Pensacola to Sandestin

After an enjoyable stay at the Palafox Pier and Yacht Harbor, we head to the fuel dock for some diesel. After a discussion with the dock attendant, we decide to make the run to Panama City via the Gulf.  He informs us that it will be calm water today.  Panama City is a 100  mile trip, but with flat water and no wake zones, we should be able to get to Panama City in 6 hours or so.  We venture out to the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico at the Pensacola Inlet.

Gulf of Mexico from Pensacola Bay

Again, a lesson is learned. WE need to check the wave heights and wind speed and direction ourselves.  The waves were at least 4 to 7 feet.  This is not a fun experience.  After getting our butts kicked, we turn around and head back into Pensacola Bay.  Buster could not live up to the collar he sports; he was a wee bit seasick.

Not feeling too good.

We cross the Pensecola Bay and continue to the Inter Coastal Waterway.  We navigate through the narrows at  Fort Walton Beach and continue into Choctawhatchee Bay.  We pass through Destin and arrive to Baytowne Marina in Sandestin.  The marina is wonderful and the yachts in the harbor are amazing. 

Destin Florida

Not your average marina or boats.

The marina is attached to a massive resort complex. There are 4 golf courses, 15 tennis courts, beach, day spa and salon, numerous pools, over 50 retail shops and 20 restaurants and even a dog park. We will be staying here at least two nights to enjoy the amenities and take a break from the water.

Resort view from the marina

Oh yeah, the sunsets aren't too bad either!

Baytowne Marina at Sandestin

Mobile to Pensacola

Today we leave Eastern Shores Marina around 10 am with sunny blue skies and the temperature near 70 degrees.

Sailing yacht club opposite Eastern Shores Marina.  So pretty in the early morning.

We enter Mobile Bay and head into the Inter coastal Waterway.  It is about 15 miles perhaps.  The depths can fluctuate from 250 feet to 12 feet or less in minutes.  It is imperative  to find the markers and navigate accordingly.

Captain Tom!

We enter the mouth of the inter coastal,, and just for old times sake, we need to pass a barge doing so.

Another barge.

This barge's name is Divine Mercy. Some things are not to be questioned and we thank God for our safe journey thus far and that hopefully this will be our last barge to encounter. 

Inter coastal waterway entrance.

We enter the Inter coastal Waterway and travel several miles and decide to stop at Lulu's in Gulf Shores, AL for lunch. Lulu's is otherwise known as Jimmy Buffet's sister's restaurant.  We pull in, tie up, let the dogs out, and then realize how warm it is.  They can not stay on the boat without electric. We hope they let the dogs stay with us at our table, which is on a deck outside.  This is not allowed;  but the manager is happy to take both of them into her air conditioned office while we dine. We enjoyed lunch and afterwards, when we retrieve the dogs,  Bailey is laying on  their couch in the office....typical.  Definitely a fun stop and all so friendly.

Tied up to Lulu's

Lulu's 

We continue on the Inter coastal Waterway.  Some of the bays, such as the Mobile, Peridido and Pensacola, are larger than what they seem to be on the maps we are given.  As it is our first time through this area, we navigate slowly and use our radar and even our I-Pad Apps.   The water, by sight, can be very deceiving.

Lots of water

We see white sand and the welcome sign to Florida.  Given the last couple of challenging days, our moods are lifted with the warmer weather, blue water, and the signs of civilization.

Welcome to Florida on the Inter coastal.

White sandy beaches. We arrived in Florida!

We arrive around 5:00 to our stop for the night, Palafox Marina and Yacht Harbor. We are met at the dock by an attendant who helps us tie up.  It is a very nice layover with wonderful docks along with a great sightseeing tours of unbelievable yachts. Florida is looking good!

Sunset over Pensacola Bay from Palafox Marina

We end tonight with dinner at Jaco's  Restaurant, near the marina.  Perhaps a little sun and wind burned, but  happy, actually thrilled, to have made it to Florida.

Jaco's Restaurant

.

Onto Mobile Bay

After a night at an unexpected anchorage spot, we awaken to beautiful skies once again. It will be a little warmer today with temperatures reaching the mid 70's.

