This section of our trip moves us into long stretches of open water bays.  The ICW still has a lot of cut ditch sections but most of the way is behind sheltering islands, or in long lagoons and bays along the Gulf Coast. Tow traffic becomes a rarity.
 

Gulfport In the morning there was a dense fog at Rabbit Island. Ces't la Vie departed as it started to lift, but soon it rolled back in. We weighed anchor about a half an hour later when we got a report of improved conditions. On the way we got a great shot of Driftwood as she set all of her sails. The day before I finally figured out how to get the Capt'n Software to send way point names to the Garmin GPS. That meant instead of way point #C01003 I could have R22 for red marker 22, or M125 for mile 125.

In the open water crossing to Gulfport I also experimented with Placing the Autopilot in "Nav" Mode which meant that it relies on measurements from the Garmin GPS to steer the boat. The trip across Mississippi Sound was a thrill... I had gotten all of the systems to play together in controlling the boat. It's totally hands off until you get to a turn. Then the autopilot beeps and displays a question "Turn 024 => ? If OK Press NAV".  That's really neat.

Marion Reports:

Gulfport Marina- 2 day stay.

Well, we finally left LA -tugs, tows, tugs, tows. Beautiful cypress lined waterways but too much traffic.
we pulled in to Gulfport City Marina with lots of help from D.J. the harbormaster. Tied up quickly in the wind. Safe in harbor with lots to do. Boat Cleaning - laundry and lunch.

Visited with C'est la Vie and had supper at the marina's White Cap Restaurant We went to bed early. Since we have been traveling, we rise early and retire early.

It was nice resting for a day. Getting up early, heading out and finding anchorage day after day wears you out. After a week it was time for a break. So we headed to the Casino Grand. Well the money went faster than a visit to West Marine or Blue Water Ship store. We shopped for groceries and prepared for another early departure, the next morning.

Dauphin Island

The trip to Dauphin Island was an open water dream... I remarked to Marion, "We have been fired. The Capt'n and Garmin have completely taken over, and Dobbs is doing everything they say."

We sat back and watched, hands off, for almost the whole trip. As the ad says, "You are now free to move about the country."

(By The Way: Dobbs is our name for the Robertson/SIMRAD Autopilot. The name Dobbs was etched into the metal of our first autopilot by its previous owner, Barry Dobbs, as theft recovery identification. All of our Autopilots have been named Dobbs ever since. That way we can give the command, "Home Dobbs." and expect to get there expeditiously.)

At the eastern end of Dauphin Island there is a small harbor with boat ramps, work boats, and a ferry landing. There is a narrow channel behind a 15 foot high sand dune island which goes north from the harbor for about a half a mile. It provides excellent shelter. The water is 7 feet right up to banks edge. We dropped our hook about 5 yards from waters edge and scarcely moved all night.
 

Pensacola The Great Loop Cruise starts wherever you get on the loop and ends when you return there.  I proclaim that we started our Great Loop Cruise on November 14, 1999 at 7:30 AM when we crossed the mouth of Mobile Bay heading East in the ICW. Here's the picture we saw >>>>>>>>>>

At 8:00 a fog bank engulfed us as we passed the opening into the Gulf. For the next hour and a half the visibility got worse and worse. Half a mile, Quarter mile, Eighth mile and at the worst, a sixteenth of a mile.  It was scary but we kept on moving. The radar worked flawlessly picking out channel markers out to about a mile. The GPS was given full control and brought us very close to center channel most of the way. Dobbs executed flawlessly.

At 9:20 the fog lifted and at 9:30 we passed into the ICW at the eastern shore of Mobile Bay. It was happy relief to be across and a real confidence builder in our equipment.

We took a mini break from the ICW and did a detour up Ingram Bayou. It's as beautiful and peaceful as everyone says. We dropped anchor, took pictures, viewed the wildlife and Marion got to practice boat handling in confined area.

We made it to Pensacola by early afternoon and fueled up and checked in at Palafox Pier. We took the bicycles into town and rode to Landry's Seafood Restaurant for an early supper. We both ordered full meals and it was so much that two leftover boxes were required to hold all the food.

Back at the boat, I was working on planning charts for the next several days when Mike and Sarah Schafer, M/V Sweet Nell, came by to visit. Mike and Sarah were on the same pier as us at Blue Dolphin. They left for Florida about ten days before we did. They came by to trade stories and see how we were doing.

Mike asked what I was doing, and I told him I was having difficulties with chart planning due to missing detailed charts for Florida. He told me that I needed to change to the next CD chart pack because the first one ran out of detailed charts at Mobile Bay. I felt a little foolish and said I knew they ran out somewhere. I then went to find the next CD in my office. There were some planning questions I intended to explore with him using the charts. The CD was not where I remembered last seeing it, and I was completely flustered. I had been trying to plan using the less detailed charts, and it was not working well. Now it appears I had lost the CD for Florida.

My evening was ruined by the missing CD and I was a lousy host. I failed to offer refreshments and could not pay attention to the conversation.  Its a terrible feeling when you realize your mind is going. It's not like the water pump on the starboard engine breaking. That can be fixed. When the mind goes, you are in big trouble.

