Mobile, Alabama to Panama City, Florida (December 3 - 11, 2005)

Finally after several months of waiting and a final busy month of making preparations, we were ready to leave Mobile for our voyage to Papua New Guinea. Some friends came to the marina early on Saturday morning to see us off and after saying our good-byes we started the engine, cast off the lines, and headed out of Dog River for the last time.

It was a nice warm day with a bit of overcast. As we headed out into the channel, Kyle brought the engine up to running speed. Stap Isi, however, was only able to make about 4 knots. We had figured that after the summer sitting at the dock, the prop was probably fouled with barnacles. As soon as possible we would need to find some clear water in which to go down and clean the prop.

The day passed slowly as we made our way down Mobile Bay heading for the Intracoastal Waterway. The ICW is an inside track that runs all the way down the east coast around the Gulf to Brownsville, Texas. It allows boaters to follow the coast around without the challenges of going offshore. Given the high winds that were being forecast for the next several days we were happy to stay inshore for awhile. The plan was to follow the ICW as far a Panama City, Florida before heading out into the Gulf on our way to southern Florida.

At 4 knots we began to wish that we had left a bit earlier. Ingram's Bayou, our destination for that first day was about 35 miles from Mobile so at the speed we were making it was going to take us all day. Finally we left Mobile Bay and started into the ICW. The shore was lined with homes and condos, with more going up every day. In spite of the hurricanes there is a real building boom going on.

The sun had set when we pulled into Ingram's. Another couple we had meet in Mobile had anchored there already and invited us to raft up with them. So we came along side and tied up to their boat, enjoying a pleasant evening with them while watching the stars and swatting mosquitoes.


A friend, Greg Clark, had suggested Perdido Key as a wonderful clear water anchorage. It was only about 12 miles from Ingram's Bayou to the anchorage so we decided to go there and see if we could get the prop cleaned. It would also give us an opportunity to inspect the bottom for damage that might have been caused by hurricane Katrina.

Late Sunday morning we pulled into the anchorage and set the anchor. It was warm and sunny so we decided to assemble the dingy and row to shore. Perdido Key is a national seashore and as we walked along the ocean we were surprised to see that we were the only people present for miles. After an hour or so it was time to tackle that prop.

The water was only 65 degrees so we got everything ready and Kyle lowered himself - slowly - into the clear water. Checking the prop revealed that it was indeed covered with barnacles. It did not take long to get them scraped off and then he went around the boat wiping off any growth and checking the bottom for damage. He was very happy to see that other than some surface scratches, Katrina had done nothing below the water line.

We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the last warm temps we would enjoy for a few days. A cold front was supposed to blow through some time in the night so we made sure that everything was tied down and prepared and then turned in for the night.


We woke several times in the night to check the wind and anchor. The wind came up several times and began shifting around to the west so we needed to keep an eye on things. Finally it was light enough to leave so we pulled the anchor aboard and headed for Pensacola.

The morning weather said that the front was supposed to move through later in the morning bringing high winds, rain, and some storms. We decided that a nice sheltered marina sounded like a good place to be for the day and there just happened to be one a few miles further in Pensacols.

As we left Perdido Key we tried to make sense of the passage into Pensacola Bay. There was a narrow cut that was marked with buoys but it was not clear where the shallows were. On the ICW, just because you are in the channel does not mean that there are not shoals (shallow areas) to watch for. We cut the speed to three knots as we tried to figure out which side of the cut looked deepest. Suddenly the depth meter sounded the shallow water alarm and almost immediately we crunched into a shoal. We had touched bottom a few times in the past but had never solidly ran aground - until today. The boat was in no immediate danger but with the tide running out it was important for us to get off the shoal quickly or risk spending the day there.

Kyle put the boat in reverse and gave it full throtle but Stap Isi was firmly planted. We got on opposite sides of the boat and tried to rock it to loosen up the hold of the sand on the keel. But the boat was so firmly wedged that it would not even rock. Kyle decided to try the engine one more time so he again tried to reverse off the shoal. We were glad that we had cleaned the prop yesterday because it would allow the engine to generate full thrust. Finally after a couple of minutes, whether because of the prop or because of a gang of angels pushing, the boat began to move backwards off the shoal. We were free.

Soon we were into Pensacola Bay and made the turn north towards the city. About half way up the bay the storm hit. The winds kicked up and rain began to fall in torrents. We navigated from buoy to buoy as we made our way up the channel. Finally the rain and wind let up as the storm passed and we were able to see the marina ahead. In a few minutes we were tied up to the dock.

After a lunch in town we worked on correspondence and turned in early. The weather was supposed to be clear and cold overnight so we wanted to get an early start for the Destin/Ft. Walton area.

At 6 AM we slid the hatch back and looked out. The sun shown yellow in a clear sky illuminating the frost on the boat. It was going to be a cold one. We cast off the dock lines and headed back down the bay. It was going to be another long day - and the temps and north winds were going to make it seem even longer.

