Days 199-209- November 1-12 Pensacola, FL to Two George's Marina, Shalimar, FL

 DAY 199 to 208

November 1-11
After a hiatus at the Navy Base in Pensacola, I moved the boat across a very lumpy and wet Pensacola Bay to the downtown area called Palafox.  This is a pretty chi-chi section of town with lots of sidewalk restaurant seating, stock brokers and specialty medical offices.  So, you can have a great meal, visit your gastro doc and then see your broker to pay the bill.  One stop shopping at its best.


Obviously Paul was here at the wrong time, no horses tied up.

Two days I was here.  This guy was still screwing in that sign.

Palafox was, and still is, the seaport for Pensacola. 
These two vintage tugs are still making a living here.  
The big, black behemoth behind the red tug is the SGT William Button, a US Marine Corp Prepositioning ship.  These ships are typically loaded out with all the equipment the Marines need to take a fight to an enemy.  Owned by the Navy and operated by the Military Sealift Command, they are civilian operated and all named for Medal of Honor winners.

 DAY 209

Cheryl is back. Let's move this boat!!
We traveled 39.3 miles to Fort Walton Beach/Shalimar area.


The dolphins were playing in our wake.



This video gives you an idea of how hard it is to get a photo of them.


The Pensacola Bay Bridge
See one of the reasons they built a new bridge?
Look to the right support post.


Tall boats also appreciate not having to wait for the bridge to open.

There are some big homes here.

Some are REALLY big.
There are also LOTS of homes here.

What is this??

This is the down side of electronic navigation.  NOAA is no longer publishing paper charts, which had an abundance of information, easily read.  There is a huge tower here, but barely noticeable on the chart.  I was hoping that the little "I" would tell me about it.  Instead, it referred me to the US Coast Guard District of Juneau, Alaska.  Thanks a lot.


Really? What is it?
Eglin's Santa Rosa Island (SRI) tower is a 300-foot free-standing tower located on Santa Rosa Island at TA A-13B on Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. It overlooks the Eglin Gulf Test and Training Range to the south and the Eglin land ranges to the north. This unique structure provides two important capabilities which include open-air hardware-in-the-loop testing for the development of precision-guided weapons and evaluation in real-world environments; and improved line of sight and coverage for test missions in the Gulf of Mexico.

Sand dunes of Santa Rosa and Okaloosa Islands
These islands provide a break between the mainland of Florida and the Gulf.

Feels good to be back on the boat, in the warm Florida air and moving.

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