Panhandle Pleasures

Our past few weeks have entailed exploration of the Florida panhandle, a road trip for Thanksgiving, and an overnight crossing to get past the ‘big bend’…which culminated with snorkeling with manatees in crystal clear water.

There are always interesting sights to see in Pensacola.

This is the fasted sailboat I have ever seen, flying across Pensacola Bay.

Fort Walton Beach is an adorable town with artistic touches everywhere.

The Sound Cafe offered so many interesting flavor choices we both went for a flight.  A wonderful place to spend a chilly afternoon sampling coffee and listening to live music.

This is a wonderful way to remind people of where the storm drain leads.

We then left the boat in a marina in Shalimar, FL, and rented a car to drive to Fernandina Beach for Thanksgiving.

So much delicious food, shared with some of my favorite people!

Grandma’s happy place…on the floor playing with the grands!

If you are interested in old forts, Fort Clinch on Amelia Island, Fernandina Beach, FL is a must see!  The buildings are maintained with authentic furnishings, and the doors are open so you can walk into each building/ room and immerse yourself in the history of the fort.  After touring the fort, venture out to the beach, where you are guaranteed to find sharks teeth, if you look!

During our time in Fernandina Beach, Keith accumulated many hours of windshield time.  As I mentioned in a previous post, we staged our new dinghy (Alma Joy…also known as Joy Ride) at my son’s house so we could swap outboards, and take it back with us.  Anyway…the shortened version is that Keith drove Joy back to Right Hand, made the swap, and returned to Fernandina Beach, the same day, with Shrimp boat in tow.  My son has agreed to sell the Whaler, and extra motors for us…thanks Matti!

After a fabulous week with kids and grandkids, it is time to return to the boat and continue our travels.

Since we had not yet attempted to put Joy on the top deck of Right Hand, we decided the marina was not the best place to experiment…so we left the marina with me at the helm of Right Hand, and Keith at the helm of Joy, for the short trip to Destin Harbor where we planned to anchor for a few days.

As soon as Right Hand was safely anchored, we jumped into Alma Joy for a quick joyride…I was anxious to get my toes in the sand!  

It took several months to decide on a name, and only after tooling around in her for the past two weeks, was it clear that her name should be Joy. Alma (for our granddaughters Alexis, Lucy, Maggie, Anna) Joy was a name on the ‘short list’ and it quickly rose to the top, because every excursion has been a joy!  She is comfortable, roomy, stable…

and fits nicely on the top deck!

I get knocked down, but I get up again…sing it with me! We came across this tree while exploring our anchorage, a few miles from Apalachicola. A joyride into town for an order of my favorite coconut shrimp, and my day was complete!

Carrabelle, FL is the end of the road, as far as the Panhandle is concerned.  The coastline along the Big Bend of Florida does not offer any protected harbors that have an adequate depth for our boat to enter. Therefore, it is time for an overnight (130 mile) hop to our next anchorage.  The day before our departure, we staged behind Dog Island, with our friends Tara and Allan, on Follow Your Arrow.  We have been hopscotching along the panhandle together, since Destin, and plan to complete the crossing together.  

We enjoyed a relaxing beach evening the night before our departure.

On December 4, at 6:30 p.m., we weighed anchor and headed into the Gulf of Mexico for our 20 hour trip to Crystal River.  Since Crystal River is notorious for having a shallow channel, we timed our passage to arrive at the mouth at high tide.  The conditions were spectacular with a forecast of winds under 5 mph, and waves 1 foot or less.  

Thankfully, the forecast was spot on, and we had an absolutely glorious passage.  The night was filled with brightness (from a nearly full moon), dolphins swimming and jumping around the boat, and bioluminescent streaks as our boat, or the dolphins, disturbed the water. The surface was so calm that I could see the stars reflected in the water…the exact (reversed) pattern that I saw in the sky.  

I was asleep for this, but Keith captured the amazing sunrise!

Our timing was perfect! We had no problems entering the channel, and anchored in Kings Bay at 2:00 p.m. on December 5.

I am so happy that Tara and Allen’s first overnight passage was a fabulous experience…they loved every moment!

Oh happy days…this is what we have been searching for…

Crystal River’s claim to fame is that it is home to several springs that provide crystal clear fresh water at a constant 72°, which is the perfect environment to host manatees during the winter months.

Several visited us while at anchor.

Alma Joy proved to be the perfect vessel for exploration!  We spent the afternoon cruising many coves and tributaries around Kings Bay, and saw several manatees.

This juvenile seemed to enjoy the photo session.  

However, to enjoy the crystal clear waters of the springs, we had to leave the boat outside and swim to the spring head.  There was a narrow channel that connected the spring cove to the main branch of the tributary, and the water rushing out made for a challenging swim with not flippers.  Flippers are not allowed in the spring cove, as they could stir up a lot of sediment in the shallow pool…as well as, scratch manatee.

This is actually a shot of our exit. I couldn’t stop swimming to get a picture on the way in.

The water was fantastic, and there were numerous fish enjoying this spot…but no manatee in sight.

Oh well, it was a great swim.

But on the way back out, as soon as we cleared the canal, this manatee was entering.

And it swam right past.