January 18, 2010

Well, sure enough, it is Mid-January, and as promised (threatened?)  we’re Baaaaackkkkkkkkk!

We certainly hope you and your family and friends enjoyed a particularly wonderful Holiday Season!  We did!  It was great to be ‘home’ in Newburgh, and equally great to return ‘home’ to YA.

We’ve been aboard for nearly a week, and have spent much time talking about the weather.  As Mark Twain suggested, we do nothing about it, but what we do is certainly tied into how the weather is behaving--or not.

Our trip home in Dec. was fun---we tied YA up at the second slip of our friends the  Picas of CAROLYN ANN, and Joe and Punk drove us to the Pensacola airport.  We flew to LaGuardia in NYC, then took a bus to Grand Central Terminal where we caught a train to Beacon.  Plan A was to take a ferry to Newburgh where our cor would be parked, but the aforementioned weather intervened, and we were late arriving in NYC, and thus missed the last ferry of the evening.  Kids had dropped a vehicle at the train station, though, so we headed on home.

It was mighty cold in NY. And now that I think about it, it’s not exactly warm here in sunny Florida, either!

We chose to drive back to FL and after a three day trip left the car in Pensacola for now.  The water was, for some unexplained reason, really low in the Pica’s canal.  So low that we spent an extra day waiting for the canal to fill high enough (see the board) to get us back into the ICW.  (Never mind that we had to putter about getting ready....and spend some quality time with Joe and Punk.)   When we eased on out, we had 2’ under the keel at the ‘bump’ in the canal, and our first day on the water took us only about 10 miles before dark fell.  We anchored alongside Santa Rosa Island, and got enough of an early start on Thurs. that we arrived in Panama City (70 miles away) during daylight.

The municipal marina was delightful and the people were great.  I did  have a ‘happen’ but didn’t violate Rule #1 (Nobody gets hurt).  When backing through the gate and looking for the key-drop mailbox and carrying coffee and newspapers for Fred, I neglected to notice the 3 steps until I was rolling down them.  Sing ho for many years of Tai Chi, where I learned to fall really well--no bruises, even.   Happiness!

Our Friday’s run brought us to Pt. St. Joe, a slightly off the beaten track marina where a fellow named Ray Whitney is single handedly attempting to shore up a small town hard hit by the economic downturn.  This week he created a Looper’s weekend and encouraged about 30 boats to leave the ICW and spend the weekend in PSJ!  Very good for business and VERY good for us boaters!

‘Twas a great time--Ray put together a Low Country Boil, and organized presentations by 

• Tom the Weatherman (how and when to cross the Gulf of Mexico---very timely for us, 
• the Coast Guard (a great opportunity for give and take between the  authorities and those of us whom they serve), 
• tips from SeaTow and
• a cruising guide to the west coast of Florida.

Toss in a great buffet lunch, followed by an entertaining talk by Bill Pike of Power Motor Yacht Magazine and a dinner with lots of camaraderie and door prizes, and it hardly can get any better!   Great job, Ray!

The weather was so awful on Sunday that we hardly left the boat---wind and rain prevailed.  Somehow it calmed overnight, though, and today we moseyed along the ICW to Carabelle, FL.  Considered heading south, but the wave action on the Gulf hasn’t quieted enough to suit us, so instead we’ve just returned from a fun dinner at the 'Salty Dog'.

Tomorrow afternoon we’ll poke YA’s nose out of the East Pass west of Dog Island (I love the names) and see about a 21 hour run to St. Petersburg.  If it’s good, we’ll go.  If not, we won’t.  It’s that simple.

The alternative is a run along the coast of the Big Bend--the curve around the end of Florida’s Panhandle east and south to the West Coast of the state.  Trouble with that route at this time of year is shallow water.  Winds and tides cause shoaling, which results in  water that may or may not match the charts.  The threat of surprisingly shallow water can make an overnight Gulf Crossing look like much the better plan.

So stay tuned and we’ll be back next week from somewhere in Southern FL.