Our time as CLOD’s (Cruisers Living On Dirt) in Orange Beach, AL extended to five weeks as we waited for insurance approvals, parts to arrive, and Saunders Yachtworks to complete their work. Not exactly what we had planned for Nov/Dec, but we did our best to “make lemonade”.
It turns out
that Orange Beach (and surrounding area) is a pretty darn nice place. We used our time to take care of vision
(Wade), dental (Wade and Kathleen) and hair (Maggie and Kathleen) appointments. (This marked the first time Kathleen has had
her hair done by the same stylist twice in all our months of Looping. Some of you will appreciate the significance
of that point more than others. )
We shopped
the outlet malls ,went to the movies, and went to church. We hiked the extensive trail system of Gulf
Coast State Park with Admiral Maggie and visited the sugar-sand beaches (Maggie
not allowed). We visited the legendary
Flora-Bama night club, a colorful beach-side venue famous for its multiple
stages and annual songwriters’ festival.
We partook of a takeout Thanksgiving dinner from Cracker Barrel (quite
tasty) and we used our rental car to serve as unofficial harbor hosts to other
Loopers, offering rides to dinner and shopping, to pick up rental cars, to
chase down boat parts, etc.
Admiral Maggir rocks a new shorter southern "do"!
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| Sugar sand beaches of Oranch Beach |
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| Turkey with all the fixin's ala Cracker Barrel |
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| Ominous warnings are park trails |
Our friends
Jeff and Laurie from Water Witch made it possible for us to visit the
Museum of Naval Aviation at Naval Air Station Pensacola. (Jeff is a retired
Colonel in the Maine Air National Guard.
He even rated a salute from the gate guards!) This is a fabulous
non-profit museum staffed by volunteers, many of whom are retired naval aviators
(with stories to tell). The facility is
first rate, and the collection of aircraft is extensive and diverse. And it is all the more special because NAS
Pensacola is the home of the Blue Angels, whose history the museum traces. Put this one on your bucket list!
Our second big historical outing was to visit the museum ship USS Alabama in Mobile (coincident with w trip to Costco!) A South Dakota-class battleship of World War II fame, the Alabama is well preserved and equipped in its original form, right down to the posts and pans in the galley and the tools in the machine shop and offers extensive self-guided tours from stem to stern and from keel to truck. They give access to more parts of the ship than any of the several other museum ship we have visited. Nicely done.
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| TWO bombshells aboard the USS Alabama! |
We had open access to the boat in the yard and were able to transfer food, drink, and other stuff to make our Airbnb more comfortable. We were also able to catch up on some other DYI boat maintenance, including replacing the v-belt, fuel filter, and leaky heat exchanger on our generator (all relatively simple tasks made massively more complicated by the installation of said generator on a boat. Go figure….)
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| The leaky one and the new one |
And finally, it was December 16th and we were back in the water. Here’s the final rundown:
- The props and struts were both repairable!
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| Repaired props and struts |
- Neither prop shaft was permanently bent!
(Although we did replace the starboard shaft due to some older corrosion
damage.)
New starboard prop shaft - The crack in our swim step was artfully repaired by sub-contractor Yellowfin Marine, including a new OEM rub rail.
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| Superb fiberglass repair by Steve @ Yellowfin Marine |
- Irish Lass’s entire bottom was sandblasted down to the original gelcoat and repainted with both barrier coat and anti-fouling paint. (This is something we anticipated doing before we sell the boat anyway.)
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| Irish Lass's slick, like-new underside! |
- Both engines enjoyed fresh oil and filters (a 12-gallon event!)
- In the end, insurance contributed about half the cost.
Following a
realignment of engines with shafts by Saunders techs, we set off for Pensacola,
where we had been invited to moor at the Grande Lagoon Yacht Club. And invited to their Christmas party. AND
where we met Spokane friend Dan Yeatts, who traveled all that way to be a third
crew member as we prepared to cross the northeast Gulf of Mexico to the Florida
“mainland”.
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| Dan takes the helm under Admiral Mggie's suppervision |
The next day
was 100 mile run on the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway to the delightful Bay Point South Marina in Panama
City Beach. Freshly rebuilt from hurricane damage, this proved to be an
excellent facility with a knowledgeable and attentive staff. Along
the way we ran Irish Lass at high speed where allowed in order to evaluate the prop/shaft/strut
repairs. We found the boat operating
smoother that ever before. (Which it bloody well ought to, given the number of
Boat Units we invested with Saunders Yachtworks. Sheesh).
With this development, we began to re-examine the option of making a
high-speed, daylight crossing of the Gulf.
Hmmmm………….?
From Panama
City, we continued along the GICW to the river town of Apalachicola, FL and the
over-rated and overpriced marina at Scipio Creek. (fortunately, just for one
night). The next morning (Dec 19), we
headed south and east across windy St George Sound (still following the GICW)
to the town of Carrabelle, FL, the traditional staging point for Loopers
intending a Gulf crossing. We topped up
on fuel and settled into our assigned slip at The Moorings Marina.
(A few words
about boat slips on the Gulf coast. Most
docks are fixed (vs floating). And most
slips are defined by pilings only, with one short finger pier on one side. Depending on construction and tides, these
can make moving between boat and dock challenging, often too high against our swim
step and two low for our side decks. In
this case, the short finger pier provided slopped upward to the main dock, so
the further we backed into the slip the more challenging boarding because. Sheesh.)
At
Carrabelle , we found several other Loopers contemplating Gulf crossings and at
a series of Docktails meetings, we joined with boats Michael Jay and Bello
in planning a daylight crossing at the next weather window. Each of us had a slightly different
destination in mind (Irish Lass for Clearwater, Michael Jay for Tarpon
Springs, and Bello for Crystal River) but we agreed to share a common
course for the first 150 of the 180 mile run before diverting to our respective ports. Now all we needed was a weather window…….
In addition to our NOAA forecasts and our various weather
apps, Loopers have come to rely on Platinum (2+ Loops) Looper Eddy “The Weather
Wag” Johnsen, who had made extensive study of Gulf weather patterns and advises
on Gulf Crossings. And Eddy was telling
us that Dec 22 looked like a good window for a daylight crossing. After consulting our own weather resources,
the three crews agreed to prepare for a 12/22 crossing and Christmas on the
Florida “mainland”! Yeah, BABY!
In the meantime, we got the marina to move us to a more accessible
slip next to Michael Jay and we partook
of the somewhat meager dining and shopping options Carrabelle offered in the
pre-Christmas week. Not a resort
community by any definition, it is a tired “Old Florida” fishing town. The few restaurants open hit the jackpot
when 12 Loopers showed up for dinner!
We arose and 3:30 am on the 22nd and left the dock
at 4:30 in pitch darkness, with Bello in the lead. (It only later dawned
in us that 12/21 was the shortest day of the year. Duh!) This was the first
time we had ever operated Irish Lass in the dark, but fortunately, Bello steered
true and the channel out the river, across St George Sound past Dog Island , and
out to the open Gulf was well marked. We
three motored along at 8 kts, waiting for the sky to lighten sufficiently to
allow faster travel. As we slowly sped
up to about 15 kts, the sky was gray, but sea conditions were calm and winds were low. Irish Lass was running as if on rails. The waters were deep enough to preclude the
presence of crab pots and their bobbing floats and lines , and we settled in
for what we hoped was a smooth, fast crossing.
But then……….
102 miles into our journey…..
50 miles from the nearest port…
The engines shut down ……
And the entire boat filled with dense black smoke…..
And then..........……Oh, jeez, it looks like we’re out of time for today. So,
tune in again next time to hear the rest of this adventure!
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