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The decorating committee did an outstanding job of fixing up the tiki hut. The New Years Eve party turn out great ... as well as the weather. Warm and not too breezy!
The fire pit and music provided by Joe (boat Snow Goose) was very nice. Everybody had a great time and most of us actually stayed up until midnight!
Everybody brought a dish ... mostly appetizers and deserts ... and of course delicious.
Directly behind the boats in the marina are the hotel and condo's tiki huts where we held our Christmas dinner. It was a pitch-in and my-oh-my the was food delicious!
It suddenly was apparent to us that not only are boaters great people, but they are also great chefs. Talk about gourmet ... we had the traditional ham (two flavors) and turkey. Also mac & cheese with lobster, pickled shrimp, scallops (in something I can't spell) grilled asparagus, several potato dishes, key lime pie ... and a bunch of other food we didn't have room to sample. Hats off to all of the chefs!! Now its nap time.
Joyce standing next to our boaters "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree. This is where we spent our evening happy hours enjoying the company of our boating community. As you can see, we are having a "white" Christmas this year ... actually every year; the sand never melts:-)
Tonight we enjoyed a great dinner aboard Ragtime. Turkey with all the trimmings. Above, Sue, Joyce, Reesie (spl?), Frank and Bob on upper deck of Ragtime. We had a wonderful time swapping stories and laughing until our sides hurt ... a big thanks to Sue and Bob for hosting this wonderful evening!
Above; top of someone's head and Christmas decorated boats in background ... gonna have to fire the photographer.
Larry and Monica's oldest son, Matt, paid us a visit today. Matt bought a 48 foot Egg Harbor Sport Fishing boat and has it in Marathon for repairs/upgrades. It is going to be a project, but a very solid boat that will make a great cruising/fishing vessel. Good luck and happy cruising to Matt and Marcie! Hey Matt ... don't forget ... tomorrow, cocktails at 5 and dinner afterwards!
Regressing a bit. Friends Nancy and George aboard Jenna Star took pictures of Joysea as we came into the Banana Bay Marina when completing the loop.
We left this lovely anchorage this morning around 8:30am and arrived at Banana Bay around 1:45pm ... to a welcome home party (Champaign and all) organized by Pat & George. Thanks a bunch you guys!
It was great to see all of our Banana Bay friends again. 2011 has been a very significant year for us. Celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary, our 70 year birthdays, and completing the loop ... how blessed we have been.
Left our Marco Island anchorage at 6:45am and arrived at our anchorage in Little Shark River (Everglades) around 2:15pm. We almost didn't go. After we got to Capri pass (i.e. exiting Marco Island) we encountered 3 and 4 foot seas ... not a good thing. Captain Dave said that we would go a little further and if things didn't improve we would go back to our anchorage and wait. Seas began to improve 15 minutes later ... and kept getting better ... down to 1ft waves pushing us south ... how nice the ride turned out!
To the left Bernie and Joycie point Joysea towards the Everglades. Our destination was 32 nautical miles away from the point where the picture was snapped, ... nothing to look at but water in all directions. Above Dave prepares the grill for a cook-out in the Everglades. Talk about contrasting anchorages, once again. We went from the Ritz to the Wild. Should be a quiet night unless the alligators, wild boar, and other wild critters are partying tonight.
Next stop Marathon!!!! Joysea will cross her wake tomorrow!
We decided to head south today to take advantage of a cruising window. We made it to Marco Island and are in a nice anchorage in Smokehouse Bay, surrounded by nice homes and condos. We may be here awhile because the Gulf is going to turn nasty. Not a bad place to get stranded. We are going to take the dingy to shore to look around ... more later.
Shopping update: We took the dingy to Winn Dixie's dock ... what a nice shopping area! They have many, many stores and shops. Dave bought a pair of sandals and saved $56. Early birthday present! Tomorrow Joyce want to go to Bells and shop. Above Joycie and Joysea (background) as we return from shopping.
We had a great traditional Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. Above Chef Judy and son Jeff carving the turkey. At right, time to give thanks and enjoy the wonderful food. Seated are Judy, Joyce, Jeff, Jonathon, Stephanie and James ... soon to be seated Dave.
Today we will be leaving for an anchorage south of Ft. Myers. Skipper Bob has us a little confused on the next stop ... Captain George and Admiral Pat, we will probably be giving you a call again:-)
Above is the Sunshine Skyway bridge in Tampa Bay. 
Today, Sunday we went to church and then took a walk over a highway bridge, for nothing better to do while waiting on an opportunity to cross the Gulf (in the far background). All along we are thinking perhaps Monday or Tuesday. Boy were we ever wrong! Sunday afternoon we were told it was a go, and everybody was leaving pronto. One half hour later we had Joysea ready to go (2:30pm) and headed out.
We didn't see but one other boat, Atlantis, with George and Rebecca aboard. We were ahead of them by 3-4 miles, but communicated the whole trip with them by radio ... it was a nice feeling knowing they were around. We arrived at our anchorage in Mandaley Channel around 1pm Monday ... talk about a long day! The waves were 2-3 ft and a little choppy, but not that uncomfortable. It was an awesome site cruising the Gulf at night ... talk about a view of the stars! Above Dave goes down to turn on the navigation lights and prepares for a long cruise.
Dead tired ... good night all.
