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.
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