Gulf Crossing

Buddy said Wednesday would be the only day to get out of Carrabelle for another week, so we left at 7 am, with Brown Eyed Girl and Free to Be to make a fast run.  The Carrabelle River and Intracoastal were fine.  As we headed toward the buoy to make our turn south, waves were about 2 feet.  An hour later, they started building and didn't get better for the whole run.  Often the wave patterns were confused and swells came from different directions.  About 2 hours out from our goal of Tarpon Springs, the other boats continued south toward Clearwater as we turned more east.  We used so much fuel fighting the waves that we came into Hudson, as it was closer than Tarpon Springs.  We made use of our Boat US membership and are glad we did, as Captain Red could give us local information about which fuel source was closest and it wasn't the one we thought-the chart (remember, water is important, not land) doesn't indicate that it's 6 miles (all no wake) into the marina we had in mind.  We were on the water for 10 hours today and are glad we are not among those who left Carrabelle this morning soon after us and will be on the water most of the night because of their speed limitations.  Sorry no pictures-that was the last thing on our minds today.

Hotel California

John says we must have inadvertently checked into Hotel California, as it seems we'll "never leave".  It's Sunday, November 27 and now Tuesday won't be good to go across the gulf after all.

Today is Tuesday, November 29.  Wednesday and Thursday are now looking like possible gulf crossing days.  Yesterday Suki and Hal stopped to visit on their way back to Anna Maria Island from Pensacola.

John and Hal attended high school together, their time in Vietnam overlapped, they roomed and rode motorcycles together after their army years, and they actually graduated from Central Michigan University on the same day 20 plus years after their high school graduation.  We went to Apalachicola for lunch, then surprised Mary and John, who have been trapped there almost as long as we have been in Carrabelle.

John, Mary, Mary, John

There are now 10 looper boats here and we'll all meet Buddy at 6 am Wednesday morning to see what he recommends.  2 of the boats that came in today are fast, so we'll cross with them when the window opens. 

Still in Carrabelle

We moved here on the last good weather day, Monday, November 21.  It appears that the next good weather day on the water will be Tuesday, November 29, so that is probably when we will cross the Gulf to Tarpon Springs.  In the meantime, we are making the best of our extended stay.

Mary Frances at her Carrabelle home:

The no-see-ums in Pensacola notified their Carrabelle cousins that sweet, tender John would make an excellent dinner and they were waiting.  We arrived here late afternoon, so John first rinsed the salt off the boat and was hooking up the electricity just about dusk and ......... we had to go to the drugstore the next day to buy more antihistamines.  It's a good thing the doctor in Pensacola prescribed such a large tube of steroid cream.  John is now confined to the boat at dawn and dusk.

Town is close to the marina, about 1/2 mile, and there is an IGA right across the highway.  Sidewalks come out this far, so we have been able to walk and bike.  Friday, after John replaced the innertube in Mary's front tire, we rode into town to the local history museum and to the Camp Gordon Johnston World War II Museum.  20 miles of beach here were used to train soldiers in amphibious assault (think D-Day).  We then rode west across the bridge to a small island.  We need to buy a couple more tubes, as both of John's tires go soft overnight, but the Ace Hardware only had one.  The family-owned hardware store was still closed for the Thanksgiving holiday so we'll check there later.

Carrabelle was originally a cotton shipping port, then lumber (like many Michigan towns).  Next came fishing and now it's a quiet town that relied on tourists until the economy crashed.

A few fishing boats still base operations here:

John mounted the EPIRB (emergency beacon that will allow rescue crews to find us) we bought in Pensacola and worked on the "ditch bag"-the bag we'll grab to take in the dinghy with us if something goes wrong with the boat during the Gulf crossing.  We should have had these for our many great lakes crossings!

According to the woman at the WWII museum, Carrabelle police actually used to operate out of a phone booth:

Low tide-these are a little bigger than the zebra mussels on Michigan dockposts:

Panama City and Carrabelle

While it was raining Saturday, John did some laundry.  It's a bit of a challenge putting sheets on the bed:

We left Pensacola Sunday morning at 8:30.  We heard Passport on the radio, so butted in and had a short radio visit with John and Mary, whom we hadn't seen since the rendesvous.  We passed Lauren Grace, Eagle One, and Passport then let Mary Frances have her head and were in Panama City before 4 pm.

We've driven over this bridge from Pensacola to Fort Pickens many times.  Here's a slightly different view:

Our wake is much foamier in salt water.

Here's Mary taking a picture of Mary taking a picture of Mary.....

Isn't Passport handsome underway?

