11/08 to Apalachicola, FL

This morning, I got this picture of a house boat in the marina we stayed in last night. 

The day was cooler and overcast to cloudy.  The cruising was wonderful though.  We like to run from the fly bridge.  The fly bridge has a little bit of a green house effect.  It is warm but you can still see everything from up high. 

First, we went through East Bay.  The trees in the distance with the light shining through them were so pretty.

Then, we entered Wetappo Creek.  Most of the Creek was swamp on the sides.  It reminded me of going through the swamps in South Carolina.  The water seemed to end in trees at each turn.

John took this picture of our chart plotter showing the Impenetrable Swamp.

Look at these pictures and think about trying to get very deep in these swamps.

There was evidence along the creek of damages from past hurricanes.  This was just one boat we saw that was in bad shape.

We caught up with and passed our friends, Tom and Carolynn on Su Sueno.  We had a good chat about the weather for the crossing of the Gulf.

Eventually, we entered the Apalachicola River.  We planned our stop here for the night.  On our walk to dinner, we passed this mansion on the grounds of the botanical gardens. 

This area is known for its oysters.  So to do my part, I had oysters again for dinner tonight.  These raw oysters were garnished with sour cream and caviar.  They were called Moscow Oysters.  I thought a Moscow Mule would be the perfect accompaniment.

  

Tomorrow, we head to Carrabelle to stage for the crossing to Tarpon Springs.

Lat 29 degrees 43.96 North
Long 84 degrees 59.38 West

11/07 To Panama City, FL

The winds had come up during the night.  That meant a choppy crossing of Choctawhatchee Bay.  We were taking the waves on the nose as we headed east across the bay.  Most of the waves were 3-4 feet.  The dolphins made use of our wake to ease their way through the water. 

Eventually, we went under the Choctawhatchee Bay Bridge and the waves calmed down.

After a while we entered a 22 mile section known as the Grand Canyon.

This man made portion of the Intracoastal has steep sand sides.  It was quite a change after the openness of the bay.

Finally, we crossed West Bay toward Panama City.  Here is a good example of the buoys we have seen in FL.  There are so many birds that have left presents on the buoys that they have been turned white.  Both the red and the greens are white.  You need to make sure of the shape for your navigation.

We had been having an electrical problem that we wanted fixed before we crossed the gulf.  The fellow that was recommended by the marina got and installed a new alternator so we can be on our way in the morning.

For dinner, we walked the short distance to Hunt's Oyster Bar.  What a treat. 

We were seated at the bar right in front of the shuckers.  They never stopped.  They just kept shucking and shucking.  One of the shuckers told us someone ate 21 dozen oysters at one sitting.   The oysters were excellent!   I managed to eat a dozen and a half and a salad. 

Tomorrow, we head to Apalachicola.  We are watching Eddie's Weather WAG.  Eddie is an AGLCA member who reports the weather for the crossing from Carrabelle to Tarpon Springs.  This portion is expected to take about 21 hours of continuous cruising across the gulf.  Right now Eddie is thinking an overnight crossing on Thursday to Friday morning will be best.  He does daily updates and we will follow his advice.

Lat 30 degrees 10.12 North
Long 85 degrees 42.21 West

11/06 Along Santa Rosa Sound to Fort Walton Beach, FL

The day was definitely cooler as we pulled out of Pensacola.  The sun was warm but the breeze was strong.  On the fly bridge, it would warm up with the eisenglass down but cool off the minute we opened it. 

Our goal was Fort Walton Beach.  We cruised along the Santa Rosa Sound.  Santa Rosa Island is the barrier island.  It is part of the Gulf Island National Seashore.  The sands are so white on the island.

We saw many dolphin frolicking in the sound.  The panhandle is not as populated as the rest of the state, although we did see some big houses.

From Santa Rosa Island rose this huge military radar.  I have never seen a radar so large.

