About 10 miles before we dropped anchor yesterday, we entered our home state of FLORIDA! From Pensacola we have about 200 miles on the ICW to Carrabelle where we will probably start across the Gulf to Crystal River (30 hours of non-stop sailing).
The ICW is wider here with homes on the inland side. Occasionally points of interest or as Debbie calls it beautiful features like this radar tower appear on the Gulf side.
There are also sections of dead trees. We wonder if this was caused by shifting sands or hurricanes.
Barge traffic is much less frequent here and only one wide (1 x 1).
The temperature has risen and Tom enjoys the cool air while he drives Catrina
Before Tom turns the driving over to Debbie, he gives her a lesson on staying in the middle of the channel. And at the next bend look what appears - a sailboat aground! Lesson learned.
Farther along we see three different boats aground.
We pass Navarre FL which is 25 miles from Pensacola and 15 miles east to Walton Beach.
The white sands are so inviting. Tom puts his foot in the water and decides it is still to chilly to go swimming. He wants to look at our starboard rudder which is still acting up. We pass a home with a trimoran out front.
At Fort Walton Beach we leave the canal and enter Choctawhatchee Bay . The lowest bridge of the trip is the Brooks Bridge. Our guide papers said that if we were 50 feet or less we could take the ICW. This is the test. Brooks is 49 feet today. Remember we are in tidial country.
We made it! If we hadn't made it, this is that we would need - a Sea Tow!
A better answer would be for us to turn around and go back to Pensacola where we could exit the ICW and sail in the Gulf.
Choctawhatchee Bay is 27 miles long or 129 square miles. It is a big Lake. Choctawhatchee River is the 4th largest fresh water river in Florida and the main source for this Bay which ranges from one to six miles in width. Destin is located on the south shore about one third of the way along. We go under the 292 Mid Bridge just after Destin. It is 65 feet tall.
If you think we are obsessed with the height of our mast, just remember it has been down since Michigan City, IN!
On the Bay we need to stay in the deep areas. If it is shallow, there are markers to keep us centered but most of the trip Tom tells Debbie a compass direction and she puts the autopilot on it and we putt along at 7 mph. We pass a number of sailboats including a MacGregor and a Hobie.
All marker posts on this part of the trip are equipped with Solar so that a light can be seen at night. They also come with one or more birds!
The third bridge on the Bay is on the far east end and is called the 331 State Road Bridge. After we go under it (65 feet), we look for a mooring on the Gulf Side. We stop about 2 miles from the ICW canal in the lake because we are not sure from our map if it is deep enough on the side of the canal to moor during the night. We check the Tides Chart and find that the water level may drop as much as two feet. We have traveled 56 miles today in 8 1/4 hours. The sunset is very colorful as we enjoy our Red Beans and Rice with salad dinner.
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