After a wonderful long weekend in Pensacola we cast off for Fort Walton Beach, a 43 mile run along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.
Prior to departure, I took Kodi for her morning walk and had the opportunity to speak with a scientist from the University of South Florida who works on the college's research vessel,
Weatherbird II. The ship was tied up at Palafox Pier Marina.
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| University of South Florida's Weatherbird II marine research vessel |
The scientist explained that the ship was doing research on the Gulf Oil Spill. In response to my question about the current state of affairs he said "better than expected." The ship has the ability to take samples from the bottom to a depth of 18,000 feet. Currently, they are taking samples at 6,000 feet and finding oil imbedded in the bottom. They are also finding oil in between in suspension. He indicated that we will likely see oil washing up on the Gulf beaches for a long time to come (as a result of storms).
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| Scientist extracting a sample |
Note: Pensacola and the Palafox Pier Yacht Club is definitely Sea Ray country. Marine Max is the Sea Ray dealer and they literally control Sea Ray sales in the south. In the photo are two new 61's, both sold, and a 58 (originally called the 60 and 55 respectively).
Our departure took place at 8:40AM. The weather was sunny with winds from the north at 10 MPH. The temperature was 50 degrees. That said, the temperature on the bridge was in the mid 60s as a result of briefly running the bridge AC/Heat unit. We did not run the generator or use heat for the entire trip as the sun kept us quite comfortable.
We started by running south down Pensacola Bay and joining the GIWW just west of the Pensacola Beach Bridge that we had crossed on Sunday when we visited Fort Pickens. As we continued east we had the Gulf Islands National Seashore on our right and the Florida mainland on our left.
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| Gulf Islands National Seashore on the southern shore |
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| Nice homes on the northern shore |
The Intracoastal goes through Santa Rosa Sound and then narrows as you get close to Fort Walton Beach. However, it is well marked. That said, there is a lot of shallow water just outside the marks so it pays to maintain a diligent watch. You can see the shallow water on the north side of the red day mark in the photo below.
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| The light color indicates shallow water |
We arrived at Fort Walton Beach at 1:15 PM and docked at Legendary Marine, which had few boats and no water at the fuel dock where we tied up. The charge for the night was $76.32. Actually not bad as we are tied to floating dock.
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| Guided Discovery at Legendary Marine - taken from the bridge |
The title of today's article, "historic downtown on a highway doesn't work," is the perfect description of Fort Walton Beach. Their downtown is literally along Highway 98. Not charming and as a result it does not attract interesting stores.
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| Traffic on 98 passing the City Hall and their library |
But as we crossed over the Brooks Bridge we spotted a lovely restaurant, the Bay Cafe, where we had late lunch. Notice the docks in front of the restaurant. These would be filled up if the weather were warm.
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| Bay Cafe as viewed from the bridge |
As of today, we have traveled 1,494 miles. Tomorrow we travel 60 miles to Panama City.
Written by Les.
Wow! 1494 miles! Despite the cool weather, it sure looks pretty. I see some rain your way on the weather map, but it is supposed to clear up.
ReplyDeleteI heard a report on NPR the other day from a reporter who accompanied a scientist to the bottom in one of those little submarines and the scientist was commenting that they are seeing some healthy sea life, but there were obviously some things that live on the floor of the Gulf that do not look right. I am sure we won't know for a while exactly what the fallout will be.
My memory of the GIWW is that between Panama City and Apalachicola you get away from the beach and into more remote areas. But since I don't have my charts, I don't know for sure. If it is the area I am thinking of, it will be an interesting change. (Will have to get my charts from the boat--but it is too darned cold to go down there now!)