The Gulf Intracoastal from Pensacola to Panama City varies.  Cypress swamp:

Man-made cut, the Grand Canyon of the GICW (Gulf Intracoastal Waterway):

Marshy grasslands:

At Panama City, we walked to the only restaurant in walking distance that was open Sunday, Bayou Joe's.  It's built over the water (evidently Florida law no longer allows this, so as these places are destroyed by storms, this old Florida tradition dies) and the very large catfish love any leftovers.  We didn't take the camera to dinner, but here's Mary Frances in her slip at Panama City Municipal Marina:

We traveled from Panama City to Carrabelle Monday to be ready to make the Gulf Crossing to Tarpon Springs as soon as weather permits. We have had dolphins swimming near our boat, but it's much easier to take a picture when they're swimming under someone else's bow:

The GICW between Panama City and Carrabelle:

They need to bring  a snagboat through here.  Dodged a lot of sticks, logs, trees; had one "thunk" but all seems fine.

Will there be room for us to squeeze through? This scene reminded us of entering the Manistee River back in August!  These fishermen are gathered at a spot where there is a way out to the gulf from the intracoastal:

A casualty of the last big storm?

At Appalachiocola, the waterway leaves the sheltered, narrow path and moves out into Appalachiocola Bay.  Um, John, that looks like a Coast Guard boat behind us and its blue lights are flashing...

After a courtesy safety inspection, we were back underway.  Before we noticed the Coast Guard boat, we were conversing by radio with Harbour Reach.  After our inspection, the coaties visited Mary and Bill.

Oyster harvesting:

We arrived at Carrabelle Monday, fueled, moved into our slip and prepared to make the most of our time here, as it will be a long visit.  The forecast is not conducive to a gulf crossing.  This town has been badly affected by the economy.  We had a hard time finding a restaurant open for lunch yesterday (Wednesday) and gave up looking for a possibility for Thanksgiving dinner out.  We are the only loopers in this marina-those slower boats are still in Panama City and those who were here ahead of us left Monday, the last good traveling day (the day we arrived).

This morning, we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.  We are planning a "Thansgiving dinner in a sandwich" with cranberry sauce and John is marinating beets and green beans for a salad side dish.  We've talked to our kids and we'll watch Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving later today.  We are thankful that we have the opportunity to have this adventure and that we have people who care enough about us to follow this blog. Happy Thanksgiving.

Further Pensacola Adventures

Here are a few pictures of Mary Frances underway, taken by Francine on My Way.  Thank you, Francine.

It's not often we have a picture of both of us!  A side note-Mary's rainsuit is old.  She leaves little blue crumbs (Hansel and Gretel-like) whenever she wears it.

Mary Frances at the White Cliffs:

Francine did a much better job capturing all the birds around our boat.

Mary Frances in the busy port of Mobile.

Thanks again, Francine. We miss you.

Tuesday Kathy and Mike, accompanied by Carol and Jim,  picked us up at 12:15 and we went to the Officers' Club for lunch.  Then we visited Fort Barancas, a Civil War fort on the Naval Air Station.  This fort was part of the coastal defense.  The Confederates seized it when they captured the Navy Yard at Pensacola.

Mary, Kathy, and Carol on the drawbridge:

We next drove to Fort Pickens on one of the barrier islands that make up Gulf Islands National Seashore.  Fort Pickens is the only fort on this part of the coast that stayed in Union hands.

 Carol, Jim, and Kathy with part of Fort Pickens in the background.

Aren't storks on the roof supposed to be good luck?

Wednesday morning we called a taxi to take us to the Pensacola Naval Hospital complex to acquire some steroid cream and antihistamines for John, who had gone head-to-head (actually proboscis <remember this from the old cootie game?> to legs) with a swarm of salt water no-see-ums while biking on Saturday.  (It's Saturday again and the 2 dozen or so bites finally look as though they're fading.)  On the plus side-our Consumers' Energy bill this month was only $15.65.  Now don't spoil our fun by pointing out the price of gasoline and marinas!

Thursday we decided to take a walk instead of a bike ride.  We broke up our 2 hours (40 minutes at a fast clip) with a salad at the O Club.  Later, Mary was reading up on deck and called John up to see a heron swallow a fish it had just caught.  It held the wiggling fish in its beak then tossed it up so it came straight down head first into that big beak.  We watched as the fish wiggled its way down the heron's throat.  Talk about fresh!

