Spring Break Mecca

 Panama City Beach

So for many of us who passed thru college Panama City Beach was only second to Daytona Beach for spring break. Although Sue made it to the iconic Daytona Beach I managed to be head down trying to become some type of Dr so spring break did not line up with when I had break. Now you all know why I am on this “extended Spring Break” so I can make up for lost time with interest!. We actually took Anna and her friend to Panama City for a high school spring break. The thing that stood out from our memory was the blazing white sand and the emerald colored water. The thing we forgot was the fact that it was Panama City Beach really had no soul. It was just a long strand of high rise condos with a number of widely spaced restaurants and T-Shirt shops. Besides that it was a bit tired looking. Well it turns out the weather had been anything but beach weather so we only spent a couple of hours walking the beach. Florida to this point has not lived up to up to its sunny warm reputation. In fact we have experienced the coldest temps and most cloudy days as anywhere else on the Loop. Oh well, it had to end sometime. We only had about 5 miles to travel to get from Panama City to the South Bay Point marina in Panama City Beach. Our plan was only to stay one night but base on the weather forecast for crossing the Gulf it looked like we could be there for several days stretching over Thanksgiving. The marina was very nice and a lot of Loopers we there waiting for the magical weather window to open. There was a very nice neighborhood connected to the marina along with a golf course. We did manage to take a Dinghy ride up a small river that parallels the backside of the beach. We had a captains meeting on Monday to discuss the weather and all were in agreement that a good window for crossing would not likely open until Monday or so. So everyone planned to stay over Thanksgiving. Tuesday evening I checked the weather and found that a window would likely open on Friday. Wednesday morning my hunch was confirmed so we hurriedly readied Next Chapter for departure. If we were going to cross we would have to cover over 100 miles to into position to leave on Friday. 

Where Naval Aviators are Made

 Pensacola

Tuesday morning was finally splash day. The yard guys maneuvered the travel lift under Next Chapter and gently hoisted her off the blocks and made the way to the water. Once in the water I jumped aboard to check the rudder seals to make sure there was no water coming in. Starboard side check. Port side, shit it was leaking. So back out of the water we go and back onto the blocks.

They left me in the slings to see if we could quickly resolve the issue. So I went into hyperdrive to drop the rudder out and Sue found a fellow Looper with a car to take her to get a new seal. Two hours later I had it all back together for “Take Two.” Fortunately this time the seal did it’s job and we were off for the 30 mile cruise to Pensacola.

On the way we decided to pull off 10 miles early to slip into a neat anchorage at the ruins of Fort McRee. The anchorage was between a high sand dune and barrier island to the south with brilliant white sand, emerald colored water and loads of dolphin about. It is also situated at the south end of the runway at Pensacola Naval Air Station home of the Blue Angles.

If we were there on a Tuesday we would have prime seats for the practice runs. As I’m sure some of you know Naval Air Station Pensacola is where the vast majority of Naval aviators are trained to fly. The Barrier afforded wild natural views of the Gulf of Mexico with remnants of the fort built back in the 1800’s. 

Wednesday morning we headed for the short 10 mile run to Pensacola. After we got settled we decided to go to the National Aviation Museum on the air base. We took an Uber ride there but were turned away at the gate.

The guard said, “Sorry the museum is not open to the public.” Where were all my Navy friends when I need them? So basically we ended up with an Uber ride to nowhere. When we got back to the marina we mounted up on our bikes and rode into the historic district of Pensacola. Later on we caught up with Karen and David Blakey from It’s About Time. They are from Norfolk.

We met up with them prior to starting the Loop. We last saw them in the Chesapeake and finally connected with them 3500+ miles later. We really liked the feel of the area and decided to stay another night. The next day we did a number of museums which were somewhat like a watered down Williamsburg like deal but included the history art museum. We spent the entire day walking around enjoying all that was offered. 

Destin

Friday we left early for a 49 mile cruise to Destin. We passed thru a number of bayous, sounds and lakes all on the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway.

We arrived to Destin about 1:30 and dropped the anchor in the nicely protected harbor. Destin has a great waterfront development complete with all the usual trappings. We walked the boardwalk and struck up a conversation with a mate cleaning red snapper from a charter.

He indicated that the clients did not want the fish so as you can imagine I jumped at the opportunity. Fresh fish for dinner! We did not eat it that night but had dinner at a great meal at a restaurant called Bouchards. The next morning clouds moved in with the threat of rain. Later in the day our Boston friends from Odyssey joined us at the anchorage. We went to shore and bar hopped to all the local dive bars.

