Two Weeks away from the Boat

We left Panama City on Wednesday April 24 in our personal car, to drive to TN to care for Sue's mom.  This will probably be our routine, cruising for a couple weeks, then spending time in TN for a week or two.

As we head north, don't you know that our route takes us through Eufaula AL, where Sue lived in 1960-1964.  We stop at the Visitor's Center & find someone who remembers that the Air Force had a small radar site just south of town.  On our way back in two weeks, we'll go looking for the house she used to live in.

Our route also takes us thru Atlanta, so we stop just north of town to spend the night with some boating friends from our old marina in Chattanooga.  They just purchased a winter home in central Florida, so when we cruise thru that area, we just might see them again!

We'll spend the next week or so taking care of personal issues, and planning our next leg of our travels down to Ft Myers and hopefully across Lake Okeechobee to Florida's east coast.

Back to Pensacola

Replicas of the Nina and Pinta passing thru town.

So, the day after we arrive in Panama City, we rent a car to drive back to P'cola to pick up our personal car, which we left at the marina.  When we arrive at the P'cola marina, we see that some special boats are now tied at the location where we were.


Since we passed all those wonderful beaches with beautiful white sand, we now decide to drive back via Pensacola Beach & find a spot to relax.  We have to go to the Santa Rosa Sound side & get behind a sand dune for wind protection.  We also find some interesting things along the way.

Circular patterns in the sand from the wind
blowing the grass.



2 Days to Panama City

After seeing a weather window where the winds died down to 20 mph, we left P'cola on Sunday April 21.  We waited until the big sportsfishermen in front of us left to head into the Gulf.  He had participated in a fishing tournament in P'cola for cobia.  We were not familiar with cobia, so we bought some at the local fresh fish market (along with lots of scallops).

The winds were again from the east at 15-20 mph, as they have been on our entire trip from New Orleans.  Pensacola Bay was forecast to be "choppy to rough", so we were a bit uneasy heading out into this.  Turns out the boat rode very well, even though there were a lot of whitecaps on the water with 1-3' waves. With our 10 mph speed, the winds over the deck were 30 mph & lots of sea spray again.



Just east of Ft Walton Beach on GIWW.  Note narrow
channel with shallow water close by.

As we passed the towns which we knew so well (having driven by car through here for years), we were surprised how shallow & narrow the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway became.  If we weren't watching our course thru the channel buoys, we'd be stuck until the next high tide!
As we entered Choctawahatchee Bay, the winds finally started dying down, and the travel became enjoyable.  Lots of dolphins joined us for the trip across the Bay.

We anchored for the night at the east end of the Bay & enjoyed the sunset & the quiet.

This is why we cruise.

On Monday we had a late start, since we only had 40 miles to travel.  As we entered St Andrew Bay near Panama City, the commercial traffic increased, and we saw some Navy ships coming in from the Gulf.



Navy deep sea dive ship,
 based in Panama City.

Container ship coming from
Gulf of Mexico. Stay out of
the channel!










We entered the extremely narrow channel into Grand Lagoon & found our destination - Bay Point Marina.  As we were approaching the fuel dock, our port engine quit & Sue couldn't re-start it.  I envisioned us hard aground on the sand shoals for the rest of the week.  We finally re-started the engine from the engine room & made it to our assigned slip.  Guess it's time again for the engine mechanic to make a visit.

We secured the boat, gave it a good fresh water wash-down, and started the 5:00 hour early.  Grilled our cobia fish on the back deck & felt good about making it this far east.  We'll keep the boat in Panama City for a month while we take care of family business.

More lazy pelicans.

Channel into marina.  Let's see.......
red right return, then zig or zag.

3 Days in P'cola

We spent 3 days in Pensacola while waiting for a weather window.  When the cold front came thru yesterday, temps went down to the high 40's - in April !!  Hopefully, we get underway tomorrow, with a 2 day trip to Panama City.

Sunset at Palafox Pier marina in Pensacola.

