So we drive up from Ft. Walton Friday afternoon so we can attend the shrimp boil. We check in at out lovely hotel, the Port Inn, and unpack. We then decide to ride over to the marina and do some exploring because the time for the shrimp boil is fast approaching. We ride out to a jetty park adjacent to the marina and walk around looking at the boats. With just a few minutes before the shrimp boil is about to begin, we head over to the marina's conference room. Going inside we find about a half-dozen people and after introductions are told that we were the last couple they were expecting. Our thought was this was going to be a real flop. We go outside to a porch where they are boiling shrimp, grab a beer, then suddenly, as if on cue, about 30 people start to appear on the boat docks heading toward the conference room. Then we can't meet people fast enough. Shortly thereafter, someone announces it's time to eat and platters of boiled shrimp are served up. We gorged ourselves on shrimp, boiled potatoes and corn, and a really fabulous deer sausage, all the while talking to our fellow diners and updating them on our status and learning their stories. It was a real hoot! Since the shrimp boil was the only thing on the agenda for the evening, we headed back to the hotel after about two hours. We enter the hotel with some other loopers only to find out that they are located just across the hall from us. They invite us over for drinks, and we arrive, wine bottle in tow, and the evening degenerates from there. What was really wonderful about the hole evening was that everyone was bending over backwards trying to help us with our cruising plans for the loop. Close to midnight and with the wine bottle empty, we headed back to our room.
We stayed at the Port Inn in PSJ which is one of the nicer hotels. It was an old hotel/inn near the water and town center that was totally remodeled with all of the amenities. One of the things the hotel is noted for is its breakfast. Not one of those cinnamon bun and piece of fruit breakfasts, but a full breakfast with a dedicated server. We wandered down the the breakfast area the next morning to offerings of scrambled eggs, ham, bacon, two kinds of sausage, cheese grits, biscuits and sausage gravy, Belgian waffles with fruit toppings, assorted pastries and breads, fresh fruit, juices, and some of the best coffee we had tasted outside of the French Quarter. We must have forgotten how much we ate and drank the previous evening, because we really filled up with with the breakfast goodies. Off to the meeting only to be greeted with another continental style breakfast of pastries, juice and coffee. Still reeling from the hotel breakfast we opted only for small cups of coffee.
The meeting began with a presentation about the crossing from Carrabelle, FL to Tarpon Springs. This one talk was one of the main reasons we came, because the "crossing" is about 170 miles over open Gulf of Mexico waters 35-40 miles offshore in a single day, or broken up into a three-day, 200 plus mile cruise nearer to shore. We don't have much experience cruising on open waters far from land, so we discussed and anguished over this one leg often. The speaker was known to more experienced cruisers as a sort of "weather guru" who dispensed advice as to when the crossing would be most favorable. We listened intently as to whether to cross offshore in good deep water with a favorable weather window, or take the longer route with skinny water, lots of crab pots which have to be dodged, few marinas and good anchorages, tidal considerations, and 3 relatively consecutive days of good weather.
After a break we listened to another speaker talk about cruising from Tarpon Springs to the Keys. Our journey will coincide with this section only as far as Ft. Meyers, then we jump into the Okeechobee Waterway and find our way through Florida's interior to the east coast. While the talk was interesting, it's hard to follow someone else's itinerary, because everyone has their own preferences and interests when doing these trips. He did provide some interesting pointers, though, and had some really cool navigational software. Following this was a presentation by the Coast Guard and Auxiliary on navigational rules, safety and their new Rescue 21 system. We were reassured about our offshore crossing with Rescue 21 talk. Although most boat VHF radios have a range of around 25 miles, this system allows the CG to hear distress calls up to approximately 90 miles offshore. Good to know if you get in trouble. While the audience has tremendous respect and appreciation for what the Coast Guard does, the question-answer session was very pointed when discussions ensued about how some enforcement officials conduct themselves during routine boardings and inspections. We think that basically there's always someone out there ready to rain on your party and that's just the way things will always roll. After the Coasties came a talk (or pitch!) by the local Sea Tow representative who also said that they can also can hear us and will come to our aid up to about 50 miles out (now we're starting to think about major offshore runs!). The seminar finished with a quick talk about cruising to the Bahamas which is something we may try after our loop experience.
We broke for a buffet lunch at the marina's restaurant. Although we were still full from our breakfast and shrimp boil, we convinced ourselves to be hungry when platters of fried shrimp, broiled shrimp, BBQ ribs, fried catfish nuggets, smoked tuna dip, potato and green salads, and chips, crackers, and salsa were brought out. No sooner was a platter emptied than another arrived. In fact, there was so much food that Larry couldn't find room to have a beer with lunch! After lunch a senior editor from one of the major boating magazines gave an interesting talk about his experiences working 35+ years on commercial ships. We had read many of his articles and upon leaving commented about one article that dealt with cruising in the FL panhandle and our mutual love of shrimp and grits (why can't we break this food thread?)
We had planned on returning to Ft. Walton Beach after lunch to watch the Saints play the Cardinals in the playoffs. That morning, however, they announced that there was going to be a dinner at a nearby local restaurant and it would be good. Since we didn't have anything else pressing and hadn't expected the gluttonous lunch, we signed up to attend. So now we were looking for a place to watch the game when our party friends from the night before invite us to watch it with them. Seems they obtained permission to use the hotel's morning breakfast area and big screen TV to have a wine and cheese party and watch the game. So off we go, but were only able to find room for a couple of drinks (just to sociable!). The game ended with the Saints winning and about 15 minutes before the dinner began. We dined on prime rib, crusted grilled snapper, or chicken penne, salad, potato or rice, and bread pudding for dessert. After the meal a door prize drawing yielded 2 prizes (3 total) and goodbyes were said. We were looking for the food escape door and an end to this gastronomical madness when one of the couples asked us what was our biggest concern about doing the loop. We looked at each other and responded, "Trying to keep up fellow loopers when it comes to partying." The response we got was, "That's just what we do......"
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