Crossing Denied! Thanksgiving in Destin, FL

Tuesday, November 24 -  Our destination today was the free dock in Fort Walton Beach.  There is no power available, but there is water and a free pumpout.  All you have to do is call the municipal office to ask permission to spend the night,  The office calls the police and asks them to look out for you.  Free or not, the city dock was not all that great because we were exposed to wakes from passing boats, plus the changing tides.  The incoming tide caused a lot of movement in the boat throughout the night even though we were securely tied to the dock.  Also, there was a derelict boat (no hatch cover) in the slip next to us.  Apparently a homeless couple spent the night on the boat - and it was a very cold night (30's)!  A positive was that we were able to walk to the Publix to buy some food and also we found a nice local pub for dinner.   

              Another beautiful sunset - this one from the Fort Walton Beach free dock.

Wednesday, November 25 - We left at 7:30 a.m. (along with Mazel Tug) because our destination, Panama City, was approximately 65 miles away.  It was our plan to arrive in Panama City and spend Thanksgiving there.  The first 30 miles of the cruise involved crossing Chotawhatchee Bay, which runs from west to east.  Unfortunately, over the last several days the strong wind was from the east and that caused large waves to build.  Down here, the term "rough" is used to describe these conditions.  In Lake Michigan, the waves would be described as 3 to 5 feet.  We were cruising directly into the waves so the ride was pitching up and down and not rolling, which is more comfortable than rolling.  Nevertheless, almost every wave was breaking over the bow and it was very uncomfortable.  After an hour of this, we radioed Mazel Tug and told them that we were turning back.  Because Mazel Tug is a slightly larger boat and because they were on a travel schedule, they decided to push on.

                     Views from inside LeeLoo's pilot house as we crash into the waves.

Once we turned around, we pulled into the town of Destin and tried to find a marina only to find out that none of the marinas answered their phone or their radio.  We were finally able to contact Harborwalk and discuss the possibility of a transient slip there. They said they would call us back and let us know.  Now all this time, we are out on the bay in the rough water.

Because of the uncertainty of where we would tie up, we decided to go back to Fort Walton Beach only to find that we couldn't stay a second night at the city dock.  Fort Walton Beach has an ordinance that allows only one night per boat.  Nancy pleaded our case and asked for an additional night.  Shortly after Nancy got off the phone with Fort Walton Beach Municipal Office, we received a call from Shannon at Harborwalk who said they were able to find a slip for us.  We turned around yet again and headed back to Harborwalk.  

Harborwalk isn't really a marina, it is more like Navy Pier.  No showers or laundry facilities are available.  They only have 2 transient slips available - we were lucky to get one!  Harborwalk caters to the tourists wishing to shop, eat, take harbor boating tours, and arrange for commercial fishing charters.  We are docked directly beside Margaritaville and the music is non-stop!  Quite an experience.

Thursday, November 26 - So, here we sit on Thanksgiving - it is quite beautiful at Harborwalk with a high of 75 degrees and sunny skys.  The stern of our boat faces a beautiful sandy white beach.

Our view from LeeLoo's stern while docked at Harborview - a beautiful white sandy beach!

Yet another spectacular sunset from LeeLoo's stern overlooking the beach - we never tire of the sunsets.


We wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!  With luck, the wind will die down and we will be able to leave for Panama City on Saturday.    

Florida at Last!

Thursday and Friday, November 19 and November 20 - We left Turner Marine Service with a repaired LeeLoo!  Unfortunately, once we were out on Mobile Bay, the water was very rough again.  Before we left Turner, we "battened down the hatches" so to speak, so we were in pretty good shape even in rough conditions.  It was not an easy cruise across Mobile Bay because we had to stay in the channel.  But once we entered the ICW (Intercoastal Waterway), conditions settled down and it felt like we were back on the rivers!  A highlight of the cruise was stopping at LuLu's, a well-known restaurant that is owned by Jimmy Buffet's sister, LuLu.  There was a courtesy dock along the ICW, so we docked LeeLoo and enjoyed the ambiance of LuLu's!  

                                        

                                  LeeLoo docked at courtesy dock alongside LuLu's.

After a great lunch at LuLu's, we cruised to The Wharf Marina in Orange Beach, Alabama.  Now this was a marina!  There was shopping and even a movie theater!  We treated ourselves to a movie - a luxury we haven't had in the last couple of months!

