Day 79, Apalachicola, FL Nov 30

Shucking our oysters. He was so fast his hands are blurry.

Shrimp boat on Scipio Creek, in front of our marina tie up


Swamps/ICW


Swamps


Intracoastal Water Way/Canals

Monday we left Port St Joe at 7:45 and traveled 24 miles through very different scenery. Sometimes it was a wide lake but the majority was a canal resembling a bayou as in the picture. I saw an animal swimming across the swamp land/canal and was hoping for an alligator, but instead it was a bobcat. He/she was the least concerned of our presence. Yesterday we saw a deer swim across in front of the boat and walk to shore. No dolphin sightings today, the water was brackish/swampy with lots of Cyprus trees.

We tied up at Water Street Marina & Hotel along with Ross and Nancy off Oddysea. Tom and I rode bikes to investigate the area.
The four of us went to Bayou Joes for oysters. Even though I don’t care for them, since Apalachicola is known for oysters, I had to try them and surprisingly they were pretty tasty. I had mine steamed though not raw. Here is a picture of our guy shucking them who says they make Viagra from oysters.

The weather continues to deteriorate for gulf crossing conditions. Loopers will gather here in the panhandle in large numbers to wait for favorable crossing conditions. This could be lengthy.

Day 78 Port St. Joe

Nancy & Ross Hiner, Tom & Diann at Port Inn for breakfast.

We awoke to a beautiful sunny 70 degree day in Port St Joe. This is one of the best marinas so far with restaurant, nice ship store (where we both bought shirts), mail delivery, Sunday paper delivered to the boat, clean laundry and showers. Walking distance to groceries, ice cream, liquor store, restaurants, and a hair salon. The Cut’N Up salon wasn’t to open until Thursday but the owner was there organizing and said she would do my hair. Color and a trim can make you feel soooo much better! We also found Blue Water Outfitters adjacent to the Piggly Wiggly grocery store and Tom bought a smaller pair of jeans and a shirt.

One of the great benefits of the AGLCA is the Looper "harbor host" program. The harbor host here is Patsy & Ray Whitney, who we have had the pleasure of meeting as far back as Pebble Isle Marina on the Kentucky Lake in September. Thank you Patsy and Ray for being the most gracious host providing advice,support and a wealth of knowledge that we will find forever beneficial. Port St Joe Marina is a first class operation and Ray & Patsy are a huge contribution to their success

We rode bicycles this morning with fellow loopers Ross and Nancy Hiner to The Port Inn for breakfast. You could have omelets to order as well as biscuits and gravy, and your typical breakfast buffet all for $5.00. We will be moving on to Apalachicola tomorrow and then on to Carrabelle to wait for the Gulf crossing weather window. It doesn’t look like good weather for several days. Thursday, December 3 is a full moon and I’m hoping that will be the day. Historically for December there are only 5 days out of the month for favorable crossing opportunities. I’m not looking forward to this 16-18 hour all night crossing but it will be another new adventure for us.

Day 77, Port St Joe, FL

Shrimp boat in canal cut from ICW to St Joseph Bay.


Diann at Port St. Joe quaint downtown area, very nice stores.


Port St. Joe Marina office.


Dolphins swimming along side "Noah Genda"


Today's dolphin watch.

We departed Panama City Marina this morning at 7:00 AM for a cruise easterly to Port St. Joe, FL. Another beautiful day for the 63 mile voyage through the ICW bay and canal system. Today, was without a doubt, the best dolphin experience to date. After sighting several dolphins most of the morning, we had three dolphins join us port aft and continued perfect pace with the boat for about 15 continuous minutes. What an awesome view to look them right in the eye as they swim along looking at you. What a beautiful creature. Again the scenery never ceases to amaze us, just beautiful wilderness everywhere you pass. Since this is Friday after thanksgiving there were quite a few fishing boats out in the bays today as well as the narrow canals and rivers all the way to Port St Joe. I tried my best to site an alligator in the brackish canal water, but no luck today, maybe another day.

