In Carrabelle - week 2

Well it the beginning of week 2 in Carrabelle. Will probably have to update the blog from Carrabelle at least two more times before we think about leaving.

It sure is a tuff life here. A typical morning is - Let's see if I can remember -  we had coffee on the back deck, Breakfast of eggs, fried spam, and bagel toast,  Carol washed a load of clothes & i worked in the engine room for a bit , had coffee on the marina deck  in the swing, did some paperwork and computer stuff ,  sat in the rocking chairs  and chatted with some of the locals and one other boat person, and going to have lunch now. And there you have a typical morning.  In the afternoon Lunch and Nap call. Then we do a few odd things (see below) and around 5 sit on the porch with the locals and tell "TRUTHS" at happy hour (or two or three hours). Supper, bath, and bed then follows. I know it is a Tuff life but someone has to do it.

O' yea for varity we did a couple of other things; got fresh shrimp off the boat that stopped here for fuel, cleaned the shrimp and had fresh shrimp/cloe slaw,/taters for supper, one of the guys went fishing and left a snapper with us - grilled and was perfect (wahoo tomorrow); for exercise we like walked to one end of the town one day and stopped by the grocery store on the way back (that was about a half mile to the end of town and a block to the store). Tired us out so had to do some lemonade on the swing after. The next day walked to the other end of town to the hardware store (about 3/4 mile). Also checked out where the restaurants were (but it is hard to beat fresh caught shrimp or fish cooked on Sandpiper) but we promised ourselves we would go at least once cause everyone has told us how good they are. yep did a couple of chores on the boat but all is well and we are in no rush. Went to a festival the other day, excellent food, lots of vendors selling stuff, music, etc. Got a Sour cream pound cake, went and got fresh strawberries, had Strawberry Shortcake. Went got more cake the next day.

Life is good here, not busy-busy-busy. Current plans are to stay till the Kingfish Tournment on 5/14. Then look for a good weather window along with the full moon to go across to St. Pete.

Here are a few pics;

In Carrabelle

We are here and love it. Our kind of place. Laid back, out of the way, Very Very friendly and helpful. Going to stay awhile. Like our friend Hal said we are going to take a Break not just a Rest.

Did not get to leave Panama City as when we started the engines the old fuel leak drip from the lift pump started again. Seemed to dry up as things warmed up but time to fix permently. So replaced the part from the inventory of spares and bingo it has no leak. Old pump had an internal problem and was leaking out the weep hole (kind of like on the water pump). Got a new spare and we were off in the morning. The delay did get us reaquainted with a friend we met in Corpus that lives about 40 miles from Panama City so it turned out all good. One day we will go back to Panama City but not the same marina and with a knowledge of the city we did not have before.

Anchored out at Appalochia. As Skipper Bob said between R2 and R4 is a anchorage. You will swing with the tide but it was great and if you want to stay awhile there is a dingy dock accross the way at the city.

Left early n am to get to Carrabelle before the afternoon wind. Good trip, good plan BUT the wind was up and accross the bow on the docks as was a very strong current. But all was well, we stayed on  the fuel dock for 2 hours till the tide went slack and backed Sandpiper in. Another boat anchored in channel to do the same thing due to the current.

We met up with friends in a 41 Gulfstar. They are from our Home town (Port Isabel) and were in Bahi at the same time we were. We have been going a bit in front of us and this is the first time we have shared Happy Hour together. They leave in am to anchor at Dog Island for the next day jump to Tarpon Springs.

We will stay here and of course do some chores on the boat but for the most part just chill out.

More on that later. Hope all is well where you are. We are having a ball and places like this are the toping on the cake at least for us.

cheers and best to all from Steve & Carol aboard Sandpiper

At Panama City

We are here on a planned stop. Should have kept going. Don't get me wrong as Panama City has a lot but we do/did not find it the place we want to stay at and getting stuff really requires a car. The trolly goes everywhere but time is on their side not ours. Plus the slips are OLD and not real boater friendly (concreat, narrow, older pilings and finger piers and they want more than they are worth. So we did clean the boat, went shopping at what was supposed to be close to the marina places and then decided enough is enough. Will leave here early Wed morning for an anchor out for a couple days and then on to Carrabelle.

The trip from Biloxi to Panama City was well different. We left Biloxi in a light wind and fair weather with good weather projections. We then found out that a "light" wind (15) reaally causes the Miss Sound to bounce. and we did but thank goodness for stabilizers and it was Cloudy which made for a dreary day. But the anchorage at Dalphin was great and we spend a good night there. Met a couple of the locals tending the crab pots. They and their pet were very friendly.

