SHOULD WE GO OR SHOULD WE STAY, NOW

HONEY, CAN YOU BRING ME ANOTHER CUP OF COFFEE? I CAN'T MOVE

A LITTLE BIT OF CHRISTMAS

So, we thought the way the cold fronts were sweeping in that we would have to stay  in Mobile, but then a weather window opened and we said let’s go. So bright and early Monday morning we shoved off. I mean that literally, because we were aground in our slip. The tide you know. Pushing and pulling, slipping on the icy decks, we made a less than graceful exit. The bay was brown and choppy with the wind and waves at our backs as we motored down and across Mobile bay to join the ICW. At one point the wind shifted a minuscule amount so we unfurled the stay sail. It was pretty but didn’t give us much more speed. Still, it was a lovely day and we were moving. Found the  anchorage at Ingram’s Bayou, watched the sun depart bringing Venus and the moon to take his place.

INGRAM'S BAYOU

Now our quandary is that with the shortened daylight and our top speed an average of 6 kts, we can only hope to make 40 miles. If the wind is for us, we can sail much faster. But if the wind and waves are wrong, meaning any direction with east in it, we can’t sail or motor against it. The second day we went just 15 miles to a nice anchorage in Big Lagoon and since we had a pleasant day and lots of time, Jack changed the oil. A mess as usual. Our mast is too tall for the bridges over the ICW between Pensacola and Port Saint Joe, so we must jump out to the Gulf, with Destin and Panama City the only safe places to anchor before we can join the ICW again.Each place is about a 40 mile sail. Early Wednesday with the sun quickly warming, we headed merrily out the channel to the Gulf. A north wind was forecasted but they were dead wrong, strong east winds and east seas gave us a top speed of 3 kts. At that rate we couldn’t make Destin before dark ,and the channel there is too tricky to go into at night. We turned around and headed back to Big Lagoon, where the water was clear and pretty and a long low sand island cupped us gently. Had it been summer, we would have had lots of company and swimming would have been delightful.

                                                                    

IN THE CHANNEL TO THE GULF

BUTTER, WISHING OUR CATS WOULD COME OUT TO PLAY

I know that many people are being prevented from traveling home for the holidays because of the same system that keeps us here in Pensacola. I feel their pain but I am giving over to our cruising fate. We found a safe haven in Bayou Chica at Yacht Harbor Marina where Captain Ted Germann has been most welcoming and we are comfortable if not entirely glad to be so close and yet so far from home.  

  MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL 

AND TO ALL A GOODNIGHT!