The sun is shining and it is warm down here.  Very humid and things are starting to smell a little funky.  Difficult to keep ahead of it.
We have been having fun here is Carrabelle.  Met some locals and are learning our way around.  We found the world's smallest police department and took pictures.  It was featured on Johnny Carson and some other programs back in the 80's and 90's.  It was used back then but now it is just a tourist attraction.  We are thinking about riding bikes over to the WW 2 museum later today.
Got engine oil changed and new air filters yesterday.  We are ready for the crossing tomorrow.  Friends are gathering.  Looks like there will be 4 boats for sure and probably a sailboat also but they travel differently than we do.  Depends on the wind.  They may sail across or else do it under engine.  Either way we will be watching out for our friends Chris and Gwen on Davali.
I can't think of a better way to spend New Year's eve.
Hope you all have a wonderful new year.  See you on the other side.

Changing the oil on a hot muggy day.

Hands in the air you suspicious  looking character.

Worlds smallest police dept.

Well, we made it to Carrabelle.  Very sweet, functional town.  Everyone is friendly and we get a free breakfast!
Eddie (of Eddie's Weather Wag) is saying there may be a weather window on Wed.  We are really hoping we can spend New Years eve on the other side of Florida.
Our Canadian friends are anchored out behind Dog Island and loving the long white beaches.  We will have to anchor out at least one night and let our dog run.
We found out why it is called Dog Island.  Has to do with early shipping.  They would put their sailors ashore there before coming into port at the America's.  Because the sailors would get into port and disappear and stay.  So to make sure they had help on the return voyage they had to keep them under control some how.  They would pick them up again on the way out.  Cute little island that all but disappears at high tide, in some places anyway.
Having fun in Carrabelle for now.

We are dwarfed by the Fish and Wildlife boat across the dock from us.

It was a beautiful full moon over the river in Apalachicola.  Can you see the lights on the top of the two sailboats of our friends anchored out in the bay?

It has been an interesting and fun Christmas.  On the eve we had carolers by boat.  They came down the channel talking to everyone.  They actually did more drinking and laughing than singing.  They eventually had to move out of the way because a shrimp boat came by with their nets hanging out and the channel is narrow.
We ordered out for Chinese and sat around the table with fellow looper talking politics.  Was interesting to hear the Canadian perspective on American politics.  Finally...my people.  Fellow liberals.  (Dick was not happy). Enough said.
We were invited to join some locals at the grave yard this morning for a beer.  Decided I needed to get my turkey in the oven instead.  The grave yard idea sounded better last night.
It continues to be foggy off and on here and warm.  Everything is damp.
We continue to watch the weather.  The waves on the Gulf do not look very inviting.  We are still thinking about moving to Carrabelle on Sunday. But will have to see how the water looks.  So sitting tight as usual waiting for our weather window.
Merry Christmas everybody.  Hope you get electricity soon in Grand Rapids.

Shrimp boat with nets hanging out.

Pelicans hanging out off our bow.  We see dolphins too but they are too quick to get a picture.

We are bogged down by the weather.  Rain, rain and more rain in the forecast.  So we have hunkered down and will make the best of it.  This is  sweet little town with lots of little shops and art galleries.  I could stay here a long time.  Except for those cats roaming around the docks, taunting our dog.  I always know when they are near because her ears perk up.
Have been having fun watching the shrimp boats come and go.  They are lit up like a Christmas tree when they return at night.  Initially they scared me cause they seemed to come out of no where out of the dark and then zoom right by us.
It has been very warm here but then it sounds like it has been very warm everywhere.
We are still hoping to get to Carrabelle on Friday and wait for our crossing window.  There are friends down there and friends here that will go with us.  We have been playing cards with our Canadian friends and learning about their funny plastic money.
So we continue to wait to do the 20 hour crossing of the gulf.  Will wait for good weather rather than risk a dangerous uncomfortable ride in high seas.
More to come.

Shrimp boat at night.

Shrimp boat during the day.

On the road again.......     On our way to Apalachicola to wait.  The crossing does not look good for this week.  A slight possibility on Christmas day which would be great cause it's a full moon.  We will wait for a sign from Eddies Weather Wag that it is safe to cross.
Really enjoyed Port St. Joe.  Nice little town.  Found a place that sells liquor and wine.  They also have a bar with outside seating and live music.  We went one night and sat around the fire with the fishing boat captains and a woman that runs a turtle sanctuary.  We had our dog with us too.  Very fun.  Of course that was just before the weather got cold.  The past few nights it got down to freezing.  The days have been sunny and crisp.  Also fairly windy.  It was a little challenging this morning getting away from the dock.
Lots of boats here decorated for the holidays.  Some were in the boat parade last weekend.
It seems a little weird not being around family and friends for the holidays.  But we will be with our new friends.
Happy holidays everybody.  Especially all the Leighton's who will be getting together on Christmas eve again.  Thinking of you all.

