Log of the ELISSA II: Fort McRee Cove to NAS Pensacola Mar 20-21, 2013

03/20-21: Following some difficulties with anchor (hats off to Bonnie for her foredeck talents) we left one of the coolest little anchorages we have experienced (and we have seen a lot of them from the Chesapeake Bay, Georgian Bay and the North Channel of L. Huron and the western rivers or the Loop). Fully endorse Ft McRee as safe, protected and secure, yet within confines of Metropolitan area of Pensacola. Very short journey to destination in Bayou Grande at the Pensacola Naval air Station. Arrived 1.5 hours & 8 miles later, secured boat and declared this segment a success. I was regretting having to leave this pretty spot (day before was sunny, warmish and calm waters) until the morning progressed to gray, chilly temps and cold wind. And a land life (like go to Mobile to retrieve the truck) waited us at Pensacola. We had a wonderful escort into Bayou Grande by 4 Blue Angels in formation flying overhead (they returned March 17 from their winter California training grounds) and delighted us with a couple hours of training flights, which repeated the AM of March 21. Since our bow thrusters decided to quit working on the TomBigbee, we were a wee bit challenged docking the boat in strong winds coming from the wrong direction ( until 3 years ago I was clueless re: what bow thrusters even were…they are wonderful, when they give you that little boost in the desired direction). We were almost “there” with a bit more maneuvering and Larry appeared, grabbed the lines et voila, we were docked. He is a Gold Looper (having completed the Loop) and was a wealth of information. Bill left for Mobile with Roger (friend from Bill’s 1967-8 Burtonwood England days). A bit later, Linda, Roger’s wife, picked me up and off we went for lunch. The Guys joined us for an enjoyable prelude to our planned Burtonwood Reunion at their home in Gulf Breeze with 3 more friends Mar 22-26. Thursday March 21 was CLEAN THE BOAT DAY……was warm enough to turn the hose on and not mind getting wet as we scrubbed the decks! Up until now it was just too nippy to do more than the bare minimum. The waves crossing Mobile Bay did a pretty good job of cleaning the river stains off the fenders. That evening we hosted the Hayward Roberts for cocktails prior to having a great Shrimp and Grits dinner at the Atlas in Pensacola. Hayward had been a next-door neighbor of ours at Ft Harrison 1992-3 and it was great to share time with them. This was our last night onboard until we return following our March 26 to April 10 Indianapolis visit. The Blog should resume April 12. April 11 we will be driving the truck and a rental to a destination on the west coast of Florida, returning to Pensacola in the rental. This land transportation takes some maneuvering and LOTS of pre-planning.

Scrub-a -dub