Pensacola to Apalachicola Cruise (PAC II) - Part 2

....continued from Part 1

We had a wonderful time in Apalachicola, starting off with drinks in the Bowery Station, located close to our mooring for the night.  Scenes below are from this great little watering hole!

 Local entertainer - Bowery Station, Apalachicola

PAC II Cruisers - Bowery Station

And later that evening a near complete compliment of the sailing and power boat participants in PAC II aboard Julie's amazing Tartan, s/V Night Sky.....Julie, I just love your boat!

 Ladies of PAC II.....and Ron?

Guy's of PAC II......and Belle

S/V Midnight Sun II and S/V TraSea made a day sail to Little St. George from Apalach and we spent a great time on the beach.  Salty got on the trail of a very large ghost crab and managed to dig it up, but then didn't know what to do with it.

In Apalachicola, we had the traditional "club brunch" by the pool of a local hotel and also great dinner of shared dishes on the wharf next to our mooring. The next morning, several of us set off back up the river towards Port St. Joe, starting our return journey.  S/Vs Midnight Sun II, TraSea, and Night Sky all anchored at Crooked Island for the night, located about 10 miles west of PSJ.  The entrance is uncharted and there was quite a swell, so navigation into the continually changing entrance is "visual".  A couple of the boats had a few "touch and go" moments, but the bottom is sand, so no damage was done.  if you have the right conditions and/or nerve to try it, Crooked Island is a wonderful anchorage.  other than a couple of small boats fishing, we had the place to ourselves, and it could have been anywhere on one of the remote islands of the Bahamas.

From Crooked Island, we said farewell to the other boats we had sailed with and ventured back to port St. Joe,  one of our most favorite spots on the Forgotten Coast.  We discovered a couple of new restaurants in the area that have recently opened.  Ever heard of a restaurant that has free beer and wine - yes, that's the current deal at Shipyard Cove in PSJ.  I say the "current deal" as I suspect its an interim situation until they get their license.  Right now, they are simply asking for donations to the wildlife fund.  The food and staff are good and owner Bill is trying to make a go of this, a gift shop, and ice cream.  I believe Bill is also a part owner in the development on Black's Island located in St. Joe's bay.  Anyway, if good food and free drinks is not enough to tempt you, a look at the interesting table tops made from salvaged wood from Wewahitchka is definitely worth the trip.  Seen below is the "Captain's Table".  Bill apparently got the wood from local "deadheaders" that run a mill in Wewah......next visit, we will try to track it down.

Captain's Table - Shipyard Cove 

Other places to try include: the newly opened Bin 411 (wine bar, coffee shop and sandwiches), Provisions (one of our all-time faves), Joe Mama's Pizza (first class pizza), and Peppers (good Mexican, but then they are the ONLY Mexican).

Before heading back, we had a couple of nights at our beach retreat on Cape San Blas.

the beach - Cape San Blas

Salty goes  fishing (his favorite sport!)- CSB

A little pool-side relaxation before headed home.

and of course a sunset at CSB!

But all good things come to an end and it was time for us to start the sail back to Pensacola.  The plan was a two-day trip reversing our trip out here and stopping the night at Panama City/St/ Andrews.  So after a little provision top-off, we headed out late morning to arrive in the early evening.  It was a superb sail - wind conditions, and some great wildlife sightings, including dolphins on the bow, and two brief sightings of a very large turtle (unfortunately not caught on film), that looked like the Loch Ness Monster!  But Salty did go dolphin fishing! - and that was caught on film....

Leaving Panama City and heading to Pensacola, we saw a few interesting Naval happenings....for instance.......

Look at the commercial salvage vessel in the background...he announced on VHF that he had limited maneuverability as was towing an "anonymous vessel".......looks like a submarine to me and he headed to the Naval base.  This was taken at daybreak, approximately 5:30am - long before the tourists were awake!

Then when we got to Pensacola, we saw a vessel on AIS doing 30+ knots.....that suddenly stopped.  Very strange - perhaps the AIS lost its fix...and what could move at 30+ then stop?  Well this did:

According to our neighbor, its called "No.5" and is an aluminum jet boat that was (perhaps still is) used as a minesweeper.  It was quite a breezy day and I think some naval commander was having the crew practice docking as he came in and out of the Pensacola inlet (docking each time), in the time that we took to sail on in.

But in summary - what a wonderful trip!  Thank you to everyone from PYC that participated and a special thanks to Julie and others that took lead roles in organizing things!