While in P'cola, we did some of the tourist things & left some of our good tourist money with them.  But we also lived here in 1971 and again in 1975, so there were some familiar places.  We also had our car pre-positioned here, so we could get around.  On Saturday, for example, we drove to the UPS store to send our inverter back for repair (hopefully under warranty), then purchased a cheap one from Harbor Freight to get us to Panama City.  Went to the local farmer's market right up Palafox Street.  Then ended up at the Naval Aviation Museum & saw how much it had changed since 1976 when we first went to it.  Yes, the helicopter that I flew in Lakehurst New Jersey was still in the museum (boy, does that make you feel old).  Also saw the A-4 aircraft that a Chattanooga friend had flown early in the Vietnam War. 



Back in 1972, Rosie O'Grady's was the
local hangout for student pilots.
I was surprised to see it's still around.



Sue found her favorite place - Pensacola
Bay Brewery - which our son told us about.

Pelicans from all the military services.
Good thing this guy has on his
life jacket!



Lazy pelicans waiting for a fish.

Crossing into Florida

Well, we found that our new anchorage location was no better than the first.  Still took a half hour to weigh anchor, which was stuck in the thick silt/mud.  If we didn't have a trip line on the anchor, the anchor & chain would still be there, rather than in Pensacola.

Continued eastbound into constant 15-20 mph east winds, which have been with us all week.  Since we run at 10 mph, we have a 25-30 mph over the deck constantly.  The boat takes it well, since the waves are on the bow, but there is salt spray everywhere.

Are we in Florida??!!

The GIWW was pretty in this area, with white sand everywhere and small islands uncovered by low tide.  I'll bet this place is a zoo on summer weekends!  We were looking to tell when we entered Florida, since there was no welcome sign along the highway, nor Florida welcome station with free orange juice.  But right at the border was the Florida Marine Patrol, watching every boat. 

As we passed the cut into Pensacola Bay, I was surprised how narrow it was.  Surely couldn't pass a tow in that cut.  In addition to the headwinds, we then encountered a head current of about 2 mph.  P'cola Bay was not as rough as I expected it to be with all the wind.  No sea swells, and only 1-2' waves.  Followed the ship channel past the Naval Station (brought back many memories) into downtown P'cola where we tied up at Palafox Pier.  Gave the boat a good washdown, and then gave ourselves a good washdown.  Ate at the local restaurant & then crashed into be early.

Day 3 was short

We stayed anchored at Ingram Bayou on Tuesday & do some work around the boat.  The cove is touted to be one of the best in the Looper travels, but Sue & I have seen better along the Tennessee River.  We tried to leave the anchorage in early afternoon, and had a terrible time getting the anchor unstuck.  We figured we caught a dead tree & dragged it across the bottom.

Our destination was Lulu's restaurant near Orange Beach.  Lucy Buffet is Jimmy Buffet's sister, so the restaurant decorations were very interesting.  We both had our margaritas and hamburgers in paradise.

Returning to the cove for the night, we chose another spot to drop anchor.  We'll see tomorrow morning if this was a wise choice of locations!

Day 2 on the Water

We stayed in Biloxi Sunday while a strong warm front dumped inches of rain on us (which was good for washing all the salt spray off the boats), and had a nice seafood dinner with our boating buddies.  BUT.......what did we learn in school about a warm air mass above cool water?  Hey kids in the Peanut Gallery......can you say "Fog"??!!

We rose before sunrise on Monday to see how much fog we had, and it turned out to be not much.  So we departed the marina into calm winds & seas, with about 5 miles visibility.  As we traveled Biloxi East Channel, quite a few dolphins swam with us.


As we turned east on the GIWW, the fog started closing in to as low as 1/2 mile visibility.  We paid close attention to our chartplotter & radar -- and we were logging "instrument time" like the pilots do!  It was interesting to see another boat approaching you out of the fog.  Our partner "Knot a Yot" had AIS on board, so they gave us a "heads up" to oncoming traffic, as they stayed close behind in our wake.  Waters were mostly calm, except when we were between the barrier islands offshore, and then the sea swells got us.

Things to avoid in Mobile Bay --
like natural gas production platforms!

As we entered Mobile Bay, we encouraged our boating buddies to take the short cut to Dog River Marina to minimize their time on the Bay.  Once they successfully navigated the route by themselves, they called us to brag.  Not bad for their first time on open water by themselves!

THIS is why the government built these green daymarkers
all along the ICW!!



