Sandestin, FL

Today was one of those days you're glad you updated all the electronics on the boat before you started this adventure.  We left Pensacola at 7:00am and the fog wasn't that bad but before long you couldn't see anything.  We went 52 nautical miles and saw the shore maybe for only 3 miles of the time.  The rest was relying on radar and the chartplotter.  We arrived at about 2:00pm and plan on staying here until Sunday because tomorrow there is a storm coming.  Baytowne at the Wharf is a resort that covers 12,000 acres and has four golf courses and plenty of restaurants, condos and shopping.  We walked over to what is called the village and explored the many restaurants.  Very cool place.  I was going to play golf tomorrow but with the storm coming in I don't think it's going to happen.  Tomorrow we'll be cleaning the boat while it rains and hopefully leave on Sunday for Panama City.

What it looked like the whole day

After getting here I was the happiest boater in the world.

Looking at the marina from the village

Loves to say hello

The walk over to the village

They have a blues place here!

The Village

Worlds largest fish lure

Time at "The Wharf" and Trip to Pensacola

We left Lu-Lu's on Sunday and only had to go some three miles to The Wharf Marina.  Since it was Sunday and a 49er playoff day against Green Bay I had to wear my 49er jersey to show my support.  When we arrived at The Wharf I walked up to the office to check in and as soon as I opened the door there greeting me was a Green Bay fan in his Green Bay wardrobe.  This is where we met Jeff and his wife Beth who have a sailboat here and were in the process of moving it to a boat yard to have it hauled, bottom painted and transported to her new home near Connecticut.  Even though we had differences in football teams we quickly became friends.  Sorry we won Jeff.  We stayed here until today because a very cold front was coming in and temperatures were going to be a  low of 17 degrees with a wind chill of 9 degrees for at least a couple of days.  If there is a good thing, it's that we were at a place that had restaurants, shopping, and a 15 screen movie theater.  I went and saw The Hobbit while Jan went to the hair salon.  I think I got the better deal because the movie was great, and Jan didn't like her hair cut.  Can't wait for part three.  Jeff and Beth came over on Monday and asked if I would like to help him take his boat to Pensacola and Beth would take Jan shopping.  Can't pass that up.  We were off around 10am on Wednesday and motored his sailboat all the way to Pensacola.  They have a 28 foot Catalina Mark II sailboat and besides getting an idea of our trip we were going to take the next day, we saw tons of dolphins, and the Blue Angels practicing over Pensacola.   It was a beautiful sunny day but still cold.  Beth and Jan came to pick us up in the early evening and took us to Tacky Jacks for dinner.  They had a five person band called the "Bar Stool Surfers" that played kind-of-a blues / Tom Petty style music.  They drove us back to our boat and we said our goodbyes.  Maybe we will be able to see them again when we get up to North New York.  We untied and were off by 10:00 am and arrived at the Palafox Pier Marina in downtown Pensacola.  The marina is located right at the end of the old downtown area and after we had lunch we took Chloe for a walk downtown.  We will be leaving tomorrow for Sandestin, FL.  Oh, we're in Florida!!!!!!

Chloe and I went thru here 3 times a day.

They say this is the biggest Ferris wheel in the Southeast

Brrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!

In between the big boys

 Jeff, Beth, and us at Tacky Jack's

Make a wish, Green bay or S.F.

\

Beth and Jan

Still Friends

Heading to Pensacola nickname worlds whitest beaches.

For you Tracy

That is a Blue Angel and Pensacola is the first Naval air station in the U.S.

Yippee, we are in Florida!  Redneck riviera, red snapper capital of the world

, and emerald coast.

Pensacola light house

First sign you are in Florida.

Fort Pickens, built to defend Pensacola Bay in 1834 and where they held Geronimo in prison in 1886

For the DeZonia family

For Tracy and Jeff

I'm not sure who is happier

The border of Alabama and Florida "Flora-Bama"

Five flags have flown over the history of Pensacola.  Spain, France, Great Britain, Confederate States of America and the U.S.

Gulf Shores (Orange Beach) AL

We left Gulfport, MS at 6:30am on Saturday and before we left I checked the weather and for our entire trip it predicted 6 to 8 mph winds.  We had to go a distant of 76 nautical miles.  Perfect, let's go!  About a hour out it started to get a little rough.  Here's a little background on the Mississippi Sound.  It's only a max of 12 feet deep.  There is no swell like you would get in the ocean instead it is the washing machine affect.  Continuing on it started to get worse with four to five foot waves, no interval and 25 mph winds.  Luckily we were going into the wind so we were taking everything on the bow and the spray was covering the boat.  Although the boat handled it well it was extremely uncomfortable to the point of where can we go to get out of this.  There was no where to hide so we had no choice but to continue on.  When we saw the Dauphin Island bridge, the beginning of Mobile Bay, it started to lay down.  That was after about 5 hours of getting beat up. This is also the area we will cross our wake and complete our loop cruise. Also when we crossed Mobile Bay we went back into the ICW with a short trip to our destination of Lu-Lu's.  During our trip Jan was texting and my sister's Mike came up with a new advisory called the "Chloe weather advisory".  Chloe is the indicator of how good or bad it is.  Since we had to drug her half way through her advisory was not good.  Entering the ICW here in Alabama was completely different than anything we have seen so far.  After we tied up at Lu-Lu's, I washed down the boat to get all the salt water off and then we took a shower and headed up to Lu-Lu's for dinner.  So glad to be here.  Lu-Lu's is owned by Jimmy Buffet's sister whose real name is Lucy.  She has two restaurants here, one is hamburgers and grill type food and the other is more up scale seafood stuff.  I had a crab cake melt sandwich and Jan ordered the fried shrimp.  After dinner back to the boat and early to bed.

Dauphin Island Bridge that separates the Mississippi Sound and Mobile Bay

Entering the ICW after two days of open water

Some of the homes on the ICW

Lu-Lu's from Google Earth

Gulfport Mississippi

We delayed a day from New Orleans because of high winds and maybe should have waited one more but here we are in the Gulfport Small Craft Harbor in Gulfport, MS.  We had a delay after leaving Pontchartrain because the train bridge we needed opened told us their was a train coming and to wait.  After waiting over 45 minutes we called on the phone for an ETA and they said the train was crossing now.  It was one of those pickup trucks with train wheels that was crossing.   Because of my good nature and patience I proceeded under the bridge when they opened and didn't express my wonderful thoughts.  It was a pretty uneventful day except the wind was blowing a little more than I like, so once we entered the Mississippi Sound, which is open water, it was a little rough, but after coming down the Pacific Ocean it was really a piece of cake.  Chloe was not a happy girl.  The wind should die down a little more over night so we will be leaving bright and early for Orange Beach, AL.

There's Panacea tied up and washed down.

Gulfport Small Craft Harbor

You can see the Mississippi Sound over the wall

Good Night!