Bravo! Adventure
December 11
I have no idea when Doug was up, but I joined him around 6:20 AM. He had checked weather and wanted to be out by 7:00. I went in to the marina to do a final email download and Doug followed and then we all started to ready for departure. First thing was to disconnect dock power and stow the long yellow cords under the stern deck. Then, since we had tied in for weather, there were extra lines to release and fenders to move. We were out on schedule.
Sun rising on Harborwalk Marina
The water on Choctawatchee Bay was not bad. The weather report indicated that calmer winds were to our west and so we expected those conditions to be moving in our direction. Our destination was an anchorage just east of Panama City. But soon after departure, Doug and Jules find an anchorage a little further east. This will help us be positioned for the possible run from Apalachicola to Clearwater starting late in the afternoon tomorrow.
Doug wanted to try the satellite dish control again. So I connected my PC to the dish control serial port and Doug called to company and added his speakerphone attachment to the mobile phone. Keep in mind that we're now heading across Choctawatchee Bay and there's some chop. I was starting to feel like someone calling PRC technical service with a Pathfinder problem. The guy was very patient and asked me to tell him what the computer display was reading and would occasionally ask me to enter commands. Doug was in the back operating the receiver. As it turned out, there had been two satellites in use and one of them had been changed in such a way that the receiver was confused. So the guy talked us through deleting that one and then everything seemed to work fine. This was actually quite satisfying for a couple techies.
Satellite Dish Troubleshooting
As the day went on, the water got more calm. There was lots to see with bridges, barges, and lots of waterfront activity. The channel east of Choctawatchee Bay was remote and there was little other traffic. We arrived at the anchorage, the north prong of Wetappo Creek, about an hour before sunset and dropped a single anchor. Doug took a power nap. Jules took a power nap as well, although he was sitting at the table holding the newspaper. While updating this log, I missed the first part of the sunset, but did catch some good color.
Now Jules is getting ready to boil the shrimp purchased in Destin two nights ago. He has learned from Doug the technique of boiling shrimp in beer with salt and Old Bay Seasoning. Dinner was well after 7:00, and after some good conversation and stories, we discuss the coming day. If all goes well, we'll be in Apalachicola by early afternoon, time enough to take on fuel and prepare for the gulf crossing.
We hit the bunks on the early side. I didn't even try to read, since I was tired and had already established a solid and well-deserved reputation of falling asleep with the light on.