When we arrived at Port St Joe, we were pleasantly greeted at the fuel dock by harbor hosts Ray & Patsy off “PatsyRay”. Also at the marina is Bob and Kem, “Spirit Dancer”. By mid day our good friends Ross and Nancy Hiner arrived on “Oddysea” from Bay Point Marina in Panama City. Tomorrow we are expecting Bob & Pam to arrive with “Adagio” Several of us are starting to strategize the gulf crossing and looking at weather opportunities. We all will move on to Apalachicola and Carrabelle by the middle of next week.

This marina is a nice facility. We arrived, fueled, got situated in our slip, unloaded bicycles and rode about 3-blocks to a very nice small downtown business district with several small unique shops, restaurants and a new Piggly Wiggly. Can you believe it, Tom had an ice cream coupon from the marina guest packet, found the fudge and ice cream store and we both had a mid afternoon snack of very good ice cream (not Whitey’s but close). This is such a nice location, we think we will stay here another day.

Tonight Ray & Patsy took (12) of us to “Peppers”, a Mexican restaurant, and had a fun time as well as very good food. After dinner we discussed with Nancy and Ross riding our bicycles to town for breakfast. More Food!

Day 76 Panama City

Every tree we passed on our bike ride had moss hanging on it.

Grand Canyon

Departed Destin Florida at 6:30 A.M. expecting a moderate chop across Choctawhatchee Bay but were pleasantly surprised that the conditions were more like a light chop to smooth. We experienced several dolphin sightings to brighten the day. Since we see them swim directly in front of the boat we worry about running them over. Clear blue skies a little cool, but nice.

It is amazing how the landscape changes with every turn. We entered the 23 mile “Grand Canyon”, a narrow pretty straight cut with cliffs of sand side walls, quite unique. Our goal was either Panama City Marina or Bay Pointe Marina in hopes of connecting with Ross & Nancy Hiner aboard Oddysea. We ended up at Panama City Marina, talked on the phone with Ross & Nancy and will connect with them Sat in Port St Joe.

The weather window of opportunity appears not to be in the near future for a Gulf crossing. Consequently there may be a bunch of us gathering and waiting for that opportunity at Apalachicola or Carrabelle Florida.

We arrived at Panama City early enough to ride our bicycles to town, explore and of course seek a restaurant for lunch. Actually found a unique little deli with great wraps, salads, coffee and of course Tom discovered ice cream on the menu. Rode back to the boat, found “Hear & Now” & “Biddi and the Beast” tied off on the transient dock behind us. After a late lunch we are just going to put on sweats, energize the laptop and tune in some TV. It’s amazing how pleasant it is just to chill out on board after a day’s cruise.

Day 74 Still Thanksgiving

Diann, Destin FL. Gulf of Mexico in background

Thanksgiving Dinner at the Harborwalk Emerald Grande Hotel.

View of Ballroom dinning room.


Tom & I would like to extend a Happy Thanksgiving to family and friends. We had a wonderful buffet at the first class Emerald Grande Hotel. I’m ready for a nap but Tom suggested I get the blog done first. Not much to say since last night but here are a couple of pictures.

Because it is cool and windy we aren’t seeing many people walking on the boardwalk. They must be staying in their room because we went to one restaurant and we were told they had 300 guests with a reservation. We were happier with the place we chose, the ballroom at the Emerald Grande Hotel. Great service, good food and excellent décor.

Yesterday we saw loopers “Bitty & The Beast” & “Here and Now” at the restaurant Harry T’s. They also are heading to Panama City tomorrow A.M.

Because tt has turned windy here today and we’re concerned about being able to leave in the morning. We are headed for Panama City about 60 miles from here across Choctawhatchee Bay, a large bay 30 miles long.

Day 74 Thanksgiving Destin FL

Just another sunset. You might get sick of seeing them.

Down the boardwalk

Picture from a top floor of a hotel.

Tom while we're out exploring.

This is the channel you have to navigate to come into the marina. Look how close your boat is to the beach.


