We finally arrived!
07 July 2009 | Panama City, Florida
Debbie
We arrived at the entrance to St Andrews Bay in Panama City around midnight. We headed up the channel to find Snug Harbor in Watson Cove. Watson Cove was marked on the charts so finding the entrance was not difficult but navigating inside the cove at night was a little tricky. There are many inlets inside the cove and we had no idea which one held Snug Harbor. The depth inside the cove was very shallow in places so I stayed down in the cabin watching the chart and directing Bob to port or starboard. Austin had the spotlight on deck to assist in the search. We approached a few docks that were incorrect and then Bob spotted it. As we approached the slips we could see that it was definitely Snug Harbor but the chart showed that if we turned toward the dock we would be aground. Of course, that meant either the chart was incorrect or all of the boats at Snug Harbor were aground. We made our turn and headed for the end of B dock as directed earlier by the dock manager. We tied off at 1:30 am. We were so excited to be there we high fived each other and took a little walk around the docks and then Bob and I headed for the bunks. Austin waited for his girlfriend, Sabrina, to arrive. They were headed back to Nashville tonight but since it is so late or early they are going to wait until the morning.
The rest of the passage had the usual variety of wind velocity and wave height. The weather was as predicted for Monday. As the sun rose on my watch the thunderheads were everywhere. We skirted around most of them. Later in the afternoon we had to go through a couple of squall lines. Most of the storms we were able to avoid but we did get hit by a couple. Lightning hit the water very close to Alaya. It is always scary when you see the bolt and hear the thunder at the same time. That is way too close for me. Monday was not a pleasant day but all and all it could have been much worse. We arrived safely and Alaya is at rest. We will move her tomorrow to slip A9.
She has brought us over 8000 miles and has taken whatever the elements have thrown at her in stride and has taken care of her crew. She is a fine sailing vessel and our home on the sea.