The New Year

After a few days of bad weather we head out for Destin, Florida. As we entered the channel we faced waves of 6 feet and lots of wind (per weather man, this should be a FINE day?!). After an hour fighting the wind and making 3,5 knots with the engine, we decide to go back to Pensacola. We tried again the next day and it was beautiful – a perfect day. We headed for the North Channel at Destin. We read that the channel is very tricky and the sand shifts all the time. Well, we headed right for the middle of the channel when a wave picked us up and set us down right in 3.5 feet of water. Our rudder hit the ground hard – we went back out the channel called the Coast Guard who came to assist us in getting through the channel (safe passage turned out to be all the way on one side despite what the guide books said). We also had a huge amount of saltwater entering through our heater chimney which caused the heater to die. Just as well we are heading south!
Not a good day in paradise and we have some doubts about this sailing stuff – nothing like a nice fireplace and a warm apartment with a bathtub and large screen TV?! Not really, but …. We had to stay three days in Destin to await better weather. We did not like Destin very much. No place to dinghy ashore to play with the dog (not to mention going to the bathroom with her!). The winds gusted 40 knots in the night and we were not very happy, but safe thanks to Chris’ great anchoring abilities.



We headed further south to Panama City on January 15th. Our first day with all the sails up since we left Chicago – what a feeling. It was a beautiful day all doubts were blown away. We made it just in time for another low pressure front. Lots of wind again, but we had a good mooring.
Panama City is a cute little town and we took the bikes all over the place. We also started taking the bus to go grocery shopping. Quite an experience for two people who never used public transportation before.
We have decided to wait for our friends from Germany, we want to sail with them further south. They are about two to three days behind us. We can use the time to get some repairs done and enjoy the nice but windy weather.