11/7/11 Monday Big day today. In our trips through the area we have never stopped at Fairhope, Al. on the east side of Mobile Bay. Today is the day. Pam wanted to check out Fairhope and I wanted to get the props changed to hopefully eliminate a slight vibration. 11 miles across the bay to Eastern Shores Marina. Marina might be stretching it when trying to describe this place. Like Dog River Marina, it is a working boat yard with a few slips for rent. We pulled up to the fuel dock to check on the timing of the haulout. When I told the yard foreman what size our props and shafts were and that I didn't want them to pound them off with a hammer he said we had a problem. Their prop puller wouldn't fit my shaft. (No joke's please!) Having already committed to staying we went to our slip with the old props still in place.
Pam went to town and found a small community much like our hometown of Galena. A variety of shops all geared to the tourist. Upon her return Ed the owner of the marina came to the boat and said they would have a puller to fit our shafts by morning. We could be hauled first thing if we still were interested. We agreed and settled in for the night.
11/8/11 Tuesday 7am and it's time to go to the travel lift for the haulout. Up and out went Tourist. The prop puller did the trick as they came off with a bang! Within a few minutes the new props were in place and Tourist was going back in the water.
By 9am we were heading out into Mobile Bay and on to the GICW and points East. Near the lower end of the bay we were hailed on the vhf by an officer of the Alabama Marine Police wanting to know the name of our boat and where we had spent last night. Odd, but that was it and he sped off. We hit the protected waters of the intercoastal and cruised past Lulu's restaurant (Jimmy Buffet's sister).
Shortly after Lulu's we were passed again by the same officer who had hailed us earlier. Meanwhile in our rear view mirror I could see a familiar boat catching up to us. Lindonia who we had last seen at Bobby's a few days back. Still a good distance back we could see them at various times as we traversed the waterway. We hit Wolf Bay and here comes the Marine Police again. This time with his lights on and another officer with him. Once we came to a stop they were quick to inform of what was going on. Turns out a boat similar to ours from Chicago had fueled at Grand Mariner and took off without paying. They wanted to know if we had seen them in our travels and let us know who to call if we did.
We continued on to anchor near Pensacola in an area at the east end of the Big Lagoon. Us, Lindonia, and another boat, Atlantis anchored for the night in this tranquil spot. We were near the Pensacola Naval Air Station and were able to watch a variety of planes coming and going.
11/9/11 Wednesday An easy morning enjoying our coffee before pulling anchor and heading into Pensacola. We pulled into Palafox Pier Marina by 10:30am and started to clean the salt off of Tourist and get ready for a visit to the National Museum of Naval Aviation.
We spent the afternoon looking at all types of aircraft and reading the stories of the people who flew them.
One of the attractions at the museum is an Imax Theater in which we watched the Blue Angels go through their routine. I say watched but at times it was as though we were in the co-pilots seat twisting and turning right along with them!
We finished the day with a delicious meal at the Fish House Restaurant located just a few blocks from the marina.
11/10/11 Thursday With small craft warnings issued for the waterways we chose to depart anyway. Winds from the north caused the bay to be a bit lumpy but once we turned east it settled down to a light chop which had little effect on Tourist. By mid afternoon we found our way into Joe's Bayou near Destin to anchor for the night.
11/11/11 Friday Today we travelled across Chocktawahatchie Bay enroute to Panama City. St. Andrew's Marina is on the west side of Panama City and is home to quite a few shrimp boats. Not the best marina in the area but we chose it because of it's proximity to the Captain's Table Restaurant. A spot that we've been to before. Our reason for going.....the Baked Cajun Oysters! Yummm!
11/12/11 Saturday This morning before we pulled out we went to the farmer's market located next to the marina and then bought some fresh shrimp from the shrimp guy who has a stand on pontoons in the corner of the marina.
The route east from Panama City winds through a series of bays and narrow waterways enroute to Apalachicola.
After 2 calls to Scipio Creek Marina we finally confirmed a slip for the night. In our travels through here over the years neither of us had stopped in Apalachicola so this was the time. The marina isn't much with no help at the docks, just a "come into the office when you get tied up". In what is now a recurring theme, we stopped here for the raw oysters. Papa Joe's is located right next to the marina and isn't any more impressive to look at than the marina itself. But looks are deceiving. The food was killer. Started off with a dozen raw oysters! We each had an entree and for desert we had another dozen raw oysters! By the way. I now weigh 500 pounds!
We waddled back to the boat and passed out after dinner.
11/13/11 Sunday With only a short distance to Carabelle today we decided to walk downtown. An old Florida town that now caters mostly to tourists. Of course there wasn't much open on a Sunday morning so the wallet got a rest.
Once we were back to Tourist we headed out to cross Apalachicola Bay passing the oyster fishermen on our way and arriving in Carabelle shortly after lunch.
We fueled up at C-Quarters Marina and were able to use the owners truck to run to the deli for some sandwich meat before heading out to Dog Island to anchor for the night.
Great pics! Thanks for posting!
ReplyDeleteSo jealous - after doing that trip 14 times, we grew tired of it, now sadly we are missing it. Your right the food is to die for - I don't know how you guys stay so skinny. Hoping for a good crossing.
ReplyDeleteDeb, Rick & Izzy m/v Broulee