We LOVED Fort McRee, it was so beautiful. Listening and watching the planes go by was so much fun. But, it was time to move on to the next destination. Mike started the engines and Jen pulled up the anchor. Mike got us out on the anchorage, and started his work day. Today was the first day the girls drove the entire time. Jen took first shift, and did great. Then we let auto pilot take over for a while. It was the perfect day. Dolphins were splashing and playing in our wake and swimming with the boat in the front. At one point we had about 6 dolphins with us, it was amazing watching these majestic animals.

We made it to Fort Walton Beach, and pulled into our slip with no issues. Mike has gotten so good at docking the boat. After hooking up to shore power, Mike went back to work and his “lunch break” was now over.

Jen and Kelly went for a walk and found a cute flea market, De France Antiques. There was a cool map that you could put a pin in to show where you were from. We placed our pins, in Texas and got fudge Raspberry Donut and Carmel Nut… very yummy!

Jen made pasta with sausage, peppers, and onions for dinner… good as always.

Last night we all slept with our ears open as we listened for our anchor alarm. It was a little windy last night and Mike was worried we were going to drift. But we didn’t… guess maybe we should learn to trust our anchor and our anchoring skills.

Mike helped the girls put the dingy in the water, which went very smoothly. Mike gave the girls a quick lesson and started the motor since they weren’t strong enough to do so (see video below) and went back to work.

Jen was the captain of the dingy. There were a few other boats anchored out, so we went to say hi. We met the boat ‘Imagine’ today well cruising around. They left from South Carolina, and have a beautiful dog on board with them. She was so well behaved, compared to our crazy puppies who are still learning.

We also got to see our friends on ‘New Adventure’ again, as they arrived in the morning. It has been nice seeing some of the same looper boats again as we continue in our travels.

Well cruising around, Jen was slowly getting the hang of driving the dingy… until she found shallow water. Her and Kelly got a little stuck and had to get out the paddles. Mike saw them out the window, and just laughed as he saw them struggling. Eventually after lots of laughter, the girls made it back to the boat safely.

Jen made sandwiches for lunch. Mike started the motor back up so the girls could take their lunch to the beach. Well gone, he left his sandwich on the table next to his computer… when he got back it was gone! Between our 3 crazy dogs they ate the whole thing leaving nothing but the lettuce behind!! Poor Mike.

The girls loved watching the planes go by as we were anchored right next to the Pensacola Naval Air Station. They were so loud, and flew by so close.

The Wishes crew got the dingy back on the boat, with no issues. Jen made pasta with saussage, peppers, and onions…Yum! We played a jelly bean flavor guessing game. There was no wind, and everyone went to sleep trusting the anchor.

Got fuel and a pump out at Lulu’s. While at the dock, we met a nice couple on ‘New Adventure’. They began their journey from Kentucky. We exchanged boat cards, untied our ropes and waved goodbye to Lulu’s Homeport Marina. We loved staying there, the people were friendly and the marina was quiet. We highly recommend staying there.

Kelly did all the driving today, she did great. The ICW zig zags and she learned how to aim at the corners to make the turns with oncoming boats. It took three hours to get to Fort McRee Anchorage in Pensacola, Florida. It was a little windy, but we had no issues anchoring.

We still don’t fully trust our anchor, as we still check our surroundings and Raymarine unit often.

We got caught up on Sailing Zatara, which is our favorite YouTube channel. They are a family from Texas who sails around the world and are documenting their journey.

When it comes time for bed, Harley sleeps with Jen in her bed and the puppies sleep with Mike and Kelly on the floor with lots of blankets and cozy beds. Every night Bonnie hangs out by Jen’s room hopeful for a sleepover…..maybe someday.

The day started at 8, Jen took the dogs out on the back deck to go potty. They have been slowly getting better at using the fake grass and fire hydrant. Having two boy dogs on board it was important for us to provide them with something they could lift a leg on to pee…. oh the joys of having boys.

Mike made english muffin breakfast sandwiches, they were very yummy. After breakfast, Mike and Kelly did a little trip planning, which included trying to find a place to leave the boat during Christmas. We are planning on driving back to Texas for about 2 weeks, and are so excited to see Michael. We miss him tons.

Jen went to take nap, and took the dogs to lay down with her. The boys settled right down, well Bonnie did not. She is so full of energy, and has trouble settling down sometimes. All she wanted to do was play, she tried to bite Harley’s ears and Teddy’s tail. After they turned her down enough times, she tried to pull on Jen’s hair. Shortly after, she got banished. Even after her banishment to the galley, she still didn’t settle down.

We decided to walk and get ice cream, it was about a 3 mile round trip walk and totally worth it!! We went to Cowbell Rolled Ice Cream. The husband and wife that own the business are really nice. It was fun watching them make the ice cream from scratch.

After Ice Cream, we did a load of laundry as we will not have access to laundry facilities for the next 2 weeks. We are leaving Lulu’s in the morning and going to Fort McRee anchorage for 2 nights.

