Our time in Ft Walton Beach

Sand dunes along the "Grand Canyon"

Jeremiah leading the way



So Capt. Chappy, is it going to be fish for dinner?

 

The water - like glass today!



The free dock was right next to the City Park



NautiNell all dressed up for Christmas!



City Park all lit up for Christmas!


We had a great anchorage at Navarre Beach. But the morning was really windy and the water was rather choppy. Not really bad, but choppy! We planned to go to Destin but that would mean spending time on the Choctawhatchee Bay – not a great idea with the wind and waves.

Jeremiah and Sweet Pea had caught up with us along the way so we all decided to stop at Ft Walton Beach at a FREE dock. Yes, I did say FREE! I wish other towns would provide this service. It really is a nice gesture. Their Chamber of Commerce recognizes just what it means for Loopers to have a free dockage. It means we will go into their town and spend our money. Spending money seems to be what we Loopers do best! Mike and I rode our bikes to West Marine and Winn Dixie. Mike grilled the fresh grouper that we bought at Joe Patti's. It was a really nice night!

On Monday the forecast called for wind and rain. After looking out over Choctawhatchee Bay and seeing the white caps, we decided to stay another day. The town of Ft Walton Beach asks that we only stay at the free dock for 24 hours. However they granted us another 24 hours with no problem. They are smart! LOL! We were getting the wind, but luckily we didn't get the rain. The boys went biking – another trip to West Marine! I cleaned the boat and baked snickerdoodles! Yum!

The water is so clear. It's really pretty here even if it is cloudy and windy. I saw several huge jellyfish swim by! I decided that I needed to go on a bike ride too. I rode over to the beaches and all over town. Ft Walton Beach has several cool shops and restaurants.

Later that afternoon Gemini pulled in to stay the night. We all walked to a local tavern named "Fokkers" for pizza and beer. Pretty neat place. They are the home of a huge pizza named the "Mother Fokker". LOL! We ate too much pizza and drank too much beer; but we had a ball. We went to bed planning to leave in the morning.

Everyone was up early on Tuesday morning. The weather was perfect and the water was like glass. Even though there was still a slight chance of rain we were outta there! We had beautiful weather all day long – 75 degrees and blue skies! Dolphins even paid us a visit alongside our boat. The water keeps becoming clearer and bluer. We went through the area that is called the Grand Canyon. This is a 20 mile stretch where there is no place to stop or anchor. They refer to this as "the ditch". Not nearly as bad as "the ditch" in the Trent Severn!

We made it to Panama City Marina late afternoon. Hopefully we will have a great travel day tomorrow and will make it to either St Joe or White City. The forecast is for strong winds and a lot cooler temperatures. Let's hope they're wrong!! We'll have to remember to move our clocks ahead an hour. We'll be entering the Eastern Time Zone.

Till next time!

Admiral "C"