PANAMA CITY November 27, 2008

Today we head for Panama City and places East! The sun was shiny when we lifted anchor at 7:45. The temperature was already 62 degrees. We are in Florida at Last. As we left Choctawahachee Bay we were traveling at 7.5 mph. There was a two mph current. We sailed right through the 15 miles of canal and out into West Bay.

The West end of the Canal had high sides and lots of trees. As we moved along it, we moved into grasses and marsh land.

The entrance to West Bay is at the, of course, West Bay Bridge.

On the other side of the Bridge is a very small marina and interestingly enough, it has a small airplane on a hoist (right side)!

West Bay is a quarter moon-shaped body of water. We will travel 25 miles crossing it . It looks big but is relatively shallow so that our trip is from marker to marker. We are passed by a sailboat going the opposite direction and lots of small speeding motor boats. We can see high rises along the Gulf Shore.

Debbie could not get a picture of the three different groups of dolphins we saw in West Bay. They would jump around in front of the boat just far enough ahead to be out of camera range. Then they might appear right next to us but the camera wasn’t ready. Three jumped in unison out of the water just a few feet off our starboard bow. The final insult was when they appeared under our front trapeze but would not swim in front of our bow into picture range. They truly are a “playful” animal!

At the far end of the West Bay we pass under the Hathaway Bridge (50 feet clearance).

Debbie still cannot believe all the bridges are high enough for our mast to make it under! But each time we clear the bridge.

Just beyond the bridge is the only Panama City Marina that Tom could locate that was open on Thanksgiving Day - Bay Side Marina. How we found it is a mystery. Take a look at the navigation chart. The Bridge is shown by two lines crossing the river at its narrowest part. Just above the bridge on the West (Left) side above the road number “30” is a small waterway that winds behind a large square building.

It is down this waterway with a few twists and turns back away from the river that Tom found the Bayside Marina. The owner said he was the only place pumping gas on Thanksgiving and had done it for the last four years! I don’t think staying open on Thanksgiving made a lot of money for him at least in his obscure location!

The passage way is almost the same size as our boat! Along the way residents came out of their houses and talked with us. Their directions were the only reason we found the Marina.

The Sun Harbor Marina was not open on Thanksgiving.

Instead of going out to the Gulf on the St. Andrews River, we continued East into East Bay. It isn’t as wide as West Bay but it is considerably longer and very twisted.
Debbie likes to take pictures of sailboats and here is another one we passed.

The most memorable event of the day was to find electric wires running across the East Bay. They did not look very high.

We did just clear the wires at the highest area next to one of the posts.



Remember one of the signal markers from yesterday? You might wish to get one like this one with five cormorants on top.



Now here is a boat across from where we dropped anchor that you won’t often see.



At the far end of East Bay we found a quiet spot off the marked route and enjoyed another vivid sunset and Debbie’s Birthday Dinner - Tuna Casserole, Beets and Spinach! We had traveled 60 miles in 9 hours. The last day light hour was spent with Tom suiting up and looking at the starboard rudder. It is still there and it still turns!

FLORIDA November 26, 2008

Catrina was snuggled in by the 292 Bridge in Pensacola last night. Nobody bothered us. We were careful picking a spot that was not in a restricted (military) area! The houses along the shore looked deserted. The lights from the Bridge gave us security.
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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INTERCOASTAL WATERWAY November 25, 2008

After a full day Monday, the courtesy car at East Shore become available for a trip to town. After a quick shower, we headed for the Market on the Bay Restaurant, which we discovered closes at 2 p.m. on Monday. We found a restaurant that was open for dinner and then headed home. As we drove into the Marina, it started to rain. By the time we got inside Catrina, it was pouring. A half bucket of water came in the back door probably because the battens were so long we had to stick the ends outside. We did not get the main sail on yesterday as planned and used the darkness and rain as an excuse. When we hopped in bed, we found that a porthole had been cracked, not tightly closed, and the bottom of our bed was very moist. It was a very hard downpour!
This morning we had the main sail on by 7:30 a.m. and headed out into Mobile Bay. The Intercoastal Waterway leaves the East side Mobile Bay 18 miles below the Marina. We decided to sail just to get the kinks out of everything we may be put together backwards. Four hours later we reached the ICW and clocked our morning travel at 4.5 mph. Slow but peaceful!


The ICW connects lakes, rivers and canals so that boaters can travel inland but close to the Gulf. Along the passage are openings to the Gulf. We found the ICW to be very picturesque.




We saw white sand and beach houses and lots of docks and Marinas. We passed as many sailboats as barges. One sailboat reached Debbie on the radio and chatted about our trip. Since much of the inland lakes and rivers are very shallow, we had to be careful to stay in the marked ICW. When the markers are far apart, we know the channel is deeper or wider but when they are close together, we know we must stay right in the center!










We saw unsettled land and a variety of houses along the shores.



We covered about 50 miles to Pensacola FL in 10 ½ hours. We could see the buildings of Pensacola but chose to moor in the shallows at English Navy Cove beside the 292 bridge in Pensacola Bay.

Note: The sunset is behind us. We are at last headed EAST! and we are back in Verizon territory -we again have internet and phone!