Panama City Marina - 26 March - Monday

This has been a nice stop.  We walked to the Post Office to send mail and then went looking for restaurants.  We didn't really see any that appealed to us or were within walking distance. We had Cocktail hour and dinner aboard Miss 'N Texas.  We are really enjoying our friends from Port A.

We stayed here on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 2009 with Greg and LIz.  Nothing near the marina was open on the holiday so we took a cab to  TGI Friday's. They had a special Thanksgiving Dinner which was great. We took a cab back to the boat and had cocktails...It turned out to be a fun evening...   Now how did I remember the details?  Keeping a log for the boat is a good thing

Head to Apalachicola tomorrow.

Enroute to Panama City

I thought that I would post pictures of our anxious girls.

Nissa acts as a crew member when she is awake and Osita is terribly anxious on board as you can see.

The Girls are doing extremely well on this trip.  I have to admit that I was a bit concerned about spending so much time with them in such close quarters but it is going extremely well!

March 25th - Fort Walton Beach

We stayed at the City Marina (Docks)  We had water and pump out but no electricity. It was a cool evening so turned off the generator at bedtime.
when we arrived, there were 25 or more dogs in the park with a large number of them near the dock swimming off the boat ramp there.  I think that Nissa and Osita thought they had arrived at Doggie Heaven.  Nissa even got to chase a few squirrels.
This was a nice overnight.  Head to Panama City in A.M

March 24th -Our official start of the Loop

We officially began the Loop today at 30.16.384 N and 88.02.039 W which is in the center of the Mobile Ship Channel where the GIWW crosses it.  This is where we will eventually cross our wake to complete the Loop.

From there we continued on to Gulf Shores, AL. We stayed at Homeport Marina which is behind Lulu's Restaurant (Jimmy Buffet's sister's place)..and yes, we had fried green tomatoes!!!  The entertainment was terrific! The guy was so talented. He played the guitar and his choice of songs was terrific...country, blues, pop etc.  This picture isn't great but will give you a feel for the place.

March 24th - finally, good weather!

We wound up spending another night night here...headed out to Gulf Shores this morning at 0730hrs.

What a beautiful day!

March 19th and 20th - Biloxi

Morning picture....looking out over the Back Bay in Biloxi

Ozel and John are working on the boat.  Lord only knows what they are up to but I'm sure that it will be good and make our trip more enjoyable.  As for me, the laundry is finished and the non-food shopping list is complete...will get provisions tomorrow when we head back to the boat..    Hope to leave early Thursday morning - sure hope the weather is cooperative!  Will head to Lulu's Place in Alabama (Lulu Buffet)  The Landrums on the other hand are headed to Houston on Thursday to greet their new grandson!

March 18th New Orleans to Gulfport

Miss 'N Texas is headed to Biloxi and we are headed to Gulfport.  We topped up our fuel so left later than they did.  Hope to catch up with them down the line.

This leg went smoothly until we hit the Mississippi Sound - nothing bad just wind and a very bumpy ride!

Melanie and John Landrum met us and helped us tie up at the Gulfport Yacht Club.  Very good friends - they loaded us and the girls up and took us to their beautiful home on the back bay in Biloxi. We had a great home cooked meal and an after dinner single malt....

The Girls love it here....they just run and run.  Melanie looked out the back window said that Nissa had a turtle....what a hoot!  She knew that there was something inside and was trying to figure how to get to it.  The turtle was put in a safe place once Nissa got serious about getting to it.

Houma City Marina to New Orleans - St. Patrick's Day

The marina is at the City Park with beautiful gardens and manicured lawns.

It makes walking the dogs a fun chore.

We met a couple from Port Aransas (members of the Aransas Pass Yacht Club) headed to the Bahamas on board their boat  Miss 'N Texas. We enjoyed their company on jaunts to town for lunch and dinner.

Today we headed out for New Orleans with Miss 'N Texas.  It was a much more pleasant trip than we had the last time through this area.  Although we had a few "holds" at the bridges and locks, the trip went smoothly. The locking personnell were very helpful and friendly.

