Appalachicola to Carabelle

     Ok, our plans for the crossing were behind us.  We would now have a few days to relax and enjoy exploring this particular area of Florida. You know, find the flavour of this area. However, things didn't start out well.  As I started to have a shower I noticed that the water pressure was low.  We had tanked up at our last stop so I continued to lather up....and ...no water...damn it!....soap from head to toe and no way to rinse off!...what the hell is wrong now!  Apparently, with all the banging and jarring around in the gulf a clamp had  loosened and come off the water pump and all the fresh water was pumped into the bilge!  Mildred, bless her heart,  heard the pump running after all of us had retired, and went down and repaired it on her own.  Thank you Mildred!  We would fill up again when we settled into a marina, tonight.

  

                                                        The Wharf in Apalachicola

       While the girls went to explore (read shop!) Tom and I set about repairing the bilge pump-- again. It turned out to be no big deal, some trash got caught up in the check valve and water was siphoning back into the boat!  We still hadn't got the boat balanced yet, since it involved moving lead weights from the port to the starboard side and we had no way yet to secure the weights on the other side of the boat.  I figured part of the problem was the new dingy being not centered, so opted for pulling the dingy towards the centre of the boat.  The boat was still low in the water since, we were still loaded  "Beverly Hillbilly style".  "Stuff" would be coming off the boat in Carrabelle to make room for any family or friends that were crazy enough to want to come along on this cruise, so we could rebalance later.

                                                                 Shopping Spree
                                                        

    We basked in the warm sun light and thought we would enjoy a nice relaxing day in Apalachacola.  We went to "Carolines" restaurant for breakfast. (recommended to Mildred by two little old ladies in a shop who argued  about where was the best breakfast in town)  Carolines was a homey dining room overlooking the water.  Apalachicola is "Oyster City".  Everything seemed to revolve around the oyster industry or shrimping.  Oyster bars, oyster restaurants, and oyster menu at the restaurant.  As we sat looking over the menu, I thought, "Ok, I'll bite lets see what this oyster thing is really all about."  Tom, Mildred and Beth ordered the usual morning fare,  biscuits, gravy and eggs for Tom, sausage and eggs for Mildred, spinach omelet (ehck!) for Beth and I would try the oyster cakes and eggs!  Two bites and I gave it over to Tom who loves oysters!  To me, the oyster cakes had a rich perfumey taste that certainly didn't go along with breakfast.   No more oysters for me!
     As Tom and I were finishing some repairs the girls returned.  Beth had a troubled look in her eyes and I knew something was up when she said in a somewhat higher pitched voice. "They told us at the store that the storm was coming much faster than predicted.  We should get tied up at a marina....now!"  
     Well, it wasn't that simple.  Wherever, we tied up is where the boat would stay until our return in a month.   There were many things to consider...floating vs. fixed dock, tide changes, security and price.  I had already figured out that Apalachicola was overpriced after calling the only marina in town that had a slip big enough, paying for breakfast, and finding out that the $5.00 PVC pelican on a stick Beth bought (to plant in the flower bed at the condo in St. Stephen, NB) cost $45.00!  Active Captain had reviews on a marina in Carrabelle, the Moorings, which indicated they were very helpful, especially when deciding  when was a good time to make the gulf crossing and they had a safe, secure marina at a good price for the month.  Getting the feeling something bad is about to happen?

                                                                             

     The sky darkened as we rushed to untie the lines and push off the dock.  Turning by the shrimp boats tied at the end of the dock, I swung wide......and hit the shoal and an underwater piling .  As I backed off I felt the props grind in and saw a few pieces of wood surface...but we were off and headed out to Apalachicola bay.  As it started to rain, I looked at the weather report...the radar showed more rain headed our way and a major storm with 65 mile per hour winds, rain , lightning and tornadoes headed north east travelling at 60 miles per hour!  It was a little closer to turn around and go back to Apalachicola, so what did we do?.......by now you should be able to guess the answer to this...remember the quote by Simone de Beauvoir...at the beginning of this blog...I decided to "extend oneself".  After all the bad storm was north east of us and travelling northeast.  As long as it didn't turn we could handle the rain .  The one thing this boat can do that a trawler can't, is get up on plane.  Away we went.  I throttled up to 16 knots, turned on the radar and would cut the normal 3 hour 28 mile trip in half...so I thought! We did well until the hazy mist turned into thick fog!
     Not wanting to run over any oyster men working the bay, I slowed down.  At times we passed markers that were visible on the radar but not to the naked eye but we persisted and I am happy to report that the map plotter and radar pulled us through. The bad storm continued northeast of us and the fog lifted as we entered Carrabelle.  Finally, we could rest.  Docs Holiday would be staying here, safely berthed until our return.

