Back to the OC

Well it's only been 4 days since we sailed into port here in Panama City, FL but we're already heading back to Orange County, CA. My friend Beth is engaged to a great guy named Alan. He happens to own a private jet. They flew in this afternoon from Key West for a short overnight visit and are returning to SoCal tomorrow. Since we have one more vehicle and Tom's Office/Machine Shop that needs to be moved, we asked to hitch a ride and they gladly agreed to take us with them.

So tomorrow we will be taking our first trip via Private Jet! We'll be in town for about a week before driving back to Florida. Our new neighbors here at the marina have agreed to cat sit for us and keep an eye on the boat. Our son Dustin will be picking us up at the airport and we'll be staying in Orange with our friend Anne. We look forward to seeing everyone in OC.

Mission Accomplished: Over 5000 miles in less than 5 months!

We finally made it! We sailed into St. Andrews Bay at 2 pm on St. Patrick's Day, it was a very moving experience! There's nothing like achieving a many years long goal. The people here are wonderful - everyone is SO NICE! Southern hospitality is alive and well.

Our friend Cookie, who we meet a couple of years ago when we were first checking out the area, picked us up and took us to our storage facility so we could get our cars. She offered, we didn't have to ask. There are lots of cruisers on the dock who are more than happy to provide what ever help we need. We are so excited to get settled in to our new home here In Panama City.

Right Around the Corner!

Gosh the winds can be fickle! We motored out of Egmont Key as winds were light, then got a little bit of wind later in the day. By evening, we'd managed to get over 6 knots and we're pleased about our progress. By the next day, the wind and wave had shift to NW and thus on our head. We could barely get to 5 knots. Why is it the last legs our our journeys always seem to be so grueling??

We finally arrived and got anchored around midnight. Again, it was easy going in after dark because of how well marked the channel entrance and harbor are. There are many things we used to take for granted, but won't anymore.

This is a lovely harbor that's only 20 miles from our new home in Panama City. This is a place where we'll be spending lots of time. 

Short Stop In Egmont Key

This is a great little anchorage for an overnight stop - easy in, easy out. We still can't get over how WELL MARKED and LIT the harbors are in this country! It was further than we thought to get here, and the winds were not helping our cause. We got in after dark, and it was no problem. We nearly anchored on an offshore sign that was difficult to see. I told Tom that I'd prefer not to run Santorini up on the beach. He keeps telling me that the closer to shore that you are the calmer it is. I guess that true especially if you've grounded! (We didn't though).

Tomorrow morning we leave at first light. With luck, we'll sail all day, night and by sunset of the next day make it to Port St. Joe to anchor before we sail the last 20 miles to Panama City. The excitement is building as we edge ever closer...

The Shrimp Festival

We'd planned to leave Ft. Myers on Friday, but due to a storm we're staying until tomorrow. That means we're here for the Annual Shrimp Festival. The parade was today at 10 am, a silly local parade with home made floats like the shrimp you see pictured. Our view was from The Mermaid, a local bar selling $1 Bloody Marys in honor of the occasion. We took our folding bicycles ashore and they were the perfect mode of transportation due to the crowds.

It's Spring Break, so lots of people are in the area of Estero Island where we are moored. Unfortunately, and surprisingly - shrimp is pretty expensive here. We ended up at Bonita Bob's, a local Restaurant for lunch. In expensive beer and large peel and each shrimp for under $10 per lb. Now that's what I'm talking about! 

We're back in the USA!!!

We sailed three days and two nights - about 280 miles from Isla Mujeres to the Dry Tortugas. We narrowly escaped disaster heading out of the reef north of the island. The depth is fine for Santorini, but there were breaking waves coming over the reef - like 8 to 10 feet. The Mexican Navy was helping boats over the reef and here we were heading out! As big as our boat is, she was tossed about like a tea cup after leaving the protected waters. As we crossed the Gulf Stream we felt as if we were in a giant washing machine. In short, it was a very rough ride most of the way.

Laurie did great, in fact letting out a "whoa -who" as we crossed the reef - not realizing the danger of the moment. She must have been a sailor in a prior life, because the rough seas did not bother her a bit and she loved every minute of our sail. It was so great to finally drop anchor just after sunset in the protected anchorage of the Dry Tortugas.

On Tuesday just before sunset we were about 80 miles from Ft. Myers. We were having cocktail in the cockpit and Chico was with us with his harness and leash on. A little bird appeared and flew around the boat, trying to land. For some reason, he decided to fly past Chico. That didn't happen as Chico's orange paw quickly nabbed him out of the air. Chico took off downstairs dragging his leash. All that was left were a few long wing feathers. A kill at sea - bravo Chico!

We arrived in Ft. Myers on Wednesday morning right after the sun came up. We are not very used to coming into port in such shallow water, but followed the buoys in with no problem. We headed for moorings off Estero Island, which involves going under a bridge with a 65' clearance - our mast is 62 ft. Tom measured it before we left Mexico, but it was rather frightening to see how close to the bridge the top of the mast was!

We got tied up to a mooring but it turned out to be too small. We couldn't find another one so I called the marina office. It turns out 20 mooring are out of commission due to maintenance??? There were a bunch with floats so the manager told us to tie up to one of them. We did, offed the dinghy and headed for dry land.

We wasted no time finding all day Happy Hour at Nervous Nellie's - a great waterfront bar/restaurant. We even went back for dinner as Laurie treated us on the last night of her vacation. Tom and Laurie had giant steaks and I dined on plump sea scallops.

It's Spring Break and this town is hoppin'. It's a cute beach town, with ugly beach traffic. We were glad we were walking. We found the grocery store - it was quite an emotional experience! Cell phone service, grocery stores, English on the TV - it's GOOD to be HOME!

A nasty storm came through yesterday and cold North winds mean we'll stay hunkered down here until Sunday. From here it's about 300 miles to our new home in Panama City - we can't wait to get there. 

We Love It Here, but must move on.

It's been a great stay here at Marina Paraiso. Although we've stayed on this wonderful island many times on vacation, it's very different as sailors. My dear friend Laurie arrived from Wisconsin on Sunday, it was about a 90 degree temp swing from when she left. It was 10 below zero.

North Beach probably gets my vote as the best in the world - at least of the many places I've traveled. It's truly magnificent! In fact, while swimming there I asked Laurie "So, how do you like my 'pool'?" She laughed and said she liked it very much! We went to the usual places, and a new one called the Soggy Peso - just a couple of doors down from the marina. We finally figured out that it's an early drinking establishment - it closes at 8 pm!

I paid a visit to the Turtle Farm (preserve) and was pleased to see a large number of these amazing creatures. When I visited in June with my mom we saw the protected nests of eggs waiting to hatch. It was good to see so many of them (see photo gallery).

As much as we love the place, we had to move on. We'd planned to be in Panama City, FL by Jan/Feb - it's now March. We did make it to Panama City by then - it just wasn't the RIGHT Panama City! (Panama)

We'd planned to leave today to head to the FL Keys, but the weather wasn't good so we're leaving on Saturday. Laurie is sailing with us to Ft. Myers, FL. Unfortunately Canaan is leaving for Portland, OR today for a good job opportunity. We've decided to go to the Dry Tortugas to stop and rest, then continue to Ft. Myers.

It's 70 mile to the Keys from the Dry Tortugas, and 120 miles to Ft. Myers - but it's still 120 miles from Key West to Ft. Myers so we'll skip the 70 miles to the Keys and go straight to Ft. Myers. We also discovered that Laurie would have a 4 hour bus ride to the Miami Airport so she'll leave from Ft. Myers instead.