The other side of the story . . .

Time to clean the bottom of the dinghy

   Today, as I sit here in beautiful Panama City, I know some people must wonder:  why do we stay so long in one place?  what do you do all day?  is every moment loads of fun?

   One reason we sit for awhile places is David's work.  Fortunately, with the internet available almost everywhere, he can work wherever we are.  Periodically, he flies to his client's site, so the boys & I sit on the boat awaiting his return to move on to new places.  Meanwhile, we do schoolwork and explore.

   The interesting thing about living full-time on a 9 year old boat, is, like your house, after a certain period, mechanical items start to break.  We've had some frustrations the past couple months, because, despite all our maintenance checks and services we did before we left on the trip, part of our adventure has been - what will break today?  Then, how quickly can we get it fixed? get replacement parts?  We had a problem with our generator right after we started, but the water pump was just worn out. Fortunately, we met an amazing mechanic, who fixed it for now, until it completely completely wears out (we now have a replacement unit standing by).  One morning, I went to heat up something for breakfast, and our microwave/convection oven, which has served us very well every single day for 8.5 years, died.  Toilet pump & main water pump - you were worn out, too (replaced).  We understand, it is all about the timing.  These items would have broken whether we went on the trip or not.

   Along with these repairs, we seem to have had bad luck in our arrival in certain towns due to the weather (which they swear we brought with us!) - water turned off, marina pump-out systems down (we have 2 40-gal holding tanks for our toilets, so we use these pump-outs to empty the tanks.  We can usually go about 2 weeks), ice on docks, etc  It has made our "potty" situation interesting at times, as well as showering, and we have not been able to wash down the boat as much as we would like.

   All this to say - none of this matters!!!  To us, the most important part is we are together and traveling in our home to new places, or old favorites.  We love figuring out where we will go next, where we will stay when we get there, what we can do there, and the new people we will meet.  This is one of the many reasons we have lived on a boat for over 10 years.  We are living our dream, so we do not mind if there are a few bumps along the way!

Dispose of old oil from engines

Hanging out in Panama City

   

Jill & Matthew on dinghy ride to Bayou Joe's

   Sorry it has been a week since I posted an update.   We are still in Panama City.  David came back to town Friday and was very pleased the weather was a lot warmer than Indiana!  We are taking this week to catch up on chores (oil changes), before we start our journey east to Carrabelle, then cross the 160 miles of the Gulf of Mexico to Clearwater, FL.  We took a wonderful dinghy ride to Bayou Joe's for dinner one night, and it did not disappoint!  David is getting lots of work done for his clients, while the kids & I continue schoolwork, trips to playground, and bicycle rides around town (Thomas loves the freedom of this!).

Do you wonder how we get our errands done? (grocery shopping, banking, dry cleaning, etc)

Well, sometimes, especially if we will need to get David to/from airport, we will rent a compact car for a few days.  When we have a rental car, we make sure we get major errands done.  While traveling on the river systems, most marinas had a courtesy car we could borrow.  Now that we are off the rivers, marinas do not usually have this.  Therefore, when looking for a marina to stay at, we try to stay at ones that are near shopping and other necessary stores.  Downtown Panama City is great, because we can walk to so many places we need (bank, grocery, restaurants, post office).  The bike we brought has come in handy, as Thomas or Jill can go further faster to run errands (like the 1.5 mile ride to the dry cleaners, returning on the bike with 5 folded shirts, 2 pants, and David's heavy winter coat - I must have been quite the sight!).  PC also has a trolley/bus system, which Matthew & Mom have used to go to the library & playground.  

Activities in Panama City

Dinghy ride around Panama City/Massalina Bayou

   The past week has seen beautiful weather, especially after the very cold January we had!  Mom spent the weekend on the couch with a cold, but Thomas was kind enough to go on his bicycle to get Redbox movies & groceries for us.  Monday, Mom felt a little better and got some laundry done, though Thomas now had the chest cold.  Tuesday, Mom & Matthew rode the trolley bus to the library to get library cards to use while we're here, then walked 8 blocks down to a wonderful playground.  As always, he made immediate friends with some other children there and got to run off 3 days of bundled up energy!  Thomas helped his brother with music lessons - Matthew's learning the recorder & how to read music.  Today, we finally decided the weather was nice enough and everyone was feeling better to take the dinghy for a cruise and check out the area - Massalina Bayou (home of Bayou Joe's restaurant - yum!).

Matthew enjoys playground

Happy Valentine's Day from Panama City

Boys riding the Bay Town Trolley around Panama City

   We have been busy over the last week.  After a few days of visiting family in Atlanta (David got to stay on the boat), Mom & boys returned to Panama City to warmer weather than the rest of our family & friends on the east coast!  We have spent our week continuing our schoolwork.  The boys are doing very well and should be ready for their testing in TN in April.  Thomas has enjoyed riding the bicycle all around PC exploring the town.  Matthew & mom got some exercise by playing soccer in the field by the marina.  Mom got a long needed massage yesterday at a nice spa in downtown.  

