February 11th, 2015

Feb 11^th, 2015.  Up at 5AM, motors started at 5:35.  Away from dock at 6:03. 

Light wind and smooth bay crossing, piece of cake….even Missy would have liked it!  Passed Lulu’s and Homeport Marina at 9AM…3 hours from Dog River. Came across several barges just after Homeport Marina…two were tied to the north shore and two coming the other way along with a cruiser coming toward me.  Sportfish behind me must not have been on his radio as the barge Captains were a little upset with him as not only did he not answer radio calls to him, he ignored whistles by one of the barges.  One of the barge Captains came on the radio and remarked “I guess money makes you stupid!”

Dolphins showed up at 11:15 AM to greet me.  

Lots of Pelicans...love to watch them dive for lunch!

These three guys were very interested in what the Alabama DNR was doing.

Crossed over into Florida right at noon!  More Dolphins. 

 Lots of Navy and Air Force activity across Pensacola  Bay, in air and at sea.

Air Force Pilots are getting a dunk in the bay!

Mean Copter!

Navy Seals??

I heard a report on the radio of someone jumping or falling off the Navarre Bridge and saw a Coast Guard vessel rushing to assist.

Arrived at Fort Walton Beach Yacht Basin right at 5PM.  They normally close at 4PM this time of year so it was nice that one of the guys stayed on site for me.  Pretty strong current gave me my first docking challenge of the season.  I made it the second try but thought about it afterwards and would do it differently next time. Practice, practice, practice!  This is not my favorite marina, in fact it has really skinny finger piers, strong current, exposed to the channel, and there are no channel markers guiding you in.  But it is going to be cold tonight so I did not want to anchor out and did not have any other options this far east this time of year.  

The Crab Shack restaurant is right at the marina but I have plenty to eat on board!

Port transmission seemed to be A-Okay.  I checked the temp periodically during the day and it was right in sync with the starboard trans.  Aye Sea No Snow ran perfectly all day.  I did notice the fuel gauge on the port tank is not working so maybe the guys from Dog River bumped something….I will add it to my “to do list”.  I also really wish my lower helm autopilot would work properly but I can live with it.

It is going to be a rocky evening but I like the motion when I sleep! Going to try to get to Port St. Joe tomorrow...about 110 miles so it will be past sunset when I get there!

Red Sky at night, Sailor's delight!

Smoked Salmon on Triscuits with a tomato for dinner, strawberries for desert, yummmmm!