Panama City Beach to Port St Joe

November 17, 2015

Tuesday 

Miles Traveled-50

Total miles-1052

Day 66

The winds kicked up last night, but by morning, it wasn't too bad. So we pulled in our lines and left the marina before low tide. There are several areas they are quite shallow and we didn't want to get hung up. The temps were on the cool side at the early hour.

The Bay was fairly calm.

 Not sure what was burning.

Buster alerted us to our swimming escorts.

They are so cool to have travel along!

Mike at the inside helm.. Practicing for the overnight crossing. Buster as first mate... Chillin'

The Coast Guard passed us. I'm pretty sure they slowed down to check out Buster!

 This route had many sunken boats! Two here.

 Buster wanted to take his turn at the helm.. Captain Buster!

Here's another sunken boat

And another

 I'm guessing a big storm came through here.. I'm sure there are some stories.

 Now here's water front/ floating home. Nice washing machine on the porch.

 We made it to Port St Joe with winds out of the Southeast at 13 knots. The Marina was well protected from the incoming weather front. Nice place with a lot of amenities. Bar/restaurant with great views.

And we are running into fellow loopers.

It's Happy Hour.

And a plan for a storm.

Pet friendly!

Beautiful sunsets!

We all had our cameras ready

Great clouds over the marina.

Wow!!

Fun fun fun in PCB

November 14,15,16,2015

Saturday,Sunday,Monday 

Days 63 64 65

It's a weather watching thing.. While waiting for calmer seas we hung around Panama City Beach. The weather was perfect on shore.. Time to get to the stores for supplies. Home Depot, fresh Market, Publix and the Fish Market

We had a wonderful evening with Shelly and John. They made a most DELICIOUS dinner!! And we had a super time with them!! Also with Jake and Cody🐾

There was time to do a little boat cleaning and dinghy exploring

Buster making sure we do our jobs correctly.

 The Marina offered a " courtesy car" it was a gem, and a real head turner! It's a two seater for the three of us, rusted out like you would believe. No inside lights on dashboard and very noisy... But it got us around town so we were pleased to use it. 

Oh yeah, it had "roll up windows" no power steering and homemade door handles 

Parked next to us at the Marina was this large sailboat that took guests out for sunset cruises.. And we had some beautiful sunsets!  But it's time to get moving east. Tomorrow we plan to go to Port St Joe.. Hope the wind and waves are calm!

Short and sweet!

November 13,2015

Friday 

PCB

Day 62

Sadly, Lori could not stay very long. She and Macie (their pup) left early this morning for a long drive back to Charleston , SC. We look forward to a longer visit once we get to the Keys... And many more adventures once this young chick is retired.

Let me just say.. Panama City Beach has some of the prettiest beaches I have ever seen..

Over the years the mom and pop places have been replaced by high rises. I miss the small town charm it once had. It's sometimes referred to as "The Redneck Rivera" and during high season filled with an interesting mix of folks.

 Newly added about 8-9 years ago, are the shops and restaurants at Pier Park.

It also stages many events during the year. This weekend happens to be an enormous Car Show! So the three of us climbed into the courtesy truck that is so rusted out and requires a toggle switch to start this beast... But it got us from pointA to pointB so who's complaining!

Of all the cars... This was my favorite.. A 1930's Cadillac... Sweet! And quite drivable!

Yep, we're having a fun day!

 There's an amphitheater here, and tonight the Bellamy Brothers are playing!

Shelly Gorden Beard and her husband John now live in PCB and they too were at the car show. We all had lunch together at Magiritaville then took a walk along  the beach before going back to the car show..   What fun it was to spend our day together. Phil, Mike , Shelly and myself all went to high school together a few moons ago. What a blast to reconnect!!

 The boys!

Mike got to get his feet wet.

This show had some great variety of vehicle .. Some nicely restored..

Others kind of roached out yet fun.. The beer bottles lit up.

Evening entertainment..

The Bellamy Brothers.. Up close and Freezing cold.. A blanket would have been nice.. That cold front moved in when the sun went down.. But lots of fun anyway..   I did linger a little longer, after washing my hands in the lady's room,at the hand dryer..

Guess who's coming for dinner???

November 12,2015

Thursday 

Hanging in PCB. Panama City Beach

Day 61

Yesterday, while checking into the Marina, we get a call from Mike and Lori Pangburn, they are coming our way!!! We are so excited!! Lori is bring Mike to help with the "crossing" . We are hoping Lori can stay for awhile too, maybe until Sunday.

Well it's time to tidy up the boat , get laundry done and get to a fish market before they get here... 

Let's feast on shrimp and stone crabs!

Always a blast when spending time with these two!!!  Laughter galore!

Blue Water Bay Marina to Pirates Cove Marina Panama City Beach

November 11, 2015

Wednesday 

Miles traveled- 63.5

Total miles traveled-1002

Day 60

Another grey start to our day but it did seem a bit warmer... Low 60's but once we got underway, jackets and hats were needed. 

Still cloud cover going into the ICW.

The water isn't all the inviting.. Has the same color as tea or weak coffee.. 

 The terrain is changing and this part of the ICW is quite narrow.

Again, there has been very little boat traffic. A few small fishing boats and this good size tug and barge. It was fairly narrow with a bend where we passed him on the "two whistle". Buster making sure the distance between us is safe.. 

Waters were free of obstacles except this large can.. 

The skies cleared up around noon as we entered the Bay at Panama City. I have been over this bridge a kazillion times over the years. My mom and Dad moved her in the mid 80's. This is the first time we've gone under it.

There's an active port here.

And a Naval Training Base here too.

Bay Point Marina and community are straight across the bay from were we have checked in for awhile. Mom and Dads house is about a mile away(as the crow flys)  So many mixed feelings..  It's wonderful to be here yet sad..

Had mom and Dad still lived at Bay Point, we would have stayed at their Marina. But we are here at Pirates Cove.. They offer a courtesy truck and have a pool and free washer/dryer and very close to the beach and stores!

The restaurant is closed until February.. But there are many many place all over this place to chose from or fish markets for fresh catches!

Bayou Grande Marina Pensacola Fl to BlueWaterBay Marina Niceville, FL

November 10, 2015

Tuesday 

Miles traveled-55.5

Total miles traveled-938.5

Day 59

It was time to move along. The forecast called for cold and cloudy in the morning, and clearing in the afternoon and reaching the low 70's.  It was cold and damp when we left the marina..

This is when we are really thankful for the inside helm. 

It was cloudy and cold until about noon. We had very little traffic and made good time. We saw this paddle boat near Pensacola ..

If you look closely to this picture, you'll see the windows at water level of a sunken boat.. And the boat with the outboard motors pulling it... Not sure what happened here but I'm sure there's a very interesting story...

 We arrived at Blue Water Bay Marina in Niceville Fl. It seemed nice enough.. However the restaurant is closed Monday's and Tuesday's (bummer..) and the Courtesy car is not working.. They did offer to take us anywhere we would like to go.... But actually, we were good with our supplies and hanging at the marina was just fine.

This marina had a small town charm,

And the staff was very friendly. Cute holiday decorations 

 This is the outside party area.. Pet friendly too.

Next mornings fog and view of Knot Yet!