Can't say enough about port st Joe marina. One of the best!

Day 1 - Shakedown Cruise by Pam

Day 1 gave new meaning to the term "shakedown cruise". Although it began like any other day....we got a late start from Pcola because we had to wash/dry our sheets due to a small water leak we discovered at bedtime the night before, but all was not lost, we met some folks on a Morgan passing through on their way back home to New Orleans and they gave us a whole sail bag of really great books and DVDs to take with us. Everything was beautiful as we finally got underway. I made a steaming pot of coffee and we had the cookies that Denise made (thanks sis!) while we enjoyed our sail. I began to make mental notes of the moments to include my journal.
As we got further out, we discovered the seas were very rough due to the southerly waves hitting the ones from the north being caused by the prevailing winds. This resulted in our being slapped around like a hocky puck. Since we were experiencing northwest winds, our boat stayed heeling to starboard all day and I planned to write an amusing quip on "how to pee uphill" but before the night was over it turned out to be "how to pee without getting killed"! Rich makes me wear a harness, yes a harness (now I know how Fluffy feels) whenever I am outside the cabin without him so I won't be lost at sea. It clips onto a jackline on the boat. I can unclip myself when I go below. Anyhow, I went to the head and the boat lurched forward just as I got to the door. My harness got hooked on the door latch and with the next wave, I found myself being pummeled against the door! We won't even talk about what went on inside the head after I managed to get myself loose! Before I continue, please understand that I am writing totally in "tongue and cheek" style for entertainment value. At no time were we in any danger or was I ever afraid. Only cussing King Neptune and the gods of the sea, and Aeolus and Poseidon and any other mythical character I could think of.
Anyway, it was a long night and before it was over, I was a little use to Rich, my brave captain who navigated us to a protected anchorage off St Joe peninsula and made the "shakedown cruise" come to an end.

pooblems

well we had a blockage in our head plumbing so we are staying in port st Joe one more night to solve this sticky situation. oh the joys of sailing . there were 20 years of build up inside the outlet hose! but we found a great Mexican joint with great margaritas!

Update

Ok, I finally figured out how to connect the laptop to the phone and get on the internet correctly. Sorry for the abreviated posts earlier but I was texting them in with the phone. We are anchored in St. Joseph's bay at Port St. Joe. We decided to stop due to the confused sea state we were experiencing. There were large swells left over from the strong south winds that preceded the cold front that we used to give us favorable winds. The combination of this left over swell and the NE winds gave us a very rolly ride that Pam did not enjoy too much. So we are in a nice anchorage now and a pod of dolphins came to welcome us in a bit ago. We will be staying here tonight.


Tomorrow we plan to head up the Gulf Canal and down the ICW into the Apalachicola River to Apalachicola and then into Apalachicola bay before heading back offshore for the run to Tarpon Springs. This will let the seas die down some and we will still be making headway. Plus it will keep me out of trouble!

Love to all!
Rich

Anchorage at Port St. Joe

port st joe

not sure why texting posts to blog is not working but all is well. anchored off st josephs peninsula tonight and will head down apalachicola river tomorrow before going back offshore for the run to tarpon springs.

test

test

Anchored out near port st Joe for the night.

Past st Andrews park at 315am.

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5 miles south of destin.

4 miles off navarre beach

off pensacola beach

Producing 116 volts dc on refrigeration. Thanks Charlie!

We are off. Will be hugging coast to panama city taking advantage of nw winds and using land to block the waves.

Pre Departure Checklist

You might find it interesting the things we go through to get the boat ready for an offshore trip. Below is a checklist in progress of the things we do to get the boat and us ready:

Pre Departure Checklist:

Paperwork:
Documentation
Manila folder in jetta
Dinghy registration
Passports
Copies
Passports
Crew list
Other stuff
Equipment list
Insurance paperwork
Call insurance company, cruising area.
Generator
Gas
oil
Dinghy:
Oars
Outboard
Gas
Oil
Light
Batteries
Spare bulbs
Shear pins
Pelican box
Padlock & key
inflator

Diesel
Top off both tanks
Verify return selector valve is to tank being used
Biocide added to tanks
Jerry cans stowed
Water
Fill 3 water tanks
Grease and seal inspection ports
Bleach on board
Camera
Spare sd cards
Charger
Usb cable
Hookah
Bag of hoses
Engine box
Weights
oil
Hand truck
Shades
Sunscreen
Spear gun?
Alcohol
H2o2
Insect repellant
Tools
Truck tools
Boat tools
Charts
AA bats
9v bat
D bats
Snorkel bag
Pam life jacket
Waterway guide
Flash lights
Garden hose
Laptops
Hawking
S video cable
Magma
Propane cans
Spare parts
Sea sick motion ease
Hats
Cell phones & chargers
Wind indicator
12v battery charger
Filet knife
Jock
Hack saw
Fishing gear
Tackle box
2 trolling rods
bait cast rod
stretch 25’s
swivels
wire leader
Medium ice chest?
Eye meds
Whistles for everyone
Fire extinguishers
Flare kit
Horn
Strobes
Buckets
Pens pencils erasers
Wd 40
Foil
Matches
Lighters
Paper towels
Towels
Clothes pins
Can opener
Scissors
Bolt cutters
Toilet paper
Cleaning sponges and liquid
Garbage bags
Duct tape
Legal pads
Music
Fill gas and diesel cans
Hand held vhf – charged
Hose nozzle
Usb storage from home computer,
Verify full propane tank
Verify empty holding tank

Engine
Check oil, changed oil/filter @ 1462 hrs
Check coolant
Check alternator belt
Inspect fuel filter
Inspect water strainer
Inspect tranny fluid
Inspect impeller, locate spare
Check battery water levels
Check battery charge

Navigation
Check weather
File float plan

Safety
Rig jacklines
Test epirb
Put strobes on life jackets, install batteries
Check bilge pumps
Check manual bilge pumps
Lash anchors
Test exterior lights
Check all and close unnecessary seacocks
Perform radio check

Departure delayed til Monday.
Better weather window then. We would have been going against wind and seas on saturday.

New Name Finally Installed

Looking like a Friday departure.

New Anchor!

Test

Departure date imminent!

All systems go for the first time. The refrigeration project is done so we can now generate power to the refrigerator off of the engine driven alternator. More to come....