We decided to use the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) rather than the Gulf, primarily due to distance. The Gulf route seemed longer while the ICW appeared to be a “cut through”.
The cannels and rivers traversed cypress swamps and pine forests. We needed to keep a sharp lookout for local fisherman as our wake was quite large when operating at 17 knots in such a narrow waterway.
The series of creeks canals and rivers dump into East Bay which connects to St. Andrew's Bay, the location of our moorage, St. Andrew's Bay Yacht Club. An interesting story here. We had reservations via Harry, and upon arrival were met at the dock by a gentlemen who said not to go back into the cut too far as it was shallow.
After a cocktail in the lounge we returned to the boat and wondered how shallow it was. After measuring the depth and realizing it was very shallow, we checked the tide tables on the GPS and came to the conclusion we would be aground by midnight. The wind was around 10 to15 knots pressing us into the dock. The only thing to do was tie the dock side stern to the dock as a pivot point , power the bow toward the channel and the wind in order to move the boat to open water. In the end several hearty “sailors” and yours truly (Ed) were able to assist in moving the bow to catch the wind to escape the dock and move the boat. We relocated to an outer dock in 15 feet of water.
Dinner tonight was in Panama City at Uncle Ernie’s Bar and Grill, an OK seafood place with a view of the bay.
No comments:
Post a Comment