One of the things we love most about being at the PC Marina (downtown) is there is so much within a 1 mile walking distance - Post Office, Bagel Maker, grocery store, many restaurants, music stores, spa, etc.  Today, to celebrate Valentine's Day, Mom & the boys rode the Bay Town Trolley across town to the movie theatre to see "RoboCop", then pizza at Luigi GB's, and a taxi home (sometimes the trolley schedules and routes just don't work for us!).

Homeschool Field Trips

USS Alabama (battleship), Mobile, AL

USS Drum (submarine), Mobile, AL

   While we are cruising along, we often stop in places with interesting museums, aquariums, or other historical sites.  We try to visit/tour as many of these as we can to add to the experiences of our trip.  We call these days field trips, as the boys do not have to do any book work on these days, but usually have to write a report or describe what they have learned that day.  While in Fairhope, since we had a rental car, Mom & the boys drove into Mobile to visit the Battleship USS Alabama museum, which also houses the submarine USS Drum.  The boys enjoyed exploring the ships, especially the submarine.

We also took advantage of the car and drove to Pensacola to visit the National Naval Aviation Museum on the grounds of the Naval Air Station.  We love this museum!  It has numerous planes, helicopters, jets, etc. and there are many chances for the kids to climb into actual cockpits to pretend to fly them!

National Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola, FL

Panama City Marina (finally!)

Panama City Marina (downtown)

   After a safe, foggy night at anchor, we awoke this morning to more fog.  The whole area was under fog warning until at least 9am.  Fortunately, the fog lifted by 12:30, and we were on our way to Panama City marina (one of our favorites!).  We will be here for a few weeks. 

Total miles today:  7nm

Total miles traveled:  1,006 nm

Total cruising days: 14

Anchored in West Bay at Breakfast Point (near Panama City)

Fog in Chochtawhatchee Bay

   The picture above gives you an idea of the cruising conditions today.  We traveled through fog soup (40ft visibility)!  The weather said light fog and light rain in morning.  After pulling out of our marina, we cruised to the first bridge, with serious fog the whole way, then rain!  So, we went under the bridge and turned south to pull into Legendary Marina, where they offered safe dockage until the fog lifted.(thanks guys!!)  At 11am, the fog completely lifted, so we set off again toward Panama City (we had 60 miles to go today).  We had clear weather while in the Bay, but just as we approached the narrow passage to West Bay, the fog set in again.  We got through the first 1/3 of the canal, then we had fog again!  With only about 40ft visibility, we cruised slowly.  Once through the canal, we entered West Bay and decided we had had it for the day!!  Enough fog!  So, we saw on ActiveCaptain (a website we use extensively to find marinas and anhorages), someone had posted a good anchorage off Breakfast Point, an area off the main channel with really good depths.  So, we will probably be here for the night, as Panama City Marina (our destination) says that the fog is thick there as well.  We have only 15 miles to go, so hopefully tomorrow, when the fog clears, we can finish our journey.    (P.S. This is our 3rd day traveling in fog - not fun, but thank G'd for radar!)

Miles traveled today:  46nm

Total miles traveled:  993nm

Total cruising days: 13

Bluewater Bay Marina, Niceville, FL

Cruising into Florida on ICW

   Today was overcast and a little windy, waters a little choppy, but we cruised out of Homeport Marina around 730am.  A good cruising day - some 25mph speeds and some 6mph speeds.  We were thrilled to see the sign to show we were cruising into Florida! YEAH!  We will be in this state for awhile.  As we approached Pensacola, we past the large entrance to the Gulf of Mexico.  It is very obvious here, as the entrance is wide, and you have very little wind protection for a number of miles.  Last time through this area, we stayed in Ft Walton Beach.  Today, we cruised further east then turned north to a "nice" protected marina in Niceville, FL - Bluewater Bay Marina.  The dockhands were wonderful helping us get tied up at the fuel dock & get our holding tank pumped out.  After getting cleaned up, we will walk up to the Oyster bar and LJ Schooners Restaurant to enjoy the Superbowl. 

Total Miles today:  70nm

Total miles cruised:  947nm
Total cruising days: 12

Homeport Marina/Lulu's Restaurant, Gulf Shores, AL

Dinner at Lulu's Restaurant

   After almost 2 weeks in Fairhope and David back from work travels, we cast off our lines from Fairhope Yacht Club at 11:45am today and cruised out into Mobile Bay to start our journey east on the ICW.  We had a slight wind and slightly choppy waters in the 23 miles we cruised south in the Bay.  Then we made our turn onto the ICW, and we were immediately greeted by a pod of dolphins swimming past us!  We arrived safely at Homeport Marina in Gulf Shores, AL, home of Jimmy Buffet's sister's restaurant by 3:30pm.  This is our second visit here - a nice, clean marina, with a fantastic restaurant!

Miles traveled today:  29nm

Total miles traveled:   877nm
Days cruising:   11