We departed Ft Walton Beach free city dock on Wed morning after a walk to town for breakfast, a grocery store, a mail box and Tom found a barber shop. Mid morning we moved five miles easterly on the ICW to Destin FL, Harborwalk Marina. This is a very large first class Marina/Resort with many boardwalk restaurants and shops. The Resort Hotel, Emerald Grande, is the center focus of grandeur. We will likely have thanksgiving dinner at one of the two rooms serving dinner at the hotel.
Our boat is backed in where we can look at the Gulf and Choctawhatcee (easy for you to say) Bay off the bow and off the back the activity on the boardwalk.
This is a very large fishing and charter fishing area. It has been entertaining observing the 50’ - 70’ fishing vessels enter and depart the harbor. Yesterday we spent the day roaming the boardwalk, shops and resort hotel. Last night there was live music at the outdoor stage. After music we dined at Harry T’s a boardwalk café. All in all great entertaining day

Tom washed the boat at the end of the day. Removing salt spray is now a daily maintenance chore that must be addressed. We both woke up this morning to beautiful blue skies and realized how happy we are to have each other and how thankful we are to live in freedom and pursue dreams of choice.

We truly are very thankful everyday for wonderful family and friends. We miss all of you more than words can express. We both wish we could share this holiday with you.

Day 73, Ft Walton Beach, FL

HURRAH! We made it to Florida in one piece and still speaking!

These 2 little guys thought they would tag along beside us


We left Bear Point Harbor at 7:30 to a cloudy misty and windy day. We have at least 300 paper charts on our boat but wouldn’t you know not for this section. We didn’t find any available and thought it’s a short distance we’ll be fine. And we ARE fine but it was a challenge to follow the (ATONS) markers. The 8” chart plotter screen limits the overall view of a given bay. Pensacola Bay, is large, has many routes along with many Aids to Navigation (ATONS). We didn’t realize how many bays we would be crossing and that you could travel quite a distance before you saw a marker with a number to reference. We had boats coming from all directions who obviously knew the water but none were going our way. Thank goodness we had an electronic chart plotter to show us not to go out into the Gulf like we contemplated doing.

All day we had the pleasure of Dolphins in and out of view off one side or the other of the boat. Lucky for me, Tom was driving when these 2 dolphins decided to tag along beside us and I was able to watch them. One did actually turn his head and look at me as if to say,” Did you get the picture? Where’s my reward?” SO exciting –where’s the bathroom?? The rest of the day was smooth water but we have determined 50 miles a day is too long at 8-9 miles an hour. We were going against a strong tide current all day. This really knocks your boats performance in distance for the day, not to mention fuel consumption.

Currently we are tied to a Free city dock at Fort Walton Beach. First, there are very few instructions of where it was located and how to safely get to the dock. We accomplished getting securely tied to pilings on the outside of the dock but we were too far away for my short legs so we untied everything and moved to an inside tie up. We are at a city park within walking distance of downtown and restaurants. The city staff called on our cell to assure everything is O.K. and to instruct us that they will alert the local police dept that were are at the dock, They will offer security checks through the night. Very pleasant city employees and she also offered instructions for dining and provisions if necessary. No amenities but, hey it is free, with walking access to town.

After dark we walked about 3-blocks to downtown Fort Walton Beach business distric. We were pleasantly surprised to see quite a few services available. We found a wonderful little restaurant called "Big City Bistro". Atmosphere was exactly what we liked and the quality of food was not disappointing. Very please with our find. There was a Publix grocery store a block away, however we did not need provisions. Nice downtown area and close to boat. Ft Walton Beach community put a lot of money into this free city dock for use by traveling boaters hoping to capitalize on thier spending. Hope it is a successful venture.