Crazy Eight and Dulcinea

With light, we are able to take the dinghy and find a better place for the dogs.  Better is underneath a railroad bridge on rip rap gravel. No grass for the dogs to sniff, only rocks,  but way less muck. 

Good Morning Alabama.

We leave our anchorage and travel 12 miles to Mobile, Alabama.  The last five miles are a no wake zone.  There is a lot of commercial traffic.  It is not the nice leisurely scenic city cruises we take on the Ohio in Cincinnati.  Truthfully, this was one of the more stressful days of the trip yet.  Mobile is the 12th busiest port in the US.  It is a Sunday morning, but that doesn't seem to make any difference.

Huge cargo ship, carrying goods mainly from China...what a surprise. The tugs are turning it around and we are told to pass quickly by.

Downtown Mobile, Alabama

Military ships too.

We are glad to get off the appropriately named Black Warrior River.  We venture out into Mobile Bay and the boat navigates through salt water for the first time.  It is great to finally run the boat on  big water, although the depth is not always so big fluctuating greatly. It is very important to stay in the channels, watch the markers, and be aware of the tides. We have had some long days to get to this point and we welcome the new sights of  dolphins playing in our wake and seagulls swarming the shrimpers.  We travel through the bay for about 8 miles and arrive at Eastern Shore Marina. In general, this marina is a disappointment.  The docks are rickety and the facilities not the best. We decide to take the courtesy car, which is on par with the rest of the marina, to the Marriott Hotel in Point Clear for dinner. It is nice to leave the boat for a while and see some sights off the water. Dan and Nancy treat us"kids" to a wonderful steak dinner.  The Marriott is a remarkable hotel, with a marina, but too shallow for us to stay there.  Oh well....things do not always work out the way you expect or want; we find this true everyday of our journey.  Tomorrow we continue on and will head a course to Pensacola.

Sunset over Mobile Bay

Demopolis to anchorage??

Friday morning we leave bright and early and lock through  Demopolis, without any problem.

Goodbye Demopolis!

The water over the spillway is really amazing.  We have a good view of it from our fly bridge.

Demopolis Lock and Dam

Once leaving this lock, we are now on the Black Warrior River portion of the Tenn Tom.  It is a beautiful day to cruise, although a little chilly, but not snowing like at home!  We pass numerous barges, often in tight quarters, and watch for fishing boats as our wake could swamp them. In this neck of the woods, they are hunters too. Boats have been known to be shot at, so we take care. Around 4 pm, traveling 100 miles,   we arrive to Bobby's Fish Camp.  Just in time for docktails (we are on central time, so it is 5:00!).

 

We tie up to a floating dock next to the fuel dock and are in luck;  no one else is here so we grab one of the four electric services. There is no water, but that is fine. We have enough on board until we reach a marina tomorrow. (ha ha)  We  have no idea where  Bobby's Fish Camp is by land. It seems to be in a remote area to which our cell phones and Internet do not work.  However, it must be close to Tuscaloosa, as many locals are attending the Alabama/Tennessee game on Saturday. It was a big deal!

Four boats showed up. Four electric panels.  Time to celebrate with catfish at Bobby's. Best meal yet.

We wake at 7 am today.  We need to make an early start as there is over 120 miles to travel into Mobile and to Eastern Shore Marina.  We head to Coffeeville Lock in the fog.

7:30 am October 26th-

We lock through Coffeeville.  This is the last of the dirty dozen. The first lock of the dirty dozen we were 414 feet above sea level, now with no more locks  we are heading for the Gulf of Mexico.

Coffee cheers to the last of the locks, Coffeeville.

We leave the lock and proceed southbound.  There are weird crazy eight turns, fishing boats in odd places, and more barges than you expect in places where you least would want to pass them. Basically, it was not an easy run and takes a bit longer than we anticipated.   We know we are getting close to Mobile and making progress when we see the I-65 bridge, known as the Dolly Parton Bridge,.

