The evening we returned from Hungry Howies, Carter decided to run the engine a while just to make sure that it was running good. As soon as he turned it on it began to knock...terribly. Another Oh Sh!t moment. Carter got the engine manual back out, read for a few minutes and then ran out telling me he would be back. Where are you going? No answer. He was a man on a mission. First he went over to see the friendly local guy Chris in the sailboat anchored next to us. Next thing I see, Carter is in the dingy heading over to shore to visit the guy called Smokey, who is a diesel mechanic. It wasn't long before all three were back on the Arc trying to figure out what was wrong. Carter and Smokey discussed several different possibilities and then decided on a plan of action. After a couple hours elbow deep in the engine, they got it running better than it has ever run before! Shew! Crisis averted! We were set to leave Steinhatchie at daylight and we were on our way back out into the Gulf by sunrise.
I don't have many pictures of this passage because...it's just water...and then more water.
Here's a shot for my family members who are not familiar with boating. These are shots of our Lowrance chart plotter and it's how we track where we're going and where we've been and how fast we are going.
Whoo Hoo! A blistering speed of 6 mph!
One bit of excitement while in the middle of the Gulf was when a pod of dolphins came to play with us!
I love dolphins!
I love dolphins!
This passage through the gulf was not so bad until the last couple of hours. The weather was slightly warmer and we were enjoying a nice smooth passage. We knew that the wind was supposed to kick up towards sunset and Carter was pushing Big Ben hard to get us thru in time but the weather report did not lie and we didn't quite get there in time. The water turned rough, a washing machine chop as Carter described it. The boat went up and down and back and forth. The panels were really given a shaking. But we powered thru and finally dropped anchor in a calm basin at Aligator Point about 11 pm. We were very tired and weary after a long day.
The end of Day 13
Thursday, March 14th
We took the morning off to catch up on emails and necessary phone calls and then set out around noon. We made our way into the bayou of the Florida panhandle in the protected waters of the GCICWW. We dropped anchor just after sunset in Lake Wimico just past Appalachacola. We plan to start out at sunrise in the morning. We are very close to our destination now. The Expo begins Sunday evening and we expect to be in Ft. Walton Beach by Saturday! Yea!
The Bayou
Capt. Carter at the helm and Radar (on patrol) LOL
People in the bayou live well!
The end of Day 14
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