                                                                    Oyster Fisherman

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
.
     Comfortably sipping a cubra libra, I could easily tolerate the burning in my ears from Beth chastising me.  She was more pissed about the grounding than she was about the trip across Apalachicola Bay, especially after I told her we would have to have a quick hall and the props exchanged before we attempted to cross the gulf!
   
    
 

Go...No Go....Try to Go

     Those of you who are living your life vicariously through this blog, I know have been waiting for this post.   Did they go across the gulf to Clearwater or did they stay safe in the intracoastal?  If you remember the last post, we had a weather window predicting one foot seas starting on Tuesday and lasting until Wednesday night, before the seas would start to get in the two to three foot range and keep on increasing to five to six foot by Saturday.   We met a Captain at Santa Rosa Yacht Club who suggested just going across from Panama City directly to Clearwater.

 I should have suspected something was awry when his female partner looked askance at him, saying, " Did you suggest that!"

She than said rather emphatically, "Most people usually leave from Carabelle."
      Tom and I were salivating looking at the weather window knowing we could save a lot of time and be on the west coast of Florida before we had to head back to work in Texas.

 Beth was much more cautious saying "Ralph, there's a reason most people don't do that!"  So I came up with a plan.  (I can hear y'all starting to chuckle and say in your heads, oh! oh! Ralphie.)

                                                            Air Naval Flights                  

     Options! Ya! Options!   We would head out of Panama city and if it got rough  we would turn in to St. Josephs Bay. If tolerable, we would continue on past the San Blas Shoals direct to Clearwater. (The Captain had warned us that it might get a little bumpy until we got past the shoals.

 "Stay in 50 feet of water. " he said.

 Bumpy! Maybe a professional captain would call it bumpy but us pleasure boaters found it too rough. What started out as 1 to 2 foot seas kept progressing to 4 to 5 foot seas  with the boat bouncing and banging to the point where this Captain got....well....should I say .....a little green around the gills!

                                                       Good Bye Panama City           

     Tom, who is a former navy man smiled as he took the helm and I went to the recently purchased lazy-boy chair and assumed the recumbent position.   As I lay back I looked over at Beth sitting on the couch......glaring at me....hmmmm....no sympathy in those eyes! ....."This could be a long trip, " I thought as I closed my eyes to fight back the dizziness and early waves of nausea.  We were only 2 hours out and it would be 2 hours back in to the protected waters of St. Josephs Bay. My hopes were dashed for a relatively quick crossing to the west coast of Florida.  In fact, this meant leaving the boat in Carabelle for several weeks since the weather was going to get nasty for the next week.
     Once in calmer waters my "mal de mer" quickly passed, so I took over the helm  along the cut from St. Joseph's Bay into the intracoastal.   Within 2 miles I found out that the piece of "duck weed" in the centre of the water was not...it was a log..that was the first thing I hit since putting on the reworked props...oh well,  no vibration but this was turning out to be a bad day and it was about to get worse.
     Because we left at noon to make the night crossing and because we spent 4 hours out in the Gulf we were going to have to travel the ICW in the dark to make it to Apalachicola tonight.  No problem, I thought.  There is very little barge traffic, unlike the area around Beaumont and Port Arthur which one avoided traveling at night because of the numerous night barge traffic.
     No moon.  Ya, no moon, therefore no light, therefore couldn't see shit!  But, I had my map plotter and radar and a huge 2,000 watt beam flashlight to pick out the markers.   It was still nerve wracking, especially when I came around a bend and saw red lights all across the river and what looked like two boats in the middle of the river.  WTF was going on?   The map plotter indicated the red lights were a swing bridge and the other lights weren't boats.  They weren't even on the water!...They were lights from houses on the shore!  Do I need to tell you that things look different at night! 
    I inched toward the red lights to see if the swing bridge was open with Tom and Mildred on the bow waving me  forward... but I was already on top of the damn thing....Not!  I was at least a quarter mile away.  (Did I already say things look different in the dark!)   We slowly passed through the open bridge and I decided to abandon the plan to head directly out through Apalachicola toward Tarpon Springs.  All of us were tired and stressed out.  We would stay at the free municipal wharf in Apalachicola for the night.

