Monday January 11, 2010

Fort Walton Beach to Panama City

We woke up at 6:30AM. The air temperature was 27 degrees. There was ice in the cockpit! However, the air temp was expected to hit 45 degrees later in the day. We checked the NOAA weather report. The weather was improving. At 7:00AM we fired up the little Honda engine, tossed off the dock lines and started making our way to Panama City. There are two routes that can be taken from Fort Walton Beach to Panama City. The outside route and the inside route. The outside route takes you out into the Gulf of Mexico. The inside route takes you through Choctawhatchee Bay and then into “the ditch”. The ditch is a 20 mile long man-made waterway that runs into West Bay. Once in West Bay you turn southeast and then south to get to Panama City.

I perked a pot of coffee as we passed Destin. Once we reached the Choctawhatchee Bay, I cooked up a sailors standard breakfast of oatmeal. Oatmeal is easy to prepare on a moving boat. You boil water and then add the oats to the bailing water and cook for about five minutes. Stirring frequently the water mixture then begins to stiffen and turns into a mushy but delicious mixture.

At 9:15AM a dolphin started swimming and diving next to the Water Mark. This dolphin was so close to the boat you could see the blow hole on top of its head. Dave said that the dolphin looked right at him and he could see its eyes. Dolphins are good luck and we were happy to see the beautiful mammal swimming next to us.

At 10:45 AM I raised the mainsail. The winds had died and we got very little drive from the main. At about 1:00PM I prepared spaghetti that was left over from the K of C bingo night. Spaghetti in the middle of “the ditch” was delicious.

It started getting dark as Dave and I approached Panama City. There are several marinas that are listed in the cruising guides. The first marina is Sun Harbor. Sun Harbor is the first marina that you see after passing under the Hathaway Bridge. St Andrew Marina and the Municipal Marina were about 5 miles east on St Andrew Bay. We opted for Sun Harbor. The sun was setting and it was getting cold. We arrived just after the marina closed. A Pakistani gentleman said that the operators would be back at 8:00AM the following morning. We tied up Water Mark. Connected the electrical and turned on the heater. The cabin wormed up in less than 15 minutes. The Pakistani told us that there was a Burger King across the parking lot. We looked and it was not there. There is a big industrial complex next to the marina. I spoke with the security guards and he said that the Burger King closed about three years ago. The security guard recommended that we make the short walk to a bar called No Name.

We walked to the No Name. I took forever to get a drink served. The waitress was the most social lady in Panama City and was slow to serve us. When she finally arrived she said that the bar only had beer, wine and mixed drinks. They did not server food, but if we liked they would order a pizza and have it delivered. We declined. Headed back to the boat for cheese and crackers. With our stomachs half full, we crawled into our sleeping bags and dozed off to sleep. Dave seemed to be comfortable in the V-berth.