We started out real easy, didn't leave our slip until about 10 am and went slow to savor the day.
These townhouses were along the channel by Perdido Key just after we entered Florida waters.
The sand was so white it looked like snow!
We took the dinghy to shore for a great beach walk.
Large variety of shells, many in good shape.
Just us and the birds; made for a peaceful stay.
Glad we had our down comforter as the evening temps dropped down into 40's. The next day, Feb 7 we headed out in calm winds and slight fog.
Then we did it! Crossed our wake near Pensacola, FL.
Unfortunately, the wind was picking up, clouds were rolling in and it wasn't the right time to toast with champagne. Actually, it wasn't a good time to even be on the water! Which may explain why we had not seen any other boaters that morning.
The rain came in buckets, with wind gusts of 30-60 mph, and lightening strikes all around with no delay between flash and sound. Lasted about an hour, and was certainly the worst storm we have ever been in on a boat. Whew!
We anchored soon after at Spectre Is., behind Santa Rosa Beach after a hard 40 mile day. A bit windy and cool, with wave chop overnite. No one else around, but a safe anchorage.
We left early the next morning and spent a lot of time on plane (that means 20-22 mph). Skies cleared and we made good progress to Panama City. Found a nice quiet anchorage just south of town and took the opportunity to have a cold one and hoist our Gold Looper flag.
This is how it looks on the waterway south of Panama City. Very remote area.
Our next stop was Apalachicola, a town of about 2400 close to the Gulf but protected by barrier islands. It relies heavily on fishing and oysters, but is becoming a tourist draw and retirement town.
The marina we stayed at was well protected and only a few blocks from the center of town.
We enjoyed more delicious oysters and toasted our good fortune while overlooking the river on a foggy afternoon.
And we even were treated to a Mardi Gras parade. Lots of friendly, happy people and some good weather for a change.
We stayed 5 days in Apalachicola waiting for the Gulf to settle down for our crossing. We walked much of the town and rented bikes to fetch groceries and reach farther areas. Quite a mix of rich and poor houses, but this balcony gave us pause;
There were other Loopers waiting to cross, some had been there a week before we arrived. We enjoyed meeting everyone for "docktails" and had 11 people inside Happy Daze one evening.
We joined a flotilla of 5 boats heading out Feb 14 about 2:30 pm. From the river we could still see how the town had two faces; shiny and new (these are houseboats for rent on VRBO),
along with old and falling down.
We went out Government Cut without problem. It was overcast, but calm, with waves expected to be about 2 ft before laying down to 1 ft later in our crossing. Once the waves died down I decided to go up on plane and make some distance. Unfortunately, all we got was stuttering and the dreaded red warning light "Check Engine". I couldn't see any thing amiss in the engine room, temp was fine and oil pressure good. The engine seemed to run fine at low rpm, so we continued on at about 8 mph with fingers crossed. The fog intensified so we relied on radar to keep track of everyone. We only met one other boat later that night, a larger fishing vessel crossing our course. We exercised caution and waited for them to cross about a 1/4 mile in front of us. The next morning we said good-bye to the flotilla for a more southerly course direct to Bradenton. The other boats were going to Tarpon Springs.
Still not sure what is to follow. We'll get the engine problem fixed and come back probably in April to explore a bit of SW Florida. After that ??