Gulf Breeze to Panama City, Fl

     Tom and I were up at 5:00 to disconnect the lines, power cord and fill the boat with water.  We were at the fuel dock waiting for the attendant to arrive and fill us up so we could get an early start.  The weather had put us two days behind .  Why we feel that we are behind?  I don't know.  Maybe its just the way guys travel. Maybe its testosterone. Maybe its type A behaviour.  What I do know is that Beth can't understand it and finds it stressful!    I assured her that the weather reports indicated the white caps would settle down by mid morning.   Now , I know what you are thinking....oh! oh! Ralphie, you,ve done it again. What kind of mess did you get into this time?  Ha! Ha!  This time the forecast was right.  Just as predicted the large bays we crossed settled down from the "rough chop" to a light chop and the winds from 15 knots to 5.  It was smooth cruising.  Beth even took the helm!
     Of couse that didn't stop the mechanical gremlins from working!  Just as Beth took over control of the boat the starboard tach drive gave out, so we lost the synchronizer again.  Wouldn't you know it...more stress for Beth!  However,  your forward thinking captain had already prepared for this event.  Surprise! Surprise!  Since I knew the fix might be temporary I had taken the precaution of bringing both motors up manually to 1200 rpms so that if the tack quit both motors would still be in sink. Beth was relieved about this, but became increasingly concerned about what time we would arrive in Panama city.  She did not want to anchor in the dark and it was 90 miles away, and we would hit a time change and lose an hour of light, and we were unsure if there were any no wake zones, and  there were no good intermediate anchorages  and...and...and...Oh my ears were ringing!!!
     And....she was right!  It was getting late by the time we were approaching  Panama City.... but, I had a plan!   Simple.  Have you already guessed it?  I know RJ has!  If your late what do you do?.......STEP ON THE GAS!!   It was time to give Docs Holiday a warm up, so we throttled up to 2200 rpms giving us 17.6 knots. We pulled in to a beautiful well protected anchorage, set the anchor, cracked a couple of coldies and lit the barbecue before it got dark.      
  
 The trip across the bays, Choctawatchee, West Bay and St. Andrews Bay were delightful.  The sun was shining and although cold for the southerners, we Canadians were in our element.  We are used to drinking cold beer in the snow for heaven's sake.  At least we were in the sunshine!

                                          Government  Installation--but who's looking?

      The highlight of the trip was the cruise through the "Canyons".  Just leaving the Choctawatchee bay  the ICW winds through  several miles of steep 20 foot high sand hills.  The hills formed different shapes and as we went along we could see some that looked like castles, some had animal shapes and one that looked like a group of people with large bodies and little heads, standing together.  The sun with the winding river sent shadows across them which gave them motion.  In my Canadian head I thought, "must be the beer, eh!"

                                                                        ICW

                                          There's natural sand sculptures in them Hills                                  
                                                          

                                                               The  Canyons                                                                               
                                                                 
     Tomorrow, a big decision for us.  Do we go off shore, 198 miles from Panama City to Clearwater! Its giving 1 foot seas for over 24 hours then a front moves in and even Appalachicola bay is going to have 4 foot seas within the next 3 days.   If we go direct to Appalachicola or Carrabelle we will miss the window of opportunity and our trip is over for the next few weeks until I return from working in Beaumont.   Even if we wait, we will still have to find a weather window to make the crossing.  Carabelle to Tarpon springs is a little shorter (only 18 miles north of Clearwater) 16 hours vs.20
Decisions Decision Decisions.   What would you do?  (I know my sister in law,  Patty would say. "Screw this, take a plane!")
    
    
'

Gulf Breeze and Gale Force Winds

     For those of you following the blog you should know that you can click on the pictures and they enlarge so you can see better detail and when you click on SPOT not only will it show you our track but you can zoom in on any part of the track, like the anchorages. Go to the upper right hand corner and click hybrid and it will give you a google picture overhead of the anchorages and marinas we stop in ...even down to the slip Docs Holiday is berthed in.
      We had a leisurely ride across Pensacola Bay.  Turning to the North Shore after going under the Pensacola Beach Bridge we glided into the Santa Rosa Yacht Club.  Much to our surprise the slips were very short.  Nosing into the first slip we would be unable to get off the boat since the slip didn't even come as far as our side doors.  We backed around a corner and into a second slip which allowed us to tie off to the front poles such that we could get off the stern of the boat onto the new looking aluminum floating docks. 

