Change of Heart in Panama City, 12-12-2014

Friday, December 12, 2014

We woke early, made coffee and tea, and talked a bit about the next part of our journey.

As we talked, it seemed that the tail was wagging the dog, or in this case, that deadlines were making us move, as opposed to common sense, or the things we could experience along the way.  We had a full day planned for today, what with laundry to do, errands to run (somehow Kathy had lost her foul weather jacket, so a trip to West Marine was in order).  Packages were being delivered to the marina on Friday. And, one of the activities that was on our list of things to do was to visit the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL.

And the weather window to cross the gulf from Carrabelle, Florida to Clearwater Beach appeared to open on Sunday the 14th.  While in theory, we could have gotten to Carrabelle, some 100 miles away in time to make the crossing, we would have been traveling in the dark, and would have been exhausted, and not in good shape for our 30 some hour sojourn across the gulf.

Our friends in Bradenton told us that we will celebrate the holidays together when we get there and encouraged us to be safe.

The decision was made to keep the rental car through Sunday, visit the Naval Aviation Museum on Saturday, and s-l-o-w down.

So, West Marine was visited purchased, errands run, and we planned for Saturday at the museum.

The folks of the marina told us that every Friday evening in December, downtown Panama City hosts Dickens Evening.  All the shops are open, there are food vendors.  The town is decorated.  It helped get us in the holiday spirit, and downtown was packed!



Kathy in front of the Panama City Christmas Tree



But we think that the most amusing, and popular, feature was the ice slide.  Now understand, the temp high for the day was 78, and the low was 58.

Love the saucer...and the reindeer hat!

And the periodic snow fall around the ice slide. They threw ice into a machine and made ice crystals and shot it over the crowd and replenished the ice slide!

Snow in Panama City, FL

We heard one small child say to her mother that it would be SO FUN if this could happen everyday!  Tim just looked at each other and chuckled.

We had dinner, a glass of wine, and headed back to Sea Fever, looking forward to our trip the National Naval Aviation Museum on Saturday.

 

Early Start, Stuck Barge 12-11-2014

Thursday, December 11, Early start, stuck barge

We left at 7:00 AM.  We seem get up and get going earlier than we did when we were working stiffs!  Our goal today is to get to Panama City Marina in time to fuel up, pump out, pick up a rental car (no courtesy car here), and shop for food.

There is a travel saying that we often use in the Anderson family when queried about how our trip went.  We always say “Made good time”!

Well we were making good time, and thought we would actually get to Panama City earlier than we expected.  At least until the barge traveling in front of us got stuck in the mud going under a bridge.

Barge in the mud

He was pretty well stretched out across the channel, and we had no choice but to wait for him to get out of the way.  We lost at least 45 minutes watching his efforts.  Finally, he got enough to the side so that we could pass on his starboard (right) side.  As we went passed him, Tim hailed him on the radio with a wish that his day would go better. 

He responded “Jest doin’ a crew change, Captain, jest doing a crew change. Have a good one.”

We got to Panama City Marina, with plenty of time to spare.  We were pleased to note that the transient dock was A REAL FLOATING FINGER DOCK. Wide enough to walk on, long enough to span the boat.

Kathy called Enterprise to get a ride to pick up the car at 4:30.  She was told that the driver would call about 5 minutes after he left the office. 4:00 came and went.  As did 4:15.  4:30 passed us by.  Kathy finally called the Enterprise office to ask, in the calmest of tones, where the heck was her ride. She talked to Don the driver.

Don seemed a kindly old gent, who asked Kathy for directions to the marina.  She is always amazed that local folks, even after informing them that we are not from here, ask her for directions.  She resisted, but barely, the inclination to retort “Drive to the water.  Find the parking lot with big docks and lots of boats. I’ll be there! I will be the old Swede with no lips!”

Don finally showed up, Kathy got the car, did shopping and we settled in, knowing that getting on and off the boat would not be what Kathy now calls The Turner Dock Challenge.

The weather window for crossing the gulf from Carrabelle, FL. seemed to be coming up on Sunday. Almost all of the conversation on Sea Fever was devoted to the feasibility of making it to Carrabelle in the time needed.

We shall see, and continue to talk.

Uneventful, but still no pictures of dolphins 12-10-2014

Wednesday, December 10

Today was uneventful.  Squeaked under a few bridges, obviously without incident.

We finally tested the autopilot, and it seemed to work well.  It also allowed us to look around us.  By far, the coolest thing we saw were more dolphins.

The biggest surprise of the day was when we discovered that the anchorage we had picked out, in the wind shadow of a bridge, was filled with cranes and work barges to work on the bridge.  So we went a bit further, found an anchorage that was a bit less protected than we would have liked.  There was quite a bit of wind and waves, and a very strange bumping noise that we never did figure out what it was!  We tucked in, and got ready for an early start.

We got to Florida

Tuesday, Dec 9^th…We got to Florida.

9:40 AM, we passed the border to Florida at the beginning of week 14. YAY. It was a long time coming. Not much to tell about the day.  Our goal was Navarre, Fl, and we had anchored in time to see the glorious sunset and its reflection on the water.

We poured a brandy and a Jameson, and sat in the cockpit and watched the sun go down. And prepared for another day.