The trip the next day was good. the weather was great and once while we were waiting on a barge to clear a bridge, we idled by a deck for a house and talked to a local for a while. Saw lots of nice homes along the ditch. We anchored close  to the island next to Ft. McRee. grat anchorage and so close tothe gulf we could hear the gulf and would stayed there a few days but when we tried to lanch the dingy and the cable broke before we could get the dingy off the boat. So we decide to move on the following morning, well call it noon. WE woke to FOG. Pea soup thick fog. We  hung around until around noon and it lifted enough for the tug etc to start moving so we did also. Ran into patches a few times and then decide to pull into a cove after about 20 miles. Again the anchorage was great. Again woke to fog with the boat a hang out for a bunch of birds trying to navigate the fog. But it cleared faster and better so we were able to get on down the road to the next anchorage. The next morning found it clear and we had a great day going accross a couple of bays  well almost. Some of the boat drivers are rude and some are well  stupid. Almost got run into by a pontoon boat that was to busy watching a para sail.. Was escorted by a couple of dolphins for awhile. Took a lot of pic of them and soon as i quit, they left.

While in the "Grand Canyon, got to see a Bald Eagle. It was eating a fresh caught fish when we came upon it jumped into a tree about 20 feet away as we came by. Awsome.

 Got to Panama City, the people were very helpful.

Met a couple from Laporte who had an engine issue and were being towed in the morning to a yard. Had a great talk about the Great loop over a couple of margerettes.

The port host for the America Great Loop Association came by as we were walking and we had a great chat.

Leaving Biloxi

Well it has been awhile and a lot has transpired but we are ready to leave Biloxi tomorrow morning.

Next Stop is Dauphin Island for the night and then on to Pensacola or at least close to Pensacola. Man in the boat next to us told us of an anchorage at Ft McRee that is really close to the base so we can dingy in and go to the museum. Probably spend a couple of days in anchorage/Pensacola then on to anchorages at long point and then in Choclauhatchee Bay right before entering the Grand Canyon. Sure hope to see a couple of Eagles there. News show some of the hatchings recently.

Then on to Panama City for a repo/fix it at a marina. We then will finish the panhandle with an anchor out and then a marina at Apalochicola waiting on weather if required to go to Carabelle. We then wait at Carrabelle for the big bend trip to Tarpon Springs. Don't know when we hit all the ports/anchorages  on the Big Bend or how long any of the above will take but that is the current plans.  Check the Spot to find us.

So for a summary of what happened while we were here. Of course you remember that we came accross the gulf and so part of the stop here was for us to relax and relax we did. We had days we did nothing but read, sleep, and think about watching the jelly fish races (decided that took to much energy so we did not).  

Also planned was to fix the stabilizers. So first i decidet to change the fluid and filters. Great idea but no filters so i started checking and no one had them. Long story short, i ordered them from the stabilizer people in Fla. They sent them but sent the wrong ones. So we had to wait to the correct ones arrived. In the meantime, We found a great diver and had him check the boat especially the stabilizers. When he came out of the water he was very serious and i knew we had a problem. But the problem was he was preplexed as we had a catfish wedged between one of the fins and the hull. He said he had never seen anything like it. With the fish removed, new fluid and filters the system checks great. O'yes when i told the harbor Master we caught a fish, he asked for our lisence etc. (leave it to an old retired Master Chief to give me a bad time - kind of like old times).

The Autopilot had a stuck switch that wanted to tell the AP to always turn to starboard. Fixed and it dock check ok.

Other than some other fixes of small stuff while we waited on the filter, We took walks, we went to the casino, NO we did not gamble but still enjoyed people watching and an OK meal, and we took a trolly ride to Ocean Springs (quaint down town area) and then a trolly ride of the historic area. WOW, lots of changes between my old memories and todays Biloxi. I remember the old BIG trees and beautiful old houses. A lot of the trees are still here but not many of the old houses especially along Hwy 90. There are some restored etc but with Cammile and Katrina there are a lot of empty slabs and lots. And the people here have very little love for the FEDs and all their rules etc whick makes it impossible to rebuild on thier own land.

The plan here was to fix a couple of things, relax, and then watch for a weather window before leaving. Boy the weather bears watching. While we were waiting on parts we had one storm come through. Then we got the parts, fixed the boat and said it is time to go so how is the weather. It was great. BUT There was another front coming throuth in 3 days and prediction were that it would rain, thunder, blow wind and then go away with good weather after. So the decision was to either go then hide somewhere during the next front or wait and let it come through and follow it. We said, we not in hurry so we wait. GREAT DECISION  No during the 3 days of great weather we chided ourselves on not going. But last night the front came thru. We had a tornado. It passed overhead and caused a bit of wind dammage but did not touch the ground. The people from our neichbor boat  went to walk the dog right before it happened. They were at the end of the dock, the siren went off, they looked up and saw the twister. I was peeking out the back door and was not about to go out even though we had a plan to run to the casino it need be. Interesting night but today is good and the next week+ is supposed to be good trawler weather. So we leave in the morning

Last but not least, most know we have the cat with us. He has no issues on the boat but does like to get off. He will sneak and jump off if he can. Well we went to help a couple dock their boat and left the cat on the aft deck. When we were walking back to our boat, we heard the cat hollering a sound we have never heard from him and guess what, he was in the water swimming. Steve got the net and fished him out. He now stays on the boat and if we come back inside he follows.