It was wonderful to fall asleep and wake up to the gentle swaying of the boat “on the hook” (anchor). I know I say this all the time, but I can't express how much we love anchoring out. We do enjoy the camaraderie of meeting new and old friends at the marinas, but I simply love the peaceful calm feeling of solitude while being at anchor. So it was on our first night after leaving Mobile. We fell asleep early as the sun set. Thursday morning we woke up to bright sunshine and the bluest of skies. We did not see them, but Mike and Linda of Steele’n Time told us that a group of dolphins had been playing all around our boat just before we lifted anchor – I am going to have to be more diligent in watching for the dolphins. We have been told that the motto for Loopers once south of Mobile is that “a dolphin sighting a day keeps the blues away”.
Traveling with Steele’n Time, we left our cove around 8a and headed toward Pensacola along the ICW. Again the homes were lovely and many are brand new as a result of hurricane Ivan. For the first time, we saw a sign on the waterways welcoming us to a state and how fitting that it should be Florida. We knew we were getting closer to Pensacola when we started to actually see the Navy jets – before we could only hear them. We passed Fort Pickens on our starboard and Fort Barrancas on our port side, the only two remaining forts of the original three forts that protected Pensacola since prior to the Civil War. Fort Barrancas is located within the current naval airbase. It has been restored to historical accuracy and is open for tours.
Another cold front is expected to pass through the Panhandle bringing violent storms and high winds, so it is our plan to stay at the Pensacola Shipyard Marine Complex for the next three nights. I guess I could whine and complain about the anticipated rains and high winds, but since our family and friends in the Midwest are digging themselves out from under 8-12 inches of snow; I probably would not have much credibility or gather much sympathy.
Pensacola, Florida
Indiana
Hours on the water: 3
Nautical miles traveled: 21.5
Number of locks: 0
Time spent waiting at locks: 0
Next Destination: Destin, Florida anchorage
What we're listening to: Nothing
What we watched: Mark’s new TV=Big Ten Network
Lesson for the day: I need to keep a better lookout for dolphins
Obligatory knitting report: Scarf for charity
No comments:
Post a Comment