Dec 6,7, 8

We traversed the 45 miles along the Santa Rosa Sound from Pensacola Beach to Choctawhatchee Bay,  going through Fort Walton and north of Destin.

It was a relatively uneventful trip; Santa Rosa island was south of us, and separated us from the Gulf of Mexico, so the winds were light.  The island consisted of sand dunes, and several beach areas with numerous hotels and holiday rental properties, and supporting infrastructure.

At one point, we saw a boat parked at a private dock that looked very similar to ours.

We also had a dolphin following us for a short time.

We crossed the bay, the water was like glass to our marina in Niceville.   Doesn’t that sound like a place you’d like to visit?  It is located near the Elgin Air force Base, so lots of planes flying around, but thankfully not at night- or at least I didn’t notice.

 

The marina is fairly new and is one of the nicest we’ve stayed at so far.

There are several boats on the docks but we seem to be the  only ones staying here.  They have a huge dry-dock area, with many boats already in storage for the winter/off-season.  Laundry is free, there is a restaurant& bar –Tucker Duke’s,

an outdoor pool, which I plan to use before we leave.

Thee are some great statues, as well and artifacts in the main building.

One of the managers drove us to Walmart for groceries on Monday.  He said there was a family of dolphins that live in the bay—I haven’t seen them yet, but will be looking.

We are still having electrical/engine issues- they don’t seem to go away! But it is a 30 year old boat, so I guess they’re expected- have I mentioned this before?  When we arrived Sunday it seemed like the starter batteries were boiling—even the new battery  Andy investigated and  determined that the alternator on the Port engine is over charging and the alternator on the Starboard engine is squealing – so likely a bearing issue.  He pulled both alternators, and they will be taken for repair/rebuild Tuesday. One of the employees drove him to Fort Walton Beach to drop them off.  While he’s gone I’m updating the blog – so people know where we are and cleaning.