Of course, he's right in the middle of the channel!

We kept heading east across the Bay, and had 10 mph winds on the bow, no sea swells, and a 1' light chop.  It was the best crossing we could have had -- much better than in January when we were looking at 25 mph winds & 3-4' seas.  We entered the GIWW east of the Bay, where it becomes a canal again.  Found the cove called Ingram Bayou & dropped the hook for the nite along with 3 other boats.

Must be all that good salt air!

Underway!!!

Industrial Canal in New Orleans.  Can't quite get under this
railroad bridge.  I wonder if the bridge tender is awake?

The third time must be the charm, because we finally left to go cruising (for the 3rd time) on Saturday morning April 13.  We got our income taxes paid, used what little money that was left to put fuel into the boat, and departed Seabrook boatyard on the Industrial Canal in New Orleans under clear calm weather.  Another boater whom we met at Seabrook, was traveling with us as far as Mobile Bay, aboard "Knot a Yot".  They had lots of experience cruising the rivers, but wanted a buddy boat to travel Mississippi Sound.

Our buddy boat behind us.  Even with the RR bridge open
there isn't much room to spare.

GIWW has lots of commercial traffic.  Note wind streaks
on water, indicating the wind is over 15 mph.

As we headed east along the canal section of the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway, the east wind increased to 15-20 mph, dead on our bow.  I got the uneasy feeling that waves on the open water were going to be higher than forecast (aren't they always?!?)  Once we got there, we found waves 2-3' (with occasional 4'), winds 15-20 mph, lots of whitecaps, and salt spray everywhere.  The only saving grace was that most of it was right on our bow, so the boat pitched all day instead of rolling.  At times, the pitching was bad enough that our ship's bell on the aft deck was ringing itself (it normally only rings at 5:00 PM every day for happy hour!).

"Knot a Yot" slugs it through the 2-3' waves off
Gulfport MS.  The decks need a fresh water washdown!

Finally made it into Biloxi MS for the night after 10 hours of pitching & breathing salt spray.  Admiral Sue (who never lets me drive the boat!) made a perfect landing at the marina, backing the boat into the slip with a 15 mph cross wind.  After securing the boat, we went next door to help our friends aboard "Knot a Yot" celebrate their baptism of fire in crossing the MS Sound for the first time.

"Make all necessary preparations.........." Again!

For those who will be reading this soon..............

Sue had her final medical check up a week or so ago, and the doc released her from care.  The Admiral is ready to breathe that salt air!  If we can get things ready, we see a weather window opening up this coming Saturday - in only 4 days!

One of our problems corrected itself today when the mechanic replaced the engine heat exchanger.  Another problem will hopefully be solved when the canvas guy custom sews and delivers our cover for the anchor windlass, but he's waiting to Friday to deliver it!  Wednesday we rent a car to position our personal car in Pensacola, so we can later pick it up & go to TN to care for Sue's mom.

We're headed to Biloxi (again), and may have to wait there for a couple days for thunderstorms to pass, but WE'RE LEAVING!

Forrest Gump wasn't lying!

There really is a Bayou la Batre for Bubba Gump's Shrimp Factory!

So, we're driving home a couple weeks ago from our stint in TN, and decided to go see Bellingrath Gardens south of Mobile on the western shore of Mobile Bay.  For the 25 years that we lived in New Orleans, I promised Sue that we would go to Bellingrath in the spring when all the azaleas are in bloom.  So we finally went & saw the gardens that Mr Bellingrath built after he made his millions from being the Coca Cola distributor in Mobile.

After that, we decided to take the back roads towards home, and wouldn't you know it, but we came upon Bayou la Batre, Alabama & discovered that Forrest Gump could very well have had a shrimp factory here!  When I heard that town's name in the movie, I thought that there was no way that a real town was named Bayou la Batre.  Well, guess what??!!

As we drove "down da bayou", we saw shrimp boat after shrimp boat, and one shrimp processing plant after another.  The town is also filled with ship building & overhauling business.  The boats are the larger one which go many miles into the Gulf to shrimp, and many of them are painted quite nicely.  Many Viet Namese immigrants run the boats and the businesses.  All in a day on da bayou!