The Last Hurrah Before Summer Starts

Our cruise north on the western Florida Intracoastal Waterway from Punta Gorda to Caladesi Island State Park was enjoyable. We saw lots of young osprey eating fish in their nests on top of day marks,

impressive waterfront homes,

gorgeous sunsets,



interesting scenery,




and many fast moving wake-producing boats as well as many slower moving ones like ours.


One of the fast moving boats could have been part of a James Bond movie where a helicopter swoops down from the sky and picks up the boat,

or where a helicopter flying over drops a missile on top of the boat. (This picture was actually taken in a military restricted zone near Panama City.)

We arrived back at Caladesi Island in time to enjoy Earth Day festivities at Honeymoon Island, a neighboring island state park. Tracy and Greg, two park rangers from Caladesi Island, created an impressive exhibit displaying some of the historical information and some of the natural features of the park.

This next picture shows Greg and Tracy on either side of Bill, the park manager of Caladesi, and Terry, the granddaughter of Myrtle the young girl whose father Henry Scharrer first homesteaded the island in the early 1890s.

In the spring many different species of birds pass through the park on their way north. Earlier we had seen a large flock of white pelicans, but on this visit we saw some scarlet tanagers and some indigo buntings. The blue of the male buntings is the most vivid blue I can imagine.

The females are more tan colored and don’t stand out nearly as much as the males do. The scarlet tanagers were also eye catching, but they were fewer in number and faster than our picture taking abilities.

On the first day that we hoped to leave, the weather was just perfect for a long 230-mile pass from Caladesi Island to Panama City. After a quick walk on the beach and many good-byes, we got underway about 9:30 am. The first morning ferry to the park passed us on our way out. Lots of waves, shouts and good wishes were offered to us by the crew and passengers.

Once we got in the Gulf, we saw only a few boats,two huge floating sea turtles, four dolphins riding our bow wake, and seven flying fish.

Flying fish? Click on the following link to see that there really is such a thing as a flying fish and then click on the BACK arrow to return to the blog.
http://oceanlink.island.net/oinfo/biodiversity/flyingfish/flyingfish.html

a magnificent sunset,
and wonderfully small waves. We were “buddy-boating” with a couple from Wisconsin who were on their boat, Act II. They travel slightly faster than us. When they couldn’t see us any more and they couldn’t raise us on their radio, they called the Coast Guard to check that we were still okay. It was quite a surprise to hear the Coast Guard radioing, “Harbour Reach, Harbour Reach, this is the Coast Guard.” We quickly radioed back and gave them our position and confirmed that all was well. It was comforting to know that “Someone out there cared” and that if there had been an emergency the Coast Guard would have been looking for us.

We pulled into the dock in Panama City about 3:30 pm the next day and took a short walk to the nearby park to take pictures of two trees we had forgotten to “shoot” in January. Before returning to the boat, we bought some “fresh shrimp right from the shrimp boat”, and continued walking to stretch our legs a little more. After an early supper we were in bed by 7:30 and didn’t wake up until morning. These all night cruises are somewhat tiring even though we take turns sleeping and driving the boat.

This is believed to be the only four headed pindo palm tree in the world.

Old Sentry is over 250 years old and is a heritage oak tree that has stood guard over St. Andrews Bay since before the War Between the States.
We took the Intracoastal waterway from Panama City to Mobile Bay. After leaving Panama City, our first overnight stay was at the Ft. Walton Beach City Dock.

It is well situated for boaters, close to grocery stores, laundromats, restaurants, post office, etc. We ended up staying two nights because thunderstorms and heavy winds were predicted. From there we went on to Pensacola where we visited the National Aviation Museum. Several people had told us to be sure to stop on our way back. It is located at the Naval Air Station and it has a mind-boggling collection of war planes dating all the way back to World War I. It is a plane enthusiast’s dream.!

Pretend you are comfortably seated on a boat, cruising north from Pensacola, FL and are enjoying some of the scenery along the Inter-Coastal Waterway on the panhandle of Florida and in Mobile Bay. Viewing the pictures is better than listening to our commentary for some of these sights.

Mary considered jumping ship and riding the following ferry out of the bay:

After leaving Mobile Bay, our friends on ACT II and we worked our way up the TomBigbee Waterway in Alabama, stopping at anchorages while enjoying air temperatures about 40 degrees warmer than we had when we came down in December.

The warmer weather, greener foliage, and sunnier days made us much happier with “life on the TomBigbee”. However we did learn to avoid swimming in some of the tempting waters when other swimming or floating creatures were evident like rattlesnakes

and alligators.

We also learned that we have to follow our judgment and not always pass green and/or red buoys in the direction they normally indicate. Amazingly one day we counted over fifteen buoys that were misplaced or completely damaged. There is never a dull moment when traveling on twisting rivers that handle large towboats with barges and which flood from heavy rains.

In 1979 a well trained towboat operator made an unbelievable journey under the Old Rooster Bridge during a time of flooding on the TomBigbee. At the time the water level was 59 feet higher then when we were there. The water level was only a few feet below the bridge deck which is in the middle of our picture. The bridge is no longer in operation, but part of it still stands and can be seen in the following picture.

Click the web address below to get a description of the "unforgettable journey", but don't forget to return BACK here for a few final pictures of our cruise.

http://www.dancetc.com/towboat.html

After leaving Demopolis, AL, ACT II continued north on the TomBigbee Waterway and we headed north on the Black Warrior River. We were a little nervous since there are no guidebooks for recreational boaters on this river and because it handles mainly commercial traffic. However, we spent three enjoyable days on our way up to Eagle Cove Marina in Tuscaloosa, AL where we are leaving the boat for the summer. The marina is about a mile north of Holt Dam and Lock and is in a very scenic section of the Black Warrior River. The next few pictures show Holt Dam and Lock and some scenes from the marina's docks and walkways.

Fishing is a favorite sport for many of the locals, even the young girls.

Spring flowers are quite colorful now.

We did a lot of cleaning and preparing Harbour Reach for its summer stay. We are looking forward to the fall when we move up river to see the more mountainous area and hopefully to enjoy the fall foliage colors.

Bill and I will spend three weeks of June in Indiana visiting relatives and part of one week in Colorado visiting friends. Then we’ll enjoy being home in Rhode Island until mid-October when we head back to the boat to do more exploring. We hope you have a wonderful summer!