Dolly Parton Bridge

But what is that saying....close only matters in horseshoes?  So true.  Our next bridge is known as the mile 14 (14 miles out of Mobile) CSX railroad bridge.  It is a new bridge we are told.  Today the bridge was stuck down and could not be raised. We are too high to pass under the bridge with a clearance this low.  At 3:00 they say it will be an hour.  Come 5:00, still waiting, it becomes a problem.  We will run out of daylight soon ( this is central time here, reminder).  6:09 is sunset. With 14 miles to get into Mobile, of that five miles are a  no wake zone,  and with another 10 to the marina, we come up with plan B.

It finally ascends as the sun descends.

We are able to pass the bridge around 6 pm. An alert for other southbound boaters, they will open every 6 hours for marine traffic...so plan accordingly. The bridge's number is 251-379-2690 so you can call and find out the status. 

Sun going down, unfamiliar waters,  need to find an anchorage soon.

We head south one mile and turn to our port into the Tensaw River Cut Off. From there we travel one mile and enter the Big Briar Creek. According to the Nitty Gritty Book it is a good hurricane hole. We navigate in the dark at least two miles looking for a good "pee" spot for the dogs.  There really is none. We anchor, along with our boat buddy, Dulcenea.  Tom and I head out on the dinghy with the dogs into muck and more muck.  The dogs do pee, of course it is almost 12 hours for them, so how could they not?  But they are dirty and Tom's gym shoes likely will need to be thrown out. It is not a pleasant experience. Plus we heard noises in the dark we never heard before.  I guess we need to watch swamp people more seriously.  We made it back to the boat, cooked some hamburgers for us and our buddies Dan and Nancy, and will now go to bed with the drag queen app in place. All I can think of now, as I sit in this cove, with only the battery to the boat working,  is that I wish I was in Siesta Key celebrating a wedding of our dear friend's daughter.  Goodnight All and Congrats to Erin and Ben!

Sumter Landing to Demopolis, AL

Today I wake up a little earlier than normal, like at 2 am.  With the generator off, and the temperature outside  into the 30's, the cabin's temperature lowers to 55 degrees. Cold!  When we left Cincinnati, the temperatures were in the high 70's and we were heading south. In the past, we only used the boat  during mild weather. So we found a  few things aboard  lacking, namely extra blankets and socks.  Last night it was a  three dog night, which will ring familiar with some family members!  But this again, we lack.  We have only two dogs. So we all shivered and added layers of whatever clean clothes we could find.

Brrrr.....

It is extra effort to anchor as we have to take the dogs to shore on our dinghy first thing.  They both shiver but are eager to go out.

Buster taking a ride to Sumter Recreational Area.

We leave around 8 am and meet up with the rest of our cove mates at the next lock, Heflin Lock. There is no wait, so we proceed in and are locked through quickly.  This is our only lock of the day and we travel southbound on the Tenn Tom for about 60 miles. There are some beautiful sights along the way. 

White Cliff of Epes.

Another beautiful day with blue skies.

We make great time and arrive to the Demopols Yacht Basin around 12:30.  We fill up with diesel ($3.81 gallon) and then move over to Kingfisher Marina's transient dock.  Besides the upscale laundry, there is also a super Walmart to which we take the courtesy car and restock some essentials.

upscale laundry room

We end the night with dinner at the marina's restaurant...which was just OK unless your eating catfish; but a nice break from cooking nonetheless.

New Orleans Bar and Grill

Tomorrow will be a long run of over 100 miles and lock number 11 of the dirty dozen.  The temperatures will fall lower than today.  Our destination will be Bobby's Fish Camp, which we expect to be no more than the name suggests.  Goodnight All!

Columbus Marina to Sumter Landing

Today, I wake to a weather report of snowflakes from  my son Evan at OSU.  The weather outside my window shows clear blue sky. Granted, it is chilly, with temperatures in the 40's and a  forecast high of 65 degrees. I have to smile; I also am in Columbus, but Mississippi and not Columbus O-H-I-O!

View off our stern, October 23rd morning, Columbus Marina

We leave around 9:30 but encounter a wait to lock through our next lock, Stennis Lock.  It is windy, the river is choppy, and we need to hold up for an hour idling in these conditions until the lock shows green for go.  Not the greatest start to the day, but we realized yesterday that we could not make the run to Demopolis, Alabama, and will need to anchor along the way. The days are getting shorter and not knowing the waters, we do not want to arrive anywhere in the dark.  The river narrows after this lock and we pass barges along the way. The barge captains are friendlier the further south we travel.

