Category: Gulf Intracoastal Waterway

December 17, 2016 – Saturday

The Gulf Intracostal Waterway is approximately 1050 miles and runs from Brownsville, Texas to Carrabelle, Florida.

Today, Rick and I covered the 46.5 miles from Ft. Walton Beach to Panama City Beach, FL. This section of the GIWW was very isolated, we saw a few fishing boats, a homeless camp, and a consistent change of vegetation.  It was only as we neared West Bay, just before Panama City, the bird life seemed to return.

Civil War History (April 12, 1861 – May 9, 1865) Interesting Facts about Civil War Navies

• The Union “Anaconda Plan” relied heavy on sea supremacy.
• The Union navy grew by 600% to meet the demands of the war.
• Naval dominance on the rivers allowed the Federals to gain an edge in the war on land.
• The Civil War featured the first battle between ironclad ships.
• The first successful submarine attack took place during the Civil War.
• Southern raiders terrorized Northern traders, reducing the strength of the Northern merchant fleet by half.
• The Union blockade failed to stop the majority of ships that tested it, but successfully deterred the majority of the South’s pre-war international trade.
• Diplomatic naval crises brought the North and Great Britain to the brink of war–twice.
• New Orleans, the largest city in the South, was captured primarily through naval action.
• The sailors on the CSS Shenandoah were the last Confederates to lower their flag.

 

December 15, 2016 – Thursday

We had a wonderful day, as so many others, we started the day with one of our Blue Heron friends.

After breakfast, Rick and I had coffee with Tanya Binford, author of Crossing the Wake. We discussed possible anchorages and marinas for the next portion of our adventure and she shared many of her loop adventures with us. After coffee, her friends joined us for lunch at Lulu’s. Lulu’s is owned by Jimmy Buffett’s sister, Lucy.

As fate would have it, in the late afternoon, M/V Bob Tale pulled into the slip next to ours. Owners Jean and Paul are a delight and it was great to have time to visit with them.

December 16, 2016 – Friday

We were up at 5:15 am preparing for our departure, at 6:15 am Paul and Jean are up, wishing us Merry Christmas and giving us a push off. The sunrise was beautiful.

Views from the Gulf Intracostal Waterway

The weather forecast for today was, winds from the south with waves one foot or less, instead, the winds came from the north-north-east, the direction we were going, with waves between 1.5 to 2.5  feet. That meant a day of rough riding and trying to stay on top of the waves. Tonight we are at the public dock of Fort Wald0n Beach, on the Emerald Coast in western Florida.

The dock is part of the city park which has a statue of a brown pelican, one of our favorite birds, as well as Christmas decorations.

If all goes well, tomorrow we will be Panama City Beach, FL.