Day 72, Bear Point Marina, Orange Beach, Alabama

Tom, drooling at the view of testosterone boats

Sunset from the aft deck of our boat

Diann at Sportsman Harbor

Tom at the restaurant

Bear Point Marina, home for the night

LuLu's Restaurant and MM 155 ICW

“Noah Genda” Departed Dog River Marina this morning with three other looper vessels heading south easterly across Mobile Bay. We all were going to different locations ultimately, however we made the sixteen mile bay crossing together and then split up. What a great pleasure to see dolphins on most of our journey today. We entered the Intracoastal waterway (ICW) and made our way past LuLu’s Restaurant (Jimmy Buffet's sister) at MM 155, but chose to continue on another few miles for the day. The homes, marinas and sites along the way are absolutely beautiful.

We selected Bear Point Marina in Orange Beach AL for our port of call for the day. There is a nice looking restaurant on site here, however closed on Mondays. This a nice small marina. It is very tempting to anchor at one of the many opportunites along the way, but we chose to stay at this reasonably priced marina for 75 cents a foot, including cable TV, wifi, water and electricity, and ride our bicycles to town. We had a wonderful afternoon, a two mile ride to town, stopped at a hardware store and then found Sportsman Marina with Harborside restaurant. We could not have asked for a more perfect afternoon to have lunch outside and overlook the beautiful harbor. The harbor was full of sport fishing boats of all types and price range.

Today was also our first experience at docking at pilings in lieu of floating docks. Fortunately it was a calm day and we executed the maneuver without incident. Also new for us is assuring that the boat is secured to allow for low to high tide, all cross tied forward and aft, inclulding spring lines forward and aft, no exeception.

Did we say, the weather is spectacular !!!!

Day 71, Mobile Bay, Dog River Marina

At 7:15 this morning I thought I would be the first at the ONE washing machine but noooooo someone got there just a minute before me. When it was my turn, it took most of the morning for me to finish up my 3 loads. We had a late breakfast on board and then used the courtesy car to drive to Eastern Shore Marina in Fairhope, AL. We previously had considered staying at Eastern Shore Marina, but changed our mind. So we thought we should at least visit the city before departure. Steve and Liz off Shingebiss went with us so instead of having the car for the maximum 2 hours we had it for 4 hours, since each couple signed up for two hours each.

We had a little trouble finding the marina because our GPS was giving us misinformation! That’s our story and we’re sticking to it. From the ad in Quimby’s River Guide, we had the impression the unique shopping area was within walking distance from the marina. Not even close. Now that I reread the ad it says within minutes of shopping. It neglected to say within 20 minutes by car. Oh well, we had a lot of laughs. Tom, of course, found an ice cream store. One of the stores he likes to seek out in the communities we visit, He has become pretty good at it too.
The shopping downtown was fun for the women but the guys were disappointed that the only hardware store they saw was closed on Sunday. So Tom & Steve found a bench in front of a store and waited for us to return after shopping. I bought a Christmas present but now I’m having second thoughts about giving it away. We’ll see. We stopped for a few provisions and a Staples store for office supplies before heading back to the marina. It was a fun afternoon. We had dinner aboard, watched some TV, and caught up on e-mails and blog.

Quite a few loopers are departing tomorrow for destinations in the Florida Panhandle. We are considering the same; it appears that the Bay weather window is favorable for the next two days only before some rough waters come in the last part of the week. We think we would like to get toward the Ft Walton Beach area for Thanksgiving Day.

No images today.

Day 70 Sat 11/21 Dog River

Carnival Cruise Ship

Navy ship

Entrance to Mobile Harbor

No fog this morning as we left our Mobile River MM 54 anchorage at 6:45. The forecast for Mobile Bay led us to believe "Bay" would be too choppy for us to make it to Dog River Marina. We continued anyway and we were pleasantly suprised to find the bay was very calm. And contrary to our fears, the vessel did not desolve when it entered salt water. It was exciting to be out of the river and into Mobile Bay. We are happy to have hundreds of miles of flooded rivers behind us. After visiting with several friends that have arrived here at Dog River a day or two ahead of us we walked over to the Mobile Yacht Club for dinner.

Day 69 Friday 11/20

Captain Chip Lucas was delivering a 59' Grand Banks Europa from Aqua Marine to Sandestin Fl. We were tied next to him at Bobby's and had dinner with him and his crew member, Larry.


