Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Me at the beach; I have my
pockets full of shells

Cabbage Palm Tree in the City Park

Can't believe it is the end of November; the days and weeks are just flying by.  It is very windy here today; winds 18 to 20 mph and gusts up to 32 mph. 

Wave height is 6 to 7 feet.  It is a good day to stayed tied up to the dock.  With the combination of strong winds and the tides, Keith has to help me on and off the boat today.

We went for a walk this morning in the city park right next to the marina.  The park is beautiful.  This was the first time we actually got to walk on the beach and I had fun collecting shells.   All the beach areas at other marinas we stayed at were either fenced off or it was private land. 

When Old St. Joseph was a thriving port during the 1830's - 40's, Shipyard Cove (now the city park) had a marine railway where sailing vessels were hauled out for repairs.  Fred Moddox purchased this property from St. Joe Dock and Terminal Railway Company.  Having lived on this property since 1909, it became the homesite of "Captain Fred and Miss Zola".  In 1996, the Florida Communities Trust, purchased the 3.2 acres from the Maddox family and donated the land to the City of St. Joe to use as a park.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Yesterday, Sunday, was forecasted to be the nicest day here until next weekend so we took advantage of it and left Panama City and took the GIWW to Port St. Joe, Florida.  We did the rest of St. Andrews Bay to East Bay and then into Big Cove which brought us to the narrow Watappo Creek (part of the GIWW).  Big Cove was very shallow outside of the channel; 10 to 12' in channel and 1-3' on either side at times.  At about Mile Marker 312 - Green Marker 23 was way out of place.  We slowed down to a crawl until we saw the next red and green markers ahead. You really have to watch closely at times.

After we turned down the Gulf County Canal to Port St. Joe we changed into Eastern Standard Time.  So far we really like it here; nice restaurant, friendly people, walking distance to town, and they even have 3 wheeled bikes with baskets to take to the grocery store. 

There are a lot of Loopers here and we are all waiting for the next weather window to cross the gulf.  As of today, it looks like that will be next weekend.  We have heard so many conflicting stories about which way to cross the gulf and we are really confused.  Some people say it's about 50-50 as far as leaving from Apalachicola via the "Government Cut" or from Carrabelle via the East Pass and others say absolutely, do not go out of Apalachicola.  Some of the guys have been talking with the old shrimp boat captains that have lived in this area for their whole lives and they all recommend leaving from Carrabelle.  So, for the time being, we are going to do the Carrabelle to Tarpon Springs route.

N29 48.918
W85 18.607

CO's comments:  This evening over sunset cocktails I heard of 2 boats hitting bottom, nothing serious, but just because you are on the Intracoastal Waterways doesn't mean you have safe passage. 

Working on the head - so far two tries
and it is only partially fixed; one more
thing to try before we will have to get
professional help

This huge ship is being built in the
middle of the swamps - we were wondering
how they are going to get it to the ocean
because the GIWW is very shallow

This is what our wake looks like
in salt water at 2800 rmp-it really foams

Previously posted side pictures from November 10 through 12, 2010

Kim Jo III waiting for
Demopolis Lock

Kim Jo II in Coffeeville Lock

Shrimp boat at Fairhope, AL

View from the Pier at Fairhope, AL

View from our porch at Estern Shores Marina

Pier at Fairhope

Sight seeing at Fairhope, AL

Beautiful fountain and flowers
on the Bay in Fairhope, AL

Another beautiful sun set