We got in a game of Bar Shuffle board, you know the table with the metal pucks that slide on the granular substance. They were mainstay fixtures in all the local dive bars from the 70’s. Anyhow back onboard Sue made a great fresh fish dinner that included some fresh caught Gulf shrimp. Many laughs later we called it a night. 

Red Door. Dive bar in Destin

                                             Destin beach

Some type of tower. No clue really but very cool looking

                                   Pensacola town square

The collection from Trader Jons. He had a bar in Pensacola that became one of the most famous bars in the US. He had a massive collection mostly Blue Angle memorabilia. It turned into a museum. He had 7 VIP rides in a Blue Angle jet. The most of any civilian. 

                                                                         Sidewalk in Pensacola

Blue Herons are everywhere around here

                    Mcguires Irish Pub in Destin. I know Shirley would reach out and pour his own beer. 

Back on the Hard

 Orange Beach

Thursday morning November 10th we pulled off the dock and headed to Saunders Marine to get the  bottom of the boat painted. The day before we had passed Saunders Marine on the way to the Wharf  only three miles back. So we pulled off at 7:30am so we would be there when they opened. Well when we arrived the guys were standing at the birth where they would pull us out. When they saw us they looked a little puzzled. Then they waived us off and told us to tie up in a slip. Then I noticed another boat behind us that was also getting hauled out of the water. So after we tied up I went and spoke with the lead guy. He said’ “let me make a call.” I heard him say, “yeah that’s what I thought.” Turns out there is another Saunders Marine in Orange Beach 13 miles away. So we pulled back off the dock and headed there. As soon as we arrived they plucked us out of the water and set us on blocks. The nice thing about this marina is that they let you stay on board while they work on the boat.

The other nice thing was that the surrounding area was very nice with a great restaurant onsite, a funky bar across the street and a couple miles of bike paths. We had electricity and water but because the boat was out of the water we did not have any heat. Did I forget to mention we were back in the land of palm trees and clear water teaming with dolphins? Normally that would be served with warm weather. Well anyhow they got right to work on the bottom.

After they were done I gat a call from the service writer. He told me that the whole bottom would need to be stripped to guarantee the new paint job. He said this was necessary because not all of the defective paint came off. It was only going to cost a mere $10,000 to do it. I asked for option 2. They said they could try to sand off the remaining paint but they were unsure that would work.

So feeling a little dejected the  next morning I got up and went to work trying to find what would get the old paint off. Turned out a simple paint scraper did the trick. I scraped the majority of the paint off while one of the yard guys sanded behind me. The good news was when we were done the bottom was free of 95% of the old paint and ready for new paint. In the mean time I inspected the props and discovered the one that was repaired in Canada was failing  where it was welded. In all fairness the guy who repaired it said that the prop was in bad shape and that it might fail. We called a local prop shop and the owner Mike came by to look at the prop.

Nice good ole country boy who loves to hunt and fish. He unfortunately confirmed the diagnosis. DOA! He went to work to find us replacements. He told us the used prop market had depleted due to supply chain issues and that finding new ones would be tough. Ugh!!! Time was ticking as we wanted to be back in the water on Saturday.

By 4:30 pm Friday he called me to let me know that he found a new pair in Florida and that if we ordered them now they would be delivered on Monday. So much for getting back in the water on Saturday. The yard had worked really hard and completed the bottom paint by the end of the day on Friday. Progress was being made. Our UK friends came to visit us late in the day to see the progress. We decided to take a dinghy ride for happy hour through the canals that branched out from the marina. We had a great dinner at Fishers, the restaurant onsite. 

On Saturday the day started out sunny and warm. Sue handled some domestic duties and I went to work replacing both rudder seals that at various times were leaking.  Keeping water on the outside of the boat is one of the main laws of buoyancy or better put keeping the boat from sinking. Even a small leak means you are slowly sinking. So the process went pretty good until it came to installing the new seals. After an hour of trying to get them to seat I went to the tool shed that the yard manager, Brett, kindly left open for me.

I was able to devise a press from a simple threaded rod and a couple of big washers. Worked like a charm. By then unfortunately it clouded over and there was a slight misty intermittent rain. We decided to get in the dinghy anyway and head to the famous FloraBama bar. It was a 25 min ride but well worth it. It is a rustic multi-building bar/entertainment complex that stretches from the intercoastal to the gulf with only the beach road in between. It sits right on the Florida Alabama line thus the name. Turns out Alabama was playing and the crowd was into it. College football in this part of the country is a religion. They could care less about the NFL for the most part. Well the weather deteriorated a bit in that the winds picked up and the temp plummeted into the low 50’s. So we were faced with a decision. We can leave before dark and honor all the no wake zones or we can have another beer or two and leave in the cover of darkness and run the gauntlet. Well what do you think we did???

