Once we got off of Mobile Bay and onto the Gulf Inner Coaster Waterway (GICW), I was certainly expecting narrower channels that would not be at the mercy of weather - big fat wrong. While we have experienced some narrower channels over the past 5 days, for the better part, we have been transiting large bays (almost lake-like). So, weather indeed dictates go or stay put!
We left the Wharf Marina in Orange Beach, AL on Monday well aware that rain was in the forecast. However, rain isn't a problem so we had hoped to put in a good, long day heading east. Just after noon we found ourselves looking into very dark skies that were closing in around us. The rain started coming down heavily and then we heard the thunder. Not good. We are a 20 foot tall vessel in the middle of a wide channel (a.k.a. lightening rod). Visibility was also getting very poor and these channels have lots of tow traffic.
We made a quick decision to turn around and head a mile back to the Santa Rosa Yacht Club. By the time we arrived lightening was all around us. Still, I felt better with lots of 40 foot masts from other sailing vessels nearby. We were safely tied up for the night. The storm subsided after dinner only to discover that we were right in the middle of a tornado warning for the remainder of the evening. Thankfully, we only experienced high winds.
We made good progress on Tuesday and tied up at the free municipal pier at Fort Walton Beach, FL. Wednesday was a short day to our anchorage at Crooked Creek on West Bay. Throughout our GICW journey, we have been followed by dolphins jumping alongside or swimming through our wake. What a treat that has been!
With a cold front coming in last night, we chose to book a marina for 2 nights and are safely tucked into the Panama City Marina until Saturday. Anchoring would be just too cold with evening temps going down to zero. In the marina, we have power to run our heaters and keep the on board temperature in the 20's.
From the marina, we can walk into the old historic district of Panama City. Sadly, like many of the small towns we have come across, the downtown core is struggling with many businesses closed and empty store fronts the norm. We stumbled across a second-hand shop yesterday and picked up some Christmas decor for Catan (a wreath and a small tree). For less than $10 we now have some Christmas spirit aboard!
Today it is very windy and cool. We will stay here until tomorrow when we will leave at first light and put in 90+ miles in order to get to Carrabelle, FL. This is our staging point for the gulf crossing, which we hope to make on Monday overnight. All signs are pointing to a good crossing window then. Fingers crossed!
