Leaving Panama City Beach and Awaiting Our Gulf Crossing

Panama City Beach was very nice, here is a nice sunset.

 

 

 

But it is definitely in "off season".  We were going to go to the famous Captain Anderson's restaurant...closed till Feb 4. 

Ok, let's go next door to the nice looking seafood house....closed for training Monday and Tuesday.  Not a problem, a few blocks away is J Michaels, recommended by the dock master

oops...closed till Dec 8. 

OK, fourth try was Billy's Seafood House...not a top shelf place but $1.50 drafts and decent seafood.  So we walked off our dinners before we had it!
Treasure Island Marina completed our repairs around 2PM on Thursday. 

They solved our anchor rode locker drain issue, "skipping" windless issue (now have a gypsy that matches the chain!) and replaced a section of kinked sump pump hose that I could not get at under the master stateroom floor.
We moved across the bay to St Andrew's marina in Panama City for a couple nights. 

Cute little area with lots of shops and restaurants.  We had a wonderful dinner at the Captain's Table (recommended by a local).  He described it as "formica top" not "white tablecloth" but that the family does the fishing and we would not be disappointed....he was right, thanks Frank!
On Friday morning I was doing my normal engine room checks when the engine is cold and the engine room not an oven.  Found coolant in the catch pan under the starboard engine.  I inspected what I could (my frame does not allow access on the outboard side of the engines) but could not determine the source. Hose clamps were tight on port side but I could not get to starboard side.  So the scramble to find someone to look at it on short notice starts....local diesel shop says Tuesday, but here is a name of a independent mechanic who treats transients well.  Well the independent Mark showed up with his helper, pressure tested the system, found the leak (hose clamps loose) and repaired it, then left the engine room clean up and topping off of fluid to me. All is well as I sit here typing on Sunday in Apalachicola.
Next up on the repair list is a leaking hot water heater, but that can wait (we hope) until we spend some time in Sarasota later this month.
On the way to Apalachicola:

A "fixer upper" for someone....

 

 

Apalachicola is a cool little town.

Note that the inventor of modern air conditioning was from the area

Here we are wedged in to the small marina...you cannot see how far we hang out of the end of the slip!

And note the "code" 240v electrical hookup...duct tape on their adapter is OK right Matt D?  Zoom in to see it!

We walked around and saw the Vietnam war memorial,

the botanical gardens and a few other local sites. 

The butterflies were everywhere in the botanical gardens. 

Also did a little shopping and found some clothing items we needed. Dinner on Sat night was at Caroline's right next to where we docked.  While not the best service the food was good and the chef came out to talk to Julie to be sure all would be OK with the cooking.  Southern hospitality displayed once again.
A shrimp "vendor" also showed up at the marina with last night's catch.  Boy were they good for dinner tonight.  We froze a bunch of them as well for later. 
We stopped at this old hotel for a cocktail late in the day.  A lot of history in this old building and someone really spent a lot of money to renovate into its former grandeur.

Tomorrow we will move to the Moorings marina in Carrabelle to be staged for our 170 mile Gulf crossing to Tarpon Springs.  Right now weather reports suggest a Wed night / Thursday morning crossing.  We will leave Carrabelle around 5PM and arrive in Tarpon Springs between 10am and noon the next day.  Should be about a 17-18 hour trip.  We are hoping the weather reports hold.
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