I will give you a clue. We made it back to the boat yard in 14 minutes flat! FloraBama lived up to it’s lore. 

The temps that night dropped into the low 40s.  Remember we were on the hard and no way to run the heaters. Fortunately we had one space heater that kept the stateroom somewhat warm. Getting up in the cold was not much fun.

About 9 am the crew from Irish Lass stopped by and offered another space heater and an invite over for a dinner of beef stew. We gladly accepted both. This is the of type comraderie  we have experienced all along the Loop. It is simply amazing. Sue and I spent part of the day washing the boat and preparing to be splashed hopefully on Monday. We then took a long  bike ride through a seaside park. We had a great time sharing a meal with Wade and Kathleen on Irish Lass. 

On Monday we spent half of the day waxing the hullsides of Next Chapter. They had nice rolling scaffolding that made the job pretty easy. I was getting anxious as the day went on waiting for the props. At 3:30 I called Mike to check on the status. He said, “Man I just got off the phone with the Gulf Shores location and the trucking company dropped them there.” Shit! I started to scramble to get the props so I could get them mounted so we could splash in the morning. Mike stepped up and went and picked them up and brought them to us. He even helped me mount them. So by 5:00pm Next Chapter had her new shoes. It was getting dark so I scrambled and got a coat of anti fouling paint on them so we were ready to go in the morning. I was a half hour late to a gathering of Loopers at Fishers but was elated that this odyssey was almost over, or at least so I thought. Yep you guessed it. Another cliff hanger!

Salt Water Bound

 Fairhope

Sometimes you come across a place where you say to yourself, “I could live here.” Well Fairhope, Alabama is just that type of place. The streets are lined with low hanging live oaks and cypress trees draped in Spanish moss. It’s just big enough and has a nice sized downtown that has everything you need that includes a small community feel.

From Alabama Cut to Fairhope was about 70 miles meaning a long day for us. Fortunately we had a following current that cut about an hour off of the cruise. Our trip would take us past Mobile just at the top of Mobile Bay. That section is very industrial mostly concentrated around the shipping industry and ship yards. Not the most scenic of sections but interesting nonetheless.

After we crossed Mobile Bay to the east we arrived in Fairhope. After two back to back 70+ mile cruise days I called uncle. My brain was fried.  I was glad that we had a two day stop to recuperate. Once we got the boat secure I headed out for a run. When I returned I saw that a shrimp boat was just finishing up for the day so typical Mike style, I approached the captain and asked, “Hey any chance you want to sell some of those shrimp?” He said, “ Well I just locked up for the day.” Bummer.

Well I just don’t give up that easily.  I struck up a conversation with him that led him to ask where we were from. I said, “Virginia Beach.” He said, “I have a really good friend that lives there.” When he told me the name I said that not only did I know his friend and that he was a patient at my office but that his mom and dad were also patients for years. Well don’t ya know before it was all over he unlocked the cooler and I scored a couple of pounds of bay shrimp not hours old. Sue then went to work in the galley to put together a shrimp scampi of sorts.

We invited our UK friends over and devoured the fresh shrimp dish Sue had prepared. 

The next morning we jumped in the dinghy and went to the town pier for an easy walk into town. Fairhope had such a good feel to it. It made us think of a cleaned up smaller version of New Orleans without all the bars.

A number of the two story buildings had the classic ornate wrought iron railings New Orleans is famous for. They had a great local history museum that talked about how the town came to be. It was the vision of economist Henry George that had the idea of a single-tax colony. It worked but he and 28 of his followers buying up land in the area and incorporating the land tracks.

The corporation would then pay the necessary taxes to support the town from profits on leases on the land. Parts of it still survive today. We had lunch at Panini Petes which is located down this alley lined with tropical plants called the French Quarter. We met Pete, the owner who also owns the best rated restaurant in town that happened to be on Fly Creek where we were docked.

 

Sue was also able to score a haircut while we were in town, her first since we left Virginia Beach. That evening 8 of us decided to go to the restaurant on Fly Creek.  We could see the restaurant across the basin but it was a 1.5 mile walk to get to it but only a 2 minute dinghy ride. So Uberdink went into service ferrying our Looper buddies to the restaurant. The fee was free for the ride to the restaurant but the return would be a significant fee!

The restaurant and meal did not disappoint. After dinner we enjoyed the outside fire pit and then called it a night. 

