ssloop: Moving on - Nov 25-30

Tuesday after meeting with other Loopers and studying the weather forecast, we decided that we should leave The Wharf Wednesday morning. It's time to head east towards Apalachicola in anticipation of a Saturday night crossing of the Gulf. The day was busy preparing for our departure with getting provisions, loading the dinghy, the bikes and returning our rental car. The new "boat/ship" in town is Freedom, a 151ft beauty. We met the captain on the dock and he is from Grand Haven, MI. Small world! He had good advice for us for our future travels. (Thanks Captain Dan)

Wednesday morning we left The Wharf by 7am. We left with mixed feelings as we loved our stay here and had so much fun. But.... time to move on. We had a beautiful, cool day to travel along the Intracoastal waterway. We travel about 100 miles and anchored for the evening toward the east end of Choctawhatchee Bay. We knew the winds were going to pick up during the evening and felt we would be somewhat protected here. The forecast was was right....but we were wrong. The winds picked up about midnight and we rocked, rolled, swung, danced and jitterbugged the night away! Captain " Get Me Out of Here" was up from midnight to 4am waiting for the anchor to break loose. Thankfully it did not!

Thursday morning (Thanksgiving) we gave thanks for surviving the night and continued on our way. It was another beautiful sunny day and the dolphins chose to spend the holiday with us. They played off our bow as well as in our wake. Wow, what a show! Mid afternoon, the transmission went out on our Port engine. Ouch! We continued on one engine 10 more miles to free wall at a park in White City to spend the evening. Our Thanksgiving meal was steak on the grill once we were safely tied up.

Friday morning we contacted the nearest ALGCA Harbor Host for advice on repairs in the area. At his recommendation we traveled 5 miles to Port St. Joe Marina where he had a mechanic waiting for our arrival. What a great thing for us!

By Saturday noon the broken transmission was removed. It will either be rebuilt or replaced. We will find out about this on Monday. We missed our weather window to cross the Gulf, but are hoping to have it repaired by next weekend as it looks like that may be the next window.

On Sunday we walked a block to the First Baptist Church. The other 1st time visitors were from Dutton, Michigan! (Again...a small world). It was a warm sunny day so in the afternoon we took a bike ride and hung out at the beach.

While this was not part of our planned itinerary, this is an adventure..... Weather and mechanical issues will continue to dictate our schedule. Port St. Joe Marina is a great place! We are so happy to be "stranded" here. The town is walking distance with shops, restaurants, and a grocery store. And the Palm trees are awesome!