TIM PATTI RILEY BIG ADVENTURE

11/11/2017

Panama City, FL. Arrived yesterday. Staying at least today. Wind is howling. When we do run, the plan is Carrabelle via Apalachicola to wait for crossing window.

When we left The Wharf, we went to an anchorage at Fort McRee. Best yet. Protected & surrounded with sandy beaches. Riley got to run. He also thought it was fun to run in the water. He quickly learned, one does not drink salt water! It was near Pensacola, so we were treated to a free air show. The Blue Angels were practicing for the Veterans Day air show. A pod of dolphins swam right next to our boat. At night we had the swim platform lights on & saw a school (gam) of baby sharks (pups) just hanging around. We grilled burgers & were joined for dinner by our traveling partners, Lori & Derek.

Next morning we headed to Bahia Mar Marina to pick up props. It was a short run. Lori & Derek traveled on. We spent the night, picked up newly refurbished props & received lift struts Tim had ordered from Amazon. Now all we need is oil & filters, so he can change all that before we cross the Gulf.

Next stop Rocky Bayou. It was a little of a wake up call for me. It was cloudy, windy with some rain. We got out in the bay & realized it was pretty choppy. I was used to being in the ditch where weather was not really an issue. Looking around at the water, it was 3 -5's! No one else was out. Not that Craic couldn't handle that, but had we been at home, we would not have gone out unless we had to. Lesson learned. Pay attention. We are now back to some open waters. (That is why we decided to stay in Panama City another day). We were able to run on plane for some of the time, which made the trip faster. We ended up in Niceville, FL for one night.

On our run to Panama City, there was plenty of open water. Problem, very skinny. Do not nose out of the channel. We found ourselves in 2ft or less. Some of the buoys for the channel were missing, hence the skinny water dilemma. I was monitoring my Garmin charts & Tim his Navionics. The sail line was not always the same. Garmin wins😃

Another Riley Story. He was at his usual place at the stern, guarding against who knows what, when he started barking like crazy. I looked back & not only was he barking, but backing up as fast as he could. He pressed himself against me at the helm seat & peeked at the back of the boat. I looked & saw nothing. He does have better eyes. I went back & in the wake, dolphins were following us. Guess he will take on Asian carp, but dolphins are a little too big! Or maybe he watched Jaws when we were not home??? He could be excused from not knowing the difference between sharks & dolphins. Anyway, I gave him a pass.