These guys look very big up close and are comfortable pretty close to people:

A pretty night sky:

Friday we accomplished one of Mary's goals-we took both a long bike ride and a brisk walk! 9 1/4 miles on the bikes and 30 minutes of walking at a brisk pace.  Hurray for modern medicine!  We saw a pelican plunge into the bay and, the second its head appeared above water, a seagull perched on it.  The gull stayed put as the pelican tipped its head back and swallowed whatever tidbit it had found.  The pelican finally shook it loose and the gull flew away, unsuccessful in its quite clever attempt at a "free lunch". We ate lunch at the club again, but there was much more energy (and noise!) as a class of student pilots was celebrating the completion of the academic phase of their training.  It was fun to witness their enthusiasm and camaraderie.

It's Saturday and the weather has still not been good for our next move, cold and rainy today but tomorrow looks promising.  With the water like this in the protected marina, imagine what it's like in the bay:

Pensacola

It's Saturday, November 12, and I (Mary) have to keep interrupting dishwashing to watch the Blue Angels fly over our boat.  Wow.

We left Fairhope about noon on Friday, after our dinghy had been delivered.  We were sad to leave Francine and Wayne, especially as they wanted to leave, too, but have to wait for their turbocharger to be rebuilt so are stuck until Tuesday or Wednesday.  We headed out into Mobile Bay, then turned south to intersect the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.  We docked at Lulu's (Jimmy Buffet's sister's restaurant) and had lunch with Kathy and Mike and their friends Carol and Jim.

Scenery along the Intracoastal is different from the rivers:

As we were entering Pensacaola Bay to make our way to the Navy's Bayou Grande Marina, a nighttime air show was echoing overhead.  As the entrance to the marina is tricky, Mary kept saying "Wow.  Don't look, John, just keep an eye on the green and red channel markers."

It was pretty dark by the time we found a spot to tie up.  Boaters from 2 boats already in the marina came to catch our lines.  It was dark enough, and we were busy enough, that we didn't realize until Saturday morning that one of the people who helped us was Larry from Miss Lauren Grace.  We last saw Larry and Theresa at Florence, Alabama, a month and a half ago.  The others who helped were Sue and Jim aboard Eagle One.  Jim is a retired Colonel from the Ohio National Guard, so has been to Camp Graying many times.  It's a small world and the boating world seems even smaller.

Moonrise over Pensacola Bay:

Saturday we rode our bikes to the air show.  Automobile traffic wasn't too bad when we arrived at 10:30, but by the time we left at 1:30, cars were parking by the old hospital walls (for those who've been here) and people were being shuttled from there.  

A Japanese Zero and a Dauntless Divebomber fly together in a show of our alliance with Japan:

A Corsair:

A P-51 Mustang and an A-10 Warthog in an honor flight recognizing all veterans.  It was very touching:

A Curtis Pusher:

Pensacola Lighthouse:

Barancas National Cemetery:

We did ride 10 miles and ended the day with wine and snacks aboard Eagle One.

Sunday we again started our day with a bike ride.  It's nice to have a safe place to ride.  John went to the Naval Air Museum, while Mary straightened the boat, worked on the blog, did dishes and read Water for Elephants. (You were right, Sarah.  I liked it a lot.)

Monday we started the day with a nice 40  minute walk to the credit union and along a nature trail.  Back at the boat we picked burrs off our shoes and socks.  John did dishes and Mary worked on the blog while we waited for the marina pick-up to become available so we could go to the commissary.

This pump-out device adds new meaning to "pump" out.  Yes, John is actually pumping the handle:

Fairhope, Alabama

To continue last night's wind story:  We had to latch the shower and stateroom (bedroom) doors because the boat was rocking so much they were sliding in and out. At the dock!  In spite of the "glad we don't get seasick" comment yesterday, Mary had to stop using the computer and couldn't read, either.  She was okay watching "Happy Days" and Northern Exposure" before we were rocked (if somewhat violently) to sleep.

This is our 4th day here.  The first evening we went to the Fly Creek Cafe with Francine and Wayne for a beer and succumbed to the temptation of fried green beans, as none of us had ever tried them. They were surprisingly good, the beans were tender-crisp under their breading.  The cafe is about 100 yards across the creek from our boat, but 3 miles to walk or drive.  Afterward we, along with Rich and Carol from Salt 'n Sand, enjoyed a delicious spaghetti dinner aboard "My Way".  Francine and Wayne are excellent hosts.  Carol made cheesecake for dessert.

Monday Kathy and Mike visited.  Tuesday we had dinner at Fairhope's Grand Hotel (first built in 1847) with Rich, Carol. Francine, and Wayne.  Once again, Mary's dinner was so pretty we wished we had brought the camera.  The food was good, as was the company.  Wednesday Rich and Carol left to move "Salt 'n Sand" across Mobile Bay, where they will leave her while they drive home to New Jersey.  We hope our paths cross again on the trip.  If not, we'll see them in Cape May, NJ, where they are AGLCA Harbor Hosts.

