Wednesday, October 13, 2021
Temp: 85/69, Humidity: 57/90%, Top Wind: E8 mph, Precip: bright & sunny, Miles Traveled: 68
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I’m starting this post with the BEST of the day – the sunset over the Gulf! I had no idea how much I have missed this until we went to dinner at the beach, I had a fruity rum drink and some delicious grilled grouper, walked in the sand, and watched the sunset. I am so glad we’re almost home. It has been a great trip, but in the words of Dorothy Gale, “There’s no place like home”. I’m usually homesick for Washington State and my family and all that is there because that’s where I’m from. But man on man, have I missed the sand, palm trees, sea breeze, dolphins, gentle lapping of waves on my feet, and sunset beauty beyond belief. Panama City isn’t home – we still have a few hundred miles to go. But it really teased me more than I expected.
The day started out nice and warm and calm as we left our little slip. It was obviously somebody’s spot because there were lines on all of the cleats and pilings. I’m just glad they didn’t come back while we were here!
Here’s that crazy big boat with the huge advertising sign! I don’t have any idea how this can be a profitable venture.
It was a little bit choppy going across the Choctawhatchee bay. We had an easterly wind plus our own 9mph wind blowing in our face. It actually was really comfortable, but the sunshine was so bright and glare on the water was blinding. Even though the water is coffee brown in color.
Once we got across the Bay, we were in a fairly narrow channel for several miles. And wouldn’t you know it, we found the only tow in the panhandle? We were going the same direction, so requested instructions to overtake him. He had us pass on the two before the next curve. We picked up the pace a bit to get around him in time. He just had two barges, but they weren’t very far away!
We zoomed!
We were actually in a ditch, with sand, sandstone and trees on both sides. Some of the sand formations were really ineresting how they’ve weathered. Some sand washes away, and some doesn’t, leaving really neat sculptures.
I was surprised at how really red the water is here!
It was a pretty canal, with trees all along. There wasn’t much devastation visibile in the forest, so maybe this part wasn’t hit hard by the recent several hurricanes.
The water is so dark, it reminded us of the Dismal Swamp.
This was our 68 mile day today. It wasn’t over exciting, but we did finally find civilization around Panama City, We pulled around the point and into Grand Lagoon to find our Treasure Island Marina.
There were a lot of boats, marinas, rental boats, pontoons, tour boats, jet skis, parasail boats, you name it – coming and going through the narrow channel here. We found our marina, but nobody responded on the radio. We pulled up to the fuel dock and somebody came out to assist us. We just floated while I told him that we didn’t need fuel, but that we had a reservation and just needed direction to our slip. Easy peazy, they had us tie up to a nearby T-head. Sweet! We got all settled in and cooled down. I looked at the weather, and told Kenny that I was getting nervous about a front that is coming on Saturday afternoon. So we developed a plan to leave really early from Carrabelle, in the dark, to give us plenty of time to get to Clearwater before the bad weather comes in. It makes me nervous because if the weather comes faster, or if we have trouble and have to go slow, we’ll be screwed. 😬. Eeeeek!
I found place nearby on the beach to go have dinner. It sounded like a great idea to see the beach and watch a sunset over the Gulf. It was less than a mile walk which wouldn’t kill us. When we got there, there was a huge pile of people outside waiting for tables. DANG! But- true to our new form, we went in and checked the bar. There were two bars, and the one farthest from the street (nearest the beach) had a couple of seats without much counter space. So we took them! Good deal! We ordered a couple of drinks and some food, then a couple of other seats opened up, so we moved over just a bit for more space. It worked out great! I went outside to check out the beach scene, and I found people playing volleyball, sand in my shoes, laughter, tiki torches, a fire pit, people swimming… ahhh! The BEACH! It’s fantastic!!
The sun was just getting ready to set, and it was so pretty!
A little two on two volleyball game going on added to the fun.
We enjoyed a good meal, a great sunset, a fantastic vibe that we’ve both been missing. We’re both excited to get back to our own digs!
As we were leaving, Kenny got an email that is changing our plans. Yesterday we sent in a request to Chris Parker’s Marine Weather Center for forecast and routing information for our crossing from Carrabelle to Clearwater on Saturday. We requested a two day forecast. We got an initial response this evening from him and he suggested that if we can cross on Friday, it would be a better choice in his opinion. Yep – that confims what I’ve been afraid of with Saturday. I hadn’t really been looking at Friday, because Saturday has been looking so good! But yes- we can make Friday work. We’ll just need to blast off waaaay early tomorrow to go all the way to Carrabelle, which is nearly 100 miles from here. We’ll completely skip Apalachicola AGAIN this time. But hey – that is why we beat feet to get here, so that if we needed to pick up the pace, we’d have that option. YIKES! The next two days are going to be crazy!!! Hold on Toto – we’re about to burn rubber.
Beautiful site. Get home safe.