This is Bobby’s Fish Camp where you raft off the dock as best you can. After waiting out the fog again for 2 hours, we traveled one lock and 64 miles. After departing the Coffeeville Dam you need to watch for tidal effects from the gulf. I noticed several white egrets as we left the lock and I read when the egrets hear the lock sound its horn, regardless of where they are on the river, they know there will be a feast of small fish trapped in the steel gates and they are on their way





The foliage along this stretch of the river changed several times as you can see from the pictures. Strange that today there was no debris. The river is still flooded and we had a difficult time getting an anchor to hold at Bates Landing. We invited Joe and Linda from “Life is Good” to raft with us. They had the misfortune of their generator quit working. Tom was able to hook them up to us to save their food in the refrigerator and give them hot water for a shower.

Day 68 Thurs Nov 19

We anchored with 4 other boats at Barrons Landing which is really only an indent in the riverbank. One of the boats called the locks to have them alert any barges that might be passing by us. We intended to leave a 7 am but the fog delayed us until 9:30. After that it was a sunny warm cruise down the river with NO debris. It is very remote area but the shore is beautiful in its ruggedness.


As you can see from the chart, we travel in all directions.

Captain Chip from Chips Ahoy Grand Harbor Marina

We are now at Bobby Fish Camp in Silas, AL (Pop 529) MM 217 on the Black Warrior River .. This is the last oasis to purchase fuel for the next 135 miles. Gasoline, $3.50 a gallon but what can you do if you need it? Fortunately, we didn’t need it. No water, no electricity at this facility, just a safe tie-up . We do have strong air card signal though. We are rafted next to a 59’ Grand Banks Alution/Europa that is being delivered by professional Captain Chip Lucas to the Pan Handle of Florida. (we met Chip at Grand Harbor). He has invited us to have dinner with him and his crew of one, Larry. Larry raced sprint cars, was a national champion and Chip knows boats so Tom will be in testosterone heaven!

Tom fixing a fellow boaters generator


Boats rafted at Bobby Fish Camp
I’m not sure if this is true or not but one book said not to let your dogs run free because of alligators.After having dinner with Chip, I found out it is very true.
When we came back from dinner an 80' boat had docked requiring the boats that had been tied there to move and raft off others. Bummer.

Day 67 Nov 18 Anchor Barrons Landind

Bollard

At dinner in Demopolis

Our route was north south east west


The scenery for the day with lots of debris on shore

Bollard after the water was lowered.


We had dinner at the Demopolis Yacht Basin restaurant with Patsy and Ray off (PatsyRay) and Pete & Linda (Where’s Linda) and other new acquaintances.
We departed Demopolis Yacht Basin after a one night stay. We chose to be the 2nd wave out of the marina at 7:30 AM. There is quite a bit of debris floating forcing a close observation and dodging floating driftwood. We traveled 50 miles and one lock and arrived at Barron’s Landing around 1:00. With 5 boats setting anchor or rafting we were secured at 2:30, cocktails at 5:00 with Ted and Nancy aboard Aloha Friday who we rafted next to. Tom and Ted had a lot in common since they were both in the Seabees. I was fascinated with the fact that while in the Navy Ted worked with training dolphins.

I took some pictures for those of you who have not seen a bollard in a lock. There are usually only 12 bollards in a lock (6 each side). If we lock with several boats we generally rig both sides as you can’t be sure which side will be available. Tom drives the boat close enough to the wall for me to get a line around the bollard. Not always as easy as it sounds. I think we found the solution using a boat pole that Tom fabricated using some brackets and clamps. One end of the line is tied to a cleat. Leaving several feet of loose line, I then hook it to the end of the pole keeping the other end in my hand. I can wrap the line around the bollard without having to get so close to the lock wall.

But first things first; you must wear a life jacket. Once headed into the lock determine which side to use. When you get close enough to the bollard, check for snakes!!! Then proceed with the above.