Departed for Fort Walton Beach at sun up, had about 6 inches of water
under the propellers at the marina entrance as it was low tide.
It is a 46 mile journey today. A view of the water in Santa Rosa Sound, the lighter area is sandy shoals.
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| Bob and Sandra Treland |
We had contacted friends, above, whom I had worked with in a previous life. They did some scouting for us and located a
marina for us to stop at. We arrived at
the marina and Bob and Sandy were there to meet us, however, the marina
personnel were not. We waited a bit at
the onsite “Crab Shack” till one of the owners appeared. He was dressed up quite a bit differently
than the rest of us.
He had just come fron a Knights of Columbus event hosting the Bishop. Luckily this was not the attire that was required at this marina.
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| Emil, Dan and Joe. |
One of the other marina owners showed up and Joe, wanting to be a marina owner, had his photo taken with them.
Once marina arrangements were coordinated (payment) we set off with Bob
and Sandra to do some shopping. Then
they took us to their “on the waterfront” condo for watching the Kansas
basketball games and dinner. ,
 |
| Here is Bob working at his specialty |
Mixing and handing out Bloody Mary's, and here is my specialty, watching the ocean from the balcony of their condo, to include the sunset, quite a view.
After dinner, it was back to the boat for the evening. We had determined
based on the weather forecast that we would remain in Fort Walton Beach for
another day. This was the night that Hattiesburg, Mississippi, just up the way
was hammered by the F-4 tornado.
Sunday, 10 February 2013
Sunday morning was maintenance morning.
We installed the starboard engine fresh water flushing device. Normally a 15 minute task, which took only
two hours and much mumbling. Once done, we
cleaned up and were picked up by Bob and Sandra for more shopping and touring
the Destin Florida waterfront. Still
very cloudy and windy, here Beth is holding her head on in the breeze.
Here is the nautical chart that we used to get this far.
Bob and Sandra took us to an excellent Irish Pub/Restaurant,
McGuires. This place has over $1 million
one dollar bills signed by patrons and tacked to the ceiling and walls. One of
the bills was missing so they had a line up to determine who the guilty person
was. Can you pick out the real Joe (not to imply that he was guilty) in
this line up?
Returned to the boat for preparation for departure Monday morning for
Panama City Beach
Monday, 11 February 2013
We got a late start, for us, left at 0730. We entered Choctawhatchee Bay, which is 24 miles
long and open to the 23 mph south winds. (pictured above on our nautical chart)
It was very bumpy. Just prior to arrival at the Sun Harbor Marina, a U.S. Navy boat called us on the radio and told us where to go, as they were monitoring a manned submersible. (under sea sled with divers attached).
We courteously went where they told us and then were assaulted by a pod of three porpoises.
Secured at the dock in the Sun Harbor Marina in Panama City, Florida, all heck broke loose as severe weather attacked us. The boat rocked and rolled all night long as there is no breakwater at this marina. We did discover that the Government does not have the monopoly on dumb signs. See if you can detect the flaw in this sign:
Tuesday, 12 February 2013
The waves had subsided somewhat this morning so we are only mildly rocking. Laundry done and travel arrangements are finalized. We contaced the AGLCA Harbor Host and he has invited us to attend a function this evening with some other loopers. An update will follow.
Wednesday morning, Beth and I fly home to Kansas to take care of some things while Joe flys on to Tampa to catch a Cruise Ship for a cruise with his family. We will return on 3 March.
A summary of this segment: 643 water miles traveled, 12 locks with a combined drop of 414 feet.
What a great trip! Well done!
ReplyDeleteGlad there were no viloators!
Thanks for the blog!
Paul