We sailed out around 5:30pm on Friday November 13, 2009 and headed for Ft. McRee. It was dark by the time we arrived at 8pm, but what a great night sail we had as the bay was all ours. We dropped anchor at the first available spot near the cove entrance, because all we could see were anchor lights throughout. Jody arrived about 8:30pm (after launching his powerboat about 5 minutes before) and rafted with us for the night. He forgot his sleeping bag, so he became our first overnight guest and slept in our cabin on the settee.
The next morning after breakfast, Jody, Pogo, and I went scouting for a better location to anchor.
We found a great spot to anchor Monomoy and Private Stock Too (who arrived later around noon), then took Jody’s boat to shore to setup his canopy, cooler, etc. Blake came along this trip to help out.
Afterward, Bob and Teresa (Carol’s parents) were picked up by Jody on his boat, then upon returning to Monomoy, Jody rafted up, with Ken/Sheri arriving shortly after in Private Stock Too rafting up next to Jody.
We proceeded to eat raw oysters, shrimp cocktails, and Joe Pattie’s crab dip, while sipping rum, wine, and Corona as we watched the Blue Angel’s Homecoming Air Show.
Pogo complained occasionally about the super sonic fly bys.
Blake agreed that some of them were loud.
But it was still quite a site.
There were lots of boaters out to watch.
Pogo thought it more relaxing to watch the water.
Sheri enjoyed her day.
Bob, Jody, and Ben hanging out.
Pogo found a new spot to hold down.
Ken took his dinghy for a short sail. Blake wanted to bring The Force, but we were concerned about the number of boaters expected out there, so we opted to leave The Force at the marina for the weekend.
One kid got a better view.
Ken proudly flew his flag. He has a son in the armed forces.
Sunset Saturday night.
Private Stock Too under sail on Sunday.
Other sailboats out.
Blake decided to poke a straw into a lemon and drink directly from it.
What a beautiful weekend for hanging out. We started the weekend off hanging out Friday evening at the marina. Blake did some fishing and caught about 6 fish in total, but they were all throw backs; he had fun just the same.
Saturday we sailed out with Ft. McRee as our destination. The wind was blowing between 18-22 knots, but the seas were calm, so it made for some decent sailing. Ken and Sheri were supposed to join us, but Sheri is sick with a cold, so they decided it would be best and stay behind. Conrad, Roxanne, their daughter and nephew sailed Great Escape and John motored Toppsoff to all hang out for the evening. We built a campfire and ate chili and Smores while listening to the Auburn/LSU game on the radio.
Other sailors out for the night.
Blake collected seaweed.
Friends playing football on the beach.
Waking up Sunday morning.
We cruised back around 10am, arriving to the marina around 12pm. The wind was blowing at 20kt with 1 foot seas till we rounded the tip of Navy Point, when the wind hit our nose and seas grew to 2 feet, so we dropped sails and motored the rest of the way in. It was a fun weekend.
With all of the ugly weather we’ve had recently, it has been a while since we’ve had the chance to really sail and get in an overnighter.
Finally this weekend we headed out and sailed to Ft. McRee.
We towed “The Force” with us for the weekend.
There was a regatta happening.
Blake and I cruised to shore to get his boat ready for sailing.
Blake and Ben sailing.
Ralph (Captain of s/v Nightwatch) dropped his sailing dink in and came over for a race.
Who’s winning?
Cruising back to shore.
Carol tried her hand at sailing and did really well. She had a lot of fun too!
Can you find Carol sailing in this picture?
On a previous overnighter at McRee, we met a couple named Bob and Sam with m/v Splash when they cruised in their dink over to say “hi” as we sat at anchor. Months have gone by and we ran into them again Saturday evening. We cruised over to Splash for evening cocktails after dinner and enjoyed the conversation.
It was a beautiful evening.
Pogo enjoyed her Saturday very much as she got to run around the island, play with other dogs, and swim. Unfortunately we didn’t get any photos of her fun, but Carol did get a picture of Pogo in hangover state this morning.
It was a great weekend and we look forward to many more like it as the weather calms down and the temps cool off.
We hope to make it to Pirate’s Cove on Labor Day weekend, weather pending.
We headed out to Quietwater around 7:30am to find a good spot to anchor and watch the air show.
The Coast Guard was out keeping an eye on things.
We enjoyed the show while swimming.
Jody and Logan boated out to hang with us for the show.
Jody and Logan enjoying the show.
