17 Mar 13

Up early and decided to take on one of the big #48 genoa sheet winches; another big job - finally finished about 13:30. We took the dinghy to the island and walked over to the GOM beach side and had a nice walk along the beautiful white sand beach. Afterward, we weighed anchor and motored over to a prospective anchorage/mooring field just west of the Pensacola Land Cut; it looks like a good place to stop on the night before heading to Panama City. Then, we sailed on to Pensacola under full main and spinnaker with a light southerly breeze - a very pleasant sail. We tied up at the Palafox Marina at about 18:00. Dinner aboard followed by showers at the marina.

18 Mar 13

Got the bikes out and rode to West Marine, checking out Joe Patti’s on the way. After we got back from West Marine, we road into town and found the hardware store and a bike shop (got Terri a helmet, bike lights and a speedometer). Then, stopped at World of Beer on the way back to have a beer and take advantage of their WiFi. Back on the boat and disassembled the port side genoa winch for cleaning. For dinner, we went to Jaco’s (right next to the marina), as it looked threatening off to the NW.

19 Mar 13

Cleaned the boat and worked on the winch for awhile in the morning, then went up for coffee and on to Ever’man Food, Joe Patti’s and Shoreline Foods to stock up on groceries. Back to the boat and worked on the winch for a bit more. Dinner at the Fish House, on the recommendation of Todd Buikema; very nice.

20 Mar 13

Slept in after a restless night; wind kicked up in the night and the spring lines griped all night long. Road the bikes up into town and caught the 45 bus up to University Mall to check out Academy and Sears; bought a few clothing items and beach towels. Then we road ~3 miles to Publix and did some more grocery shopping. Followed by a 6 mile ride back to the boat. Stopped at Bodacious Brew coffee and gelatos. Back to the boat to finish the winch work and do the laundry. Dinner on board: orange ruffie we bought yesterday at Joe Patti’s - very nice. Showers later.

21 Mar 13

We road the bikes around town, visited the Pensacola Museum of Art, toured the historic district of town, visited the tourist board and bought tickets for the ballet on Friday night. Dinner aboard: orange ruffie. Later, we walked up to Hub Stacy’s and listened to some live music - local guitarist and a saxophonist accompanying; very nice.

22 Mar 13

Cycled up to Pensacola Hardware and bought some de-greasing spray - citrus-based instead of MEK, so my brain cells are not killed off at an alarming rate. This makes winch-cleaning a much more pleasant job; so, I started on the 4th and final winch. Later, we took a tour of historic Pensacola on Segways (the electric two-wheeled scooter that you stand on); the historic tour was cool, but riding the Segways was lots of fun. After a light dinner at Jaco’s, we went to the Pensacola Ballet’s presentation of “The Matrix” (yes, the same Matrix of movie fame - Keanu Reeves). It was an interesting interpretation, some very good dancing, and not too long; not bad for a local production. After the ballet, we went to the Seville Quarter, which is a group of bars and restaurants in the historic district. We watched a group doing dueling pianos - very entertaining.

23 Mar 13

Slept in late (again), as the weather is unsettled. Finished maintaining the last winch - woo hoo!!, did some laundry and other boat chores, and prepared a couple of meals for our big trip to Panama City, presently scheduled for Monday, 25 Mar 13.