26 Mar 13

Up at 02:30 again. The wind abated during the night; we now have NW 7 - 10 in the anchorage and the forecast is NW 10 - 15. We are going for it, but it is COLD (38 deg F in Pensacola). Got the anchor up at 03:10 then crept out of the anchorage and down the Caucus Channel (exit from Pensacola Bay) in the dark, aided a bit by a glorious full moon. Once out of the channel, we turned to 102 deg T and headed for Panama City. Outside, the wind was generally NW 12 - 18 with gusts as high as 24. We got the genoa up immediately and motor sailed for about 20 minutes, until I realized that we could go nearly as fast without the engine. At 04:48, engine off and under sail (genoa with 3 reefs), still making 7.5 knots SOG (speed over the ground). Decided to stay relatively close to the coast (north of the rhumb line) to reduce the fetch and keep the wave heights manageable, so we pretty much followed the 3-mile limit line around the coast until just past Destin. By then, the wind had slacked a bit and we were up to full genoa. By noon, the wind was down to about NW 10, so we hoisted the main, furled the genoa and got the kite (asymmetrical spinnaker) up. It was like turning on the after-burner; we immediately got up to 8 kn SOG with two peaks about 10 kn. At 14:00 the wind started to pick back up and after a couple of gusts to 18 with near-broaches, we doused the spinnaker and sailed the last 6 miles into Panama City under genoa alone; during two hours with the spinnaker up, we covered 17 nautical miles. Going into Bay Point Marina in Panama City Beach, we ran aground twice, but managed to sail and motor off without too much bother in both cases (I guess we are getting good at it). We got into the dock at 16:30, where our new friends Sam and Pat, from “Longhawk”, were there to help us with our dock lines. They had just flown back from a break in Houston. Summary, 91 miles in 13.5 hours, averaging just under 7 knots, nearly all of it under sail alone - a good day. Although the Admiral is not keen to do it again; at least not for a few days. Early meal and then straight to bed. Ahhhh.

27 Mar 13

Sam and Pat had access to a car in Panama City, so we hitched a ride with them to do major shopping at Publix (groceries) and West Marine (boat stuff; I ordered 110’ of chain to add to the existing 40’). Later, we had dinner at the Bay Point restaurant “30 Deg Blue” with Sam and Pat.

28 Mar 13

The new chain was delivered today, so we went back to West Marine and collected it; then I spent the afternoon adding it to the existing chain - also installed a new swivel between anchor and chain and sorted out a snubbing system, which will mean nothing to non-sailors. After I got the new chain connected, I measured it and it turns out that West Marine delivered 165’ (although I only ordered 110’; sweet), so now we have 200’ of chain, which means we will almost always be 100% chain at anchor. Looking at the weather forecasts for the next week or so and trying to figure out when to move along the coast to St. Joseph and then to Carrabelle to prepare for the crossing Tarpon Springs. It looks really calm in the GOM for the next 3 days and then not very nice for mid-to-late next week, which could be a problem for the crossing. We are thinking of going straight from Panama City to Tarpon Springs, starting tomorrow. We will review the situation in the morning. Sam and Pat had a commitment for dinner, so Terri and I stayed in and cooked for the crossing and had our own dinner aboard.