May 12:  Generator is finally fixed, and all systems are go. Our Tennessee trip is back on, yeah. As we left the boatyard and eased into Tampa Bay, the seas were choppy, but turned calmer as we approached Gulfport. We anchored there for the night. Next morning, we went in to the municipal marina to get fuel ($2.99/gal. Fueling up is becoming a hairy experience for the sheer price alone). We then left for Clearwater. We now know why this little city is such a popular place. It has lots of islands to explore, restaurants to tie up to, and the water is lovely. On May 14, Mother's Day, we tied up at Caladesi Island State Park. Boats of all sizes come to hang out here on the weekends. It reminded us of our boating days in Boston. One boater told us that on July 4th, there are so many people that the aluminum dock is practically under water! Watching the boaters dock their boats was our entertainment of the day. The beach is also very popular, as evidenced by a ferry that comes here every half hour, bringing throngs of sunseekers. The beach was packed all afternoon, but by 6pm all the tourists were gone. Except for a  few boaters, the beach and park were pretty much deserted. It was low tide; we took a walk on the beach and founds lots of beautiful shells - mostly Florida fighting conchs and turret shells. As this day was also the captain's birthday, we celebrated with a steak and salad dinner, banana cake and Irish Coffee on board. 

Gulf Crossing
The next five days found us at Anclote Keys, waiting for a good weather window to cross the big bend to Carrabelle. This is a good 140 miles of open waters in the Gulf of Mexico, so we planned on an overnight trip. It would take Mai Thai about 20 hours traveling at 7 knots. This would be our first experience traveling solo on an overnight passage. On Saturday, May 20, we made the leapt. Half hour into the gulf, forecast of 10 knots wind from the West and 2 foot waves felt more like 10-15 knots wind and 2-4 foot waves. It was uncomfortable, and after several hours, monotonous. Had it not been a pair of dolphins that came to play in our bow wake on two separate occasions, we would have been totally bored. We kept hoping when we get to the latitude of Suwanee River (weather forecast for that area was better), the sea would be smoother. After the sun set, it actually got worse. Now Mai Thai is being tossed around rolling waves of 3-5 feet. with a bow spray every six or seven wave. We could hardly move around, let alone cook. Nor did we have the appetite to eat. Apples, cheese and crackers was our dinner. By 9 pm, we were enveloped in complete darkness and utterly alone. All we could do, other then watching out for boat traffic, was to trust Mai Thai and the autopilot to take us safely to our destination. Since we had wanted to cross the bulk of the gulf during the daytime and get closer to land earlier, we had to negotiate the inlet in the dark as we got there at 3 in the morning. The East Pass inlet into St George Sound is wide and deep, but we wouldn't have done it without our trusty GPS and the chart plotter! As we came in to the sound, we found we were not alone. A  shrimp boat was already at work. By the time the anchor was set in protected Dog Island, it was 4 am. We took showers to wash off the salt, had chicken soup and went to bed. We awoke to a beautiful morning, our anchorage facing a long narrow strip of beach with a few simple beach houses on stilts. What a view! We thank our lucky stars to have made the crossing without incident. After lunch, we pumped up our dinghy and went to the beach to see what treasures were in store for us.

We were on a mission for oysters, and Apalachicola is the place. A short two hours run took us to Scipio Creek Marina, where we stopped to provision, do laundry and wash down the salty boat. We chose this small town for its old Florida feel, and its famous restaurant - Papa Joe's. We picked up the local paper and a column caught our eye - "If you ain't been to Papa Joe's, you ain't been to Apalach." How about that for raising one's expectations?  Luckily, we were not disappointed. The oysters were plump, succulent and on the salty side (as opposed to New England's which is sweet); even better, it was cheap at $5.95 a dozen. We had another 1/2 dozen baked with crabmeat, sherry and Monterey Jack cheese ($6.95). However, we think fresh oysters are best eaten raw. The captain ordered the seafood platter  - fried shrimp, oyster, grouper, clam strips, crabcake and hush puppies - ($21.95). They were absolutely fabulous. The downtown has one blinking light, some nice shops, several restaurants, and century-old homes that have been restored to its former glory, but the waterfront needs work. Although most  guidebooks rave about this place, we thought for a small town, people could be friendlier. 

