Days at Port St. Joe

November 28-30, 2010 Traveled from Panama City Florida to Port St. Joe, Florida. Today we traveled the ICW to Port St. Joe, making our way to the jump point and the final days of our adventure of the Great Circle Loop. We passed a ship that appeared to be in stages of being built on the banks of East Bay and a wood pulp mill which puts a pungent order in the water and air. We also have a few dolphin playing and skimming the water beside the boat as we push through the brownish salt water, not the emerld green water we had seen at Destin and Panama City. Arriving at the bay to Port St. Joe, we see the fishing fleet at dock, this is Sunday and I suppose the fleet is off. We continue to travel with our friends Wayne and Ruth and make our plans to make the big jump to Clearwater. As we get to Port St. Joe we are greeted by several other Loopers who have been here a couple of days. Finally and Q's End are here to greet and help tie us up. We will spend a few here days here and talk stratagy moving East, and catching up on chores and resting.

Days at Panama City

November 26-27, 2010, Days at Panama City Florida. Because weather turned bad on the 25 and 26th we decided to stay a couple of more days. We can use the days to catch up on laundry and I need to change oil and filter on the generator. This would also give us a day to walk and explore Panama City. I am still trying to capture that great sunset. I will never be able to show it with a picture or say it with words. But it is fun to keep trying. We roamed the town and had been told to make sure we stopped at Tom's "Famous" Hot Dogs. It was a real feast and showed me that there is more than one way to teach an old Dog new tricks. Later that evening, the Harbor Master invited boaters staying in the Panama City Marina to a private party with the Judges of the Lighted Boat Parade. There was a total of 19 boats that had decorated for the parade, including the Police Department, the Fire Department, the Coast Guard. Again, not being a photographer, I did the best I could and again not a great job, but I will have to keep trying, and if I have fun so be it. Tomorrow we will move out, going to St. Joe slowly moving to the jump off point for the 180 mile crossing of the Gulf of Mexico to get to Tarpon Springs.

Thanksgiving in Panama City Florida

November 25, 2010 Thanksgiving in Panama City, Florida. Today Carl and Greg Vernon opened their home for a Thanksgiving Celebration with loopers away from home in the Panama City area. Some came to their home by boat and docked at their dock on the Watson Bayou. Some came by boat and anchored in the bayou. Those of us that came by boat and were in the marina, they came and picked us up. It was a great traditional meal with lots of looper fellowship and heoric stories of survival. Plans were also being made to make the big JUMP, that is the 185 mile, 18-20 hour run, from Apalachicola to Tarpon Springs. It sounds like there may be 15-20 boats waiting for the right
weather window to go. More plans to be made.
Nancy and I hope that all had a very good
Thanksgiving.

Destin Florida to Panama City Florida

November 24, 2010 Leaving Destin and traveling to Panama City, Florida. This morning the fog came rolling in and we afraid we would not be able to make the 61 miles to Panama City. We made preperations and the fog lifited at 8am and we made haste and left Harbor Walk Marina. As we crossed Choctawhatchee Bay on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway we could see the fog rolling back in along the gulf, but for us it was a great day to be on the water. Dolphins were playing in the water, but I am too slow to catch a good picture. After crossing the bay, we entered a cut, and the sides looked like snow, but just wonderful white sand. Again we saw the destrucion of hurricane weather, stripping the trees, but you can see it has come back. Later the clouds did catch up with us, but only for a short run, still a pleasent trip. We came into West Bay and all was clear, and we entered Panama City Marina. Long day, but a great one. Sun was starting to go down and we thought we would make a quick walk into town. Nancy tried to bribe Santa Claus, not sure it worked. I ran into friends, the Blues Brothers. We walked down the street and was surprised to see such window displays set up for the holiday season. Panama City will be one of our favorite stops on our final stage of the loop. We may stay an extra day. Tomorrow we will spend Thanksgiving with other Loopers at Harbor Host's Carl and Greg's home.

Seeing Destin after 10 Years

November 23, 2010, Seeing Destin after 10 years. Today was a day of exploring Destin to see the changes after having not been here for 10 years. We would come to Destin to spend weeks and sometimes a month in the cottages on the beach. The main house is gone and the cottages we loved are in shambles. We shared many beautiful sunsets on the beach there. We met so many people during those days. It is sad to see that storms and time have damaged so much. We are so glad we have the memories of those people and the time we shared with them. Destin has grown and changed so we had new places to discover and we did that with our friends Wayne and Ruth. We shared with them the stories of 10-15 years ago. It made me feel as if I could play volley ball again. Well, back to work we must make preperations to leave tomorrow for Panama City. The dense fog has been around all day, hopefully it will clear early tomorrow or it will be a long day.

Pensacola to Destin Florida

November 22, 2010 Pensacola to Destin. Today we left Palafax Pier in Pensacola and traveled to Destin Harbor Walk Marina. We started out in good weather, but as the day passed, we ran into wave after wave of short rain showers. We passed a tower that we were told is used by high ranking flight officers to observe aircraft in flight. If you look hard, you can see the windows around the outside perimeter of the dome. We also passed a tow barge that reminded Nancy of a friend at home. Only the name. Before arriving at the Emerald Coast we saw some of the devastation from the last hurricane which stripped the trees.