Dec. 4th: Fort Walton to Panama City area

This morning I added a new creature to my list of sightings. A jellyfish was swimming effortlessly beside the dock as I took Peanut out for her walk.  I have seen many a dead jelly fish along the beaches in Florida but never a live one.  It was fascinating to watch and I wanted so much to go back to the boat for my camera but Peanut had another plan. She was on a mission to get to the grass and was not about to stand for my delaying her any longer.  The wind had calmed down overnight but picked up again this morning. We had one large bay to cross, Choctawhatchee Bay. Say that fast three times!  About half way across the bay we experienced occasional gusts of wind that caused the canvas on the fly bridge to rattle  and the wind to whistle loudly.  The sky's were overcast and temperatures cool enough to require a heavy sweatshirt and plastics to be zipped tight. We had talked about anchoring out when in the Panama City area but decided with the high winds we would be more comfortable at a marina.  Sun Harbor marina was situated next to a shipping company. It was difficult at first to spot the entrance and took both of us with binoculars to confirm that we really had to pass directly in front of a huge ship being loaded to enter the marina.  Once in the marina we had to pass a 70 foot steel boat and do an almost immediate 180  to get into our assigned slip while fighting the wind. I was my usual nervous Nelly but no need, Tom did a great job of gliding Laughter in.

Dec. 3rd: Passing by familiar places from the past

Traveling along the intercoastal gives a much different perspective to areas previously visited by car.  We had visited Perdido Key and Navarre Beach during spring break several years ago.  From our condominium we looked out on the beautiful white sandy beach and blue gulf waters but as we drove around the area our views were fancy resorts, restaurants, rental properties and lots of gift shops. As we passed Perdido and Navare this time our view was much different. We passed shores of beautiful white sand, tall sea grass and now and then a string of homes but the clutter of condominiums, restaurant's and shops could be barely seen in the distance.  We passed through two very large bays at Perdido and Pensacola.  Because the wind had picked up the bays were rough making for a somewhat less than comfortable crossing.  We were glad to get back to the narrow section of intercoastal and its calmer waters and protection from the wind. Unlike the river the intercoastal buoys have marker numbers but there are no mile markers. This provided an interesting challenge for a little while as we had to adjust to a new way of keeping track of how far we had traveled. Our destination today was Fort Walton.  After a full day on the water, 60+ miles we arrived at the Fort Walton City dock about 3:30. The dock was at a park and the park all decorated for Christmas.  The park was busy with families having their pictures taken in front of the large Christmas tree, kids playing, and pets being walked.After a walk through the park with Peanut, I enjoyed walking through the shops that were on the street behind the park and taking more beautiful sunset photos. One other boat was at the dock when we arrived. We met and visited with Don and Theresa before turning in for the night.