We checked the weather forecast for Sunday and it looked like the rain should be clear of us by the time we leave and stay ahead of us for the day, this would prove to be wrong. We left Sunday morning to cloudy skies, but no rain. My destination was Bluewater Bay Marina in Niceville, FL. I plan to have dinner with my sister and brother-in-law on Sunday night (they live in Niceville). The crew of The Lower Place was planning to stop at the free dock in Ft. Walton. I knew I would have to catch a few lucky breaks to make Niceville, but I thought I could do it.
Let the calculations begin. Before we got to Orange Beach (on the AL-FL border), the wind started blowing on the nose of the boat and my speed was below the average speed I needed to make Niceville. Let the re-calculations begin. Shortly after that, the wind died down, but it started raining. We were on a falling tide, so the speed picked up. And then we started across Pensacola Ship Chanel, where we (The Lower Place and Lesson Plan) started pushing against the tide, more calculations.
Around 1:30, we had 33 miles to go to Niceville and we were making about 7.1 MPH. I finally decided that I could not make it to Niceville before dark. So, I asked Carol if she and Steve could meet me at the Ft. Walton free dock. She was agreeable. Now, to start making those arrangements. Called Charlie on the Lower Place and told him that I would be staying at Ft. Walton, if there was room. He called me back a little later and said that he called the FT. Walton PD and made “reservations” for both of us at the dock. He said if nothing else, I could raft up with him. Let’s hope there is room.
Soon, I saw a boat showing up on the AIS, Band Wagon II. I knew this boat and knew he was a looper. He traveled with another boat (Wine Speed), but it didn’t have an AIS unit on it. Hmmmm, I wonder if they are heading to Ft. Walton. They were slowly gaining on me, 8 MPH to 7.3 MPH. I apologized to Gennie and bumped the throttle up a couple of hundred more RPMs. There not going to steal my place………..
The 200 extra RPMS cut the closing rate to a little less than 1/2 MPH, but they were still gaining on me. I estimated they would pass me just before the dock. For some reason the Pod-racing scene from Star Wars 1 came to mind, Anakin Skywalker against Sebulba. I would race to the end and tactics would get me to the dock before them. I kept an eye on the boats behind me as the time went on. And just like young Skywalker, I was victorious (but, unlike little Anakin, I will not be going to the dark side).
Ok the truth is, Wine Speed and Band Wagon stopped and anchored just as they were getting close to me. I think they saw defeat in their future.
Well even though we were told there was only one other boat at the doc, The Lower Place took the last spot on the dock. Charlie called me up and said I should just raft up to them (that is when two boats tie themselves to each other).
Since I was rafted up to The Lower Place, on the outside, they offered to host the dinner that Steve and Carol were bringing. Just after Steve and Carol arrived, we were joined by the crew of Costal Karma. We had a great conversation and dinner. I think Steve and Carol was impressed with the space available in The Lower Place. We wrapped up the evening early as we (the boaters) were tired and Steve had a very early flight the next day.
Travel Log 2018-12-02
I won’t bore you with the details of Monday, but it was another miserable day in paradise. We had rain and wind most of the day. For the last two hours, before we got to an anchorage in Panama City ,the sky had cleared. I rafted up with The Lower Place again and we had a peaceful evening. The start of the next morning was not so great. But that is a story for later.
Travel Log 2018-12-03
Lesson Learned: You can think you can outrun a faster boat, but in the end, you can't. You just have to hope for good luck, or wear them down.
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