We arrived at the Fort Walton City Docks about 1 p.m.  These docks are free and have a free self serve pump out.  Duane and Diane from Diva Di were already here and came out to catch our lines.  We reciprocated when the crew of Seven Tenths arrived.  Their boat is named for the 7/10ths of the world that is water.

A Publix was just up the road, so off I went.  I was in the mood for salami and good Italian bread and found it there.

At 5 p.m., we hosted docktails on the fly bridge.  Diva Di has guests on board and this was their first docktails.  I think they had fun.

Lat 30 degrees 24.10 North
Long 86 degrees 36.40 West

11/5 Pensacola Naval Air Station

Today, we toured the National Naval Aviation Museum on the base at the Pensacola Naval Air Station.  It paid tribute to all sorts of Naval aviation history.  There were jets, seaplanes, and helicopters on display.

There was a display honoring those aviators in WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm and in Space, etc.  They also honored the Coast Guard and Marines.  In addition to planes, there were collections of other naval memorabilia.

 Here is the Marine One helicopter from the Nixon administration.

One movie that was very interesting explained how the planes landed on the aircraft carriers.  It had the wind and engine noises just like being on deck.  It messed up my hair.   It is amazing how they catch the big bungee to land. 

There was an exhibit on the Blue Angels.

We took the 4-D movie exhibit that made it feel like you were flying in formation with the Blue Angels over Pensacola.  I held onto my seat during one maneuver.  What fun!!

We learned about a Homeward Bound Pennant.  A ship flies this as they head into the US after being abroad and until sunset of the first day in the US.  There is one star for the first 9 months at sea and a star for every six months thereafter.  I think John and I should make and fly one when we cross our wake.  Maybe we would only need one star for each month we were away.

Pensacola seems like a nice small city.  At the waterfront this morning, a suicide awareness walk was going on.  The music started at 8 a.m.  We went to church and walked back to the marina and had dinner a restaurant overlooking the marina.  It was homecoming weekend for the high schools.  At every fountain, in the square, and at the waterfront, everyone was taking pictures.  John and I joined in when asked to join a picture on the dock.  Years from now they will be wondering who those people are.

Tomorrow, we head to Fort Walton Beach, FL.  We will still be in the Central Time Zone.  Tonight we will fall back as Daylight Savings Times ends.  In a couple of days, we will enter the Eastern Time Zone and lose that extra hour. 

11/3 -11/4 The Wharf Orange, AL to Pensacola, FL

11/3 We spent a quiet day at The Wharf.

They have a Ferris Wheel which was out of order that day.  I was disappointed. 

 I wandered the shops and made an appointment to get my nails done.  It was a pleasant day.  It only 11/3 but they were putting together Christmas Trees and other Christmas displays. 

A song writers music festival was going on.  The singers were the song writers themselves.  So you might know the song but sung by a different artist.  We made dinner reservations at one of the venues.  The music was very good and we had a very nice time. 

John order a Bushwacker for dessert.  Bushwackers are alcoholic drinks made with ice cream and Baileys and other liquors.  John has found one of his favorite desserts.

In the morning, we waved good-bye to The Wharf and headed east to the Alabama Florida Line. 

What a beautiful day!  The sun was warm the smell of the ocean was great.  We stopped at Redfish Point and dropped the anchor. 

This is a barrier island.  We swam ashore in warm water and did a short walk over the island to the Gulf of Mexico.

It was so much fun to put my feet in the Gulf. 

We saw ghost crabs and the foot prints of very large cranes or pterodactyls. 

The beach was empty and gorgeous with powdery white sand.

We swam back to the boat and John took the opportunity to scrub the waterline of the boat.  As we started to pull our anchor, we were surrounded by dolphins.  What a day.  I am so glad we went swimming. 

I had never been to Pensacola but John has.  As we cruised toward Pensacola, we saw many planes and helicopters doing maneuvers from the Pensacola Naval Air Station.