Slow Boat to Mobile
En route to Panama City, we traveled  from river to lake to canal to bay for miles without seeing another boat. It was pretty lonely out there. Mid way, we even traveled back in time, as we were  now in Central Time Zone, 1 hour behind Eastern Time. When the port engine tachometer gauge faltered, we went to check and found that the belt on the engine was shredded to pieces. We shut it down and pulled in to Pearl Bayou for the night, one of the many nice anchorages in the area.  We were next to Tyndall Air Force Base, so the peace and quiet was broken by roaring F-14 Tomcat planes flying by every 15 minutes until 8:30pm. Next morning, the air show continued while the captained put in a new belt. Unfortunately, he also discovered that the alternator is mal functioning as well. We decided to continue on one engine. Approaching Panama City, dolphins greeted us as they played with our bow wake. By noon time, we were across St Andrews Bay at popular Shell Island. Already, pontoon boats and jet skiers lined the shores. We dropped the hook and waited until late afternoon to go ashore. Long stretches of white sand and windswept dunes sit on this barrier island. On the gulf side, surf crashing onto the beach brought lots of shells. On the bay side, there were all kinds of lively sea creatures - whelks, crabs, fiddler crabs, starfish.

From St Andrews Bay, we got back on the ICW which took us through some interesting terrain - sandstone bluff lining both sides reminiscent of a mini Grand Canyon. Imagine that in Florida! Miles later, it opened up to expansive Choctawhatchee Bay, which was choppy all across. Maybe that explained why we did not see any boat around, except for a tow.  After a tiring 10 hours on the water, we eased in to Joe's Bayou. The entrance was narrow and shallow, so we had to use "eyeball navigation.", the magic art of reading depth contours by color. It was easy to see because the water here is very clear and takes on a beautiful blue and emerald color. Around the corner is Destin,  known for its beaches, clubs, restaurants and sport fishing. We had enjoyed it from a previous trip by car, so we did not venture in. From Ft Walton Beach to Pensacola, we passed by miles and miles of magnificent white sand beaches (preserved as parts of the Gulf Islands National Seashore) on one side, unpretentious beautiful homes on the other. On Saturday, Memorial Day weekend, we stopped at Fort MacRae, next to Pensacola Inlet. It was clearly party central here as the protected anchorage was already filled with boats, both small and big; tents were already popped  up on the beaches, dinghies flying in and out of the lagoon. Even though it was crowded, we pretty much had the beach to ourselves, as it  stretches for miles.

It so happened that our timing was just perfect. Alan and Debbie of Trident, whom we first met at Daytona Beach, was having a beach party at their waterfront home in Perdido Key. We had planned to see them anyway, and what better time than party time? It would be a nice break to meet people and enjoy the array of food:-)! When Alan was stationed in Pensacola (a navy town) over twenty years ago, they lived in the house and had the foresight to keep it all these years. They sold Trident, and after hurricane Ivan in 2004, they remodeled their house. Did an excellent job, I might add.  Next day, they came over  on their fast dinghy, and we had some time to catch up. They even brought breakfast. Thanks, guys! After they left, we took off for Ingrams Bayou, an anchorage every cruiser and guidebook highly recommended. As it was a sweltering day, the last thing we wanted was a protected anchorage in a woodsy setting (read: bugs), so we pressed on. Commercial tows were now a common sight as we made our way towards Mobile Bay.  Following one into a narrow canal, we ran at 4.3 mph at one point. We were slower than a sailboat! Once the canal opened up to massive Mobile Bay, we veered off and headed for Fowl River on the western side. The bay was smooth like a  mirror. No sooner had we reveled in our luck for picking such a nice day to cross the bay, formidable dark clouds rolled in to the east. Lightning flickered in the distance. The wind kicked up  some chop, and suddenly the air was much cooler. Clearly, a storm was brewing. We were about 4 hours away from our anchorage. Three sailboats and several tows were in the bay with us. All we could do was keep going. An hour later later, the sun came out, and all was calm again. Just like that. The way to Fowl River seemed long, but after we got in, we congratulated ourselves for finding this lovely anchorage surrounded by homes with lovely gardens. We were pleasantly surprised about Alabama waterfront. We had no idea.