No…

We arrived back at the boat in Shalimar, FL last Friday and it was waiting in the slip for us. We unloaded everything out of the truck and back onto the boat. Pretty soon the bilge (engine compartment) pump kicked on. Then a few hours later it kicked on again, and continued going on all night, continually filling with water. Don looked in the compartment and could see where water was coming in through a seal.

We called the work yard office and took the boat back over Saturday morning to be pulled back out so they could look fix the obvious leak. They tried giving us some BS about it must have been leaking all along because they didn’t touch that part. Um no. It wasn’t leaking like that when we left and now it was. We were already annoyed that they had waited so long before starting work on the boat in the first place and it seemed like they rushed and didn’t have time to check everything. So instead of traveling today we had to kill some time while they fixed the leak.

We went to the Air Force Armament Museum. There were a lot of cool air craft from different eras outside and in.

Inside they had a lot of other cool artifacts and old military equipment. They even had an original copy of the newspaper from Hawaii the day of Pearl Harbor.

From there we took Pete for his first time to Whataburger for lunch. We drove around checking out the area a bit still waiting to hear about the boat. We finally got the call it would be ready that afternoon. We got it back in to the slip and went grocery shopping. When we got back there didn’t seem to be any more leaking issues.

After a night of thunderstorms Sunday morning was clear and we got ready to move. Pete went on the boat with Don and I took Skia in Pete’s truck to meet them in Panama City Beach. I stopped at my first Piggly Wiggly along the way and a dog park to let her run around.

I also found this donut shop, Parlor Doughnuts, known for their layered donuts with delicious flavors. They were huge so I got 6 for us to split and try. Maple bacon, sandy beach (cinnamon roll), peanut butter cup, cookies and cream, blueberry hill and strawberry shortcake.

When the guys got to Bay Point Marina it was pouring rain. We hurried to get set up while getting soaked and then went to Cristo’s Sports Bar to watch the Bills vs Bengals. It was very crowded with mostly Bengals fans which made it even less fun 😒. We came back to the boat for consolation donuts.

Monday morning we had the rest of the donuts for breakfast before going to St. Andrew’s State Park along the Gulf. In one of the little bays there was a sea weed that dyed the sand slightly purple.

We found Shane’s Rib Shack a good place for lunch then went to a conversation park to walk the fluff. There were several trails through very different forest than we’re use to.

Pine & palm is an interesting combination

From there we headed to Panama City Beach Pier. It has one of the longest boardwalks out over the water with very pretty views, especially at sunset.

There was also a Kilwins Ice cream on the boardwalk we of course had to take Pete to.

Tuesday morning Pete left early to head back to Buffalo. Don checked on the weather and our next places to stop. It didn’t look like we’d be able to travel until the end of the week. There was another 27′ Ranger Tug docked next to us, Sojourn. At their recommendation we went with them for lunch to the onsite restaurant Bar 72. On the way back we ran into another Looper couple and decided to all meet up for docktails.

Wednesday we woke up to strong wind and thunderstorms which continued all day. We just hung out on the boat and caught up on shows.

Kim Russo, the director of the AGLCA, on The Perch was also docked here. She and Michael (our boat broker actually) were both away for work and had lent Sojourn their car while they were gone. So Thursday Don went with Jack to the store and I took Skia for a walk.

Friday Kim had returned, we went with her, Jack and Vickie back to Bar 72 for lunch. Kim let us know the Yacht Club invited the Loopers for open bar happy hour tonight. They put out a nice appetizer spread as well. The club members were very friendly and interested in hearing about our journey. Though us Loopers felt a little under dressed. No room for a cocktail outfit on the boat.

Saturday we were finally able to travel on. We coordinated with Sojourn who was headed to the same place we were and made the almost 70 mile trek to Apalachicola.

The marina was originally built for oyster boats that the town is famous for and the dock was very high. Particularly at low tide getting off and on the boat was a little challenging, especially for the dog.

Don wanted to wash the salt water off the boat so we managed to get Skia off the boat and she and I went for a walk. The town was very old Florida. We walked through an old cemetery that dated back to the towns founding in the 1800’s.

Sunday we got breakfast from the Little Biscuit Factory just across the street from the marina, then walked around town with Jack and Vickie. We checked out the shops and stopped at the Oyster City Brewery. That evening we all met up on GoGo, another Looper boat docked with us to watch the football games. It was a toss up who to route for between Kansas City and Cincinnati, but as I am currently more mad at the Bengals I begrudgingly cheered for Kansas City. GoGo has two Bengal cats aboard, who despite their name, didn’t seem to mind 😄.

This morning we headed for Carrabelle. Dog Island is the jumping off point to cross the Gulf, which fingers crossed, we are hoping to do tomorrow 🤞!