Thursday 14 January 2021 Southport, FL
We were underway at 0615 from an
entirely peaceful night with no wind after sunset with just enough light to see
the buoys as we entered the channel. We
had seen evidence of storm damage (Sally) all along the waterway starting in
Orange Beach, and we kept seeing more evidence until we left the channel at
Fort Walton and moved on out into the broad Choctawhatchee Bay which in places
was glassy calm. The strongest wind we
had all day was experienced as we moored the boat at our home when the sea
breeze picked up.
The whole trip was uneventful,
and we arrived with 15 gallons in the starboard tank and 30 in the port. Starting back in Homeport Marina where we topped
off the tanks, we burned 195 gallons of gasoline going 130 miles at mostly
2400-ish RPM or 1.5 gallons per mile.
This includes near-continuous generator running, except for seven hours
while sleeping at anchor.
After we arrived home at 1300, we
spent a couple of hours getting our belongings off the boat and cleaning it up
before we told Frank we were home. He
quickly arrived, and I spent an hour or so with him going over connecting to
shore power and starting and bringing the generator online before a friend of
his showed up for a quick tour.
Frank wants to take the boat back
down our track 48 miles to Baytowne Marina near San Destin. He and a friend will show up here tomorrow
morning with about twenty gallons of gas to put into the starboard tank to ensure
we will have enough to run the ten miles to the fuel dock at Saint Andrews
Marina. I will accompany them that far
to give Frank an underway tutorial and below decks tour while his friend runs
the boat, and Mary will pick me up at the fuel dock before they depart for San
Destin where they will be met by others driving there.
We found our house very cold due
to a faulty heat pump. We have our
propane gas log and oil-filler radiator heaters running as well as the smaller
heat pump in the new addition to the house to get temperatures to the bearable
point while waiting on the repairman.
Thus, ends another delivery
encountering no undue hazards and no damage to vessel or vessel or persons.
