Fair Winds and Following Seas

This morning we pushed Southern Cross from her berth at Bay Point Marina and began our adventure. Ok, it's been shortened quite a bit for me, but it's all good. We came through the pass and headed East, and after a little washing machine action my trusty captain got the sails set and we turned off the engine. Woosh. 12-15 knots off the starboard stern rail (or right rear quarter panel, for you NASCAR fans), 2-3 foot following seas. It was a great sail. We passed Crooked Island, the wind dropped and picked up again. Right as we were approaching Cape San Blas and the St. Joe Bay to turn into Port St. Joe, the wind kicked up, along with the seas. Ooohh, mercifully we only had a short time with that before we were in the lee of Cape San Blas. About that time we heard the announcement on the VHF that Tyndall was launching drones off Crooked and boats would need to head 13 miles out to sea, instead of the usual 4. At this point we are thanking our lucky stars we left when we did, otherwise we'd be out there in the (supposedly) unforecasted high winds and gigantic waves. Ah, but all is well that ends well, isn't that how the saying goes? We are now tied up at Port St. Joe Marina. The wind is just shy of howling, the stays make that bang bang sound that's so annoying, but it's starting to lay down. The good news is that the remainder of the trip for me will be inside the ICW (intracoastal waterway), which means the wind and waves in the Gulf will not affect us.

Zachary had a swell time opening and closing the companion way doors 4,376 times.

Tonight we went to a nearby park on the way to dinner. Zachary had fun swinging with Daddy!

We had a nice dinner at the Sunset Grill, or something like that. I was pleased that Zachary behaved himself (it was a little nicer of a restaurant than we usually take him to).

Ok, tomorrow we go to Appalachicola. We now have reservations in a marina. Yesterday they didn't have room for us, there's a fishing tournament going on this week. Today they have room, which is a very good thing because it's much easier than anchoring out. It's nice and peaceful to anchor out, but it's easier to get on and off the boat with a toddler if we are in a marina.