Eastward HO

Sunday, December 5^th

We arrived back in Mobile on Thursday after 3 weeks away.

The trip back to New Jersey was great. We got to spend time with my sister and Brother-in-law and most of our friends. Carole spent some time with Jenna ( our tenant) pruning and working with her on the garden. We also did a lot of shopping for items we have not been able to find. I spent some time in Leigh's workshop to make some repairs (with his help) to parts that I brought back with me. Thanksgiving was also a real treat. Family, great friends and great food.

We got a special treat when we stopped and met our friends Elaine and Roger in Fredericksburg, VA on the way back to the boat.

Joshua leads it off

You can almost see the Biplane
Sorry it was the best that I could do.

31

Last Night was the Mobile Christmas lighted boat parade. It was quite a show. A bit cold, but some fun was had. The parade was led by Joshua – Alabama's Official Tall Ship. There were Southern Belles and Santa Claus. One boat was being chased by a Grinch (in the Dinghy), an Igloo with a penguin popping it's head up once in a while, and a sleigh being pulled by Snoopy flying his red biplane. The boats were throwing beads and candy to the people on the docks. Lots of fun .

We will finish getting ourselves and the boat together and head South and East on Tuesday.

Tuesday, December 7^th

º F. this morning.

Someone forgot to tell the Weather Gods that this is the south – cold is not allowed down here.

We had our first dolphin sighting this morning since leaving New Jersey last June. Four of them came from the front in Mobile Bay Channel and swam alongside us for a while. With the Temperature this cold we are going to a Marina tonight, besides they have several restaurants that reputed to be very good.

Back in to the ICW
Sugar Sand Beaches

Wind and Wave predictions are off again. This time it is in our favor. The weather guessers predicted 3.3 ft. waves in the morning falling to 2.2 ft. in the afternoon. The winds were North at 6-7 mph. The wind prediction was close at 9-8 mph, but the waves started at maybe ½ ft. in the morning and built to only 1 ft. in the afternoon. The sun was shining and it was a pleasant ride.

We had to head off the waterway about 5 miles to get to the marina. It is way back in a corner of Cotton Bay. We did get a brief glimpse of the Gulf as we passed the Perdido Pass Inlet. The Marina is upscale and reasonably priced, and the dock is close to heated bathrooms and showers.

We went to Tacky Jacks for dinner with three other loopers. Really good fried oysters, a bit small by my standards, but they were only lightly breaded and done to perfection. And they had Yuengling Beer!

We talked with our friends and three of us wanted to go to the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola. It was easier to get there from Orange Beach with the courtesy car than from Pensacola where we would need to rent a car to get there. So we plan to stay another day – maybe two since the third day is free.

Wednesday, December 8^th

Not as cold this morning.

First Plane to fly across the Atlantic

We went with two other couples to the Naval Air Museum this morning. We arrived as a tour was starting and the volunteer guide was really enthusiastic and knowledgeable. The tour hits the highlights of the museum chronologically. It started with the first plane to fly across the Atlantic. A four engine US Navy seaplane that carried a crew of 6 that flew across in 1919 with a stop in the Azores.

The Navy's view from the South Pacific during WWII

A view of the floor in one of the display hangers
Avenger in the foreground and PBY Catalina in back

Carole tries out a fighter cockpit.

From there the tour highlighted other significant Navy Aircraft up to the present. The airplanes are all indoors which made the tour very comfortable. There were many other naval aviation exhibits like a South Seas WW II naval airbase, a large section on Dirigibles and there is also an Imax theatre which we did not go to. Quite a place. It was a really full day.

Dinner at Wolf Bay Lodge turned in to an adventure. It came highly recommended so off the six of us went. The restaurant was located at a nearby marina, but when we got there it was being renovated and was completely torn apart. There was a sign sending us to the other location in Foley AL, with an address. We had actually plugged in the other address in to our GPS only to find out that it was the location of the restaurant that had burned down 4 years ago. I guess that we need to update the GPS (that's two things to update, remember the bird book?). We probably should have paid more attention to the address on the sign, but since it said Foley we were sure we had it. Anyway Carole called on the phone and ten minutes later we were being seated for dinner. Although recommended highly by three different people it was only “good” by our party. Tacky Jacks was better.