After the show, Jody took Logan home and returned later with Chrys for dinner at Flounders.
Mark Milam and his family anchored for the show; here’s a shot of their floating marina. Shane/Renee and Sanford/Deanny showed up a bit later, but we didn’t get a picture of them all rafted during the day. We did dinghy over for a beer until Jody/Chrys showed back up for dinnertime. Our intent was to return for cocktails later that evening, but after swimming all day and the sun, we crashed after dinner.
Fat Albert did a fly by.
Stunt Pilots.
The Blue Angels flying.
July 11, 2009…
We decided that we didn’t want to be part of the craziness at Quietwater that would occur for Saturday’s show, so we pulled anchor and headed to Ft. McRee.
Photo courtesy of PNJ.com. Taken after we left the anchorage.
Photo courtesy of PNJ.com. Quite crowded and doesn’t appear safe for children to play in the water.
White Caps, Patriot, and Pyxis rafted up at sunrise as we were pulling out of Quietwater.
A blimp flew over advertising Wind Creek Casino.
Coast Guard Cutter ‘Cypres’ headed out to the Gulf.
Saturday night we were invited by fellow sailors Matt and Ruth to join them for cocktails while Blake watched Shark Tales with their son. We just met them that evening, so it was a nice treat. Their boat is the one to the left facing us with their fishing boat rafted to their sailboat.
Fellow sailors Ken and Sherie from our marina anchored up to our other side. Here’s a shot of his boat.
Blake and Pogo.
July 12, 2009…
We pulled anchor and went for a sail before heading back to the marina. The wind was very light, so we didn’t go anywhere fast, but it was a very enjoyable morning. Listening to the VHF we were quite glad we had decided not to stay at Quietwater yesterday; apparently a motor vessel overturned near Green 141 as a result of all the wake that was stirred up from all of the other powerboaters.
As we headed out this morning, Ken and Sherie pulled anchor about the same time and were close on our tail.
Pic of Pensacola’s Lighthouse this morning.
We headed South out into the Gulf for a short distance. Here’s a pic of Ken’s Private Stock Too from our stern.
Ft. Pickens
It was a great weekend and I look forward to the next one. Here’s our weekend track.
The cruise officially began on Friday the 5th, which consisted of an awesome meal prepared by the GRITSters (Gulf Regional Interstate Trailer Sailors) and the skipper’s meet.
June 6, 2009…
We pulled out of the marina around 7am and headed in a Northerly direction to take a morning pass by the Juan Sebastian de Elcano which is in port as part of Pensacola’s 450th Anniversary Celebration.
The day started out beautiful with forecast calling for clear skies and max of 8 knot wind.
After we went by the tall-ship, we turned South to head to our first destination at Redfish Point.
BEER Cruisers at anchorage…
More BEER Cruisers…
More Beer Cruisers…
The wind actually picked up to 20 knots at one point, which made for a very choppy anchorage.
It still ended up a beautiful evening as we ate our grilled steak and shrimp…
More sunset…
June 7, 2009…
We woke up around 5am, fixed coffee and breakfast, then headed out around 7am with a plan of making it to Navarre. There was virtually no wind, but we were in no hurry.
Here’s a pic of the Portofino along the way.
Sailing…
The Bay was flat…
We stopped off at Big Sabine for lunch. Carol tried her luck at fishing while Pogo enjoyed the sun.
Pogo hanging out…
Once other BEER Cruisers started passing by Big Sabine we pulled anchor and followed along.
After a bit of sailing toward Navarre, there was indication of shoaling at the entrance of the channel to Juana’s, so there was question of where we could anchor. We decided to turn around and head back to Big Sabine for the night.
Turns out there were a couple of other BEER Cruisers with the same idea.
After we set the hook, had burgers for dinner, and swam, Blake enjoyed a movie in his quarter berth.
The moon coming up was gorgeous…
June 8, 2009…
After breakfast/coffee we pulled the anchor and set sail for a bob/bake session with virtually no wind.
The sunrise was nice…
Bay was flat…
Where’s the wind?
Our view along the Intracoastal…
Still no wind…
We arrived to Quietwater around noon…
A fellow Catalina sailor ran aground at the pier, so Ben took off to see if he could help.
Carol suggested to Ben that he mention for the Catalina sailor to raise a sail for extra momentum, so that’s what Ben did. It worked.
BEER Cruisers…
We grilled chicken for dinner, then Brice and Chris drove over to the boardwalk for evening cocktails. Ben picked them up with the dink.
