Monday, November 13, 2017

Feeling Like Florida

The overnight stay at the FREE Ft. Walton City Docks was pleasant and convenient.  (Did I mention it was FREE)?  We were able to walk to Publix with our handy dandy blue wagon and get as much stuff as we could pull back to Viridian.  The crew of Viridian was up at 4:30 AM to start the day by crawling around in the engine room checking oil levels and coolant, looking for leaks and anything the might not have been there yesterday.  As usual, coffee was the first thing made, followed by a light first breakfast.  After we get under way we like to snack on whatever we have that sounds good till we have a proper meal at lunch.

The crew of Viridian said goodbye to the crew of Moni-Jean today since our paths went separate ways.  We really enjoyed cruising with seasoned Gold Loopers, and we are a much better crew for it.  Thank you, Rick and Monica for taking us under your wing and sharing your experience with us.  We hope our paths cross again soon!

Today's cruise to Panama City Marina was 68 miles through some BIG water.  The wind was still blowing a constant 15-20 mph from the NE and made for some choppy waters on Choctawhatchee Bay, especially when we turned SE and headed into the Grand Canyon (a canal cut for the GIWW that connects Choctawhatchee Bay to West Bay) Once we entered the Grand Canyon, we had a few hours of protection from the wind and had lunch as the sun warmed our fly bridge through the strata glass windows.  Leaving the Canyon, we entered West Bay.  By this time the wind had died down some and we had a comfortable afternoon cruise to Panama City Marina.

The views from Viridian were that of big water with tiny details along the shore that were only gray silhouettes against the rising sun in the SE.  No photos could capture the vastness of the bay but we did manage to snap a few that might be interesting.

Once we got into the marina, we topped off the fuel tanks with diesel and got a pump out.  The marina was full so Viridian was tied to the transient dock behind a row of Grand Banks trawlers for the night.

That's the news and here's the views:

We are here


Viridian's  passage from Ft Walton, FL to Panama City Marina, FL

Destin, FL from the Bay side looking SE into the sun 

Leaving Choctawhatchee Bay and entering the Grand Canyon 

 Looks kinda like the Tenn-Tom

 Leaving the Grand Canyon and entering West Bay

 This guy left a huge hole in the water and Viridian dove in bow first sending spray over and onto the flybridge

Grand Banks Row (Viridian, Last and Least)

 View from the flybridge office

 Marina Fuel Dock

Another day ends  (we have been Looping exactly one month today)

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