Panama City and the Spring Fling

We made it through the pass into Saint Andrew's Bay about 6 and tucked in behind Shell Island.  We had light long enough to get things secure and have a nice sunset bowl of burgoo.  We were now down to our last bottle of wine and made it a celebration of being back in the panhandle.  Not being part of the party boater crowd, we were not prepared for the zoo atmosphere that showed up the next day.  Hundreds of boats of all sizes and typed came to enjoy a Saturday of sunshine and great beaches on the barrier island.  We did manage to snag a bunch of little ice cream cups from the entrepreneurs selling them to the crowd.  After that we moved about a quarter mile further along to escape some of the noise and have room for the boats coming to join us.  One of the super fun things we do as a part of the Fort Walton Yacht Club is go on organized, week-long cruises either to the east or west of Fort Walton Beach.  This year the group headed east and happened to be going the same time we were coming home.  While we couldn't join for the entire trip, we did enjoy a bit of it.  Several boats left the pass at Destin and sailed down to our spot and either rafted up or anchored nearby.  It is always fun to share stories and food with good friends.  Doing it on our boats is just icing on the cake of life!
The next day we pulled up anchor and went the grueling 5 miles to the Panama City Marina to join the rest of the group so more stories, food and drink.  What a rough life!

We joined the hordes of tourist going over to the island.  It used to have a population of private homes then the state bought the land and made it a state park.  We thought all the houses were abandoned until we saw the private property sign and the deck with new items on it.

This is the same house.  It seems to weather the storms well.  I'm not sure how old it is but it's old.

This was about a mile or so on down the beach and it did look abandoned.

Handsome man on the beach.  Our area is famous for the sugar-sand beaches. 

Blue Moon at anchor behind Shell Island.

There used to be ferry service to the island and this was the portal.  Not sure if still an active service.

Powered wing.  Looks fun and scary at the same time.  There was a large contingent  of these folks as well as para-sailors.

The path from the sound to the gulf through the dunes.

This was just a small slice of the boats crowed around us.

Anything floating seemed to find their way to our spot.

One good thing the park service does is work to protect the endangered species trying to survive on the barrier islands.  Sadly, it requires human cooperation, not always in good supply.

Sunset tradition is blowing of the conch.  Our friend and fellow flinger, CeCe does the honors.