                                                       SRYC.......calm before the storm.                                   

       This marina, although more expensive ($1.50/foot/day), included access to a well appointed club room, clean showers and restrooms, free laundry and an exercise room with new treadmill, bicycle machine, weights and even a Pilate's ball.  It felt good to put in 4 miles on the treadmill.  We just don't get any  aerobic exercise on the boat. 
       While Tom and I tinkered on the boat, Beth and Mildred made good use of the free laundry facilities.  A number of repairs have been complete.  Tom figured out the stabilizers were not working and traced it back to a loose connection in the gyro.  He replaced a failed float switch on the generator bilge pump (Yea!, we had a spare). TV is not my priority but the Admiral insists! Tom and Mildred spent most of their time tracing out wires for the salon and aft cabin televisions.  Personally  I am tired of all the mindless reality shows including the bullshit lying, groveling politicians and the sensationalizing news media.) About the only thing on TV I can't figure out the outcome of anymore is the weather channel and they even sensationalize the storms!
     I chose this marina because it was on the north side of the intracoastal and should provide protection from the predicted north west winds with expected gusts from 40-60 m.p.h.   Of course, mother nature threw a slight curve and the winds blew from the southeast for a day than from the north on the following day.  Docs Holiday rocked and rolled a bit but we stayed secure with a couple of extra dock lines for insurance. The rain was impressive and Mildred seemed relieved to report that she could find no leaks other than the sliding tracks for the side windows filling up because of slow drainage.  This was easily handled with a couple of small towels placed in the tracks.
     The local Ace hardware was less than 1/2 mile away so it was easy to pick up the few parts Tom required to repair the aft door knob and the TV.  We walked to the nearby Hibachi restaurant about a mile away and enjoyed the chefs performance cooking dinner and singeing our eyebrows with his high flame.  They stopped throwing dinner tidbits into the patrons mouths in the hibachi restaurant (Tokyo) in Beaumont because someone choked on a piece and of course in the "legal hell hole of Texas" won the law suit, so it was fun to see it being done here.  During our walk I spotted a nice little bakerywhere Beth and I enjoyed breakfast the next morning.  Great scones, peach turnovers and Tom said, with a smile on his face,  the German Chocolate Cake we brought him was too rich.
    Taking advantage of the cold rain and wind we elected to forgo the local Mardi Gras Parade and took a cab over to the Pensacola Naval Base to tour the free naval air museum.  It was sobering to see the many acres of gravestones of those that sacrificed their lives for this country and these were just from one branch of the navy!   We spent an hour on the guided tour viewing the history of the Navy's development of increasing lethal air technology.  It was impressive.  A tribute to those that have contributed to this history included Admiral Byrd, who flew across the north pole and President Bush senior. There is even a display of President Bush's flight training report card which states he is an excellent student who "is somewhat eccentric.

                                                                         

     An exhibit of how people at home saved scrap, had to use ration cards for food and fuel and did without to help with the war effort, made me wonder if our society today would be able to come together in such a manner.  We are just so coddled with government benefits, cheap fast food , mind numbing TV and movies that have us all living in a world where we mistakenly believe what we are viewing is reality. We have become as a society soft, fat and for the most part expecting that the government will take care of us!
     Nevertheless it was nostalgic to see a display of a home from the 40's and 50's with the old wringer washer, peddle sewing machine, phones with a dial and an ice box.  These were some of the things Beth and I remember from our childhood, that our grandparents and parents had in our homes.  Come to think of it the sound of the rhythmic motion of the wringer washer almost covered up some of the other sounds in the house on a Sunday morning!

                                                                            

     The high light of the tour though was the display of the Blue Angels acrobatic flying team.  They  practice on Tuesdays and Wednesday in Pensacola at 8:30 am....so no one sleeps in on those mornings!  Unfortunately they are on the west coast now, but will be back by March 31. The display shows the planes several feet apart.  One of the former pilots viewed the exhibit and asked in earnest, "Why so far apart?"  When they are flying in formation they do so at 18 inches!

                                                                            

    A white Rolls Royce in a condo parking lot?  Whats up with that? We stopped the taxi to investigate.  Hmmm, sitting on small wood blocks-been there for a while.  Nice on the outside---Florida weather, no snow, no salt.  JL on what appeared to be a British license plate.  A white rock and roll star that was assassinated-- guess who this belonged to! -got it yet? .....This Rolls was owned by John Lennon!