As many of you have begun to realize is that with boating there are a fair amount of challenges.  Wednesday morning was one of those challenging days. 

The Wharf

The wind forecast was for winds to pick up which could make for a rough ride down Mobile Bay not to mention with a falling tide in the morning. With the two combined it had the potential to reduce the water level in the marina to non navigable levels. Translation: we would be stuck there till the tide rose again. On the Gulf there is only one tide a day so we would have to wait till the afternoon. So we pushed off at 7am.

We were able to just get out stirring  a lot of mud but we made it. Our 30 mile cruise down the bay and into the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway was uneventful. The dolphins seemed to lead the way. We arrived at the Wharf Marina in Orange Beach about 11:30am and got settled. The Wharf is a multi use complex consisting of a large marina, condos, large shopping area, movie theater and multiple bars. Quite a fun area. We also learned by the number and size of the sport fishing boats parked there that this area is a hotspot for bill fishing. The fishing boat at the end of our dock was a mere 80’ and gleamed. While we were there I made a call to a nearby marina which has a great reputation for excellent work. We needed to get our bottom painted as the last job failed due to a product problem. Well as luck would have it they could get me in the next day!  Dinner was aboard that night with a quite evening to follow. 

Nowhere Alabama

 Bobbys Fish Camp

On Saturday morning we had planned to make a 60 mile run down the Tombigbee to an anchorage however Mother Nature had a different plan. When we reviewed the weather in the morning there was a pretty ominous line of storms, meaning lots of red on the radar, marching directly east. It was looking that we would run onto them sometime after 11 am. And that’s just what happened. The good news was there was a place to pull off and tie up called Bobby’s Fish Camp. It used to be one of these iconic Looper places but has since fallen into further decay with the restaurant being closed and no other real facilities. The place is truly a fish and hunting camp located in the middle of nowhere. In fact we spoke to a fellow with his grandson as they were headed out to try to bag a wild boar. Well when we arrived we realized we were not the only Loopers that had the same idea. The dock generally has room for about 4 boats and even that is a stretch. Well by time we tied up the dock was three deep and there was 12 boats.

The rain had set in but fortunately on significant wind or lightning. The rain let up later in the afternoon but it was still pretty gloomy. Docktails were on Knot Dreaming which was the boat we were rafted to. Sue had a planned dinner aboard that we shared with the crew from Tomijean. The owner of Bobbys offered to open the shuttered restaurant for us to watch Alabama play football. He even bought everybody a couple of beers! 

The next morning the fog set in even though it was forecast to be sunny later.

This is when we met the first Looper we did not care for aboard Only Fools Rush In. The Looper rumor mill was lit up from previous stories about this crew and them not playing on the Loop. You will see in a minute why their boat name is so appropriate. Well they insisted in leaving very early in the fog. They were dockside so two other boats had to break away to let them out.

The crazy part is the final lock at Coffeeville was only 2 miles down river. Remember locks don’t like to lock one or two boats every half hour. Well those that were waiting out the fog organized to hopefully send them a bit of a message. When they got to the lock and we heard them communicate, one by one of the rest of us radioed the lock and let them know that we were going to lock thru also.

That meant the Only Fools Rush In waited for over an hour for the rest of us to get to the lock and get tied up. How bout them red apples! Well as predicted the sun came out and we had a nice cruise to our intended anchorage at Alabama Cutoff. It also meant passing thru the last lock which brought us over 200 locks since starting the Loop.

In addition we would now be entering tidal waters and in the land of alligators. We began to see the flora and fauna change to a more southern scrub with Palmetto, Swamp Oak and Spanish moss covered Cypress trees. And yes we spotted our first alligator sunning on the bank. Four of us pulled into the anchorage and settled in for the night. Sue and I launched the dinghy and rode up the cut on an alligator hunt.

We cruised a couple of miles up this cut but no luck until right when we got back to the boat Sue spotted a small gator up on the shore. He would serve as our watch dog for the night. Docktails were aboard Next Chapter and a communal meal aboard Tomijean. Some were excited as we would be leaving the river system the next day by entering Mobile Bay. 

Just a baby gator. I was trying to convince the captain from Knot Dreaming, and also a Canadian, that catching one of these guys was a right of passage to cruise the Alabama water. I would be happy to coach him through the process. You can imagine the funny commentary that followed. 

 In all seriousness if any any of you have seen Swamp People we saw a number of gator sets where there was a flag in the tree along the waters edge. 

Trying to get back to the boat before dark

                                                            Alabama Cut Anchorage

Docktails aboard Next Chapter