Tomorrow we will go to the The Moorings Marina in Carrabelle ... and wait for a weather window to cross the Gulf.
We left marina this morning around 7:45am. It was a little windy at first but became very nice later. We arrived at our anchorage close to Destin, FL around 2pm. It is sooo nice to be back in Florida! It was good to see the pelicans and dolphins. One dolphin really treated us to a show. While we were cruising on the upper helm, we kept hearing a smacking noise ... like someone doing a belly buster ... and that is exactly what it was ... only it was this dolphin who we didn't think was ever going to stop showing off.
Tomorrow we head for a marina in Panama City (Panama City Beach Lighthouse).
Below isn't snow but the white dunes near Dustin ... how beautiful!
Larry and Monica McCoy with grandson Riley met us for cocktails on Joysea (Riley's 10 years old ... I won't tell) then to a restaurant for dinner. Thanks for the treat Larry and Monica!
Pensacola Yacht Club above. Very nice facility, but we were "rockin and rollin" all night long.
We left anchorage early this morning. The bridge that was suppose to be open wasn't, so we waited an hour or so for it to open. All in all it was a pleasant cruise. Above we follow a string of boats through the shipping channel and into Mobil Bay.
Once in Mobile Bay we turned east at marker 72 and proceeded 10 miles to Eastern Shore Marine marina. Long day but we are closing in on Florida. Sunset at the marina was beautiful (above) but it isn't a Marathon sunset! Staying here two days to get caught up on laundry, email, etc. The town we are near is Fairhope, AL and is suppose to be very nice ... will post something about it later.
Yesterday we stayed at Bobby's Fishing camp. It is called that because it certainly isn't a marina. You tie off at the dock and raft up to other boats because the dock only accommodates 4 or 5 boats. Notice above the first line of 3 boats rafted together with the second line being Bavarian Cream and Joysea. Now for the good part ... they charge $1.50/ft ... where many nice/real marinas charge $1/ft. We challenged the price and were told they now provide electricity (limited) and need to recover costs ... never mind 1 hose for water, no restrooms and no showers. Many comments/clichés' could be made here about the "facilities" ... you know them, so pick one!
The weather was okay so we left "camp" and found a nice anchorage in the Alabama River Cut Off. It rained for awhile and turned cooler. Today we found out that the bridge that is closed for repairs remains closed. We will stay at this anchorage today and tonight in hopes that we will get a "green light" tomorrow. Above, Bavarian Cream and Once Around anchored ahead of Joysea. Cloudy, windy and cold today .... burrr .... may have to run generator more today to keep warm. Of course we have no Internet or phone service, so you will receive this update after-the-fact.
We left marina around 6:15am, through 1 lock and 71 miles we are now rafted up to Bavarian Cream in Bashi Creek. A tiny anchorage with little room to maneuver. Tomorrow we have a short cruise to Bobby's Fishing camp. Depending on weather we may stay there two days, which puts us a day behind where we want to be.
Above left, Jane wins the first cocktail award ... which happens to be a Bloody Mary ... way to go Jane! Above Larry check to see if Joysea and Bavarian Cream are getting along okay ... first raft up for them.
Dixie, Joyce and Jane waiting for courtesy car and then off to .... Wal-Mart!!
We left our anchorage around 8:30 and arrived at the Demopolis Yacht Basin fuel dock around 3:15pm. We had to wait for fog to lift, but it was a great cruise with one easy (no wind) lock through.
The pictures above are the white cliffs at Epes. Talk about knock-out beautiful! It was breath taking! Bavarian Cream is in the lead enjoying the view.
This may be the last update for several days. Only 1 marina for the next 200 miles.
Left marina around 7:50am and went straight to lock with no wait. Joysea struggled a bit because it was windy. We made it through two locks and anchored at Sumter Recreational Area in a small pond that doesn't hold many boats. Above our neighbor and friends Larry and Jane enjoy happy hour on upper deck of Bavarian Cream
Above other boats in our small anchorage. Tomorrow we head for Demopolis Yacht Basin where we have reserved a slip. It should be an easier day, one lock and 50 miles.
Yesterday we took the courtesy van into the town of Columbus, MS. The town has many historical homes like the one above. It also has a quaint downtown shopping area ... something Joyce and Jane enjoyed. Later that evening Joyce and Dave had Jane and Larry over for "Asian Salmon" complete with pesto pasta ... yum! Tonight we plan to go to a reportedly great restaurant in Columbus to celebrate Larry and Jane's wedding anniversary. Tomorrow we leave for an anchorage 70+ miles from here ... with two locks to navigate ... it will be a long day. Blog may not get updated for a couple of days.
Joyce stands on the front porch of Tennessee Williams home which is now the welcoming center for Columbus.
Short trip today. We left around 8:30am and arrived at Columbus Marina around 12 noon. The picture above is taken from Joysea's upper deck as she looks out at a yacht twice her size ... but Joysea says, look who has the undercover slip! We will be here 3 days and will help Jane and Larry celebrate their wedding anniversary on Thursday. We plan to have dinner out tonight and tomorrow we will see the sights of Columbus, MS.
Last night Lace, Dick, Dave and Joyce were treated to a fabulous Italian dinner created by chefs Larry and Jane ... talk about good food! We celebrated Halloween in fine fashion ... picture of our party coming soon.