We are Jonathan and Jayne, a live-aboard couple with our dog, Bella. Jonathan writes the blog of our adventures and I take pictures and add captions.
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The next big deal on the loop route is the crossing of the
open Gulf of Mexico from the Florida Panhandle to the Florida peninsula itself.
This is one of the very few spots on the loop that is not in protected inland
water, and loopers stress out about it more than they probably should. At any
rate, the first step in this crossing is to get to your jumping off point in
the panhandle, usually either Apalachicola or Carrabelle, and wait there for
some favorable weather to cross the gulf. We had a nice leisurely trip to get
from Fairhope to our chosen jump off point of Carrabelle, with stops in Orange
Beach, Alabama (free dock), Fort Walton Beach, Florida (free dock), Niceville
(marina, 2 nights), Panama City (anchor), St. Joe Bay (anchor), Apalachicola
(marina, 3 nights) and finally Carrabelle (marina, 4 nights).
Leaving our beautiful spot at the Fairhope Yacht Club, we
went 20 miles down Mobile Bay where we picked up the good old Intracoastal
Waterway (ICW) system, which we last left in Norfolk, Virginia a seeming lifetime
ago. The protected ICW will take us all the way to our gulf crossing jump-off
point, but first it will take us through some fantastic clear waters and along
white sand beaches and through a surprising amount of wilderness. After about
20 miles on the ICW we came to Orange Beach, Alabama, a tourist and
sportfishing mecca with lots of marina and anchoring possibilities. We called
the Pirate’s Cove Marina to see about dockage for the night, and they said the
marina part was closed for dredging, but we would be welcome to stay on the
restaurant/bar courtesy dock overnight for free. This place was definitely a
slice of the “Redneck Rivera”, a hard-drinking party zone with a very laid-back
vibe. Our dock was just protected enough from the stiff winds and chop on the
bay, and we had a very nice night.
Our dock space at Pirate's Cove Marina
We are the only boat here
The restaurant at the marina
This tells you all you need to know about Pirates Cove 😁
The next day, we crossed the state line and were back in
Florida again after 8 months! We passed by Pensacola and continued on another
40 miles or so towards Destin. We called around for a slip in Destin Harbor,
and were told the going rate was $3.50 a foot, plus electric. Yow! Welcome back
to Florida and high-priced dockage! Looking around for options, we saw there
was a city-owned free overnight dock right along the ICW in Fort Walton Beach.
No electric, but right near downtown and walking distance across the bridge to
the beach. In the morning, we took a long walk on the beach, did some light
shopping, and I got a much-needed haircut while Jayne went to the adjacent Publix.
This Florida girl got a little choked up when reentering Florida waters
The free dock at Ft. Walton Beach, FL
Morning beach walk
No one else out on the beach this early
The sun is just starting to rise
By this time, we needed a marina day or two to do laundry
and have the luxury of electricity, so we did a short 11-mile day to the city
of Niceville (it was nice) and to the Bluewater Bay Marina. The looper harbor
hosts there were very welcoming and helpful and took us out to a great seafood
dinner one night and a good Italian place the next night. Nice. We were also able to use the marina’s courtesy
car to do all our shopping and errands. Nice.
Crews from the In-Vince-Able, Quite Nice, and harbor hosts Jack and Patty
I am in oyster heaven with both raw and steamed!
A little clunky to remove the top shell but worth it!
The next morning it was back on the road, 57 miles to Panama
City. Much of the ICW along this stretch is a canal cut pretty far inland from
the beach, but it was a change of scenery and certainly very calm and easy to
navigate. After our last marina stop, we were ready for some anchoring out again,
so we bypassed Panama City proper and went to St. Andrew’s Beach State Park,
located right on a pass between the ICW and the gulf. After getting anchored,
we took Bella ashore for a beach walk, and were disappointed to find out no
dogs are allowed on the beach…even on a leash. While leashed dogs are allowed
in the rest of the park, everything off the pavement seemed to be a solid
colony of sand spurs. Bella nevertheless enjoyed her road walks, and we did get
to see plenty of deer, birds, and even a coyote.
