Princess Aboard: Dauphin Island to Fort McRae

This part of the voyage was fairly uneventful. I was only going to be traveling about 30 nautical miles. When I woke up, the winds were still blowing 30 knots. As a single handed sailor with a manual windlass, this is going to pose an issue.

The winds are going to make the anchorage I am in even smaller. I am going to have to be quick and get the anchor all the way up before I drift into something. Joy, this is going to be fun. (Notice high levels of sarcasm here)

Now as you know there is always more than one problem that pops its little head up when you are trying to do something. Count on it. The second I start raising the anchor chain I see that it is coated in this mud that could be easier described by saying that it was stickier than super glue. It would have been easier chipping concrete off with a q-tip than trying to get this stuff off. It was nasty. I did not have time for this. I determined that I would just have to was out the anchor locker later and endure the stinky mud smell down below. I cranked and cranked. The chain was extra heavy because of the mud. I finally got it up and ran to the helm and got underway.

Ultimately this trip was uneventful. I pulled into Lulus, just so that I could give one of my best friends a hard time. Since his help sailed right past it and refused to stop and let him eat there. I enjoyed Lulus, it was much bigger than I thought it would be.

I headed off about 4 in the afternoon. I made it to Wolf Bay just before dark and dropped the anchor out in the middle of the bay. I was alone and secluded. I watched a beautiful sunset, and nestle into the boat for the evening. I only have 15 miles to go to reach the anchorage I have been dreaming about in Pensacola.

The next morning I wake up to dolphins. They are amazing. It doesn’t really get any better than this. This is what it is all about.

I hoist the anchor and get moving. This is the location where you can watch the water go from muddy brown to a clear emerald green. It is pretty amazing. When you leave Texas, Pensacola is the first place that you can say you have really started cruising.