Good bye Port St. JOE.

Decorated boats.

We moved today.  We are now in Port St. Joe.  Next we will move closer to Carrabelle Island and the start of the crossing.  There are a couple other boats around here that we are hoping to connect with.
We were back in the ditch commonly called the ICW or the intercoastal waterway.  It runs all the way from Brownsville, TX at the tip of Texas to Carrabelle Is, FL.
It has been a pleasant day.  Lots of crab pots.  Have to watch out for the crab pots.  They have a tiny ball on top followed by a long rope.  It needs to be long to make slack for the tides.  It's all about the up and down of the tides.
We heard that there are 40,000 derilict boats in Florida.  Boats that no one claims and they are hanging out on a beach or side of the water somewhere and no one wants them.  We saw a lot of them on the ICW today.
Also saw several bald eagles.  Very fun to watch.  Still no alligator sightings yet.
My deep thought for the day was to ponder how different things-places look from the water looking into the land.  Versus looking from the land out to the water.  Until you have been out here for awhile you really don't understand some of the difficulties.

Derelict boats.

There is a bald eagle in this picture somewhere.

The Christmas lights at Panama city last night.

Well we are still in Panama City.  Yesterday started out overcast and windy so we hunkered down.  Later on the sun came out and it turned into a pretty nice day.  Too late.  So today we planned to move regardless.  But not to be.  Now the winds are twice as strong and it really did rain and there really is a storm heading this way.  So we are hunkered down again.  Have decided to go to Port St. Joe to wait for the crossing.  Only 4 hours away and still gives us time to get down to Apalachicola for the crossing.  Better place to wait.  In the mean time the window did not open up for this week but there is a glimmer of hope that we may be able to cross before xmas.
We were thinking that Panama city may be one of those places to consider for retirement.  Then Monday morning arrived along with the US Air Force.  The air base must be close by cause they are extremely loud when they go over us.  And there must have been 20 take offs.  I am a little less thrilled with Panama city than I was.  So here we will sit for the time being.  Hope the storm passes quickly.

The plane, the plane.

It has been a fun couple of days.  We went across Pensacola bay.  Lots of military presence here.  The Blue Angels flew over yesterday morning but way too quick for me to get a camera.  Then we passed by an airport and as we were looking down the runway a military jet took off over our heads.  Loud but very cool. I saw "Fighter town" on the side of a hanger.  It may have been Elgin Air Force base.
We spent last night on the free dock at the town of Ft. Walton, Fl.  Nice little place and very dog friendly.
This morning we got an early start because it is 70 miles to Panama City which is about 7 hours in our boat.  We went thru "the ditch" or as they also like to call it the Grand Canyon of the south.  The walls were puny but it was a very narrow, not always very deep, ditch.  We are almost to Panama City.  That puts us one day away from Apalachicola, the staging area for the gulf crossing.  It will be an 18 hour crossing mostly at night.  We will have to see if we can find someone or a group to buddy up with since they don't recommend doing it alone.  The window closed yesterday because a storm is heading in.  They were predicting it for Sunday but have now moved it out to Monday.  Possible window for the crossing on Tuesday or Wednesday.  We shall see.  The weather is the only factor at this point.

Jet flying over our heads.

The ditch.

We are having so much fun here at the Wharf Marina complex in Orange Beach
Alabama.  Rented a car yesterday which is always a thrill to go where you want any
time you want.  But of coarse our first stop was to West Marine.  Got things for the boat.  We went to Lulu's for lunch.   Lulu is Lucy Buffett, Jimmy Buffett's sister.  So I had to get a t shirt.  It says "Crazy sista.  You either have one, know one or are one."  So the marina here is beautiful.  It is new so the docks are great, the showers and laundry facilities are better than home, the shops are darling, the restaurants are great and everyone is in a good mood.
We met old friends for drinks yesterday afternoon into evening and made new friends too.  I think we may be close to the end of the loopers.  People coming through now are all saying they may have waited too long to leave because it is getting cold and the holidays are looming.  The weather here has been gorgeous but is going to change soon.  They are predicting rain for the weekend.  That means the window for crossing the gulf is closing again.  Dick is dragging his feet about leaving here but I think we should get down to the staging area and get ready for the next window.  You never know when it will happen and they get fewer and fewer at this time of the year.  Now we are talking about by passing Pensacola since it is only 30 miles from here and we can get further than that.  We probably have 4 days traveling to get to Appalachacola from here.  Decisions decisions.  More to come.

This is the light show.

Can you see the dolphins?

