February 25, 2009: St Andrews

This morning, still anchored in Pearl Bayou, we enjoyed the beauty of the spot, the still water and the forest along the shore. We also spent some time trying to get a picture of the fighter jets that were flying over the boat. Pairs would pass over head every few minutes, but the low ones were going so fast, you could not get the camera to focus. We think they were from the 325th Figher Wing at the Tyndall Air Force base near by.


We pulled into the St. Andrews marina today - it is much more commercial than most of the marinas we have visited. The pilings on their fuel dock would have looked inviting to an ocean going tug, but we managed to tie up there and get some diesel fuel!

The warm afternoon sun invited us to take a bike ride through the older neighborhoods near the water front. There were beautiful trees (I love the Spanish moss) and views of the bay.

Later, walking to dinner we saw a sign saying that the local Kiwanis Club had contributed to building the boardwalk which fronted the marina and included a gazebo – a nice contribution to the town. Go Kiwanis!

There was an amazing work of art there too. It was a tree that had died, and someone had carved the twisted trunk and ends of the branches into pelican statutes, like they were perched there. It was very unique. We ate dinner at Uncle Ernie’s, a restaurant in a home built in 1800, on the bank of the bay, and we enjoyed watching the sun set over the boating scene.

February 23, 2009: Around West Bay

It was sunny and beautiful as we cruised around West Bay today.

Tom took some pictures as he explored the bayou in the dinghy and saw a fisherman pulling up oysters with a huge rake into a small boat. The device he was using looked like one we saw in a museum while we were in the Chesapeake Bay.

I worked for most of the day but did get to see three porpoises doing a little dance by the boat –

a special treat. Too bad we weren't quick enogh to get a picture. It is fun to watch the sea birds on the beach and fishing in the water.

I think the pelicans here are a cross between the white pelicans in fresh water and the brown ones. They are brown with white heads.

We are anchored tonight back in Pearl Bayou where we were a couple of days ago, and got to see another stunning sunset.

February 22, 2009: Panama City to Fannin Bayou

Today we took our bikes into town to attend the First Baptist Church of Panama City. The church had three services each Sunday morning and today was their last day before entering their new Sanctuary which seats 2400. We enjoyed the wonderful music of the service, the chiming hand bells, the swelling orchestra, the full choir and the uplifting, joyful congregational singing accompanied by pipe organ. The people were very friendly and enthusiastic about their church family. Tom and I were somewhat overwhelmed by the contrast between this church and the tiny concrete block church in Belize where we worshiped just a few weeks ago; but both were genuine in their worship of God.

On the way back to the boat, we stopped at Chef Imondi’s where they were serving a buffet brunch. The food was OK but the live piano music made it a great place for lunch. Another stop included getting eggs at the grocery store.

We crossed back across St Andrews bay this afternoon and saw a huge freighter in the Panama City harbor docks. We cruised by an anchored shrimp boat, the Sara Lynn. Tonight we are anchored in the Fannin Bayou. We had waffles for supper. The sun going down made the sky glorious.

February 21, 2009: Panama City, FL

We took the short cruise this morning to Panama City. We disturbed a flock of pelicans as we left Pearl Bayou and we got to see them fly off of the water.

We passed by the International Paper Mill which was built in 1931. The Army Corp of Engineers created the New Pass into St. Andrew Bay in 1934, providing ships a more stable way of reaching the paper mill and Panama City. We saw a tug boat pushing four long barges of wood chips to the mill. As we pulled into the marina, we tied up next to a blue and white shrimp boat, Deep South, drying her nets. It reminded me of home.

This afternoon we took our bikes for a ride around the town. The streets were lined with huge live oaks with massive trunks and twisted branches. Spanish moss gently swayed in the wind from their branches. We passed the Bay County Court house built in 1914 and stopped to see the historical marker about the Gideon versus Wainwright case tried here. This was a landmark case in United States Supreme Court history. In the case, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that state courts are required under the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution to provide counsel in criminal cases for defendants unable to afford their own attorneys or lawyers.

There were also palm and palmetto trees along the way to the grocery store which was part of the purpose for our trip. We found the First Baptist Church where we will attend tomorrow, and also saw a beautiful bride in her white wedding dress standing in front of the First Presbyterian church.

We rode the bike route along the water front.

There are beautiful views

of the water along the way.

