April 6th and 7th

Note: It's actually Friday evening of the 14th and we're in the Bradenton Beach Marina but the Crew is going to bring the blog up to date with postings of our previous cruising days. WiFi access has been either non-existent or limited to a very weak signal and thus unworkable.
We finally released Seahawk from her perch, after a 3-day weather delay, at about 8:30 am on Thursday the 6th. We motored south on Perdido Bay to the Intercoastal Waterway (ICW), made the turn east and continued to a fuel stop at the Oyster House just past the Theo Baars Bridge. Back on the ICW, we continued east, then north and then again east as we entered Big Lagoon. The winds were from the NW and in the 10-12 kt range, so we unfurled the headsail while continuing to motor at about 3000 rpm. This bumped up our speed over ground to a 7-9 kts depending on our specific heading and the somewhat variable wind velocity. That range is generally 1-2 kts greater than we achieved on Last Dance under similar circumstances. This is one feature of the catamaran we have been particularly pleased with but I've found the steering to be less user friendly under certain circumstances than a monohull like Last Dance.
Exiting the east end of Big Lagoon, we entered the lower end of Pensacola Bay near the Pensacola Pass to the Gulf, continued past the Pensacola Naval Air Station to the north and into the larger section of the Bay. Being in the less-protected water of the Bay, we experienced somewhat rougher water but not uncomfortable to the Gulls. From where we entered the Bay, it's almost a straight shot to pass underneath the Pensacola Beach Bridge and enter Santa Rosa Sound. Being fairly narrow, the waters of the Sound were comparatively calm in spite of the somewhat breezy conditions. Boat speeds actually increased several tenths of a kt under these conditions because we were no longer busting waves. Unfortunately, we had to dowse the headsail substantially before we reached Navarre because the bearings of the ICW segments varied significantly along our easterly heading making sail and boat handling tedious.
These are very familiar waters to us, so we take them somewhat for granted but when viewed afresh they are quite special. We really have to reflect on occasion on how we are blessed to have access to such amazing and accessible cruising grounds. Underway, Gerry and I share helmsman responsibilities generally changing out on an hourly basis. For docking maneuvers, I defer to Gerry at the helm while I prepare the docking lines and fenders. Jean always comes on deck to assist with docking-a process that is normally quite straightforward but can become complicated by current and wind directions and speed. Sometimes we manage awkwardly but, in the end, we are always successful!
Back to our progress in Santa Rosa Sound, we continued without incident under the bridge at Navarre, through the Narrows at Fort Walton and under the Brooks Bridge into the west reaches of Choctawhatchee Bay. At that point, it was only 5 nm or so to the north channel of Destin Pass which we followed the Channel to the south, ultimately making our way under the Destin Pass Bridge and then into Destin Harbor- our anchorage for the night. Gerry maneuvered the boat to an ideal anchorage location among other vessels on anchor while I deployed and set the anchor. Secured for the night, we broke out the propane grill and grilled four beautiful steak filets for dinner which were served by the Gulls with mashed potatoes and a nice garden salad. The filets were larger than expected, so the leftover meat was served in a warm steak salad the following day for lunch.
The Navarre, Brooks and Destin Pass bridge passages are always a little frightening because the clearances can approach 48' or so under high tide conditions. We specifically selected our Gemini catamaran to ensure safe passage beneath these bridges. However, with a mast height above water of some 46'-47', the passages always seem like- and are- a tight squeeze.
We spent a calm night on anchor in the well protected Destin Harbor although one of the night clubs on the nearby shore held forth with rather loud music to about 2 am. I was not happy the next morning when I learned that we had a problem with the windlass, so I had to weigh anchor the old fashioned way- by person power.
We were not in a particular hurry to get underway for our passage to Panama City but managed to get away by 830 am or so. Conditions in the Gulf were not favorable, which dictated a northerly passage of the North Channel into Choctawhatchee Bay, an easterly passage of the length of the Bay and then into what we term the "ditch" which ultimately joins West Bay Creek shortly before emptying into West Bay. In the Bay, we follow a more or less clockwise course beginning in an easterly direction and ending in a southerly direction as we approach the Hathaway Bridge marking the entrance to St Andrews Bay. The Panama City Marina, our mooring for the night, is located on the northern shore of St Andrews Bay only several nm for the Bridge. We've stayed at this Marina numerous times in the past and have always been pleased with the accommodations and the staff.
As we entered West Bay, we noticed a sailboat several hundred yards ahead of us but obviously on the same track. We were "motor sailing" with our main sail up but under power. Under these circumstances, the sail helps to increase boat speed. The other sailboat, a J33 we learned later, had up their main and headsail. As we began to gain on this boat, they obviously saw this and began to trim their sails to achieve maximum speed. At that time, we weren't sure if they knew we were motoring or not but suddenly it became a "race of sorts." The distance between the boats remained essentially constant for considerable period of time but with some sail trim on our part we slowly began to close the gap and ultimately passed them at which time I thing they finally realized we were "cheating" and gave up the "race of sorts" altogether. Even though it was not a fair and true boat for boat race, it was still a lot of fun. Gerry and I would have loved to have been able to "tune-into" the conversation on that boat.
"Race" over we proceeded to the Panama City Marina, stopping for fueling and holding tank pump out before proceeding to our mooring for the night- secure and tranquil.- RKS