Back in the land of stickers which does not please Bella
Taking an early morning beach walk
Coming back from shore leave
The sunsets this time of year do not disappoint
Our location at the state park achorage
Nice dunes here in the panhandle
More dunes
Back in familiar territory with these shore birds
Crystal clear water at low tide
Plenty of wildlife sightings at this park
Coyotes are typically quite elusive but not this one
The winds laid down nicely overnight, and our morning beach
walk revealed a flat calm gulf out there, so rather than plugging along in the
ICW, we decided to head out St. Andrew’s cut and run along the beach to St.
Joseph Bay, where we would anchor up just behind the barrier island at St.
Joseph State Park. This route took us right past ground zero for Hurricane
Michael, the city of Mexico Beach. As we cruised along about a half mile
offshore, you could definitely still see the signs of devastation, and also a
lot of rebuilding activity still going on over a year later. When we arrived at
our anchorage, there was plenty of evidence of Michael’s visit there as well.
Michael cut the long peninsula that forms the park right in half at our
anchorage at Eagle Harbor. Since the storm, they had dredged up a huge berm to
re-seal the breach, but most of the park was still closed and inaccessible.
Fortunately, this did not include the boat ramp and marina at Eagle Harbor, so
we had an easy place to land Bella. Despite being mostly closed the park was
just as dog-unfriendly as St. Andrew’s, but we did find a trail that was not
sand spur hell to go for a hike (lots of mosquitos though).We enjoyed a dead-calm evening and one of the
prettiest sunsets we have seen on the trip (which is saying a lot) and turned
in for the night.
Defoliated tree damage from the hurricane
Beautiful unspoiled beaches
Hurricane damage in the upland part of St. Joseph's
Enjoying the sunset
Picture perfect sunset
The end to another beautiful day
Heading back to the beach for a beach walk
Weather change must be coming with this mackerel sky
Yellow flag for caution
Shells were plentiful here
Sometime during the night, the wind shifted and picked up a
bit so that by morning our anchorage had become a bit too choppy for comfort.
After a morning walk, we struggled a bit getting the anchor back up but were
soon underway across St. Joe Bay to the Gulf County Canal, a 5 mile ditch that
would take us back to the good old ICW and then to Apalachicola, a total trip
of about 30 miles. In Apalachicola, we stayed at the Water Street Hotel and Marina.
At $1.35 a foot it was a bargain, and pretty close to the downtown shopping and
dining district. Apalachicola is an artsy and progressive little town, and our
friends Christy and Rose came down from Tallahassee to help us enjoy it. It was
lots of fun.
Christy, Rose, Jayne (me), Jonathan and Bella on the Scipio Creek trail
Sunrise view from our slip at the Water Street Hotel and Marina
Quaint vacation rental houseboats on the waterfront in Apalachicola
By this time, we were starting to look hard at the weather
for that elusive window for the gulf crossing, and we thought we saw a good one
coming up in a couple of days. Rather than going a straight 100 miles from
Apalachicola to Stienhatchee, leaving from Carrabelle cuts about 25 miles off
the trip. So, on Monday we left for Carrabelle for a early Tuesday morning
departure to cross the gulf. But it was not to be. After stopping at the
fuel/pumpout dock at C-quarters Marina in Carrabelle, the starboard engine
would not re-start. The starter relay would click, but no juice was getting to
the starter, and no amount of cursing seemed to help. We found a good but very
busy mechanic in town, and when he finally got around to us after a couple days
of waiting he was able to diagnose the problem as a broken wire connection and
fix it on the spot - Great news, but we missed our weather window. So here we
are in Carrabelle waiting for some good weather without much to do except FINALLY,
get all caught up on the blog!