Most of the day would be spent following Santa Rosa Sound east towards Destin. Running east and west, the sound would give us some protection from the north wind and would keep the seas smooth. Still the low temps and winds produced wind chills in the 20s - no fun in an open cockpit sailboat. We motored along watching for shoals and taking turns at the helm. One person steared while the other hung out down below near the nice warm motor.

By the end of the day we were absolutely spent. The cold had sapped our energy so we decided to spend the night at another marina where we could plug in our space heater and warm up. We called ahead to the marina in Shalimar and made arrangements for space. At 4 PM we pulled in and tied up. The first order of business was to get that space heater up and running. Then we had dinner and by 7 PM were in bed for the night.


The next morning we bought fuel and then decided to move a bit further east to an anchorage in Rocky Bayou. The trip on to Panama City was going to be about 55 miles so if we were going to make it in one day it would be helpful to start a few miles further east. We worked our way up Rocky Bayou to a tiny sheltered area in the northwest corner. It is well sheltered from north winds and looked like a good place to spend the night.

That evening the rain started and continued most of the night. We had a decision to make. Thursday it was supposed to be rainy and warm while Friday was supposed to be dry but windy and colder. We could wait another day in Rocky Bayou for the rain to quit or we could go with the warmer temps on Thursday. We opted for warmth over dry.

Thursday we woke at 5 AM and by first light had the anchor up and were heading down Chocktawhatchee Bay towards Panama City. At five knots we could barely make it one day. Fortunately we were able to make 5.5 and even 6 knots at times. We rigged a tarp over the boom to keep us dry and spent an enjoyable day heading east in a light rain. Four power boats passed us during the day with the passengers looking very comfortable in their heated cabins. Sometimes we think that these powerboaters might be on to something.

By 1 PM we were through the Bay and into what is poetically referred to as the "Ditch." It is a cut dug by the Corps of Engineers connecting Chocktawhatchee Bay with West Bay near Panama city. The Ditch was wide and deep and sheltered from the wind so it was actually the most enjoyable part of the day. By now the rain had stopped so we took down the tarp and motored along.

A friend had recommended Sun Harbor Marina so we phoned ahead to reserve a space for the night. At 3 PM we motored under a bridge and saw the sailboat masts in the marina on the right. The wind had picked up again and the rain had started and as we pulled into the marina we were horrified to find that this was one of those marinas where you don't tie up to a dock. Instead the slips are simply sets of pilings between which the boat is tied. The idea is to lasso a piling or two as you come in and then once the boat is stopped you lasso as many others as needed to secure the boat in the center of the slip. We had never done this before and the high winds and rain were going to make our first attempt a bit interesting.

Kyle pulled into an area where there were some empty slips. As he tried to pull into a slip the wind caught us and started blowing us towards another (expensive looking) boat. He backed up frantically and amazingly the wind, or maybe it was those angels again, pushed the bow directly towards another empty slip. He gave it some gas and thankfully the bow entered the slip and with Kathy on the bow and Kyle at the stern we started grabbing pilings, docks, other boats, angels - anything that would allow us to get the boat stabilized in the wind.

Kyle played cowboy Bob and tried to lasso pilings with the dock lines. He would have had much better luck with cows. Kathy had prudently decided to abandon ship and had thrown herself off the boat onto the dock in front. Rather than take the more sensible approach of walking away while pretending she had never heard of Stap Isi, she was trying to keep the bow from beating the dock to splinters. Kyle finally decided to use the boat hook on the lines and was able to get a few over the pilings. With each line, the boat became more stable and finally we were able to get the boat more or less centered in the slip.

The marina has hot showers so we were able to get cleaned up for the first time in a few days. A walk up the road to a Mexican restaurant took care of a hot meal and once again we were in bed early.

Our plans are to wait here for a few days until the weather moderates. This will give us a chance to get the boat ready for the offshore passage towards south Florida.

Living aboard at a dock, one does not need to be too concerned with keeping things stowed away and secured. And even coming down the ICW wasn't much of a challenge as far as conditions went. But now we were getting ready to head offshore again. Besides getting the rigging and sails ready, when preparing for going offshore one must ask the question, "If in a serious storm the boat gets knocked down or even rolled over, where is all this stuff inside going to end up?" Having anchors, tool boxes, a TV set, or large batteries break loose and start bouncing around the cabin can turn an unpleasant experience into a tragedy.

The past couple of days we have been getting the the boat ready for offshore. Kathy is working to find places for all the stuff while Kyle has been working on getting the sails prepared. In the meantime we are watching the weather carefully to find a good window in which to make the jump across to Tarpon Springs. For now the jet stream is located directly over us and is pumping storm systems across the northern Gulf at the rate of about three a week. We only need two days in which to make the jump, but until the jet stream moves it might be tough to find those two days. Still it looks like Monday might be the day.

So for now we keep working on the boat and watching the weather.