December 3-5

We left our anchorage, passed by Pirates Cove marina  and  then proceeded to cross  Wolf and Perido  Bays and the Big Lagoon.  We saw some great looking beach houses.

  

The winds were picking up as we approached Pensacola Bay, which translates into bigger waves than the admiral likes. 

 

We saw several tug and fishing  boats coming in off the Gulf headed for Pensacola, but no other pleasure craft.  Crossing the Bay and getting  behind the protection of the Santa Rosa island seemed to take forever.  Finally at about 12:30 we reached Sabine Marina in Pensacola Beach, which we had called in the morning looking for a transient slip, because of the small craft warning.   Near the marine I saw this Pirate ship, which I’ve included for Jack.

   With the winds gusting; Andy had a difficult time getting us into our assigned dock, thank goodness, Mark, the harbor master was there to take our lines. 

Once Andy had finally stopped the boat, he went inside and could smell acid.  He checked the Port starter battery and found it to be cooked.  Not a good thing!  Mark was able to hook him up with a great mechanic, Patrick, who was able to direct him  to where he could get  a replacement from. The new battery was delivered about an hour later, and installed by the captain.   The winds continued to gust overnight and into the morning.  Here’s a view of the sky just before dusk. 

We decided we would stay in Pensacola Beach for another day or two, until the wave action subsided. 

On Friday morning, Andy called Patrick, and he stopped by the boat later to check on how we were doing, he gave the boat the once over and declared us sea-worthy.  We went  for a walk down the road and checked out the local eateries,  pubs and shops.  Here’s the view of Santa Rosa sound from the boardwalk.

On Saturday we went for another  3.5 mile walk down towards the beach and Fort Pickens.  In the evening we watched the Christmas Boat parade, which had about 20 entries.  I’ve attached some pictures,  they definitely have our Christmas in July boat parade beat.  There was fireworks afterwards.

 

We will leave in the morning and are headed to Choctawhatchee Bay and have booked a slip at North Light Marina in Niceville.