Pearl Bayou Fl, to Searcy Creek, Fl

November 30^th, 2015

Monday

Miles Traveled 40.4

Total Miles Traveled 1502

Day 82

We started our day with a beautiful sunrise over the bayou.

 

About 8 a.m. we were treated to an air show.  There is an air force base not far from our anchorage so we had an awesome location to see them practice.

 

We passed “Saphira” in East Bay; we met them at Fort Walton, Fl a couple of weeks ago, they are from Knoxville, TN

 

We did see a few dolphins before leaving East Bay and entering a narrow section of the waterway.

As the waterway narrowed, we passed this ship building company, it seemed to be an odd location and the channel is only 12 feet deep.

Most of this section is swampland on both sides of a narrow canal; we did see a lot of wildlife from here to our anchorage.

We had planned to stop at Port St Joe but decided to continue on and anchor in an ox bow off of Searcy Creek, part of the Intracoastal Waterway.  This anchorage is surrounded by Cyprus swampland and is one of the most beautiful places we have stayed, and believe it or not, no bugs.

 

Shell Island, FL to Pearl Bayou, Fl

November 29^th, 2015
Sunday
Miles Traveled 10.7
Total Miles Traveled 1462
Day 81

After breakfast we took the dinghy to the island for a few hours and had the beach to ourselves.

 

 

I don't know why they call it Shell Island?

 

This was a hard anchorage to leave, but we wanted to be at our next anchorage before dark.  We purchased our Florida fishing license while at Panama City and as soon as we dropped anchor at Pearl Bayou we started fishing.  I started about 15 minutes before Moni, but guess who gets the first bite.  And what a surprise it was.

A Florida Blue Crab.

 

Of course we had to Google if it was legal to keep it, how to clean it, and how to cook it.  Yes, he drew blood before I was able to get control of him. 

I know, it was only one crab, but it tasted great!   
 

I think this is a juvenile eagle. 
 

Pearl Island is a well protected anchorage surrounded by trees.

 

Panama City, Fl to Shell Island, Fl

November 28^th, 2015
Saturday
Traveled 5.2
Total Miles Traveled 1451
Day 80

We enjoyed Shell Island so much yesterday, we decided to come back today and anchor behind the island.  As soon as we dropped the hook, we jumped in the dingy and headed for shore.  This section of the island is very narrow with only a 50 yard walk to the other side and the Gulf of Mexico.

 

Although the temperature was in the upper 70’s, this is as far as I get in 72 degree water.

 

Moni tried her hand at beach art, not bad for a few twigs and shells.

We could watch the sunset on the Gulf while grilling our dinner, another great day on the Great Loop!

 

We can hear the waves crashing on the shore on the other side of the island, I don't think we'll have a problem sleeping tonight.

 

Panama City, Fl Day 5

November27^th, 2015
Friday
Miles Traveled 27.5
Total Miles Traveled 1446
Day 79

We left the marina today with our friends from Terre Haute, Fred and Kathy, and cruised out into the Gulf of Mexico cruising  west up the coast of Panama City Beach.  We had rolling waves of about 3 feet with 8 to 10 mph winds.  We now know what to expect when we make our crossing from the panhandle to the west coast of Florida. 

We came back to Saint Andrews Bay and turned starboard behind Shell Island.  We anchored the boat and the four of us took the dinghy to the island and spent the afternoon walking the beach on the Gulf Coast.

 

 

 

We returned to the marina at sunset.

Panama City, Fl Day 4

November 26^th, 2015
Thursday, Thanksgiving Day
Miles Traveled 0
Total Miles Traveled 1418
Day 78
 

Happy Thanksgiving!  We are still at Panama City and spent the morning putting together a rough plan for the next couple of weeks.  We hear through our daily AGLCA digest that there are about 25 looper boats waiting for a weather window to cross the Gulf of Mexico from Carrabelle to Tarpon Springs or Clearwater Florida.