Well, what fun we have been having.  Coming down Mobile bay and into what they call "the ditch", we saw many dolphins.  There were 3 of them swimming in front of our bow.  I was hanging over and taking pictures.  What fun.  We are now in Orange beach at the Wharf marina.  It is absolutely beautiful here.  There is a street about 2 blocks long with palm trees down the middle.  They are lit up and have music and a light show at 6pm and 7pm.  It was set to Christmas music.  Very pretty.  We walked down and had dinner then got drinks to go and walked around.  Really fun.  But the sun went down and it did get chilly.  It has been so beautiful and warm during the day.
Dick went out and bought a new radio today.... it's always something.  But we really need that radio.  It's our link to main land especially with the gulf crossing coming up.  The weather has been wonderful so the weather window is open.  Hope it stays open for awhile.  We shall see in the next week.  Hope all is well with you all out there.    Dick and Pat

Can you see the dolphin?  

Entering Mobile Bay.

We got to Mobile Bay this morning and it is quite exciting.  It is a working area with large ships, tows, ship building-repair yards and U. S. Navy presence.  We have seen dolphins which was such a suprise.  I was looking over the port side of the boat when suddenly there were a pair of black backs breaking the surface of the water then diving back under.   There are pelicans circling a fishing boat and actually getting on the boat to steal.  They are so beautiful to watch in flight, skimming the surface of the water.
This bay is very shallow, sometimes depths get as little as 6 feet.
We are back on big water with waves again.  And it is salt water.
Had a great night last night but really glad to be back in a slip again.

Early this morning at Bobby's Fish camp.

Can you see the egret sitting on the back door of the lock that has just closed?

This is the entrance to a little River that you could anchor in.  Looks like some one already has.

This is Dick holding the line inside the Coffeeville lock.

We are on the hook tonight.  It is beautiful.
Here are some rambling thoughts from the past couple days.
We are now on the Lower BlackWarrior-Tombigbee Waterway.  Lots of debris in the water.  They say the closer you get to Mobile Bay the worse it gets.  Mostly sticks and logs but also various other junk. (A gas can?)  It's like playing dodge em ball.  Just watch out for your depth.  Don't want to run a ground.
It's so funny how the river looks the same and then all of a sudden a boat turns in and disappears into a side bay or river.  You can't see the entrance until your right on top of it.
Did you out know that Spanish moss is neither a moss nor a parasite.  It's actually a member of the pineapple family and survives by absorbing water from the air.
We are officially in alligator country now.  Haven't seen any but  we hear they are around.
You know you are in the south when you see a tarp being used as roofing material, said one of our friends from S. Carolina as we passed a house today with a big blue tarp on half the roof.
We have seen flocks of snowy white egrets and many many blue herons.  They all like to hang out at the locks and will even ride the doors shut.  Then they wait for the lock to empty leaving little fish floundering on the shelves of the lock doors.  Easy pickings for the egrets and herons alike.
We got stuck behind a tow pushing 3 barges of coal today.  There was a very tight curve in the river and the tow always wins so we just waited.  Interesting to watch the tow captain maneuver around that tight hairpin turn.
Enough for now.  We have been getting up at o-dark-thirty the past few mornings.  That means going to bed by 8.  Time to crawl in with the big guy.

On the hook in this lovely little  alcove.  These are 3 boats we were traveling with.

This is the train going right over our heads.

These are some of the stunning  white cliffs.

We are on the move again.  Feels good even if it is overcast and cold.  The leaves have finally turned colors down here.
We spent last night on the hook or as you land lubbers call it, on anchor.  It was beautiful and so quiet.  Took Abby the boat dog into the landing in the dinghy.  All was well with the world.
Then the sun went down.  It got really cold.  We started the new generators which was helpful but loud.  Turned on the inverter but we are having problems with one of our brand new batteries so had to limit that.  We were able to have all the essentials including tv.  But had to turn things off when we went to bed.  So it got pretty cold during the night.  We actually went to bed quite early. 7pm for Dick and 8pm for me.  We were up at 4am cause we had to take Abby to shore and get ready to head for the lock by 6:30am.  It was very cold so rushing helped to warm us up.  It was cold until at least noon.  Our poor dog sat inside shaking all morning.  She almost fell off the back of the boat this morning.  Luckily she only got one foot wet.
We saw some beautiful white cliffs on the way.  Had a train go right over our head at the same time.  Very loud.
We are now in Demopolis, AL.  We are in a marina again and all are warmed up again.  Tomorrow night we will probably be on the hook again.  Few marinas at this point.   More to come.

Well, we are ready to leave in the morning.  It gets light about 6:30am so we will try to leave around that time.  There are 4 boats planning to travel together.  We are going out for pizza together tonight and will discuss tomorrow's plan.  It has been raining all day today and suppose to be raining tomorrow also.  Dick went down to the lock this afternoon to look.  There is a big current and lots of junk in the water.  We will call the lock master in the morning and see what they say.  We might have to delay leaving.  Always ruled by the weather.  We have reservations at Dog River marina in 5 days but we may have to move it out a day or so.  We are planning on spending the next 2 nights on the hook.  Will have to see how this shakes out.  More to come.