were originally
supposed to join us here in Panama City, but that plan right now was not going to fit in with their
Thanksgiving Day family duties, so were considering lots of other options. The nasty weather did show up on 11/18, and
thanks to the many lines George had around the boat, springing her off from the
wind and the waves, “Reflection” managed the conditions beautifully.
11/19 – 11/25/2015
Wetappo Creek
     
It was a 44 mile trip from Panama City to Port St. Joe
Marina, and the scenery along the Wetappo Creek, and the 5 mile long Gulf Canal
through which we had to transit, were again reminiscent of the remote areas of
the Tenn- Tombigbee Waterway. As we
neared the end of the Canal, we suddenly entered large St. Joseph’s Bay with
our marina just around the corner. Of course, as we entered we called for
assistance in finding our slip and for taking our lines, but no one answered on
either the phone or the marine radio. So we took a good guess, and backed into
an empty slip that we thought might be ours, and finally had several hands
catching our lines. Getting on and off
our boat became a bit creative, since the only finger pier was about 10 feet
long, which is really not long enough to reach our entrance door, so George
rigged up a way for us to do so from steps in our lower cockpit. Again, a number of “Loopers” are here, and
some have come and gone including Bill and Jann on “Ivory lady” and willy and
Caryn on “the Next chapter”. This was a
very convenient location for us with a “Piggly Wiggly” supermarket, a CVS
Pharmacy, a liquor store, and lots of good restaurants in town, as well as
another good one on–site. We have
received and sent mail from here, and the marina staff has been very warm and
helpful. We, as well as other “Loopers”,
have received a lovely invitation to attend “Thanksgiving Dinner” to be served
“family–style”at the home of Linda and Huen, our next-door slip neighbors, who
live in town, and they even have transportation arranged! This just goes to show the warmth and wonderful
generosity of some people. On Tuesday
evening, we hosted our friends, Priscilla and John, and Dale and Andy from
“Changing Latitudes aboard our boat for cocktails and munchies, and we had a
great time hearing about their sailing days, and about John and Priscilla’s
first grandchild who was born a few days ago, with another one due in a few
days. Their boat has been here for three
weeks while they flew home to Waukegan, Illinois and back, and it looks like
they’ll be flying out again shortly! We
have also been in touch with Ray and Caryl , and they be driving here on Friday
from their home in Cape Coral, Florida, as we are hoping to get ‘Reflection’
across the Big Bend on Monday-Tuesday (11/30 – 12/1). We are looking forward to a great Thanksgiving
and are so grateful for all the wonderful people in our lives, and for all that
God has given us!!!
|
No comments:
Post a Comment