                                                                               

     Returning to the boat we were met with the aroma of the pot roast Beth started before we left. It felt kind of homey with the windows steamed up and the boat gently tugging at her lines.  A nice dinner and off to bed.  We would need a good nights sleep because we be travelling in the morning. 


         

Orange Beach to Perdido Key

     Before leaving the Wharf Marina, Tom and I walked the docks at the local marina, while the girls went for supplies.  Dinner was my first attempt at trying steamed oysters (doesn't "taste like chicken!").  Beth, even with her cold could taste the very aromatic French Onion Soup and said it was delicious.  Mildred enjoyed the sea food platter and Tom revelled in the raw oysters.
     Beth kept noticing small saran wrap bags of water with a penny in the bottom, hanging above the entrance to the local restaurants.  Apparently, these are hung around the tops of the doors as they believe that it keeps flies and flying insects out of the dining areas. " How do they work?" we asked almost in unison and definitely in disbelief when the response from our hostess was, "The insects see their reflection  magnified and think its a bigger bug so are scared away."  All I can tell you is, we had an occasional fly and mosquito eater enter the boat and there were none in any of the restaurants or stores we entered. We need to try this in our camp in Piskahagan, New Brunswick!

                                                          Alabama Insect Repellent.             

     As the weather cleared and the sun came out we left for our next stop, an anchorage. ( Fort McRee Cove North in Florida.)  Our first peaceful cruise since leaving Gulfport.   We cruised in serene, soft  blue/green water with Dolphins cavorting in our wake and swimming up beside the boat.. Now I believe my niece Tina when she travelled with us across Galveston Bay and said she could hear the dolphins outside the hull chattering.  They surfaced beside our side door on several occasions and with a whoosh through their "blow hole" gave a high pitched chatter.

                                                      Here's looking at you kid!          
                                                                             


      It was heaven.  Just what we have been in search of.....until......(you just knew there was going to be something didn't you!!)  Well, there was and it was not my fault, damn it!  It wasn't in the weather reports when we took off.   Fog!... damn thick Fog!....  Pea soup thick Fog!......and!!......we ran out of detailed chart markings on the Nobeltec Navigation system!!   What!!  Well, if we are anything we are resourceful and we have double and triple backups for everything on the boat.  First move was to extend the radar range,  turn on the second radar, and put Beth and Mildred out on the front deck to watch for barges and boat traffic.  Second move was to turn on the fog horn (Hee!Hee!Hee!-the girls looked over their shoulder's at me with the first blast.  I just smiled and shrugged my shoulders! We turned on the apple Ipad which has a navigation system called "Charts and Tides" (ps. cost $40.00 compared to the $450.00 I paid for the updated Nobeltec maps!)  which helped us navigate. The girls could barely make out the no wake signs which we passed (using mainly the radar) as we inched into the anchorage.
                                                                          

                                                                Where is that lagoon? 
                                                                                                                                                       
  Wouldn't you know it, within the hour the fog lifted and we found ourselves in a wonderfully protected  lagoon (the closest thing in Florida to being in a south seas atoll.) 
     Relieved and excited that we were in such a beautiful spot, Beth cracked a coldie while I launched the dingy.  We were going to the Beach.  Beth, Mildred and I were going to explore the beach and the Fort McRee ruins.  While we were "grundging" our way with a flashlight through the catacombs of the ruins, Tom sat peacefully on the  aft deck listening to the trumpets play as they lowered the colours at the nearby Pensacola Naval Base.

                                               Our peaceful lagoon off Perdido Key.           

      Next day dawned, with the sun slowly rising in the east and the faint sounds of the trumpets from across the water playing revelry.(Tom with a warm reflection on his face commented, "Thats the first time I've heard revelry in 60 years.)  Peace, at last.  It was fun being the first foot prints in the sand.  I inhaled deeply through my nose to get a hint of what I truly miss about Maine and the Maritimes, the smell of fresh salt air.  The rigour of getting this far was now worthwhile. 
     As we were basking in the serenity of our anchorage Beth noticed some misting coming in on Pensacola bay.  It would be 2 days before a tropical like storm was due to enter our area but despite Beth's desire to remain,  I elected to err on the side of the avoiding the "colonoscopy gods" and get the boat into a safe harbour before the winds came up.  We motored across Pensacola bay to the Santa Rosa Yacht Club to wait out the storm.
                            

