Cruising the Panhandle

We left The Wharf Marina in Gulf Shores on November 8th and headed to Marker 21 Marina in Ft. Walton Beach. It was a nice day and the cruising conditions were pleasant. We thought we timed our departure so that when we passed by Pensacola Naval Air Station we could see the Blue Angels on one of their practice days. We did see one of them fly into the base but ultimately arrived too early to see the squadron in action. Just past Pensacola and before we crossed under the bridge to Santa Rosa Sound we encountered a very fast moving sailboat. In fact, it was moving so fast we couldn’t believe it was a sailboat. It was being followed by three powerboats up on plane. Before we reached them they came to a sudden stop. After a look with the binoculars and a google search, we discovered that this was Patriot, an America’s Cup boat, and the crew were practicing and filming the boat in the bay. The website said the sailboat was able to reach speeds of 50 mph!

Santa Rosa Sound was beautiful. However, we started to see damaged boats and were reminded that this area was damaged by Hurricane Sally in 2020. And then…we were swarmed with gnats. They were everywhere and left orange stains when you squashed one. At some point we gave up trying to get rid of the little buggers and lived with them on us and the boat for the rest of the afternoon. Marker 21 was a ‘marina with character’. It was more of a boat yard with some docks and old boats. We tied up to the end of the dock. While the marina lacked amenities, the restaurant/tiki bar made up for it with awesome rum punch drinks. The bar also had a lot of ‘character’ and characters. Our stay at Marker 21 was our least favorite place. It was sketchy and bug infested so we moved the next morning to Two Georges Marina in Shalimar, FL. Our five mile trip was “sporty”, with 3’ seas on the beam. On the beam means the waves were coming at us from the side. This made the boat roll significantly and we had to hold on for dear life. This short trip definitely had the roughest conditions we had seen to date.

Our friends on Baker Street Blue were also staying there, so we had company and docktails for a couple of nights with them. On Veteran’s Day, we toured the Air Force Armament Museum, which was near Eglin AFB. They displayed many weapons and military aircraft, and had displays on each of the wars and military branches. The tour, especially on this day, reminded us of the sacrifices others have made to keep our country and its citizens safe. We were impressed with the old and new technology on the site. Much to our delight, there were a pair of bald eagles flying around the museum. You never tire of seeing them.

Before we left Two Georges we provisioned at Publix. This made the first mate VERY happy as this was the first one we had seen since we left Chattanooga. And there was a Publix liquor store!

On Saturday, November 12, we left for Point South Marina in Panama City Beach. We left at first light so we could arrive before the marina closed. With the days being shorter we have less daylight to complete a day’s journey. When we have a long travel day, we try to leave at first light, about 30 to 60 minutes before sunrise. Our cruise across Choctawhatchee Bay took us past many familiar vacation spots like Destin and all the beach towns on 30A. We had the Intercoastal view instead of the beach view. We remarked how different this area looks from the Intercoastal. We could see some of the beach resorts in the distance but we mostly saw mangroves, palm trees, pine trees, and dolphins. We also saw many coastal birds such as pelicans, gulls, cormorants, kingfishers and a bald eagle. After passing through Choctawhatchee Bay we entered the channel connecting it to West Bay. There were six other boats traveling with us, all headed toward Panama City Beach. In the channel we passed Ellen Magellan, again. We saw her first in Santa Rosa Sound a few days before. Ellen is a young woman who intends to circumnavigate the globe in a row boat. You can read more about her adventure here. Since looper boats are so much bigger than her row boat, we gave her a ‘slow pass’ so we didn’t ‘wake’ her.

When we entered West Bay the winds picked up as we made our way towards St. Andrews Bay and Point South Marina. We started seeing sunken boats from Hurricane Michael in 2018 in the bay and as we approached the marina. It’s unnerving to see them especially when you’re approaching shallow water with a lot of wind. The captain navigated Arabella through a small narrow and shallow channel in the bay to get us safely into our slip. Like most marinas we’ve visited, the staff at Point South was very friendly and helpful. Unlike most marinas we visited, this one was brand new. It had been rebuilt after the hurricane and had all the amenities and big docks that boaters love. We planned to stay there for a few days to enjoy the beach and to dine at Captain Andersons (a favorite from Karen’s childhood). However, our plans changed when we decided to rent a car and travel to Georgia to help out Capel’s parents for a week. While in Georgia, Karen made a side trip to Atlanta to visit the ophthalmologist and our daughter Emmaline and little dogs.

We arrived back in Panama City Beach on November 21. We provisioned, returned the car, and quickly prepared the boat to depart the next day. We were disappointed that we weren’t able to visit Captain Andersons or the beach while we were there. However, we did have dinner with the couples on board RIVA and Voyager and docktails with our friends Baker Street Blue. All in all, we really enjoyed Panama City.