May 10, 2015 Occotupa Creek TT mi 123

We pulled anchor at 6:30 and it was as clean as a whistle.  The weather was clear and the temp was a pleasant 70’.   There were  a lot of small boats on the water because of Sunday and Mothers Day.   We passed this huge Steel Plant that keeps adding more buildings every time we go bye.  We would love to go by car and tour it. Maybe someday.

 We were making good time and were at Coffeville Lock by 5. We got tied up and another pleasure craft called to be locked up so we sat for 30 minutes in the lock waiting.  We thought he was only 2 miles out  but that was not the case.  We got out of the lock about 6:10 and were anchored by 7:00.  This is such a beautiful anchorage and we are the only boat here.  We did get some rocking from tows going bye. 

May 9, 2015 Tensas River TT mm 39

We did an early morning getup at 6 am and were out of the Wharf Marina by 6:45.  By 8 we were in Mobile Bay and it was just as flat as a pancake.  There were lots of shrimpers out.  At one time we had about a hundred birds circling around our boat and diving for fish for about two miles.  By 12:30 we were at mile 0 ready to start up the TenTom.  We had passed Warship 2 at Pensacola Pass and now saw Warship 9 and 10 in Mobile being retrofitted.

  The Ports were very busy and it took us an hour to get thru the Ports.   When we got to the 14 mile railroad bridge, they were changing shifts so we were held up for about 30 minutes.  It was such a beautiful day, hardly any current, very little debris that we made it to Tensas River mm39 by 5:30.   We had cruised 84 miles.  Long Day.

May 8, 2015 Wharf at Gulf Shores icw 165

When we pulled anchor there was lots of mud on the anchor so were glad we had our wash down working.We left our anchorage at Ingram Bayou about 7:30 and when we entered the ICW, it was pea soup fog.  So we idled for about 30 minutes while the sun burned off the fog.  We could not get the Wharf  Marina on the radio so just pulled into the slip we had been in last fall.  Hooked up and could not get the power to come on so went to talk with the dockmaster and were told that since they tore down the Marina office to build a high rise, they had to shut down the first four rows of power in the marina and we would have to move over to the slips behind the condos.  So we unplugged and moved over to G89.  They were very good about helping us getting relocated.  We had gone 6 miles.

Our Hampstead Yacht Club friends, Jerry and Rosemary Reighstetter, that have relocated to Gulf Shores from Raleigh came over about 9 for Roy’s omelets.  

Jerry and Roy took off to Lowes and Rosemary took Joann and Elvie to see the beach, shopping and then for a few groceries and back to boat.  About 5:30 Jerry picked us up and took us to their beautiful home in Craft Farms for a yummy roast beef dinner.  It was so much fun talking about all our past boating days with them in Hampstead.

May 7, 2015      Anchored in Ingram Bayou    mm 165

Left Ft Walton at 7:45 with clear skies and very little wind..  We were blest again with calm seas.  The boat traffic was very light.  There was a big Warship 2 entering Pensacola Bay when we arrived so we had to wait for it to pass.      

We did not see any dolphins.  Maybe tomorrow we will see some.  Boat is running great. We got to Ingram Bayou and anchored by 3:30.   It was 61 miles today. This is one of  our favorite anchorages. There is a little breeze, a few bugs and cool.  Just about perfect.

May 6, 2015     Ft Walton Free Dock

After about ten Boaters showed up for a surprise Cinco De myio party on May 5th, we were finally ready to leave for Nashville,  We were up and ready to leave by 7 am.  Tom and Karen came down to see us off and also the dock master.  It was a beautiful day and the bays were flat as a pancake. There were a lot of para sails out in beautiful colors. We did not see hardly any dolphins. When we got to Ft Walton at 4:00, there were two sailboats parked on the outside so we took the first slip on the west side and had 8' so were good.  JoAnn and Elvie went to the store for some cards and newspaper.
About 5 our friends , Bill and Dot Jones(brother of Jack Jones) came to the boat for Mexican food. They live in Definake Springs and have been joining us on the boat when we pass through for about five years.  Since there are some homeless people around in the park we don't leave the boat.  The guys went to get Mexican food and brought it back to the boat.  We had a lovely first evening of our journey.  We cruised 70.1 miles today.

May 4, 2015,     Firefly Restaurant 52nd Anniv.

To end our stay for the winter we invited 15 of our friends to dinner for the sunset special at Firefly in Panama City Beach.  Carl and Greg Vernon, John and Sandy McBrayer, Stan and Linda Reynolds, Mike and Tracey Chaney,Tom and Karen Duggan, Glen Story, Joann Short and Sarah Savage. These have been our boating buddies this winter.  It was a great sendoff.

May 1, 2015    Bay Point

We just made a quick trip to Nashville by car. We left Wednesday the 29th and spent the night at Brentwood Suites so we could go to a 7:30 am appointment at the prosthodontist.  Elvie had a tooth that was causing her pain and discomfort when wearing her partial. The Dr said that it had lost over half of the bone due to radiation and would have to be pulled but rather than charge us he would send a note to the surgeon that would be doing the reconstructive surgery on my face.  Had a great lunch with Looper friends, Terry and Lola from Rock Harbor Marina and brother Rick. Spent the night with Rick and Joann Short, Roy's brother. On Friday May 1, Elvie had two cat scans and two Dr. appointments.   SHE IS STILL CANCER FREE.  June 4 will be reconstructive surgery on her cheek and chin,  JoAnn, our sister in law decided to come back with us and go up the TenTom with us by boat till Columbus.