“Adventures (and Misadventures) of Elliott
and Mary”
Issue 2 April 1, 2004
Yes, we know that there is no issue for the month of March….and there’s
a good reason. Getting ready to actually leave a safe harbor that
comes equipped with good friends, handy showers, a car that you own and
best of all, Home Depot and West Marine, takes a lot of time and energy.
Plus every job you take on “blossoms” into either a much more complicated
task or grows branches and becomes multiple tasks. The bottom line
conclusion we have come to….if you wait to be “ready” to leave home, you’ll
never cast off the first line!
So we worked and worked and worked throughout the month of March….way
too boring to even note…and we actually set a date for departure (March
25th). Then the weather conditions, which rule to a great degree
what cruisers can and cannot do, changed its mind and we needed to delay
a couple of days due to high winds and impending rainstorms associated
with a front that was coming through.
We had a lovely dock party the night before we were supposed to leave…lots
of good friends that I’m sure we’ll see along one waterway or another.
Then we hung out for a couple of days, decided the weather seemed acceptable
and took off on Sunday, March 28th at 6:15am. Dock lines were thrown
to us by Adrian Lee, good neighbor on a lovely sailboat – who is also going
to exercise our car while we’re cruising eastward. At some point we’ll
come back to Slidell, see everyone who’s still on Docks 8 & 9…and drive
Bella (the car) to wherever we left the boat.
First day out was a long one…8 straight hours of cruising along the
Mississippi Sound but the southerly winds were good to us, as well as a
current going our direction, so we made better time than we had anticipated.
Got to Horn Island where we anchored at about 2:30pm…Horn Island is about
6-7 miles off the coast of Pascagoula, MS. Weather still sunny and nice,
though a bit blowy.
Our anchoring endeavor was most interesting…Horn Island is a deserted
island, lots of white sand, birds, pine trees. It’s a Gulf Shore Wildlife
Refuge so it’s pristine. The bottom is sand/mud and should have been
an easy anchor. We tried and we tried….still dragged anchor.
Couldn’t figure out why. Until we pulled up a rode line caught up
on our anchor. AND the rode line was attached to a buried anchor.
Apparently someone had simply cut the line and sailed away without their
anchor….or they threw the anchor without securing it to the boat!!!
So with this “found booty”, we unburied it, washed all the mud from the
lines and anchor (making a major mess of the bow of Letitia) and then had
no problem anchoring properly. Then the wind really picked up….by the time
we went to bed (would you believe 7:30p?? – of course, we had gotten up
at 4am in order to leave home that morning), trying to sleep was something
like sleeping inside of a dishwasher. Lots of action and lots of
boat/water noises. But by 11p or so, we were sure that the boat was
not going to come loose and that we could safely nod off…which we did.
Got up early the next morning, ready to cruise another day and make
it across to the east side of Mobile Bay. Much lighter winds but
lo’ and behold, fog was everywhere!!! We waited about an hour longer
than we wanted to for departure, then decided that with our radar, navigational
programs and good old common sense, we could proceed cautiously. And we
did – sounding our fog horn every two minutes for the next 5 hours.
Saw several tugs with loads waiting out the fog but we weren’t the only
ones with smaller, more maneuverable vessels that were going forward, albeit
at a much reduced rate of speed
.
Got to the Mobile Bay Bridge about 12N and the sun came out!!
Ah ha, we said – briefly. We’re leaving Mississippi Sound and the sun is
with us. Nice thought. But about half way across the Bay back came
the fog….ah well, we knew how to handle that by then. The sun came
out for good about an hour before we reached our destination off the ICW
in Alabama – Ingram Bayou. Along the way we cruised along the first (of
many) legs of inland ICW…land on both sides easily visible. It turned
out to be quite a residential tour…lots of folks live along the waterway
and that was pretty interesting.
Ingram Bayou 
is
a lovely, secluded hideaway off the ICW (IntraCoastal Waterway). Luckily
when we did find the spot where we wanted to set the anchor, we found nothing
extra on the bottom, dropped the anchor with ease and we very pleased with
ourselves! The evening was lovely, quiet, and we celebrated our cruising
life with a bottle of champagne from our Birmingham friends on Dock 8.
Had an early dinner and cratered by 8pm.
This was the night a front was supposed to come through so we thought
we might have to stay “hidden” in the bayou until the front and its associated
winds passed through but we had only a few strokes of lightening in the
distance and a brief rainstorm about 4am. That was it. The next morning
was really pretty, low winds and lots of sun. So, off we went (this
would have been Tuesday, March 30th).
Now
this was an interesting cruising day….almost all of it on the inland
ICW. Lots of pine trees, houses and docks and sometimes a house literally
ON the water. That was probably the most interesting tug load that
we’ve seen to date!
We had a really easy motor to Pensacola – took about 4 hours.
We got in about 12N just as the winds began, again, to pick up. We
were glad to be tied to a T-pier at the Palafox Marina and to be watching
the white caps build up out on Pensacola Sound. After making the
boat secure, we left the marina and walked around the downtown area for
a while. There is a lot of renovation going on – much like many downtowns
across America, unless extra effort is made to make the area attractive
and lively, they become rundown. There is a historic district, a
couple of museums, a theater and an auditorium, plus several restaurants…all
of which are within reasonable walking distance. Can’t say we have taken
advantage of this bounty yet but may before we leave.
We stayed in Pensacola Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings…got
a good bit of boat cleaning done, interspersed with wandering the town,
walking to the closest grocery (which was a bit more than a mile away…good
exercise) and getting Elliott doctored a bit. He found an interesting germ
that just wouldn’t let go.
Our future plans, as best we know them right now include heading next
to Ft. Walton Beach for an evening, then a long day’s cruise to Panama
City for an evening. From there we will head for Apalachicola and then
finally on to Carrabelle, where we will definitely spend a couple of days.
From Carrabelle we will await a good two day weather window for the 18
hour crossing to Clearwater on the west coast of Florida. All these
plans are totally weather dependent….but we hope to get across the Gulf
to Clearwater by the end of next week (week of April 5). Will definitely
make for some interesting stories for Issue #3.
Meanwhile, we are enjoying cruising aboard Letitia, learning so much
with each days’ adventures and looking forward to seeing old friends and
meeting new ones,
Will be back in touch in a couple of weeks with the next issue,
The Captain and Mary