Tuesday 5/12/09 Left St. Andrews Marina at 7:40 am. At least that's what time we think it was. Seems we're right on the border between Eastern & Central time zones and our clocks still registered on eastern time but our cell phones were on central time. After about 15 minutes debating which time we would use for the "official Log" we decided on using central time since we would definitely end the day in that zone. Whew!
Again we travelled the GICW past the commercial docks in Panama City, across Choctawahatchie Bay, through a couple of narrow streams and ended up anchored in Ingram Bayou which is west of Pensacola. The Panhandle area of Florida is rich in military installations. Several times today we had military fighters fly over us. At first Pam thought we did something wrong but I assured her they flew over because she was laying out in her bikini! At one point we passed a black inflatable filled with military personnel doing some sort of exercise. As soon as we went by they pulled into the channel behind us and fell over the side of the raft. Maybe they were just hot. Also today we met our first barges since January! We also went past Fort Pickens which was built between 1829 & 1834 to defend the entrance to Pensacola Bay and the Navy yard there. Seems the fort was used into the 1940's. Somehow we both missed this on the way through in January. Go figure! Total for the day 123.2 miles made possible by light traffic on the intracoastal.
Wednesday 5/13/09 Morning broke over Ingram Bayou with a hint of rain in the air. The last rain we saw was at Samson Cay in the Bahamas. In fact we've seen little rain during our entire stay in the South. Before we pulled anchor we got to see a couple of Dolphins fishing around Tourist. No matter how many times you see them it's always a rush when they appear. Pam is like a kid at Christmas every time and is always on the lookout as we travel. Unfortunately our sightings will come to an end once we start up the river system. Speaking of rivers, it seems that every one that we need to travel on is currently at or above flood stage. Guess we'll go from looking for dolphins to watching for logs. We are currently at Grand Mariner Marina on the Dog River just south of Mobile, Al. The picture of their fuel dock shows how high the water is. When we stopped here in January there was almost four feet of space under it. We'll pull out Friday morning and head up stream leaving the blue water and dolphins in our wake but today is Walmart day! Sure wish our stimulus check would come in so we could buy some Cheetos, chips and cigarettes while we're there. Seriously though, for a boater with limited access to transportation Wally World is a one stop shopping facility.
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