Wednesday afternoon Wayne, Francine and we were joined by Cindy and Ed on "Ka-Dee-Anna" for a trip to Daphne to see Malbis Memorial Church.  We had last seen Ed and Cindy at Bobby's Fish Camp.  The Greek Orthodox Church is a copy of a Byzantine church in Athens, Greece.  

The mosaics and murals are beautiful and the altar backdrop is a hand-carved white marble wall.  Well worth the drive.

We all drove to Fairhope, after stopping to let the brakes cool part way there.  No warning light on this courtesy car, but.... We again had lunch at Panini Pete's then went our separate ways until it was time to meet at the courtesy van for the trip back to the marina.  We took a nice, brisk walk to the waterfront park.  The marina staff replaced a brake caliper.

At about 3 this morning, the wind switched directions.  From a west wind which pushed water into Fly Creek, we now have a north wind which is pushing the water out of the creek.  The tide we've experienced here has been about 1 foot.  Today the low tide plus the wind have resulted in a drop of about 3 feet.  Our depthfinder showed 1 1/4 feet below the bottom of the boat.  Some boats have NO water:

There was no beach here yesterday:

Compare this picture to yesterday's!  The towel on the seat was a gift from Francine and Wayne.  The exclamation point period is a maple leaf.

Mobile Bay

By 6am and within about 10 minutes Sunday morning, all 9 boats were untied and lined up for the run to the lock-the LAST lock for us until the East coast.  32 locks have been quite enough for now, thank you. Some local birds have learned to take advantage of the fact that small fish sometimes get caught on the doors as the water is lowered.

It's another pretty day on the river, but it will be a long one.  We have 134 miles to travel today before our planned stop in Fairhope, AL.

These guys sure like whatever it is we're churning up!  Of course, we'll suffer the consequences of having hundreds of birds flying around our boat.  John will be washing more than salt off the deck tonight.

We passed the Appledore for the second time, heading south from its summer port of Bay City, Michigan.  It looks a lot different with its mast down.

The 14 mile railroad swing bridge has been replaced with a new lift bridge, but there's still only 4 feet of vertical clearance, so we have to wait for it to open.  Here the old span rests on a barge.

A pelican!  I know, we'll be tired of them before the trip is done, but the first one is exciting.

We've traveled from 400 feet above sea level to arrive at Mobile Bay, a very busy commercial port:

Guess who's here?!

Yup, it's Kathy and Mike, our friends from Midland, Michigan.  They visited us on our boat in Chicago when they were there to celebrate their son's birthday and they brought their 5th wheel to Gulf Shores, Alabama, a week ago.  We went into Fairhope, a delightful city, and had lunch together at Panini Pete's in the "French Quarter."  We hope to connect again before they go home.

Wayne and Francine had their boat hauled out to see why one engine was burning 5 gallons of diesel more an hour than the other.  "My Way" needs a new supercharger, so they are sleeping on their boat in the parking lot instead of a slip.  John helps Wayne replace a couple of screws in his trim tab:

At last, a real bike trail!  From the marina, it's an easy ride on a little-traveled residential road to the Eastern Shore Trail.  It's 37 miles long and goes through Daphne one way and through Fairhope the other. We haven't ridden for almost a month, but make 11 and 1/4 miles to Daphne and back.  This part of the trail is named for a couple who loved to bike, but were both killed while riding along the road-at the same place but a few years apart.  We passed an historical marker for Ecor Rouge-the highest elevation on any eastern coastline from Maine to Mexico.

How can we resist having lunch here?  (By the way, if there's anyone who hasn't seen the movie "My Cousin Vinny" we recommend you locate it and prepare to laugh.)

The marina we are in is a working boatyard.  We watched a sailboat have both its masts stepped this morning.  We woke to banging and hammering yesterday.  The dock construction is interesting:

This is the first time we've docked where there is a tide. There is about a foot between high and low tides.  This dock doesn't float-our lines ride up and down the poles.  During low tide, we step off the side of the boat down to that skinny, short piece of dock.  When tide is high, we step off the swim platform up to the dock. Our dinghy is having a Weaver Davit reglued, that's why it's not in the picture.

There is a small fleet of shrimp boats in this harbor.  We've watched a couple of them go out.

It's raining here and the wind is trying to push all of Mobile Bay into Fly Creek, where our marina is located.  The boat is rocking like it does when we're on Mackinac Island and the ferries come in too fast, except there's no reprieve.  It's a good thing we don't get seasick.