The Pensacola Light was in the distance.

The Pensacola channel was stunning with the sun shining on the white sands. 

We pulled into Palafox Marina.  It is at the foot of Palafox Street in downtown Pensacola.  The end of the street is Luna Park after the Spanish explorer you claimed this land for Spain in the 1500's.

I walked up town.  It was fun to see all the decorated pelicans.

I saw these butterflies fluttering by flowers at the marina. 

For dinner, we went to Shux.  I managed to finish another dozen oysters done 4 different ways and they were all delicious!  For dessert, we went for ice cream at Bubba's.  Yum.  It was a lovely clear night as we strolled back to the marina.

Tomorrow, we are planning to go to the Naval Air Museum at the Pensacola Naval Station. 

Lat 30 degrees 24.12 North
Long 87 12.86 West

11/02 Across Mobile Bay to Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Alabama

Roger Turner from Turner Marina Services finished the work on the Raymarine Chart Plotter this morning.  We are happy to have the demons exorcised from the chart plotter and our way points restored.   We scooted out under the bridge over Dog River into Mobile Bay.  The seagulls gave us an escort out into the bay.

One stayed really close.

The winds were up and the bay was pretty choppy.  We headed down the shipping channel.  This large vessel passed us. 

There was one on AIS that was significantly bigger 980 feet long and a 109 foot beam.  We rounded the Middle Mobile Bay Light and used a way point to the Gulf Intracoastal Markers.

Gulf Shores, Alabama shores rose out of the sea.

Once off the bay, the Intracoastal was filled with dolphin.  The Intracoastal took us past LuLu's Restaurant.  We were late for lunch and early for supper but that meant there was plenty of room on the dock for our boat.  LuLu is Jimmy Buffett's sister.  The place is eclectic.

This is what the fly bridge of the Hydrophilic looked like from our table.

 I did enjoy an oyster po' boy.  The music didn't start until 5 but I wanted to get on stage and sing.  I took this picture of the stage for my sister, Barb.  It might describe one of us. 

Back on the boat we headed to Orange Beach, The Wharf Marina.  It is a very nice complex with a ferris wheel, cineplex and shopping. 

This was another of those fabulous sunsets.  I love Alabama sunsets.

Looks like we will have a nice down day tomorrow. 

Lat 30 degrees 17.61 North
Long 87 degrees 37.89 West

11/1 Oysters and Boat Chores in Mobile.

We had planned to get some work done here in Mobile.  The weather is warm here but there is a steady and pleasant breeze off the bay.

The work included; 1) repairing the blown out zipper on the front fly bridge panel 2) getting an oil change and checking the zincs 3) fixing the Raymarine that has starting acting possessed.  The canvas lady did a great job with new Strataglass on the front panel.  The oil change did not take very long and the zincs looked just fine.  Most of the Raymarine demons have been exorcised but our way points are gone, so they are looking in to that.

That has given me plenty of time to clean the boat.  We went from stem to stern today on the outside.  Now that we are out of fresh water, there will be less spiders.  That is so good because before this trip, I did not know that spiders poop, a lot.  Spiders leave black marks that must be dissolved before they will come off.  UGH.  Anchoring in the mud of the rivers was fun but the mud from the bow and stern anchors was everywhere.  When we docked at marinas the electrical cord left black smudges on the edges of the boat.  Lastly, there was just general dirt and grime from the air.  It took hours.  The boat looks so much better, though.  I told John that the marina could charge us extra for silting in the marina.

Best thing to eat in Mobile is oysters.  I have had 3 oyster dinners.  Tonight, we ate at Half Shell Oyster Bar.  I had a very delicious spring salad and dozen oysters.  They were done 4 different ways and all of them were great. 

If everything goes as planned tomorrow we will go across Mobile Bay and join the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway to head east toward the panhandle of FL.  I am looking forward to enjoying the sights and beaches of panhandle.