Dec. 7th - The storm arrived

No sun this morning but the temperature wasn't bad at 60 degrees. It started to rain but since the temperature was warm I rode my bike to an Internet cafe anyway. The cafe' was soon buzzing with locals who came in for their morning coffee and conversation.  It was hard to concentrate on what I was doing, listen to the conversations, and answer questions about where I was from but I did enjoy myself. By the time I left the cafe' the rain had stopped but the temperature had dropped 15 degrees. We spent most of the day close to or inside the boat. Late in the afternoon the sun did shine for a little while providing an opportunity for the boaters along the dock to gather and visit bundled up like we would have been in Chicago.  By evening the temperature dropped into the thirties!  We learned that the couple in the sailboat next to us did not have heat on their boat so Tom lent them one of our electric heaters. The wind picked up significantly after nightfall, gusting to a reported 34mph. I was thrilled yesterday that we were the last boat along the dock closest to the Bay because of the beautiful unobstructed view. Tonight, not so thrilled because of the need to practice my balancing skills as I moved throughout the boat. If I listened to music in bed to match the movement of the boat rock and roll would have been the choice over soft rock. I even worried a little about Peanut.  If she was going to experience seasickness on any part of our trip tonight was going to be the night. The storm was supposed to pass through tonight and the wind settle by mid morning so we planned to leave about 11:00am tomorrow for our 21/2 hour trip to Carrabelle.

Dec. 6th - Our first full day in Appalachicola

I woke up to a yellow glow coming through the windows and realized that we had the perfect view of a sunrise over the bay.  I quickly swung open the salon door to step out on the dock and was a little shocked to find about a 3 foot gap between the boat and the dock! We had dropped so far when the tide went out I had to climb up and hope I didn't fall between the boat and the dock trying to go up and across at the same time.  I was able to get some great photos of the sunrise and some dolphins swimming along side the boat.  The difficulty came when I wanted to get back on the boat.  Now I had to reach over three feet and step down.  We have had some challenges getting off and on our boat on this trip but nothing like this one!  We spent the day riding our bikes around town. First on our list was to find Tom some oysters. He loves to tell the story about buying a 1/2 a gunny sack full of fresh oysters right off the boat for $3.50 on our last visit.  I didn't want to burst his bubble by reminding him of inflation so I didn't say anything as we rode our bikes on this mission.  Ye of little faith! Guess that's me, because Tom did better this visit. We stopped at one of the processing houses where a young man was wrapping up a pallet of boxes filled with fresh oysters.  When Tom asked if he could purchase some the gentleman indicated they did didn't sell to individuals but he did ask how many we wanted. When Tom replied 2-3 dozen the young man replied, oh that's all, that's no problem. He found a plastic bag and filled it from the conveyor belt. When asked what we owed him he said, no charge!  So, back to the boat we headed with four dozen plus free oysters!  I don't like oysters but I must tell you the oysters from Apalachicola are known all over the country as the best there are and they did look nicer than I have seen Tom have in a long time! On our way back we stopped to buy an oyster shucker, fresh shrimp and a grouper fillet. A great evening seafood feast on our grill was enjoyed!

Dec. 5th; Our Run to Apalachicola

We left Sun Harbor at 6:45am. We wanted to arrive at Apalachicola with plenty of time to tie up before night fall.  The weather forcast was calling for the winds to continue to build, the temperature to drop and rain to come in starting tomorrow afternoon.  We had been to Apalachicola by car several years ago and really enjoyed ourselves.  We thought it would be a great place to hunker down for a few days while the storm passed.  We had one more bay to cross and a lake but there was enough of a break in between to enjoy a pretty smooth ride. Near Mexico Beach the strip of land between the intracoastal and the gulf was so narrow we were able to see the gulf on the otherside.  As we got closer to Apalachicola the banks of the intracoastal began to change.  We no longer had tall grass and white sand to pass. Instead we found ourselves pointing out the strange and beautiful shapes that the cypress stumps formed along the banks. With a little imagination you saw everything from an angel to a bear.  When we entered Appalachicola river we had to be careful of the crab pots and make sure we stayed within the markers because of the shallow depth.  We chose to stay at the public marina which was a very long dock with a few slips along the shore.  We literally inched up to the dock keeping a close eye on the depth finder. There were no cleats on the dock. Our lines were looped around the poles and tied back to the cleats on our boat.  This also allowed us to float up and down easily with the changing tide.  We had the last spot on the dock that had access to electricity and the closest to the Bay.  We had a beautiful view of the Bay off our bow.

