Whew - made it across the gulf (30 hours) leaving from Tampa on Saturday, April 4th and arriving Carrabelle, Fl on the 5th. The first 8 hours of the crossing was pretty rough 3-4 foot choppy waves. Seas flattened out around 4:00 pm and the rest of the trip (till 2:00pm next day) was big gentle rolling seas. As we approached The Dog Island channel we were socked in with fog and thank goodness for radar which allowed us to cautiously get inside St. Georges Sound. We had hoped to stay one day, but ANOTHER front was coming and because the Sound kicks up a bit in wind we stayed at the Marina until April 8th. Today the 11th we are crossing Mobile Bay to Dog River and should be at Grand Mariner Marina around 1:30 pm. I'm not using the plan word - but, our thoughts are to fuel up and leave Sunday morning to start heading up to Columbus, Ms where we will leave Broulee for the summer. It's been a good winter and look forward to Bald Eagle Lake.

Izzy found a nice little hiding spot during the crossing - a cabinet in the pilot house. (Fred our cruising cat used to curl up in here also.)

Moorings Marina - Carrabelle

Called the Forgotten Coast (now more so then ever - lots of vacant homes and businesses), Carrabelle is a fishing port, as well as a stopover for cruisers. It is completely water-oriented. It's principle industry is seafood processing, and one of the delights available here is shrimp bought directly from the boats just returning from the gulf.

The trip west thru the intracoastal waterway was pretty much uneventful - a little scary at first as we left St. Georges Sound and were only traveling at 3.5 mph. They have had alot of rain down here and the flood waters and tide were working against us. Later in the day after the tide changed we made up for the slow pace and where actually doing 11.2 mph - WOW! Very difficult at that speed to play dodge -um with all the debris coming at us.

Our favorite stop at White City was under water so a late night anchor spot at Panama City was our best bet. Arrived just as sun was setting and enjoyed a beautiful sunrise the next morning.

The 10th proved not to be a good day to cross Mobile Bay - severe weather predicted. Anchored at Orange Beach mid-day and enjoyed a nice relaxing afternoon on the hook.

Are we there yet?