We overnighted at Seabrook Harbor in New Orleans

Houma City Marina

This is really a marvelous tie up! It actually is a City Park with gardens, walkways, kiddie park etc.

We seem to be on a "bridge" theme..even though there is no comparison between our 'between the bridges tie ups" This was taken early this morning. Thought it was an interesting picture.  Will post pictures of the park later
We had pre-dinner cocktails on Miss 'n Texas from Port A before dinner.. had dinner at Milano's
Nice evening...head to New Orleans tomorrow (if fog not too bad)

Morgan City Railroad Lift Bridge

This is what you don't want to see as you get ready to leave the dock!

Bridge down until Noon!!!  Somehow missed that one.
Think we can make Houma though....only about 40 miles..

Neat Picture.....Morgan City Pleasure Dock

Looking off the stern this morning!  Thought this would make a great picture and it did.

Morgan City Pleasure Dock

Really, that is the name of where we are.

Intracoastal City, LA

We stayed at  Shell Morgan  Landing last night.  Good price on fuel and a somewhat protected tie-up.  Got a little rough a couple of times overnight.

Onward to Morgan City in the morning..

Catch up time

Haven't been able to post since we left Lake Charles.  Didn't have wifi coverage so will attempt to rehash.  We left Lake Charles and headed to the Mermentau River where we anchored out for the night.  It was a great anchorage except for the mosquitos.  The Leon really saved the day!!!

Welcome aboard Leon!

We met Harvey Kuttner, M/V Manzanita, here at the Marina in Lake Charles. He came by today with a gift for the boat. It is a handheld Electronic Bug Zapper and has been named "the Leon" in honor of the gentleman that introduced the apparatus to Harvey and friends  I'm sure that "Leon" is going to get a good workout as we continue our travel across Louisiana and beyond!

We are planning to leave at daylight tomorrow and make the run to Intracoastal City - will be a long day, 90+ miles, but with the uncertain weather don't want to anchor out. We have really enjoyed our stay here at BowTie and plan to stop on our return.

Sharing Marina with the Coast Guard

Had pictures of our neighbors on FaceBook but not on the blog so added today.  Still raining.  One of the USCG Crafts went out a little while ago with their big gun in place.  One of the duties of this station is to escort ships up the River to their destination.

Lake Charles, LA.

Glad we stayed here - We had quite a thunderstorm around 5AM. Spectacular lightning. Not as scary as when we had a big mast on our deck. Weather predicted to be bad through the weekend. We will stay put until then. Getting a lot of things done on boat. So not. wasted time.

Made it to Bow Tie Marina - Lake Charles, LA

Had a smooth trip today...other than the wind...Great stop.  Very small. We are the only transient. Very clean and extremely friendly!!!  USCG Station on Marina property so we are well guarded.  Pictures tomorrow maybe since thunder storms expected.

The Shrimp boat in Adams Bayou that we tied up to.

Adams Bayou near Port Arthur

We set our anchor in the Bayou where the Guidebook suggested and while we waited to be sure we were secure, a man in a small boat stopped and said that he didn't think that we should anchor there since the tugs come down the Bayou to a store for provisions. He said that it had been a good anchorage before the provisioning store opened. (The man In the boat was a Tug Captain)
He suggested that we tie up next to an old shrimp boat, which we did. Had a good night except for the great "mosquito war" The inside of the boat was strewn with mosquito carcasses

Head to Galveston this morning,

Charts and guidebooks are at the ready on the divan in the main cabin - now where to stow them until we need them?

Ozel on Freya in Kemah -back in the water, finally!

Freya is back in the water!

We spent yesterday and today stowing all the things that we have brought onboard and purchasing last minute things.  All that is left is to purchase perishable items Sunday before we head to Galveston.  There is no electricity at the dock - therefore no fridge.  Moved take off until Sunday so that we can go to Jakob's first baseball game of the season - actually a scrimmage - opening day.