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.

FairHope Yacht Club on Mobile Bay to Orange Beach Florida

November 30th: We returned to Fairhope Yacht Club marina from our trip home for Thanksgiving and Baby G's birthday/baptism celebration.  We drove from Indiana to Tampa Florida, picked up coach and his friend, then headed for the boat.  Coach stayed with us at Fairhope for two days. The weather turned cold again. We woke up Friday morning with ice on the deck!  Whats up with that ! We prepared to leave for Orange Beach and Coach and his friend loaded our car for the ride back to Tampa. We were on our way by 8am, excited and nervous about crossing the bay 20 miles to the GICW.  Thank goodness we took the navigation course last fall. No longer did our chartplotter show the sailing line for us to follow. We had to calculate direction and put in waypoints to create our own line across the bay. The bay was a little choppy but nothing that made it uncomfortable.  We started out a little shaky because Tom had some difficulty calculating our exact direction, and with my math skills, we did NOT want me double checking his calculations, but soon the light bulb went on so to speak, and our anxiousness subsided.  The trip across was beautiful and we never completely lost sight of land. Our calculations took us right to the GICW, gulf intracoastal waterway.  The waterway entrance was narrow, somewhat like the ditch we boated on to Lake Michigan at home and not very wide. In fact I learned that the GICW is referred to as the ditch.  Soon dolphins began to appear near the boat.  They came right up to the boat, then pass underneath which really surprised me. We saw these beautiful creatures glide effortlessly in the water on a off throughout the day. I don't think I will ever tire of watching them and trying to capture them on camera.  Near lunch time we passed Lulu's, Jimmy Buffet's sisters restaurant.  Our day on the water ended up at The Marina at the Wharf, which was three miles beyond Lulu's.  The marina was very nice, with condominium's and a shopping complex with restaurants and bars.  Once settled in the gal from the marina dropped us off at Lulu's for appetisers.  We were joined at our table by a couple who pulled their boat up to the dock in front of the restaurant. Our visit with them was fun.  Once back at the marina I walked the shops while Tom fished.  We enjoyed a beautiful sunset, which was totally unexpected for our location. 

The parade to Mobile on Nov. 12th

The sun was shining again as we left our anchorage on the Canot and headed for Mobile. Earlier in the week the 14 mile turn bridge had been replaced with a lift bridge, closing river traffic for three days and it was now officially open. We were excited!  In about an hour we would be entering the Mobile ship canal and crossing Mobile Bay, a day we had looked forward to for a long time. We had just passed under a fixed bridge when from around the bend ahead of us and coming straight at us was an unbelievable sight. At first we thought our eyes were deceiving us. But our binoculars confirmed what we saw. Two towboats side by side pushing two barges with the old swing bridge straddling them and they were headed straight at us. Where were we supposed to go?  Tom immediatly put Laughter in neutral and called the tow. He wanted us to pass him port to port. We moved over as far as we could and since depth did not appear to be an issue we chose to stay put until we were sure he had enough room. A little excitement to add to two already very excited people.  As we neared the new 14 mile bridge it appeared to be down. This was confirmed by the fact that there were 8 boats, 9 counting us, and a tow waiting to go under the bridge. A radio discussion with irony, the boat we anchored with at Brannons landing, indicated that they were making adjustments and it would be another hour to an hour and a half before they would lift the bridge.  Soon we were joined by three more boats.  It was like a mini in the water boat show!  We listened to all the chatter on channel 68 of who was going to what marina and before you knew it the bridge was up and we were on our way.  We had a nice parade going through the ship canal, confirmed by the number of workers who stopped to watch us come by. The ship canal was amazing. We passed container ships being filled, ships being built or repaired and several tow boat staging areas.  We had been warned to have eyes in the back of our head as we came through and we quickly understood what that meant. Tow boats were crossing in front of us, ships pulling out as we passed, and more tow boats sideways in the canal pushing barges together. I felt like an ant in tall grass trying to look up at everything but not knowing which way to look next for fear of missing something.  Once our parade entered the bay itself we started to break off into groups of two or three heading off to our respective marinas. Once tied up at Eastern Shore Marina we visited with several other boaters who had come in. We spent two days at Eastern Shore, then moved our boat across the way to Fairhope Yacht Club.  We had a great four days before leaving for Indiana for Thanksgiving.