Back to the boat - Milton, FL - Shalimar, FL

Saturday, January 6th. We left our comfortable home to storms here in the Florida Panhandle. Flights were on time and our friends, Bobby and Elaine (In Cahoots), kindly picked us up at the Pensacola airport. Leaving was hard, but joining back up with these two is a lot of fun.

Sunday, January 7th. Elaine and I provisioned our boats with food with the hope we can continue on the Great Loop—weather permitting. Cheryl made delicous spaghetti dinner—we can’t say enough about Doug and Cheryl’s hospitality. Earlier they took us on a tour of the area in Milton & Bagdad, Florida.

Darth securing the boat with extra lines as a storm is predicted on Monday.

Monday, January 8th. Oh man, the forecast is real and getting to be a little scary.

The word TORNADO is not something seen in Pacific Northwest forecasts! But ok…we can do this.

Boats secured—time for ‘Old Fashion’ drinks made by Bobby and Doug.

Snickers was not excited for the storm either.

The storm ramped up around 1:00AM. I have never seen lightening so bright—and the thunder was deafening. Thankfully, Doug and Cheryl’s home did not have any damage-or any of the homes on the canal. People and Snickers were all fine and relieved the worst of this storm was over. Boats ok too.

Tuesday, January 9. It was too soon to travel. We used this day as a planning day with the intention of leaving mid morning on Wednesday.

Wednesday in the canal—sunny skies predicted and water not too bad.

One of the three canal ducks fell between the sea wall and the dirt bank. We were not able to reach the duck —during the brainstorming it finally wriggled its way free. This was well over an hour of watching the duck try, give up and try again.

Reunited and it feels so good!!

Back to leaving Wednesday. We left for Seville Harbor Marina, Pensacola— approximately 18 miles away at 1:15pm. Unfortunately, B&E stayed behind due to their dinghy motor not starting. They decided it was best to get repairs done from Doug and Cheryl’s. We arrived in Pensacola at 4:00pm. The marina is one of the nicest we have stayed at. I was able to do three loads of laundry, (leftover from before we went home), and we enjoyed dinner at the Fish House-adjacent to the marina.

Thursday, January 11th. We left the marina at 9:30am to our current location—Two Georges Marina in Shalimar, FL. We are back to tying up on fixed docks—Darth visualizes where to put the ropes and I obey. Really—I do as I’m told. Really.

Thursday sunset from Two Georges Marina.

Friday, January 12. Another wind storm. No tornado warning but winds are 24mph with 44mph gusts. It’s a no-go day.

The beginning of today’s storm.

As we explore the Florida panhandle to West Florida, we also have weather to consider for this part of the Great Loop. Shown below are two possible routes to West Florida.

The Big Bend route takes approximately 3 or 4 travel days leaving from Apalachicola, Carrabelle, or Dog Island. The first leg from any of these is approximately 70-80 miles to Steinhatchee. The second leg is Steinhatchee to Cedar Key, third leg is from Cedar Key to Crystal River, then the fourth leg would be Crystal River to Tarpon Springs. Each location will have challenges due to shallow water and crab pots to avoid.

The Gulf Crossing route is done in one go. Our boat would require us to travel approximately 18-20 hours most likely from Carrabelle, FL to Tarpon Springs. This is an overnight crossing is about 200 miles arriving no earlier than 10:30am to be able to see any crab pots to avoid as we approch land.

The weather will dictate our decision. We will be with buddy boats for either route and there are pros and cons for each.

This chart is updated daily from the America’s Great Loop Cruising Association for consideration. We also look at the NOAA forecast and several weather aps. This is to have as much information possible to avoid (hopefully) a poor weather decision.

This chart is also provided as samples we may use for our own decision making. Red means NO-GO for all boat criteria.

The Ranger Tug information matches our criteria—both Darth and I can handle more, but using this as best case scenario of wind and wave height has wiggle room if conditions change.

Mr. Heron was glad to see us this morning on our walk before the storm.