Port St Joe-Longboat Key - Jan 18-22

Thursday was fuel day! (ouch)  As we left Port St Joe we took on enough fuel to get us to Apalachicola where we knew we would be topping off the tanks in preparation of our crossing of the Gulf of Mexico on Friday.  A few hours later, after topping off the tanks in Apalachicola we inquired about pumping out our holding tank, only to learn that the nearest option for doing so was in Carrabelle. Going to Carrabelle would mean a 10 mile roundtrip side trip from our intended night anchorage. Once in Carrabelle after pumping out, yup...we again topped off the tanks. (Thinking it's time to start a go fund me page 😜)   Last time, with a slower boat, we did a 24 hour overnight crossing, where with the PV2 we are able to do a daytime crossing.  Because we had to leave before daylight, we made a practice run out East Pass, to leave a trail on our chart plotter to follow the next morning. Boy are we glad we did - we found one marker bouy to be under water and another one missing it's top.  That night we anchored out behind Dog Island.  A crisp clear night, with no moon, far from civilization,  provided us with a spectacular star gazing event.

We pulled the anchor at 5am and it was dark, dark, dark, black dark! We followed our tracks thru the pass, observed R12 red bouy diligently flashing, a foot under water! Once the sun came up it was a nice cruising day with 2-3 footers. We arrived 9 hours and 160 miles later at North Anclote Key pass and dropped the hook behind Three Rooker Bar Island. This is a beautiful sandy spit of land separating The Gulf and the ICW.

Saturday morning we traveled 15 miles to Clearwater Beach Municipal Marina. After washing the Gulf of Mexico salt off the boat we walked into town to explore and have dinner.

Sunday morning was sunny and warm. Finally! We traveled 35 miles and dropped the hook in a high class residential neighborhood on Anna Marie Island.  The afternoon was spent exploring nearby islands on the dinghy.

Monday was another beautiful day, so we traveled a short 10 miles and anchored off Longboat Key.
It was a perfect afternoon to dinghy out on the Gulf along the sandy beaches. In the evening we took the dinghy to shore for dinner at the Mar Vista Restaurant.

Two fer Tuesday! Tuesday morning we pulled up the anchor only to find another anchor line hooked on it. We were afraid it may be attached to one of the sailboats anchored nearby. But after unhooking it from our anchor and pulling it, up came 20 feet of line, 20 feet of chain and a nice used anchor that someone had lost. Captain "I don't sleep well at anchor" can always use another anchor!

    Anchorage off Dog Island.

    Sunset.

 Sunrise on the GOM (Gulf of Mexico).

 

   Anchored off Three Rookers Bar.

 

    Captain installing a depth finder on the dinghy.

   On the GOM off Anna Marie Island.

 

    Two fer Tuesday- Lifting anchor/anchors.

   New addition to our anchor inventory!

Mobile-Port St Joe - Jan 13-17

Time to get the boat to sandy beaches, palm trees and warm weather! We flew out of Grand Rapids early Saturday morning with an additional crew member - Sheli's mom. Upon arrival in Mobile we were met by some fellow boaters who picked us up with the marina courtesy car and brought brought back to Turner Marine where the PV2 was waiting for us. We didn't have to chip ice around the boat however the lows have been in the 20s and will continue to be for the next couple days. Brrrr! We spent the rest of the day provisioning and preparing for an early morning departure.

Early Sunday morning we began our journey by cruising 30 miles across Mobile Bay. Though it was a cold morning we were warm bundled up in the sunshine. At Gulf Shores we joined the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) and traveled 6 miles east to The Wharf Marina. Upon arrival we were greeted by Henk Witte who is vacationing in the area. Sheli & Mom had a fun afternoon shopping at The Wharf while Steve washed the boat. That night we enjoyed an awesome brisket dinner at The Wharf.

Monday was a big travel day and our new crew member was a trooper. We traveled a total of 130 miles including 50 miles out on the Gulf of Mexico between Destin and Panama City Beach Inlet.
Another sunny, cool day with low winds made it a comfortable travel day. We tried multiple times to contact a couple of the city marinas in Panama City to reserve a slip for the evening.  Due to lack of success, we just pulled in and tied off at the Municipal Marina. A sign on the office door advised us they were closed due to it being Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  Really, a closed marina???

Tuesday morning after settling up with the marina office, we traveled 46 miles on the ICW to Port St. Joe Marina. Another cool, sunny, low wind day - nice! Once settled in at the marina, Sheli & mom walked into town for some more shopping and exploring. That evening, LaNell & LaVonne, friends from back home drove over from their nearby rental beach house and we all went to dinner in town for pizza.

We woke up Wednesday to strong winds, no sunshine and much colder temps. The winds made it absolutely miserable to be outside. We were so happy we weren't planning on traveling today.  Around noon, Mom's friends, Frank & Joyce Bierling from Tallahassee came to pick up mom to spend a few days at their house with them, before she heads back to Michigan. It was so fun to have mom on board and share our boating life with her. (If only she didn't beat us every night playing cards!)

  

Drilling platform base being towed out of Mobile Bay.

   The shops at The Wharf Marina

 

    Mom and Steve on the helm.

  Heading out the pass to the Gulf of Mexico at Destin.

    Out on The Gulf!

    Beautiful sunset from PV2 at Panama City.

 

     Cruising the ICW.

   Always changing ICW.