026 Head East Part 1

Confidential to those of us who were teenagers in the 1970’s, hopefully you won’t have to “Save my life (because) I'm goin' down for the last time" at any point on this trip.

On Saturday, November 25^th, we reluctantly parted ways with Sol Maria for a bit.   Gavin and Lica have a few days ahead of them getting their mast back on the boat, tuning the rig, sails on, etc. etc.    We plan to catch up with them later on the west coast of Florida.   Lica, Gavin, Kathy and Matt before we left:

 

Hygge and KatMat made a quick fuel stop at the marina just across from Sundowner.    The fuel dock does not have a floating dock, and the highwater mark of several hurricanes is noted:

We then crossed Mobile Bay without incident.   We saw plenty of dolphins but they continued to eluded our cameras.  We then entered the Intra-Coastal Waterway ("ICW") Gulf coast edition on our way to Carrabelle, Florida.   Taking the ICW allows us to stay in (more or less) sheltered waters and not go out into the Gulf of Mexico.  Our boats are more than capable of going out in the Gulf, but sheltered waters are nice.    

Our first stop on the ICW was the “must visit” restaurant owned by Jimmy Buffet’s (RIP) sister Lulu.   An iconic G/L stop.   Lulu’s lived up to its billing.  Service was beyond excellent, and the food was exactly what you would expect:  I had the shrimp/cheese/ham grits.   Good Southern cooking at its finest.  

Lulu’s also has free docks you can tie up to for your lunch stop.   Nice.

 

At Lulu's we also briefly met up with Kim Russo, Director of the America's Great Loop Association, so I could give her a bottle of Kanzler Vineyard's Pinot Noir.   Kim did an amazing job coordinating the closed lock issues.  She organized the flotilla's. worked with the Army Corps of Engineers and the commercial tug operators to ensure our safe an timely passage through the Illinois River.  (I suspect her biggest challenge was the plethora of "Type A" G/L boaters she had to deal with in scheduling the flotilla's, but she is too polite to say.)  In the words of Judge Smails to Danny, "Top Notch, Top Notch!"

On the way out of Lulu’s we passed a tug boat waiting for a load, so yes, there are tows on the ICW:    

 

 That night we stayed in a lovely anchorage, Ingram Bayou:   

 

After setting the hook, Kathy and Matt dinghy’d over for cocktails and route planning.    Nancy and I were so full from our Lulu’s meal that we bypassed dinner after they left and each caught up on emails before calling it a day.

The next day, November 26^th, we pulled up anchors at 8:00 a.m. and got back on the ICW.   The weather was rain and wind and not conducive to picture taking:

Coming across Pensacola Bay was a bit “saucy:”

Nancy called around to multiple marina’s for a slip for the evening.  We finally got into Seville Harbor Marina because a large seventy-foot motor yacht had pulled out for maintenance and both our RT 29’s could fit into that slip.   This is another reason we are glad are doing the G/L on Hygge:  diminutive to be sure, but we are getting into spaces larger boats can’t get into to.

We got in relative early at 11:35 a.m. (again, weather was crap).   Nancy and Kathy went in town to sight see and I did round two with the dinghy (results tbd) and a few work-related things.     Nancy’s pictures:

Due to the Naval Air Station, much of Pensacola is Navy-themed:

We had a nice chat with a couple who live on their Kadey Krogen '58 full-time.  They are in Pensacola in the winter months and then go up-river in the summer to cruise the Tennessee River.   They like Chattanooga a lot, which we had hoped to see before the lock closure issue.   Didn't get a shot of their boat, but here is a stock photo of a KK 58.  A real world-cruising capable boat:

While Nancy and Kathy were sightseeing, I was going for Round Two with the dinghy.  I cleaned up all the yellow gooey mess with mineral spirits and elbow grease.  After it was all cleaned up I applied a liberal bead of silicone sealant around the seam and left it to cure over night:

That night we took a Lyft ride to McGuire's Irish pub, a Pensacola favorite.   The service          and food were excellent.   I ate too many potato skin appetizers so I just had a nibble on my   Shepherd’s Pie, but now have leftovers for tomorrow.   Alas no Smithwick's beer, but I did      have a nice house-brewed beer.                                                                                                 

 

McGuires has an estimated 1.8M one dollar bills autographed and stapled to its walls and ceilings.   It also has a stuffed moose's head that allegedly will bring you good luck if you kiss its nose.   The server invited us to do so, and my reply was, "If 1.8M people have put up a $1 bill, probably three times that many have kissed the moose's nose; no thank you." 

We passed on desert and got an Uber back to the marina.

This restaurant was next to our marina and Nancy got this nice quick video of the sign reflecting in the water:

 

 We were so full from the meal that it was easy to hit the sack early.

Dave

Odometer:  1,440 n/m