There are no barrier islands between Carrabelle Florida and Tarpon Springs which is 175 miles, most loopers make the trip all at once and at trawler speed that takes about 22 hours….nonstop.   The option we are considering will take 3 days of good weather to go from Carrabelle to Steinhatchee, to Crystal River, to Tarpon Springs.  This route will require cruising 10 hour days for three days.  The problem with this route is the Gulf of Mexico is very shallow, even at 15-20 miles from shore.  The nautical chart water depths are based on lunar tides, but there is a winter phenomenon that happens when the wind blows from the north, northeast that causes the water level to be lower than the chart depths at low tide.  We are currently in the winter season and the wind has been blowing from the north, northeast for a couple of weeks. We will leave Panama City Saturday morning and have two stops before arriving at Carrabelle.  We will make our decision of what course to follow when we stay at Carrabelle.

Today we joined 14 other loopers for Thanksgiving dinner at a local restaurant and guess who shows up before the dinner bell rings…”Firebird”.  We have had a lot of good times with Joe on this adventure, and we're glad to see him catch up with us from Pensacola.

 

After dinner we had docktails at sunset.

 

 

 

 

Panama City, Fl Day 3

November 25^th, 2015
Wednesday
Miles Traveled 0
Total Miles Traveled 1418
Day 75-77

 

 

We moved to Panama City Marina yesterday and spent the day with our friends Fred and Kathy from Terre Haute.  The wind has been blowing for several days causing the bays to be pretty rough, so we went to the beach by car.  The temperature was in the upper 60’s but the wind made it a little chilly. We spent the day today washing the salt from the boat, a new experience for us.  The salt spray dries and makes everything sticky.  I also changed the oil and filter on the engine, they have a used oil recycling station here. 

 

Jolly Bay, Fl to Panama City, Fl Lighthouse Marina

November 22^nd, 2015
Sunday
Miles Traveled 50.5
Total Miles Traveled 1413
Day 74

Our Jolly Bay anchorage didn’t turn out so Jolly as the wind increased overnight greater than expected.  Although our anchor held tight, the wave action against the hull and the howling wind kept us awake most of the night.  It was quite a change from sitting on the back of the boat a few hours earlier eating our dinner looking over calm waters.

We had to cross about 2 miles of the Choctawhatchee Bay to reach the GIWW channel and the farther south we went, the steeper the waves.  We finally reached the “Grand Canyon” of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.  This section was “cut” by means of a project of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to connect Choctawhatchee Bay to West Bay, extending about 26 miles.  At 15 miles west of the starting point, the ground elevation rises from 10 feet below sea level to a height of 40 feet above sea level before gradually descending to the 10-foot depth in Choctawhatchee Bay.  For a distance of 4 miles, the sandy banks of the canal loom 50 feet above the bottom of the 10-foot channel.  This channel was a welcome sight protecting us from the wind.

We had planned to anchor in West Bay tonight but 10-15 mph winds are forecast for the next few days.  Some people are happy to see the wind; this guy was flying when we crossed St Andrew Bay. 

 

 

Fort Walton Beach, FL to Jolly Bay, Fl

November 21^st , 2015
Saturday
Miles Traveled 30.6
Total Miles Traveled 1362
Day 73

Just as we were getting ready to leave this morning, a sailboat came to the dock.  They were from Knoxville, Tn and plan to stop at some of the places we are visiting while heading south, so I’m sure we’ll see them again.  That’s how it’s been the last week or so, meeting people we have met earlier in our adventure.

Today we spent most of the day crossing Choctawhatchee Bay… and we are not at the end of it yet.  It started out with 1-2 ft waves but flattened out as the day progressed.  The bay is brackish water and is a tea color brown.  We finally figured out the dolphins that we have been seeing, we would spot them and they would seem to dive under the boat and we wouldn’t see them again.  Today we saw a couple dive in front of the boat so I went up on the bow and there were three dolphins swimming in front of us while cruising at 8 mph.  We watched them all afternoon.

 

 

We passed our first shrimp boat today.

We are anchored near Jolly Bay close to the north end of a bridge that crosses the bay.  The wind is supposed to pick up tonight so we will have good wind protection from the north.  A really weird coincidence happened this evening.  We are meeting friends from Terre Haute at Panama City next week and we get a text message from them asking if we are anchored by a bridge crossing the bay…they were driving to Panama City and recognized our boat at anchor, how weird is that! 

 

Oh, I heard we had snow back home today...........sure hate to miss that :)