Close pass with barge, Crimson White (I suppose a confirmation we are in Alabama!) We pass on his 1.  Need to learn the lingo quick.

We pass through one more lock, Bevill Lock.  They call these locks on the Tenn Tom the dirty dozen.  We have three more to go. Cannot wait to say goodbye to the dirty dozen. We travel southbound on the Tenn Tom and pull into Sumter Cove.  We have been told this is a safe and nice anchorage.  It is true.  We are off the river and in a nice cove and near a park to which we can dinghy the dogs ashore to find some grassy areas.

Tom bringing an additional stern line ashore to secure to a tree. This will help us not to swing.

We secure the anchor and tie up  for the night with our boat buddy Dulcinea. 

Crazy Eight and Dulcinea

Other boats join us for the night in the cove.

Sumter Cove, Alabama

We invite Dan and Nancy over for steaks and other inventive things, given we have not been to a real grocery since Cincinnati.  Dan brings the wine.  It turned out to be a great dinner, or perhaps we were all just hungry??

Nancy and Dan....cheers!

Tomorrow we head to Kingfisher Marina in Demopolis.  They advertise upscale laundry. I am not sure those two words should ever be used in a sentence, but the sad thing is, I can hardly wait!  Tonight, before bed, we will watch nature's show of a million stars. Goodnight All!!

Midway to Columbus, Marina....Columbus, MS

Today, we wake at 7 am to walk the dogs, fill up with diesel, and get an early start.  Unfortunately, the lock immediately southbound could not accommodate us until 9:30.  So we hang out on the fuel dock, walk the dogs again, and leave around  9am.

View off the fuel dock...a cloudy cool morning.

Us with 3 other pleasure craft and a barge. 

Today's journey took us through four locks. The first two, had no issues.  At the third lock, we passed through with a barge and 3 other pleasure crafts. As instructed by the lockmaster,we, the  pleasure boats, tied up to the starboard side of the lock, away from the barge. We were first in and took the front bollard.  Although there are five starboard bollards, one was inoperable, which is why we are pushed forward.  All was well until we realized that when the doors of the lock  swing open, our pulpit would be smashed and maybe more than that. So, we untie quickly (there was a little shouting at this point), and floated freely in the lock with the barge and  the three other pleasure crafts until the doors opened. We left the chamber promptly.  All ended well, but our blood pressure probably peaked in the process! At the next lock, we choose the second bollard from the front; again locking through with a different barge but the same four pleasure crafts. This lock had all pins operating.

Fishing boat

We journey down the Tenn Tom at a reasonable speed. While we like to cover ground and go 20 mph, this causes huge wake.  So we often have to slow it down to 10 or less, especially when we encounter fishing boats and docks on the Tenn Tom.  It is a narrow waterway, so we proceed with caution.  We also encounter industry, paper mills, that support these local towns. While providing a needed service, we have to admit the smell of the paper mill near Grand Harbor was nauseating.

These were trees at one time....

As we leave Aberdeen Lock, and approach our dock for the night, Columbus Marina, there are various jets flying overhead interrupting the silence of the Tenn Tom.  Nearby is the Columbus Air Force Base. It is the nation's busiest air force base and instructs a third of our air force pilots. Awesome! We hear the jets prior to seeing them.

We also notice, unique to us, water foliage rampant within the waterways.  It is beautiful but we hope it has no effect on our strainers! We are also told stories of 700+ lbs alligators by the marina owners. I guess we have made progress and are now in the south!

Columbus Marina

Crazy Eight tied up for the night. Captain Tom parallelled  park without issue even with a strong breeze. Of course our Four Seasons dock mates would absolutely believe that!

Today's journey has taken us about 7 hours.  We went through 4 locks and traveled 65 miles. At the end of the day, Buster and Bailey are eager to get off the boat and see some grass.  We are happy the day is over. Tomorrow, less locks and probably an anchorage, not at a marina, which will be new to us.  Until then...