At 11:00 that night we were surprised when the power failed on the boat. After checking out all of the easy possibilities I found that the power cord had failed again., This time it was the other end. The male end had burned out in Clarksville TN. It took me ½ hr. to pry the plug and the outlet on the boat apart. I had to take the boat fitting off of the boat to get them apart. After examining the parts I realized that I could not make a safe quick fix and it would not get fixed until tomorrow. The temperature was expected to fall to 27º F. I expect that the weather gods are laughing at me. I brought along Long Johns to ward off the cold weather – after all when I am prepared for the worst it usually doesn't happen – Right? Wrong! It was the coldest night yet.

Thursday, December 9^th

View from the boat in the Morning.
No it is not upside down!

Not as bad as I expected. Even though the cabin temperature dropped to 40º F it was quite comfortable under the covers. We even gave Annie a cover, but she pulled it off and seemed quite content without it.

Getting out of bed was different story. Woof! I pulled all of my clothes back under the covers with me and waited until they had warmed up. I then fired up the generator and slowly heated up the cabins.

Dan (on Syzygy) had an extra outlet fitting which I used to replace the one I had to pull off the boat and he loaned us a power cord until I could repair ours. We went to West Marine and with my Port Supply card (and an appreciation day sale) I was able to get a new end at a reasonable price. I repaired the cord and all is well in Serendipity Land again.

In the afternoon after it warmed up, I installed the spray shield on the port side for Annie (and Carole's) peace of mind. It warmed up to 60º f in the afternoon.

Off to cocktails and dinner and then head for Pensacola in the morning.

Friday, December 10^th

Not quite as cold last night. It figures – the heater was working. It was a beautiful clear morning.

We got underway at 8:00AM and manged to stay clear of the shoals at Perdido Pass Inlet and then promptly ran aground about a mile further on. We spent about 3-4 minutes finding out where the deep water was and got off with no damage. Fortunately we are back in soft bottom territory.

Not the Blue Angels taking off.

We are seeing lots of dolphins, also pelicans and loons.

We are only about 15 miles from the Naval Air Station and I saw several practice runs by the Blue Angels. Can't see a whole lot from the waterway, but what the hey it was a nice diversion.

We arrived early in Pensacola and walked in to town for lunch and some sightseeing. We walked around the historic district and wound up at the Historic Pensacola Village. It is a restoration by the University of West Florida and they give tours. Most of the houses in the Seville area are in use by professionals and only the exteriors are kept authentic. The University has restored several of them to the original inside also. The houses date from 1805 through 1890 and the interiors finished and decorated with authentic period furniture and art. They even have the original family photographs hanging on the walls when available. It was an eye opener in to the life of the time. There were several other buildings we could have visited if it had not been so late in the day, but maybe another time if we ever get back here.

Dinner at Rosa's Oyster House was a fine end of the day. Best Oysters yet. Close to the Delaware Bay Oysters, but not as large.

It looks like we will get one warm (60º F) day before the cold front hits again. We will see how for we can get tomorrow. We want to be tied up when the predicted 25-30 knot winds come.

Saturday, December 11^th

Somewhat warmer and pleasant today. We re expecting some heavy weather tonight with 15-25 knot winds starting in the SW and going in to the NW with an expected 20º temperature drop and thunderstorms. Right now it is very pleasant traveling.

We arrived at The Boat Boatyard and Marina at 3:00PM. This place could become the “Greg's Neck” of Ft. Walton, FL , but it has a long way to go. There are Peacocks, Guinea Fowl, Ducks, and Geese in the yard. The office is on a 1922 Concrete Steam Excursion Boat. The docks are concrete slabs on concrete piers, with only 6' finger piers.

Of course the wind was blowing 15 knots when we tried to dock. The good news was that the rain did not start until we were tied up – and the wind died then also. The short finger piers make for an interesting entry and exit.

We shall see what the weather brings tonight.