Mardi Gras Celebrations in Panama City Beach


 Saturday before the rain began we had the opportunity to take the Bay Trolley from Panama City to Panama City Beach.  To our surprise they had a whole day of Mardi Gras events planned.  The Park Pier was very quiet early on but as the afternoon approached hundreds joined us for the festivities.



Tootsie's at Panama City Beach? Really? That's just not right.


Many pooches were dressed up for the parade later in the day.



There were several stages throughout the complex with live entertainment throughout the afternoon. We really enjoyed Aaron Neville's performance at the outdoor amphitheater.




Just can't get rid of that yellow flag!


Or the coat.....


On the beach again with shoes on.

Sunday we Ubered to another church to pray for BETTER weather.  We arrived here on Thursday and as it looks right now, we won't leave until Wednesday!

If things go as planned, we'll travel to Apalachicola on Wednesday (about 60 miles). Then on Thursday we would hope to move to Carrabelle (a short trip of about 30 miles). There we will take on fuel and prepare the boat for our longest (and first true off shore) leg of our trip so far. We will cross the Gulf of Mexico from Carrabelle to Tarpon Springs (about 170 miles). At 7 knots, the trip will take 22-24 hours depending on wind and current (and nothing going wrong!). We'll try to leave during high tide in Carrabelle and arrive on a rising tide in Tarpon Springs (probably leave around 2pm on Friday next week and hope to arrive between noon and 2 pm on Saturday). Needless to say, we're a little nervous and are searching for another "buddy boat" to make the crossing with us.

At the moment, there are at least 4 other boats waiting in Apalachicola for better weather to make their crossing. They may or may not still be there when we get to Apalachicola. In any event, we are waiting for off shore conditions with light winds and seas that are predicted to be less than 2 feet (less than one foot would be a dream).

Obviously, this leg will involve an overnight passage. Second Wave has radar, a chartplotter, autopilot, Sonar, a VHF radio, and AIS (an identification system that describes to other boats having AIS the name of your vessel and other specific details). In other words, we're a good buddy boat for someone without those systems to tag along with for such a crossing.

Brent and I will probably take shifts for the overnight part of the trip (maybe a 4 hour rotation?). We'll likely just sleep in the flybridge immediately behind the helm so that we are readily accessible to each other if it becomes necessary. Second Wave also has a full lower helm. So, if the weather gets really nasty or the seas really rough, we could navigate from below. But, if we're patient and don't take unnecessary chances, this shouldn't be the case.

This is a picture of "The" coffee club that I spoke of on my last post.


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