November 28th - December 10 2013, Baytown Marina Destin, FL

Ready to Leave Pensacola Beach Marina

We did leave Pensacola Beach Marina at 7:45 on Thanksgiving Day.  It was a little choppy out on the bay but as we went into the more narrow portions of the  waterway it turned into an enjoyable ride.  We went along areas through Santa Rosa Sound, Mary_Esther and Okaloosa_Island.  These were areas we've always wanted to anchor around. Unfortunately not this time though.

Destin Inlet

We went by Destin amazed at how different it all looked from out in Choctawhatchee Bay.  The Baytown marina at Sandestin is about 9 miles from Destin and we had to pass under the Mid-Bay Bridge.  But we met a barge there and let him use the main passage while we went through one of the other pylons where we found plenty of water and clearance.

Channel to Baytown Marina

We came up to the private buoys marking the entrance to the marina and while the 3 more maneuverable boats went into to tie up we  hung back outside with Field Trip.  Once they were secured we started in through the narrow and rather shallow entrance channel.    

Backed into slip B8

We had to back into the slip which, on this boat, can be somewhat of a trial since I cant see anything behind the boat and have to rely on side looks and Mary telling me where to go (yeah yeah, go ahead make your jokes ;-)).  But I've done this several times now so it's not too difficult any longer.  We got backed in with no problem with Jeff and Chip helping secure our lines.  The marina has a webcam if your curious about the place.

Thanksgiving with the flotilla

After we all were settled in we hopped a shuttle to the Hilton for a Thanksgiving feast.  We had a big round table for all ten of us and enjoyed several hours of food and fun.  We loitered around until they began closing up.  Jeff and Judy inquired as to the fate of all the food still left out and the kind waitress noted much of it would be thrown out.  After a few more questions we secured 2 large zip lock bags and filled them with boiled shrimp (about 5 pounds) and got back on the shuttle for the ride to the marina.

Just Fakin It heading out

Just Fakin It and Good Grief left Friday morning around 8.  They were trying to make it another 100 miles east to catch a weather window to cross the Gulf (which they did successfully Monday!).  We said our good bye's and then began planning the next nights departure party for Arin E since they were leaving the following day.

We decided to try the Marlin Grill restaurant located a few blocks away in the Baytowne Wharf.  And it was great.  Good food, wine and a wonderful time.  We'll miss Chip and Pat but may re-connect with them further down the Florida Coast.








The day Arin E left,Brent and Susan on Once upon a Time" pulled in.  We met them up in the river system a few weeks ago and they were at Turner Marine which was right next door to Dog River where we stayed a few days ago.

They were just passing through and planned to leave the following day so of course we had to have another "going away diner" so went to the beach side bar/restaurant which was previously named Finz, but is now called Elephant walk.  Dont ask me why  because it looks pretty much the same.  More expensive though.  Anyway,  we had a great time.

They left Tuesday afternoon.  Brent and and Susan (who's a really phenomenal artist) are fun people.  We'll catch up with them on the Florida coast or Marathon Key.

We went walking and returned to the Fitness center here in Sandestin where we talked with some friends we met a year ago when we were in the condo here.  I'm thinking after we have our fill of this boating adventure we just may settle here.  For some reason we're really comfortable in this place.  Go figure!

In our effort to reverse the trend this loop journey has precipitated upon us (we're talking about the extra 10 pounds we are carrying around) we started up our old routine to walk to the Fitness Center and then hit the machines for an hour..

And I started taking my 5 miles walks around the Sandestin grounds.  Nice to see the place hasn't changed all that much.  Not so nice to see my pants still dont fit.  What to do?

We met some friends here last year, Don and Linda who lived in the condo right next door to the one we occupied last year.  We had intended on surprising them at the Fitness center while so we didn't mention anything about being here.  But Linda wrote me asking where we were before we even had a chance to settle in..  We did get a night photo of Mary standing next to their car the second night we were here but it was late and they're early risers (golfers) so we didn't want to wake them up.

Mary Ann

The marina has this parrot, Mary Ann which roams a tree near the bar/restaurant.  She's out most every day and then gets put back inside at night or during cold snaps   She is precocious with an alarming intelligence.  And not a quiet creature either.   Mary was standing close to her the other day when she reached out and grabbed Mary's expensive (I jest ... Dollar Store) glasses off her head.  She would attempt to nip my fingers when I got too close to grab them back which turned into a game.  I was at least able to grab the glasses and tug at them but the bird is an avian Hercules.  So I lost the game.  The glasses survived 7 minutes.  The bird, annoyed at the flimsy construction screeched for another pair.  Precocious little beast.

The parrot actually hopped off it's perch and sat on Mary's shoulder for a while which is in violation of the parrot rules but seemingly overlooked this time.  And she'll hop up on my hand and then make a wild attempt to pluck at my beard.

Marriage Savers charging up for a test

We noted that Marriage Savers were on sale so we bought one.  These are full duplex headsets which enable us to talk in sweet tones to one another rather than shouting back and forth which usually results in one or both of us not hearing the other very well leading to repeated  "What??" at an ever increasing volume.  We chuckle listening other couples go through this just as they, I'm sure, snicker at us.  But soon, we'll be able to exchange critical boat operational information in a sweet whisper.  I'll let you know how that all works out.

Outlet mall with 150 stores.  Ugh ...

Field Trip rented a car.  Well actually it's a giant black Suburban.  We all felt like government agents running around in this thing.  Went an afternoon errand run which for all practical purposes meant slogging up and down this million store outlet mall looking for the perfect pair of pants.   I will say they have thoughtfully considered the plight of the poor non-shopper and placed multiple benches outside each store.  This is where I met another poor soul following his wife around except they came in on a bus from Alabama for this one day.  I could see it in his eyes ... mentally calculating how the hell he was going to haul the stuff his wife was purchasing back to the bus much less his house.  A happy shopper Not!

Alan, the previous owner of  our boat was in the area and met us for lunch at Harbor Walk near the inlet at  Destin.  He toted along some additional spare parts which he handed over.  We have a floating spare parts warehouse!  Great to catch up with the always informative Alan!

Our BadBoy Xtreme arrived today in the mail.  It's a wifi booster that allows us to use the boat's wireless router as a gateway to the internet from any open wireless connections we can find.  We can pick up very weak signals from a good distance away.  We had one before but the transmitter burned out so we now have a replacement. Just have to hook it all up.

Mary's laptop up and died yesterday morning.  Wont even power up.  She offhandedly mentioned there was some water dripping out of it the other day.  Oh well.  I salvaged the hard drive so we at least have that info.

And not to be out done, my laptop's keyboard is rapidly dying as well.  The whole lower tier of keys wont function even after I' blew them out with compressed air and reset the pivot arm.  I'm typing this on one of our wireless keyboards locked into the laptop.  The new one was delivered here today though so no worries!

We're planning on leaving here on December 18 for Wisconsin with Bob and Martha from Field Trip.  They live in Wisconsin so we figured we'd just share a ride up there and back.  It's a mini van too which certain people will find humorous.!  We're returning here on the 6th of January and then plan to depart on the 8th for Panama city and ultimately Carrabelle where we'll head across the Gulf to Dunedin.   Not sure when that will happen since the weather windows in January are more infrequent than not.

Meanwhile we sleep late, do a little boat maintenance, walk and then eat and drink.  I guess there are worse ways to spend winter.  And thanks to a very helpful group of people back in Wisconsin we have been scouring the boat for warm weather clothes in preparation for our return to the arctic.  Might even sneak in a heater.