Carol and Pogo watching the sunset…
Sunset was gorgeous…
More sunset…
June 9, 2009…
We pulled anchor about 5am and headed back.
Nice sunrise…
We made it back to our marina about 7am, packed up a few things, and headed home.
We headed out Saturday morning around 8am and had a nice sail around Pensacola Bay.
We had a dolphin come say “hi” at one point.
After sailing all morning, we ended up anchoring at Ft. McRee. We grilled hot dogs for lunch and enjoyed cocktails. For dinner we grilled Fillet Mignon and had shrimp along with some fruity drinks.
Pogo enjoyed the view.
Saturday was a very enjoyable day. Ft. McRee was loaded with boats. At one point a sailboat on the hook swung and was too close to the rode of a power boat, so it snagged the sailboat rudder and took them some time to get it free, but there appeared to be no damage. Surprisingly, with all of the boats out there, the noise dropped to nothing around midnight, so we were able to have a pretty decent night sleep.
Sunday was a different story. We woke up around 5am to the wind already howling and by 6am it was up considerably more. We fixed coffee and ate breakfast, then checked the weather reports. Weather reports were indicating clear skies and 3-4 knot winds, which it clearly wasn’t. About 7:30am we pulled up the hook to head back. My wind gauge indicated it was already 20 knot wind and gusting to 25 knots. The weather reports still indicated about 4 knot wind. The sky was very cloudy as well. The seas averaged 3-4 foot swells with peak swells at 6 foot in the Pensacola Pass; it was average of 2 foot swells in the main bay with peaks to 4 feet. We took a lot of water over the bow from the rise and fall over the waves, which made for a rough ride back. During the course of our return trip, the wind ramped up to 25 knots with max gusts of 35 knots. This was data provided by my wind meter and by the amount of spray I was hit with, I believe the wind gauge I have aboard was accurate. The final weather report for Sunday was 22 knot wind, gusting to 25 knots, and 6 foot seas as reported by WeatherUnderground.com and WEAR3 TV, so I must have hit a couple of sweet spots to get the higher readings.
Here’s a shot as the waves were picking up.
Here’s a video before it became too rough to continue videoing due to the sea spray. Funny how photos and video never seem to quite depict how rough conditions are after the fact.
At one point during our return, our GPS lost the satellites, which it has never done before. It was out a good portion of our return trip, but we knew where we were and where we were going, so it wasn’t a big deal, but still concerning. Our SPOT track also relies on GPS satellites and we clearly lost comms with SPOT as well at one point, because of the huge gap in recorded spottings.
After a long week working on the boat, we had the chance to shove off Saturday morning and sail most of the day before anchoring at Ft. McRee overnight. A dolphin swam along side of us and gave us a great show in the early part of the day. Last night another boater failed to secure their halyard away from their mast, so it flapped in the breeze clanging all night long, which caused for a unrestful sleep. So we started off slow this morning and made it back to the marina around 1:30pm. Overall we had a great time.
There was a group of sailboats rafted up, plus many others just anchored throughout.
My brother and a friend made it out for a bit on his 1978 Sea Ray. Didn’t get any close up shots of his boat.
Our son enjoyed himself playing in the sand.
Pogo just chilled the entire time.
Here is a shot of Monomoy sitting pretty with her hook out.
This poor fella ran aground near Pensacola NAS. They had their diesel running and jib out attempting to list the boat over and power enough to get out. I don’t know how they ended up getting free, but they were gone this morning.
This weekend was absolutely beautiful. We headed out of Bayou Chico around 8:30am Saturday morning for a leisure sail to Ft. McRee. We dropped the hook around noon and played on the beach for the remainder of the day.
There were other boaters hanging out and cruising around.
There were some floating condos backed to the beach.
Jimmy Buffet on the radio and sipping the good stuff.
We carried firewood with us for roasting marshmallows on Robertson’s Island that night and enjoyed watching the dolphins.
The sky was clear with a full moon and a perfect view of the stars; Sailor Jerry’s Rum tasted extra good!
We slept in till about 6am Sunday morning, fixed breakfast, and made coffee. It was perfect.
Around 8:30am we made our leisurely way back to Chico arriving around noonish.
Welcome to s/v Monomoy's blog. This site is a journal of sorts in regards to sailing and maintaining our Catalina 27 named "Monomoy". Monomoy is a 1988 Tall-Rig with a 14hp inboard M-18 Universal Diesel.Contact the Captain at: bharris [at] RationalRealty.com
