Saturday, November 7, 2009

It was a lovely morning and we turned on the weather radio to get an update on the increasing easterly winds. It was beginning to sound like we needed to get to wherever we were going in the next day or two and then stay put for a few days until the weather cleared up. There was a tropical depression, Ida, in the Gulf that was causing the disturbance. Gale talked to the folks at Bay Point Marina in Panama City and made arrangements to stay for the night. He also talked to Port St. Joe Marina, the sister marina to Bay Point, and said we would be arriving there sometime in the next few days.

We left Smack Bayou about 8:15 am (CST) and arrived at Bay Point Marina’s fuel dock an hour later where we were met by a very welcoming and professional crew. On the way over to the marina we had already decided that if we could pick up our packages, fuel up and graciously leave there without staying the night, we were going to continue on our way to Port St. Joe. Maureen was getting nervous about the weather forecast and wanted to take advantage of a nice travel day before the waters got too rough.

The marina manager had no problems with our change in plans – especially since we were heading for their sister marina anyway. Our package from Dell with the replacement hard drive was waiting for us; however, the mail we had forwarded there was still in transit. Not to worry – Steve, the manager, said he would be traveling to Port St. Joe next Saturday and would bring the package along with him. Can’t get much more accommodating than that!

At 11 am we were on our way to Port St. Joe, another 40 or 45 miles east by waterway. We thought we could make it before sunset; but we might not make it before the marina closed at 5 pm – especially since Port St. Joe was in the Eastern Time Zone and it was already noon there. It turned out to be a wonderful day to be traveling – warm, sunny skies, light wind, very little chop on the water and not much boat traffic. We passed under another 50-foot bridge during this section at mile 295.4, but it didn’t seem like any big deal to us now since we were so “experienced” from the two bridges on Thursday.

We entered the Gulf County Canal just before 5 pm. This is a five-mile long channel that leads to the large protected St. Joseph Bay and the Gulf of Mexico beyond. We were able to transit the canal and tuck into the marina just as the sun was setting at 6 pm and found a beautiful harbor, a small marina and a safe dock to lay alongside.