                                       ok. ok. Enough! We are going into a safe harbour.  

Gulfport to Orange Beach, Al

         It was midnight by the time I had checked, rechecked, and confirmed all the weather reports and possible escape scenarios for heading back out into Mississippi sound.  Everyone had long since retired without us having a go- no go decision.  Beth, basically wanted to stay in Gulfport until it was perfect weather, which may have been as much as a week!  Tom and Mildred leaned toward keeping Beth happy.  I felt we had a reasonable chance, with a one day weather window, to get back into the intracoastal before we had to deal with the oncoming weather front.  At 5 am, walking out to view the now foggy sound, I decided to stop  at the marina office to talk with the night man. We checked the weather again on his computer, it still looked good to go, except for the fog!  I returned to the boat and fired up the generator just as the night man arrived to tell me that he checked with the coast guard and the fog would probably lift when the sun came up.  I looked out the stern of the boat and the fog was already lifting.  Bam! It was a go!  I was about to tempt the "colonoscopy gods!"
     The water was smooth as we exited the well protected marina with only an ominous mild swell when we were out about 5 miles.  Turning east into the first glint of a rising sun, the fog, as predicted began to clear.  As the wind increased to 5 to 10 knts a not uncomfortable chop developed and Docs Holiday rose easily into the rhythmic swells.  We were for the most part behind the channel islands, which were protecting us from the mayhem further out into the gulf.

                                                     Dolphin's jumping in our wake
                              

  We knew it was 5 to 10 foot waves with 20 knot winds gusting to 30 further out and realized just how rough it was when we heard a Tow captain on the vhf call to say he was coming back in because it was too rough for him.  This was much more tolerable than yesterday, no water over the bow, no need for the windshield wipers and no white knuckles sitting on the floor......until....you have probably already guessed it!....the open areas to the gulf.....between the islands!  OOPS!   Now the ominous swell was a damned 4 to 5 foot wave rolling the boat from side to
side .
 " Mildred,  did you dump that half glass of buttermilk that was in the fridge, " I reminded her.
  "Oh, shit! I'll get it now. " she exclaimed as she jumped up to take care of it.
   "Don't open the fridge door!" yelled Beth.....too late.
     Tom and I glanced at each other as we heard, what sounded like dishes and food crashing to the floor.  What was impressive is that it didn't stop. Mildred had a conundrum.  She had to keep opening the door to get her hand in to get the open glass of milk and as she did more and more and more stuff kept falling out.  Exasperated, she finally came out and asked, "Doc can you turn up into the wind so I can clean up this mess!"  Turning bow into the waves helped some.  Instead of rolling side to side we were pitching up and down, but  it gave the girls enough time to secure things so we could continue on.  The time between the islands was only about 30 to 45 minutes which was not quite long enough to prevent Beth from yelling, "How much longer before this stops!" I could sense that I was close to tempting the "colonoscopy gods"!

                                                        Ghost ship in the fog.                  

      As we approached Dauphin Island, it all settled down and we had flat water all the way to the intracoastal in Alabama.   Hurray, now we could open her up to see if there were any vibrations with the new props. I am happy to say, Docs Holiday came up and planed easily at 17.5 knts.  Engine temps stayed at 180-190 deg., no vibration... and the cat didn't puke!

                .                               Ahar! Who said there be Pirates!                 

      We slowed to 8 knots as we glided by Lulu's.  This marina and restaurant is owned and operated by Lulu-Jimmy Buffets sister.  We took a picture and waved to the customers seated on the dock as we headed past to our marina, "The wharf".  I refused to pay $2 per foot for a berth and exorbitant prices for food reportedly served on paper plates, when 3 miles down the ICW is a marina with a new floating dock for $1 per foot along with an oyster bar on the premises and over the top friendly staff.
Hey, all  you marina owners times are tough. Fuel  is  expensive so less boaters are cruising. Its time to get in line with the rest of the new economy and start getting competitive with your pricing.  Both "The Wharf" and the "Gulfport city Marina" have seen the light and are given positive reviews on Active Captain, so are getting my business.

                                                   Lulu's.......Jimmy Buffets sister. 

     If you stop at the Wharf,  say Hello to Beverly the manager.  Not only did she allow us to use her truck to go get supplies, she also brought us 2 dozen of her chicken's eggs.  Thanks Beverly!
  Don't forget to try the $3.89 breakfast at nearby Nibbles cafe.
     We plan on spending a couple of days here than maybe we can do what we have been dreaming about... find a secure unpopulated anchorage to wile away a couple of days, "stopping to smell the roses" and thanking the "colonoscopy gods" for lowering their heads and allowing the final part of the journey to be a smooth ride into Alabama.
   

