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.

April 18, 2015 – Saturday     back to Bay Point marina

The wind was going to pick up on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday so we decided to go on to Bay Point.  First Roy served omelets to everyone from 8 to 10.  The Bloody Marys were great also.  It took us and hr. and ten miles to go from the Vernon’s dock to Bay Point Marina. 

                                              WHAT A GREAT TRIP!!!

April 17, 2015 – Friday       Vernon’s dock

We set the alarm for 7:30 but forgot our clock was on central time so got up at 8:30 and they were all ready to untie and leave Pt St Joe.  Mainstay and Lauren Grace left at 9 and Eagle One and Roy El’ left at 9:30.  The wind was light and it had drizzled off and on. As we approached Watson Bayou, we passed a huge barge that was being towed with Carl and Greg's grandson working one of the tows.

 Mainstay pulled into their slip. Lauren Grace pulled into the slip on the other side of the dock. Roy El’ tied parallel to the back of Mainstay and Eagle One tied up to Roy El’.  It was 40 miles from Pt St Joe to the Vernon’s dock. We had Happy Hour and a Mexican chicken casserole for dinner on Roy El’.

April 16, 2015 – Thursday      Pt St Joe Marina

It is still raining off and on. Larry is a little bit better today.  Another lazy day of reading and playing Sudoku.     Greg was really hungry for catfish so we had decided to go to Ronnie B’s for catfish.  We had happy hour on Roy El’ and then walked to Ronnie B’s.  They give you huge helpings and it was so good.  On the way back to the boat, Greg and Roy wanted Grasshoppers so we stopped at the Marina Bar.  The bartender looked it up online and made Greg, Roy and Theresa Grasshoppers.  It was a beautiful evening so we sat outside on the veranda for a while.  It looked like the weather was going to get worse for the weekend so the decision was made to leave Friday and go to the Vernon’s dock.

April 15, 2015 -  Wednesday      Pt St Joe Marina

It is still raining off and on.  There have been lots of schools of mullets and also friendly dolphins in the marina. I went to CVS to get my medicine since it had now been 30 days. It was a lazy day. The girls played Sequence on Roy El’.  Happy Hour was on Mainstay and dinner was served on board Lauren Grace.  It just doesn’t get much better than this with great friends and food.

April 14, 2015 – Tuesday   Pt St Joe Marina

It rained again during the night and looked like it was going to pour all day.  Roy and I walked up to Bluewater Outfitters.  They sure have got the inventory but are kinda pricey.  All my raingear is too big so I got a FrogTogg rain jacket.  We decided to go to Peppers for Mexican Food.  Roy was having trouble with his back so Theresa drove him.  The rest of us walked. We just got past the storage building and here came Larry running in his sandals.  Stubbed his toe and landed on his head. When he got up there was blood all over so Carl and Greg got him to the Haughty Heron where they administered First Aid while the rest of us hurried to Peppers to get his wife, Theresa.  When we all returned to the boat, we waited for the Valentines.  About 10:30 here comes Larry with the gash in his head glued together, a bandage on his leg from knee to ankle where he scrapped it badly, a big bandage on the big toe that he mangled(said it was like hamburger) and a very bruised left shoulder and arm.  Could have been much worse.  The pitcher of Margarita’s and the food at Peppers was excellent.

April 13, 2015 – Monday

Went early to CVS to get my medicine because the Dr. called it in to the wrong Pharmacy on Friday.  He left a message that they now called it in to the CVS in Port St Joe.  When I got to the Pharmacy, they said they could not refill it until Wednesday because it had only been 30 days since it was refilled. This was only 28 days so for two days I did not have any medicine thanks to Obama Care. 

 Sue had lost lots of weight so we went shopping at Goodwill.  They had a lot of name brand clothes.  It was fun.  It rained again most of the day. Larry and Jim were able to determine Carl’s problem.  He needed a part from Panama Marine in Panama City.  There just happened to be a young man from Pt St Joe in there when he called and they gave him the part to bring back to Carl.  By dinner they had him up and running. Greg served us dinner on Mainstay.

April 12, 2015 -  Sunday               Pt St Joe Marina

Mainstay and Lauren Grace pulled anchor about 9 am to head to Port St Joe.  Eagle One and Roy El’ left about 9:30.  We had good weather with just a little drizzle as we cruised.  It was great to dock with no wind. We had not been by boat to Port St Joe since 2006.  It is a neat little town.  Carl had a steering problem so looks like tomorrow the men will be busy. We all met on Mainstay for Happy Hour and then went to Eagle One for a great dinner.  It rained off and on all day. We had cruised 47 miles from Bay Point to Pt St Joe.

April 11, 2015   Anchored

Ready for our first Cruise of 2015.   We left Saturday April 11^th at 9:15 to join Lauren Grace with Larry and Theresa Valentine, Eagle One with Jim and Sue Starke, and Mainstay with Greg and Carl Vernon.  We all rafted together just past the DuPont Bridge (highway 98) to watch the airshow with the Thunderbirds. Had heavy snacks on  Roy El’.   

WOW!!! What a show we enjoyed!  It had rained but when the air show started it quit. 

We decided to break up for the night so Eagle One and Roy El’ untied from Lauren Grace and Mainstay We stayed tied together and anchored at another place.  Thought we were going to go closer to shore to miss some of the waves but the depth went from 12’ to zero and we almost were aground but thanks to Captain Short we made it to deeper water. Since we had eaten all day long, we just had dinner on our own boats.

March 2015

We still had lots to do. We put rollers on the sliding door on the starboard side and also had the glass frame powder coated to match the rest of the frames. The engines got a valve job.  The starboard door, the door between the salon and aft deck, the frame around the door on the starboard side leading to the aft deck and the complete work station where the ice maker is stored were stripped, sanded and repainted or varnished.  We had lexan panels put in the door leading from the salon to the aft deck.


Three years ago we had laid Parkay in the salon but had the tiles to do the rest of the boat.  So we had Murdock replace all the carpet in the boat with the wood Parkay. This was both staterooms,

January/February, 2015

Since we had spent three years handling medical issues and taking care of parents, we had let a lot of things go on the boat. So Roy hired Murdock(Bryant Purser)to help us get some of the work accomplished.  We installed a water meter, rebuilt our raw water pumps, fixed the valve going to the ice maker and sink on the back deck.  Then we replaced the Lectrsan in the forward head and repaired the Lectrasan in the master head also.