New Orleans to Florida V

LAST LEG OF THE TRIP

Sun. 11/26
On the last stretch to home port, back to New Orleans, we experienced what probably other sailors do: a kind of bitter sweet feeling. On the one hand, we were a bit weary from the stresses of the trip and being alert 24/7.  On the other hand, we were sorry to put closure on an often exciting journey.  But we'll be off again sometime in the near future.  Winter is setting in; so, there's less in the long trips but more in terms of short weekender type jumps.

We left Barber Marina at around 8:00 a.m. and traveled the Alabama Canal (ICW) to Mobile Bay, crossing it and passing north of Dauphin Is., finally entering the Mississippi Sound (ICW).   It was still light, so we passed Petit Bois Is., part of the Mississippi barrier islands, and stopped for the night around mid-way across Horn Is., arriving roughly at around 5:00 p.m.  There we anchored around 1/2 mi. off shore.  Though light, the wind was out of the East where we had no protection. So there was plenty of rocking well into the night until the wind shifted.  Location:  30 deg. 14.227' N, 88 deg. 37.876' W

Mon. 11/27
We left Horn Is. at around 8:00 a.m. with winds pretty much on our back quarter.  SE 10-15 knots and seas 1-2 ft.  Thus we made great headway and, instead of anchoring out again at one of the Mississippi islands, we thought we'd try Rabbit Is. which is ensconced in an area at the entrance to the Rigolets, LA.  Still light, we decided to make it through the Rigolets and into Lake Pontchartrain, finally reaching home port at around 8:30 p.m.  Exhausted but safely home (for Aventura) at South Shore Marina.

SUMMARY

Itinerary:  New Orleans - Cat Is., MS - Wolf Bay on Alabama Canal - Pensacola's Palafox Marina - Destin Harbor - St. Andrew's Bay State Park - Port St. Joe Marina - Apalachicola's Scipio Marina - Carrabelle's C Quarter Marina - Oxbow on ICW back to St. Joseph's Bay - Ingram Bayou on Alabama Canal - Horn Is., MS - New Orleans

We loved seeing some of our old favorites:
- The Alabama Canal with Perdido Bay and Big Lagoon
- Ingram Bayou
- Pensacola's Palafox Marina and quaint downtown  (arts festival and all)
- Port St. Joe's Marina

We added a new favorite:
- Apalachicola

We learned new skills:
- operating the vessel throughout the night on a multi-day schedule
- fixing mechanical problems along the way (Capt. Mike, that is)
- perfecting sailing on our relatively new Cat (a work in progress)

See New Orleans to Florida I - V.  Send comments.

Looking forward to continuing our adventures on Aventura!