Monday, February 1, 2016

The Return of the Smiley's

Everyone kept telling us while we were waiting in Mobile that we were so close. They were right. Since leaving, our logbook is filled with smileys, you know, the kind you use when you experience something you like.  Not that living on the hard for a month wasn't smiley worthy, we were just happy to see something new...

We left and had a nice motor sail down Mobile Bay. It can get a little bouncy out on the bay, since it is so long, and even the light winds forecasted turned to 10-15 by the south end of the bay. It was nice to be able to unroll the jib and get an extra knot of free speed. We ran out of bay before we could take advantage of all the wind that filled in. Our first stop was to another Marina, as it was supposed to get down below freezing (anchoring out when it is below freezing does not earn a smiley).

On our way down Mobile Bay, we had a hitchhiker.  This guy was climbing all over our boat for about an hour.  For a while, he was even closing his eyes for a bit of a nap.  The whole time I was hoping he wouldn't poop, which of course, he did.  This smudged his smiley.  




Our next day was a short one to the anchorage everyone seems to use when leaving Mobile: Ingrams Bayou. It was great place to spend the night, and the anchor came up without a chain full of mud. This earned a smiley from me - usually it comes up full of mud and clay, and this meant we were in sand. This was another short day, and one that allowed us to take a small break from motoring. Yes, we actually turned the motor off while underway and went for a sail. Unfortunately, it was just to “tune the rig”, as it was our first sail after stepping the mast. So we sailed one tack, and then back on the other and ended up in the same place we started.  Later that day, we had our first dolphin experience, when all of a sudden, one surfaced right next to the boat and scared the pants off of us.  It was wonderful, and earned another smiley.  Our anchorage that night was at Fort McRae, at the inlet for Pensacola.  What an amazingly beautiful place.  Beautiful water that was full of dolphins, pelicans, loons and gulls and was surrounded by white sand beaches. 



Unfortunately, there was some strong weather brewing, and we needed to find shelter for a few days, and ended up at the Santa Rosa Yacht Club for a few nights.  This was a really cool place to wait out some weather, and get ready for the "overnighter"...


9 comments:

  1. Glad to see you got the boat ready to go. Pensacola is a great place. I have stayed at that marina and liked it as well. Hope you have a great sail from Pensacola to warmer waters. Where are you headed next?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey Shawn! Great to hear from you. Feel free to check out the map page to see where we are currently (the blog posts are a bit delayed). We are currently in a mooring ball in St Pete, and its awesome here. Are you still planning to head this way this Spring?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I see now! We are planning on pulling the boat end of the month and do the bottom, shaft and cutlass bearing. then sell the house in April. should be headed that way in September. We have a lot to get done but I think we will be on time. We will end up where you are now to start then go from there. Glad to see you got to warmer weather. How long are you staying in St Pete?

      Delete
    2. Good luck with all that work, I know you know it will be worth it. It's really great here, so we'll probably stay around a week. I hope to get some sailing on the bay before we leave.

      Delete
  3. I see you did an overnight passage between Dog Island and St. Pete. How did that go?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, and we also did an overnight along the panhandle, but I can't spoil the blog post now can I? :)

      Delete
    2. I don't follow, but will you be staying in St. Pete for awhile? Is your adventure all you hoped it would be?

      Delete
    3. Hi Mike! Yes, we will be staying in St Pete for at least another week. The trip has been a bit of a rush to stay ahead of winter, so thus far, we have not had a chance to explore the areas as much as we would have liked. That is changing now that we are here, and we are really enjoying ourselves.

      Delete
    4. Hi Mike! Yes, we will be staying in St Pete for at least another week. The trip has been a bit of a rush to stay ahead of winter, so thus far, we have not had a chance to explore the areas as much as we would have liked. That is changing now that we are here, and we are really enjoying ourselves.

      Delete