Sea Fever from the cockpit at sunset in Navarre, FL

Skyscrapers in Navarre, but the romantic in us thought it looked like a castle

 

 

 

Leaving Turner's and Mobile at last!!! 12-8-2014

December 8^th, 2014

After three long weeks, we got the boat ready to make our way toward Florida.  Tearful goodbyes were said to our friends remaining at Turner's Marina, all of whom will be departing soon to spend Christmas with family and friends. The tearful part was, of course, sentimental Kathy. As we have mentioned, fast friendships are made at these marinas.  Stories are told and expertise is shared.  And then, everyone leaves, hoping to meet again down the line.

We left Turner’s Marina at 7:30 AM, crossed Mobile bay in choppy water, to head for our anchorage At Ingram's Bayou, AL.  Kathy went down below to make some oatmeal.  Too turbulent to deal with boiling hot water.  And Kathy, for the first time in lo these many months, felt queasy down below.  As Tim explains it, your brain and eyes see that things are stable, but your inner ear screams "NO NO NO it is NOT".  Once in the cockpit I was fine, and we settled for peanut butter sandwiches.

Also, for the first time since we left Minnesota, we hoisted our jib and became a motor sailor.  It was great to see those tanbark sails again!

Jib sail hoisted in Mobile Bay
First time since September 7, 2014

We passed by the evidence of our fuel driven economy.  Here is a picture of an oil rig fueling station in Mobile bay.

Oil Rig on Mobile Bay...kind of scary, boys and girls.

At 11:50 AM, we entered the GIWW (the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway).  Onward to Florida!

The waters finally quieted down.  We had been told to be on the lookout for dolphins, and Tim from his vantage point had seen several.  Kathy finally saw her first dolphin at about 3:45.  Try as we would to get pictures, they are way too fast for either the photographer or our camera.  We guess we will just have to keep those pictures in our minds!

At 4:47 PM we made our anchorage in Ingram’s Bayou, just minutes before sunset.

It is a really pretty anchorage, and so quiet.

Quiet waters and another boat in Ingram's Bayou, AL

 We slept well and dreamed of getting to Florida..

 

Should we head out? 12-7-2014

Sunday, December 7^th, 2014

Today marks the start of the 4^th month.

As we left the locks behind a long time ago, that little stat will not be included anymore!

We have traveled 1533.7 miles

Stayed at 25 marinas

Anchored out in 10 anchorages

We were ready to be on our way, and were up before dawn. 

As with all mariners, we checked the weather.  The day promised to be cold, with 18 knot winds, gusting to 22 knots.  That is approximately 20-25 mph.  As we have mentioned before, Mobile Bay is very shallow.  That means the water will be very choppy, not conditions that Sea Fever is amenable to.  We cancelled our plans to leave, and hoped for fairer conditions on Monday.

Boat Repairs, and Boat Parades, Week of December 1, 2014

Week of Monday, December 1,2014

It was a busy week.  La Quinta was about 20 miles from the marina...and there was sunshine in our eyes in both directions as we drove to our destinations.

Most days, both Tim and Kathy drove to the marina, and Kathy went back to the hotel.  After all, laundry still had to be done, sodas and treats needed to be purchased, and other errands needed to be completed since we had transportation. 

So Monday morning, we headed out early to make certain that we would be at the marina to talk to "The Guy" about the repairs necessary on the boat. He showed up about 8, as promised and he and Tim consulted.  After the consultation, Tim authorized the work, and Kathy headed back to the hotel.

Kathy found a Regis hair salon that did an excellent job on her hair…too bad she will never have the opportunity to go back there!  She also scored some new jeans, a necessity since the one’s she brought from home were stretching out!



After four days, repairs to Sea Fever were completed, and she was returned to her slip! Friday, we left the comforts of LaQuinta, and returned home to the boat.



Everything back in
place in the cockpit

 

Sea Fever's new strut
 under the cockpit 



Saturday, December 6th, we spent time getting ready to head out for Panama City, Florida.  We would be anchoring out 3 nights, and hoped we could leave on Sunday.  We again headed to Dog River Marina. pumped out the head, came back to our slip at Turners, loaded the GPS and the hand held radio with batteries, and finished our last load of laundry at Turners.

Saturday night promised to be fun. Holiday boat parades are a very big deal down here where boats actually stay in the water throughout the winter months.  Folks deck out their boats with lights, music, and treats, and parade up and down the bay. 

Along about dusk, we wandered over to the end dock with our friends Mel and Mike, and Marcia and Bill.  Slowly a crowd formed.  Wine and other beverages were being consumed.  For Christmas Girl Kathy, the festive air was just what she needed.

We think, even though we are not Jewish, this was one of our favorite boats.

Shalom Y'all

But there were other cool boats, as well.  It was a wonderful parade…folks throwing things to the crowd…beads, candy, plastic cups.  Folks cheering and clapping. Music coming from the different boats.




Holiday Boat Parade in Dog River, Alabama

The six of us headed to the Yacht Club for dinner and had a great time.  We returned to our boats hoping Sea Fever could leave Turner's the next day, and head across Mobile bay in yet another leg of the waterway, taking us toward our final destination...the west coast of Florida.  Mel and Mike, and Marcia and Bill  wanted to make certain that we had time to say good byes in the morning, and promised to see us off.

 

It will be another leave taking.  It is amazing what you learn about folks in so short a time.  And how you know that you will miss those folks as you (and they) sojourn out to different destinations, different waypoints.

 

We have talked, in this blog, about the kindness of strangers.  I would like to add a few words to that.  There is the also the "friendship of strangers".  How you meet folks, and hope you will keep in touch.  How they touch your heart. How you meet them in different marinas, or even up at the laundry.  You exchange stories. You exchange history. And you connect.

And you become friends of the heart.