November 19, 2012, Wisconsin

Opening weekend of deer hunting was a good weekend.  Keith shot the biggest whitetail, our Grandson shot a buck, and there were a total of 5 deer taken to date.  I enjoyed 2 days with my sisters and nieces and then on Sunday, the 18th, I went out to the farm and helped cut up the deer. Monday morning it was good to sleep in as I am very sore from standing over the cutting tables for several hours.  Keith, Don and Jerry went out again to try for a few more deer.  Keith is trying to figure out how to mount a deer rack in the boat, we are still in discussions over that.

Derek and Gio; Derek shot the first deer of the season.

Gio (foreign exchange student staying at our son's for school year) with Keith's buck; his first experience observing hunting.

Assembly line in garage.  We were grinding the meat for hamburger.

CO's comments:  All-in-all it was a good hunt but no snow.  Thankfully the temperatures were not extremely cold.  I am ready to go back to the boat.

November 14, 2012, Wisconsin

We left Florida and 75 degrees on Saturday, November 10th and got to Wisconsin on Sunday the 11th to heavy rain and 30 degrees.  Boy what a difference.  It was 2 long days but we were glad we did it in 2 because we woke up to snow on Sunday morning and temperatures in the 20's.

Sun rise at Pirates Cove Marina on 11-10-2012.

November 6 - 9, 2012, Pirates Cove Marina, Panama City, FL

Tuesday:  We will have no more travel days until after Thanksgiving.  Today was just a lazy day.  Got caught up on a few things, went to Walmart, and brought Roy over to friends to pick up his car.  The tide here ranges from 1 1/2 to 2' so we did have to put our ladder out.

Wednesday:  Just another day.  Did my cleaning and got some sewing done.  I made a cover for the cooler on the back deck to protect it from the sun and salt water.  Started packing for our trip to Wisconsin and Montana.

Thursday:  Keith had an electrician here to look at our inverter as we are still having some problem with it.  He will be back tomorrow to get the port engine alternator.  He will bring it to an alternator shop as he thinks there is a bad diode.  When he comes back he will also set as many of my wall plugs up so they all will run off the inverter.  There is always something.  We went to eat at a seafood restaurant tonight with Roy and Elvie and Greg and Carl.  It was a nice evening.

Friday:  Packing and getting every thing ready so we can get an early start Saturday morning.

CO's comments:  We have had a few windy days since we got here.  I have been having fun watching people try to back into their slips.  3 out of 4 ended up sideways, had a heck of a time and needed all the help they could get.to get tied up.  The 4th boat, a older Chris Craft "go fast" pulled up, backed in, just like it was a smooth, calm, day with no problem at all.  You can sure tell the experienced boaters from the weekend boaters who don't have a clue what wind and current will do to their boat.

Kim Jo IV on Mobile Bay (taken by Roy El on 11-2-2012)

Dinner out in Panama City, FL, on 11-8-2012

November 4 and 5, 2012; Pirates Cove Marina, Panama City, FL

Sunday: 
Waited for the fog to clear and got going by 06:45. Last night we changed back to standard time. I forgot all about it so we were up by 04:30. Had lots of time to get ready. After the fog cleared it turned into another beautiful sunny day with highs in the 80's.

We saw a lot of dolphins today. They would follow the boat jumping just as fast as we were going. We originally planned on stopping at Fort Walton Beach for a free tie-up but the city dock was damaged so we went about 6 miles further and anchored at Joe’s Bayou. We got to our anchorage by 14:40. Put out extra chain because it is supposed to get windy and rain later tonight.

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Monday:
Used the generator for the first time since it was fixed at Dog River. At first it didn’t work but after about 10 to 15 minutes it worked just fine. I guess we have to let it warm up before it produces enough voltage to run things.  We also can run our microwave on designated sockets on our inverter so I was happy about that.  Another smooth day on the water. We crossed Chotawatchee Bay which is 10 miles long and it just had a little chop. We made good time again today and got to our marina by 12:45.

The dolphins were jumping along side the boat again today. This time I was able to get a few pictures; they are so much fun to watch.

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CO's comments:  All is good.  We backed into our slip and tied up for tidal waters as we will leave the boat here for a good month or so.  Not bragging but with the new boat, be it backing in, tying up sideways, or on the face dock, so far I haven't touched a piling.  This last time I did not even have to use the bow thruster.  Just like flying a Beach 18 on floats.

Dolphins following the boat on Chotawatchee Bay

Cruising the GIWW