Saturday-Monday, November 21-23 - We left Orange Beach on Saturday, continuing down the ICW.  We were very excited to see a Bald Eagle fishing for his breakfast.  It was a beautiful Bald Eagle and he came very close to our boat.  But, what thrilled us more was seeing lots of Dolphins!  We have been told that we will continue to see Dolphins, but seeing them for the first time was really awesome!

The scenery along the ICW really looks like the "South"!  We started seeing sandy banks and palm trees.  Then we saw the sign welcoming us to Florida! 

                                          Welcome to Florida Sign.

                                            Sandy Beaches along the Shoreline.

                             Even the homes along the ICW look like Florida homes!

As we neared Pensacola, we passed a several tows pushing barges.  We did pass a tow boat that was not pushing a load - it was such a pretty tow boat, so we are including pictures of it.

                                             Tow boat along the ICW.

We arrived in Pensacola and stayed at Palifox Pier Marina which is in downtown Pensacola.  Finally, we were at a marina where we could walk to restaurants and shopping.  We even found a grocery store that was similar to Whole Foods that was about 1.25 miles away. 

                                          LeeLoo docked at Palifox Marina.

The temperature was a high of 72 on Saturday!  On Sunday, a big weather front moved in and the temperature dropped in the low 50's - and it was in the 30's Sunday night!  Brrr . . . we aren't used to cold weather!  By Monday, the wind had died down and we were back in the low 60's.  The weather forecast will continue to get warmer every day.  We heard about all the snow in the midwest and are glad we aren't there!

                                        Sunset from Palifox Pier Marina - beautiful!

A highlight of our visit to Pensacola was meeting up with Nancy's brother and sister-in-law, Charles and Carol.  Charles and Carol live in the nearby town of Milton.  They picked us up for breakfast at a local restaurant, then took us on a driving tour of Pensacola.  It was great to see them!
 
On Monday, Carey took a taxi to the National Naval Aviation Museum and Nancy stayed behind and took a walking tour of Historic Pensacola.  Unfortunately, Historic Pensacola is closed on Monday so it was not possible to go inside all the old homes.  But, it was a beautiful day to walk around.

                                        Old church in Historic Pensacola.

Tomorrow we plan to cruise to Fort Walton Beach where we will try to tie up to a free dock. After that we head to Panama City for Thanksgiving.   We will once again be traveling with Mazel Tug.

Carey's Reflections on the Loop . . .

The first phase of our Great Loop Adventure – the river system -- is complete.  Depending on where you start the Loop, the river section could appear anywhere along the journey.  Since we started in Racine, Wisconsin, we were tasked with doing the rivers first.  Here are some statistics and observations on our trip so far:

Miles travelled by boat (Racine, WI to Mobile AL:  1879 miles (By car, much less.  As the crow flies, even less.)

River systems we traveled on:

1.  Chicago River

2.  Chicago Sanitary Ship Canal

3.  Des Plaines River

4.  Illinois River

5.  Mississippi River

6.  Ohio River

7.  Cumberland River

8.  Tennessee River (to Chattanooga and back)

9.  Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway

10.  Tombigbee River

11. Black Warrior River

12. Mobile River

Number of Locks we passed through:  30 (four locks twice)

1.  Eight up

2.  Twenty two down (easier since less turbulence)

3.  Lowest change:  15 feet

4.  Highest change (Wilson) 98 feet

Some observations about the rivers:

Most of the time we were traveling down river; with the current.  That typically added one to one and a half miles per hour to our speed.  And it helped with fuel economy since you could run the engine at a lower RPM to get the speed you wanted.

The rivers were peaceful and clean (no human generated trash).  Except for the Mississippi which was a wide ride because of the current.

There was lots of wildlife.  Too many herons to count, pelicans, and a fair number of bald eagles.  And a few turtles.  Haven't seen any alligators yet, but we've been told we will.

Anchoring proved to be easier than we thought and quite enjoyable.  We are slowly changing all our light bulbs to LED to reduce battery drain while at anchor.

Some observations about where we stayed:

Compared to our home port marina (Reef Point), the marinas along the rural river system are primitive.  People with larger boats use the heads on their boats because . . . well, just because.

Cell service and internet service has been much worse than expected.  I thought I would be able to stay in touch with work with greater success, but alas it was not to be.  That turned out to be a good thing actually.

Food and diesel has been less expensive than expected.  Especially diesel fuel (~$2.50 or less).

No recycling!  Do you know how many beer bottles we (mostly me) generate?

It’s easy to borrow the courtesy car to run into town.   Pretty much no questions asked re insurance and the like.  We have been told that there won’t be courtesy cars in Florida.