Finally, a consistent Internet connection! My wirie wi-fi extender is working well. Thanks Robin and Jesse for the suggestion. I had a very intermittent connection at anchor in Smack Bayou in St. Andrew's Bay but every time we changed direction, there went the signal. Let me do some background for anyone not familiar with the journey so far. You can read the previous trip posts to see what has been going on prior to 2012.
The year started off with several coats of new bottom paint and a beautiful new paint job. I have some great pictures of all the scaffolding and tremendous prep work involved but they are back at the house and I don't plan to go backwards! Anyway, it was a long process fraught with bad weather, long travel days and other minor glitches. David was ably assisted by Chris and the results are beautiful. People who aren't familiar with Sanctuary are surprised to find out she is 22 years old. David also updated the exterior varnish and gave the topsides a good cleaning and waxing. We also had the very able Tim from Canvas Specialties make a new front piece for our bimini that will better keep us dry when we have the side panels on. I made some flaps to seal the spaces around the hand holds. It works well with a hose test but the first rain will be the true proof. On the inside of the boat, we have all new settee cushions and I have about 1/2 of the interior varnish work done. I ran out of time so the other half will be for another time. It was nice to be able to spend our resources on beautification instead of essentials such as engines, sails, etc. Let's hope it stays that way!
We started this trip on November 8 and were able to share a great evening with friends in Hogtown Bayou in Choctawhatchee Bay. We had a horrible noise from the engine that morning but it turns out that a bracket that was hitting on the engine mount rails. Hopefully that will be resolved soon at a local shop with a bench grinder.
From Hogtown Bayou we went all of ten mile to anchor by the 331 bridge since we spent the morning figuring out the mechanical issue. Actually, David did the work and Suz and I played dominoes and said encouraging words. A woman's work is never done on board! It was a beautiful night and we were only slightly bothered by the bridge noise since the boat was closed up tight against the cold.
On Saturday we had hoped to stay at the St. Andrews Bay Yacht Club but they were hosting the F-16 Catamaran Nationals and all their slips were full. We anchored across the sound in Smack Bayou. This was a new anchorage for us but won't be our last. It was very peaceful and protected from winds in all directions. To top off a super anchorage, we saw a shooting star with a very long tail. We took that as a good omen for a successful trip. There were several boats in there anchored more or less permanently. No one was on board and their sails were lashed up tight. I can see why they would choose the spot to leave a boat while taking care of other business. They just looked forlorn, waiting for their owners to come back and start the next adventure.
From Smack Bayou we made for the docks at White City Park on the ICW. We have intended to stop there several times and actually made it. We really love Port St. Joe Marina but felt the need to knock back some miles since we had the initial delay. The docks are free and are in surprisingly good shape. There is no power and you have to haul water but it was safe and off the main thoroughfare. We met 3 other boats with very nice folks on board. Their journeys make us feel like pikers. One couple is from Anna Maria Island located at the southern end of Tampa Bay. They have been doing the Great Loop for the past 3 years so they are almost home. Another couple has traveled down the river system from Chattanooga and plan to winter in the keys. The third couple is from New York and plan to complete the entire loop as well. Here we've felt accomplished making it to the keys from the Florida panhandle! Very humbling to met such accomplished mariners. Meeting such a diverse group of people is one of the draws of cruising. We're starting to think bringing only 150 boat cards was a real mistake.
Today's trip from White City was along a stretch of the ICW that is both of our favorites. It goes through some places that look untouched by man dotted with fishing shacks off in secluded sloughs. You can almost hear the banjos playing. Then you hit Lake Wimico that would be impassable if not dredged for the ICW. You can see birds standing in the water just yards away from the channel and you know their legs are not that long. Occasionally you'll see a sandbar that has sprouted trees. They'll be there until the next storm surge takes them out. From there, you enter the Apalachicola river, a beauty in itself. We have made it to a new marina for us, the RiverStreet. It was challenging to get into a slip due to a swift current. We still have all our paint intact so we're grateful. The place is also a hotel and unfortunately they had no dockmaster or staff on duty so if not for the help of other marina visitors, we would be missing paint. Two of the boats from White City also came here and we helped get tied up. This is a nice enough place but next time we'll go back to the city docks. They have been cleaned up and power added in places since our last visit. There isn't a bath facility but for the price and convenience we'll stay there,
Tomorrow is our 36th wedding anniversary so we plan a lazy day of breakfast out, removing the troublesome bracket and having it ground down and then reinstalling it. We hope to have enough romance left over to make it to dinner! The plan is to leave from here and go out the Government Cut and head down to Tarpon Springs on Wednesday morning. The winds should be good and waves not too bad. We're really ready to be a sailboat since we have done almost nothing but motor since we left.
If any reader has a specific question, we'll try to answer it.
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