New Orleans to Gulfport, Mississippi

    As the morning chill and coffee helped me clear my head, we prepared the boat for getting underway. We were up at 5:00 am and underway at the crack of dawn knowing that it would be mid morning by the time we got to the Rigolets and tested ourselves in the Mississippi Sound.
     It was easy cruising until we got about an hour into the Sound.  As the wind kicked up to 17 knots the predicted one to two foot waves became at least three if not four foot in height.  Mildred says only one to two, but I say they looked more like 6 footers! All I know for sure is, the windshield wipers had a full time job keeping the windows clean and there wasn't a rain drop in the sky.  Docs Holiday handled the waves well and for once I didn't get sea sick.  Docs Holiday handled it well that is, until we made the turn to enter the channel into Gulfport.  The waves began to roll us from side to side.  We were being struck on the starboard side aft quarter and it was all I could do to keep the boat in the channel. I have asked the boat experts on the Hatteras owners forum about this in the past.  How should this be handled?  Turn the stabilizers off or leave them on?  Power up or slow down?  Steer or automatic pilot?  Ride the backs of the swells or stay in the trough?   There were as many answers as I had questions. I've tried them all and the ride still sucks!   Beth was sitting on the floor hanging on with white knuckles.  Mildred was ordered back in from the side door where she was trying to get some fresh air so she wouldn't be sick.  I was afraid with the violent rolling she would go flying over the rail into the water!  I was struggling with the wheel and and throttles trying to prevent the roll but we had to go into the channel to get to the marina.  Tom laughed.  The cat puked!

                                                                                          

     Although some things were strewn about, nothing broke and when we settled into a slip in this city owned marina we had shall we say, "a discussion".  Beth said, "You should go ahead and book your colonoscopy for when we get back."  "What! Why would I need a colonoscopy?" I replied.  "You are going to need someone to retrieve my flip flop if you put us through that again!" she retorted.  Talk about attitude!  Her attitude got even worse when I told her I was thinking about leaving in the morning!
      Of course there was something to fix...My brother in laws..The Dannies are probably salivating reading this because they are like Tom, they love to tinker and fix broken shit.  Ok boys, here it comes. As Tom and Mildred were piloting the boat ( I was taking a Nap!)  We heard the motor over rev, felt the boat lurch to the left and then stop!  Damn, I thought we probably went aground and maybe lost a prop! We rushed up to the helm where stood a bewildered Mildred and Tom,  "We didn't do anything wrong", Mildred blurted.  "It just reved up and quit", said Tom. Maybe a shaft coupling let go or a prop fell off or we blew a transmission or ...or...or...  Who the hell knows but we had better figure it out, we are in the middle of the sound in rough weather!  So what do you think happened next?
     I was going to wait and tell you in the next blog but, I know my brother in laws. They would have sleepless nights trying to figure it out and wondering what happened.
     Taking over the helm I tried to throttle up the power.   It worked on the port throttle. Nothing on the starboard throttle. Hmm the starboard tach was reading zero....Must have stalled the engine?  No the engine was running...then why wouldn't it throttle up?  Come on RJ got the answer yet? Well here it is.  The mechanical tachometer on the starboard engine  broke..therefore the engine synchronizer wouldn't work...you can't throttle up the starboard engine by its own control if the synchronizer is on.  Emergency solved.  We simply shut down the synchronizer and manually throttled up both engines.  Yes, it was difficult since we had to adjust the engines rpms by ear--only one had a functioning tach but we weren't going to be stuck in the middle of Mississippi Sound.  We were going to make it into a safe haven in Gulfport. 
     You can imagine the discussion Beth and I had after getting settled in and I suggested we would have a weather window in the morning to get across the rest of Mississipi Sound!
     PS. Yes, Tom was able to repair the broken tach the same night!  For those of you more technically inclined this is what he did.  The tach drive housing was loose which allowed the cable adapter that fit into the tach drive to come partially out and rounded the edge off of it (it is square on the end). He was able to clean out the shavings and push the adapter further into the drive.  Locking down the housing should hold it in... voila, both tachs working. We will find out tomorrow if  it will hold up--that is if my suggestion prevails!