We headed over to Lulu’s for the last night of the Song Writers Fest, we have really enjoyed getting to listen to their stories and listen to their music. Called it an early night, and was in bed by 9.

Jen spent another day with her high school pal, they went to the beach and saw stingrays playing in the water. They would swim in waves before they would crash on the beach. Some would jump out of the water and flip around. After the beach they went to dinner at Boshamps Seafood and Oyster House… highly recommend, it was very good!

Mike spent the day working.

After work Mike and Kelly went to Lulu’s and sat at the bar. They ate nachos and listened to more songwriters from the festival.

Today Jen spent the day with her friend from when we lived in Illinois. They went to high school together for 1 year, and have been friends since then. They went to the beach and spent the day in Destin.

Mike put in another productive 8 hour work day.

Kelly spent sometime working on updating the website.

It was a slow and quiet day, which was nice after some of the busy ones we’ve had.

Today was the first sleep in day, except for Mike who has been back to work since Monday. We all had a goodnight sleep and are starting to feel back to normal after long cruising days.

Kelly and Jen planned our next stops to Carrabelle through the rest of November (2.5 weeks). It’s difficult to plan stops along the route because there is so much variability. Weather plays a big role. It isn’t easy to know when and where we will make it to our next stop. Marina availability fills up fast. Location requires planning for things to do, shopping and easy access. Hopefully we will develop a process and it will be more efficient over time. Right now, we spend hours looking at Navionics, Waterway Guide and Google maps.

Jen and Kelly also spent part of day cleaning the salon, galley, cabins and heads! We are trying to use proper boat language but some words don’t flow easily. Head is one of them. We don’t associate a head with a toilet!

The Naval History and Heritage Command says, “”Head” in a nautical sense referring to the bow or fore part of a ship dates to 1485. The ship’s toilet was typically placed at the head of the ship near the base of the bowsprit, where splashing water served to naturally clean the toilet area.” …..Maybe knowing the origin of the name will help us use the term. Ha.

Jen made bruschetta for lunch… so yummy!

A big hero’s thank you goes to Jen today. She rescued Teddy from 65 degree waters! Jen and Mike took Teddy and Harley for a walk. Teddy wasn’t paying attention and walked off the dock. While dropping 3 feet, he was still walking. Jen’s swim coaching experience kicked in and she quickly went into action. She kicked off her shoes and jacket and jumped in. The marina didn’t have swim ladders around so Jen swam to edge to hand Teddy off to Mike and swam about 50 yards to our boat. Jen’s scraped hero injuries are her badge of honor.

Kelly had to quickly finishing bathing Bonnie and bathed Teddy. Bonnie sat cold and wet while she bathed Teddy and blew dried them both after. Kelly put sweatshirts on them both and wrapped them up in blankets. Brrr. Mike helped Jen with a towel and Southerly push off for their next adventure. Whew!!!

Later, Teddy snuggled up to Jen and licked her face to say thank you for saving him.

The rest of the day was laundry and moving our boat into Southerly’s boat slip (free squatting!).

We also met some new friends on a beautiful Grand Banks, “Unicorn” on the loop. They gave us some tips on making an anchor buoy ball.

Once again, we went to bed at boaters midnight!!

Mornings start early for boaters. Mike and Tim (Southerly) went to Home Depot at 7am. We needed a bracket to fix one of the steps leading to the flybridge. They were back in time to help Cathy and James (C Marie) push off for their next adventure. We hope to see C Marie again on the loop. We really enjoyed spending time with them.

Tim and Trish took Jen and Kelly to Publix and showed us routes for riding our bikes.

A few hours later, we all drove to a famous restaurant/bar owned by Kenny Chesney, “Flora-Bama” and listened to more songwriters perform. We also took advantage of some quick sunset pictures on the beach. Btw – The white sand is amazing.

Tim and Trish then took us to another famous restaurant, “Acme Oyster House”. We loved it! We are big foodies and loved it. We had char-grilled oysters, crab cakes, gumbo and seafood salad. Jen and Mike tried a house special – oyster shooters. It is oyster in a shot glass with vodka and tabasco sauce!

Another early night.

Mike was up when the sun started lighting up the sky. He decided to let his girls sleep, pulled out of the docks and and we were on our way. Great job Mike! It was another windy and cold day. Jen drove from the inside. While the waters were rough, it was open seas and little traffic. The Mississippi Sound and through Mobile Bay were rocking and rolling. Again, the dogs were sea sick.

When we arrived at Homeport Marina and Lulu’s restaurant, we were greeted by our friends on another Grand Banks, “Southerly”. They joined us for dinner along with our friends on C Marie. It was so nice to see our friends (Tim, Trish, James and Cathy). We enjoyed music from the Frank Brown International Songwriters’ Festival. Over 200, song writers are performing at local Florida/Alabama border establishments and telling their stories about their songs.

We called it early night and was in bed by 9:30…. It’s call the boaters midnight.