From 'Bama to Florida

GIWW to Panama City.

We left Mobile & crossed the muddy bay in reasonable weather with choppy water & wind that changed direction 3 times during the trip across. We entered the GWII (Gulf intracoastal waterway) and travelled 33 miles passing Orange Beach, & marinas & holiday homes to stay at The Wharf. This is a grand complex consisting of a large marina, high rise condominiums, a cinema, a street with a huge variety of shops & restaurants all lined with palms which are lit at night. This was all very new & impressive built with the holiday maker/boater in mind with all facilities – a village in it's own right. We enjoyed dinner in one of the many restaurants with Chuck & Vicki & their friends David & Tommy Sue.

The next morning our plan was to have a leisurely start about 9 ish & head for Sandestin but on discovering that the distance was 72 miles we decided to leave immediately as Movin' On is the slower boat & we needed a head start. It was a long day. We travelled through large bays – Perdido & Pensacola which can come up rough but were Ok, many Bayous, & a shallow cut where we watched the bottom stir as we passed through. Pensacola is a large Naval Air Station & home to the Blue Angels (an airforce flying group) but they weren't about this day. We left the state of Alabama and entered Florida near the Big Lagoon – no obvious change just a sign. A long thin stretch of land separated us from the Gulf waters for much of the way and was mainly white sand dunes. However where land allowed, a couple of large cities popped up also and we wondered what would happen in a huge surge or tsunami – the area was very low lying. The marina restaurant was buzzing being a Saturday night & we gave it a miss after the long day. Nights are still cold here as is any wind that gets up. We were in bed by 8.30 !!

Today we travelled 47 miles very easily for after leaving the bay we entered a 20 mile long canal that we could drive on auto pilot. We hit high cruising speeds of 8.5 mph assisted by the current. Midway in the canal this came to an abrupt halt when we came upon a tow and its barges straddling the canal. We called him & he asked that we wait while he guided the barges back parallel alongside the bank (That;s not what he said but we guessed,) We watched impressed as he manoeuvred this powerful tow pushing these 4 barges against the current sideways into the bank. When completed he asked us to “cm'n by”. We wallowed & swung through the huge whirlpools created by the tow. Then we passed a grey haired fellow in a skiff rowing up stream against the current. We saw 2 pairs of bald eagles at each end of the canal (they must have divided the territory) floating high in the thermals. Many dolphins crossed our bow & surfed in our wake in the larger bays. It was a much easier day except for the last bit when we entered our slip with high pole only to tie to & an opposing wind. Thank goodness for bow & stern thrusters – and all done with no screaming. We are at another pleasant marina (Bay Point) in Grand Lagoon near Panama City.

The boat is running really well (& so it should after the money spent on it) & I should touch wood & not jinx it by saying so. We have found the horn now works & the depth indicator on the chart plotter & other annoying things that we couldn't get to work before now do. The electrician who crawled over the boat & under the console & floorboards in the engine room must have tightened up a few connections. He handed Colin a couple of orphan wires that belonged to nothing & led nowhere. So we live in hope.