Traveling the Great Loop

Nov 29 – Dec. 2; Day’s run 26 miles.  

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Continuing on the Intracoastal Waterway, all-year-round homes and winter get-aways, line both sides of the canal. Boathouses, docks, and boatlifts support every type of motorized pleasure craft.

The maximum speed allowed in the canal is 25 mph. Posted signs are often seen announcing: ‘Slow Speed’, ‘Minimum Wake’, ‘No Wake’.  Apparently, Harbor Police do not use radar guns but if they suspect you of speeding, they will pull their policeboat alongside, and ask that you slow down. If your bow dips while slowing, an indication that the boat is traveling at high speeds, they will fine you.

The Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort (Northwest Panhandle of the Emerald Coast), is a massive, gated complex including shopping, restaurants, beaches, and a marina. Roads wind around golf courses and neighborhoods of houses, condos, and townhomes. We rented a golf cart, not for golfing, but to get around the miles of pathways and streets leading to villages and to the shopping complex.

Conveniently, we could park the golf cart on the dock behind our boat.  

Our departure was delayed due to an active weather system coming off the Gulf. Stalling, it poured several inches of rain into the area. Low, dense, grey clouds initiated  thunder and lightning that carried on throughout the night. Newscasts warned of possible flooding.

It’s fun to guess the origin of boat names:

But sometimes it’s hopeless