February 20, 2009: St Andrews State Park

We were up early this morning for my area kickoff call for work and then headed out across the rough Choctawhatchee Bay. Our plan today was to visit St. Andrews State Park. The Saint Andrews State Park spans the St Andrews inlet and includes Shell Island and the lower Grand Lagoon. After lunch, we anchored out and took our dinghy into shore and walked along the beautiful white sand looking for shells. The sea oats were swaying in the breeze, and the sea gulls lined up facing the wind like a like platoon of soldiers in formation. We walked up the planked board walk to see Panama Beach down the gulf shore from the park. There was a shallow area inside the sea wall for swimming and just beyond it the fishermen fished the back side of the rocks. We just wished it had been 20 degrees warmer. I walked in the water for a while – why else would you be at the beach?

We saw an interesting floating raft as we anchored the boat and speculated on what it was. It contained several cages and was tied to a permanent mooring ball. We didn’t know if it was for catching crabs or for diving with sharks! On our way back to the boat, we circled around it to check it out. There was a snowy white egret strutting across the back and a large brown pelican perched on the top. Turns out it was a floating bait shop and the cages on the sides entrapped the small fish that were for sale – just call VHF channel 11!

We saw some porpoises as we left the park to cruise out to find our anchorage for the night. There were a couple of other boats in the Pearl Bayou, but plenty of room for us. The water is very still here and mirrors the other boats.

February 19, 2009: Destin to Rocky Bayou

We spent two nights in Destin, the first one anchored in the almost totally enclosed harbor and the second one safely tucked into the Harbor Walk marina. The weatherman had warned us about a bad storm so we thought is would be good to be tied in. It also gave us access to take our bikes to shore although we had to crawl over the dinghy because they had no side piers. The rainy afternoon included a four mile ride to the grocery store for bread and milk and wonderful exercise.

We found a friendly blue heron visiting on the swim platform of the boat next to us as we left for dinner. Tom had scoped out a restaurant and we ate at the Harbor Docks restaurant overlooking the water. This place has it’s own fishing boats so the “catch of the day” is really the catch of the day. We had grilled amberjack which was a new fish for me, but it was delicious.

This morning we had a beautiful sunny view of the harbor with its palm trees and snow white sand. There were flocks of pelicans on the sandy point as we pulled under the bridge to leave Destin. Tonight we are anchored in a small inlet, Rocky Bayou.

February 17, 2009: Destin, Fl

Tuesday dawned with bright sunshine and a welcoming committee of pelicans balanced on piers in the bayou where we spent the night. Heading east on the Intercoastal, we passed Ono and Perdido Islands and sand as white as snow. We passed Fort Walton Beach and Eglin Air Force base which is the size of the state of Rhode Island. A guide book pointed out that the base has a hanger the size of a city block where the Air Force subjects bombers sub-arctic conditions for weeks at a time. No explanation of why they built it in Florida rather than Alaska!

Just off the Pensacola Naval Air Station we saw an unusual sight! The water was churning from the wind as a military helicopter was carrying out a practice water rescue. As we were watching, a Coast Guard patrol boat came along side and stopped us (blue lights and all). The polite but official officers boarded The Next Thirty Years for a routine safety check and found us in compliance.

This evening we came under the bridge at Dustin and found a place in the small harbor anchored in Destin.

February 16, 2009: Ingram Bayou/Orange Beach

We had a fun weekend in Mobile with Martha and Gil enjoying some of the Mardi Gras festivities. We spent Sunday night on the boat and shared our breakfast this morning with the pelicans fishing in the river. So today we have rejoined the adventure and around midday we headed out across Mobile Bay. We crossed paths with a parade of traffic including a new huge hydrofoil ferry built for Hawaii, a freighter, a sailboat, a tug pushing a crane; we passed several oil drilling platforms.

We also saw the famous Mobile lighthouse (hexagon on stilts) which was built in 1885 and is on the National Registry of Historical Places. During WWI, when the lighthouse keeper and his wife had a baby, they kept a cow at this lighthouse! The water was rough this afternoon with difficult surf until we reached the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway on the east of the bay. Near Orange Beach, there was a marina with a restaurant, called LuLu’s where we stopped for an early supper. LuLu’s was owned by Jimmy Buffet’s sister and had a cool atmosphere, wooden planks, porch overlooking the water, and a huge sandy playground along one side. Tom had a Cheeseburger in Paradise and I had the seafood gumbo. Tonight we anchored in Ingram Bayou at dusk.