Mike, seeing my distress, explained in lighthearted jest how he organizes everything quite carefully and then proceeds to forget how he organized them. I laughed with him on that. His remark was well crafted. But my mind could not rest until an hour after their departure, when I finally found the CD.  It was right where I had put it two weeks ago.  I was up quite late planning the routes for the next week.

Destin

Small craft warnings were in the morning weather report. A cold front was expected to pass during mid day. To go, or not to go. I reworked the charts from the previous evening looking for a way to shave a day off of the schedule. We had found that the boat ran quite smoothly on plane at 15 kts. If the seas were smooth, and the winds were down, we could probably do the 84 nm run from Apalachicola to Steinhachee and arrive well before sunset. We would have to speed up for about half the hours. We will see.

The winds were up, when we finally pulled out of Pensacola at 10:00. There were gusts on the port side that rocked the boat slightly but nothing to give Dobbs any trouble. There were so many turns in Narrows section that I could not put in all of the way points to describe the course. As a result The Capt'n and Garmin were not allowed to steer the boat.
 

Marion, at the helm most of the way, passed a pair of tows in the Narrows and put the boat up on plane to boot.  I gave her lots of strokes for this accomplishment, she glowed and purred like the big Cats below. We took pictures in the harbor at Destin where we spent the night on the hook. Unless you need to go ashore I highly recommend anchoring in this lovely protected harbor.

Panama City

Today we visit Bob Floyd owner of our previous boat Great Ketch.  We look forward to seeing both.

The sun was up at 6:00 and we were on our way by 6:30 Again there were small craft warnings in the forecast. This time it was for real... whitecaps on Choctawachee Bay. The wind was on the port quarter most of the time. The boat handled well on autopilot.

On the way we passed through a 15 mile section of the ICW that is called The Canyon. Very high banks topped with towering pine trees place the water about 100 feet down. The bends are gentle and there are straight sections of up to 3 miles.

We arrived at Bay Point Marina in the early afternoon and spent the afternoon cleaning up the topsides and the eisenglass. We had not taken any splash on our whole trip but a fine coating of salt was everywhere, especially on the transom.

We used the bikes to tour the Bay Point Complex. Its much more than a Marina. It's a total resort community that has: a large Mariott Hotel, golf course, tennis complex, town homes, condominiums, bank,  hairdresser, convenience store and several restaurants. It's a few miles from heavy duty shopping in Panama City Beach.

I went to the Marina office and attempted to log into the Internet. I could not get the phone credit card to work, and after 5 tries I gave up.  While I was doing that Marion got her hair done.  A real nice job.. quite stylish.

Bob Floyd, bless his heart, drove two hours from Dothan, Alabama to welcome us to Florida and take us out to dinner.  We got a full accounting of his trip on Great Ketch from Texas to Panama City offshore. It was a long offshore trip we never got around to doing. The main thing, he is really enjoying the boat, has cruised her a lot offshore and carried on the tradition of being THE PARTY BOAT of the fleet. Perhaps on our return we will get to spend more time in Panama City and get to sail on her once again. We have Bob penciled in for some Remedy cruising next spring in the Charleston area.

Apalachicola

The dry cold front that set in at Destin was still with us on our trip to Apalachicola. We tied up at the city dock and immediately headed to Boss Oyster shack. They are famous for their many different toppings on baked oysters on the half shell. It's a great place to eat, if you are an Oyster lover.
 

In the morning we got up a little late and rode our bikes through the town.  The town has a lot of antique shops, art galleries and boutiques. Its quaint. We saw some very nice homes along the shoreline drive overlooking the bay.

We also saw a lot of remodeling going on to upgrade the older homes. This is a classic beauty.

Here is a real fixer upper.

Departure

The wind was out of the east at about 15 knots, pinning us to the long pier. I used the proper tactic for the situation. Driving forward against a bow spring line, I pivoted the stern out before using reverse to pull back from the pier. Alas, Proper Tactic... but Poor Execution. I did not pivot out far enough. Before I could establish good stern way steerage, the boat was blown down against the small powerboat behind.

This was followed by a crunching sound, as we scraped along the side of the powerboat.  Nothing creates a sinking feeling in the pit of the stomach like fiberglass scraping a metal rub rail and bow stanchions. I felt sick and panicky. Somehow Marion and I managed to get a fender between the two boats and, don't ask me how, we got clear and on our way.

We drove for about 15 minutes, both quiet, getting our composure, and fighting a 20 knot cross wind. We decided it was best to return. We did and tied up a good three boat lengths away from the boat we had struck.  We had a 20 foot long scratch on our boat but the little powerboat was undamaged. I wiped our fiberglass shavings off his bow rail and satisfied myself that there was no damage to report.

Carrabelle

Casting off again we faced a 3 mile leg southward before an elbow in the ICW headed us into the wind. It was pretty rough initially. Around noon the wind moderated and we had a pleasant three hour cruise into Carrabelle. We fueled the boat, went to dinner, and I redid my route based on local marked up charts in the marina office.  We crashed into bed at 9:00; we needed to leave at first light the next morning.