It is a slow run to Panama City, FL through the canal. The winds are picking up and a large storm is coming in. We will not be anchoring as it is calling for 50 Mph winds from the west. We found Emerald Bay Marina had 1 available spot for us. As we trek along to the slip the dolphins make appearances at our stern and jump in front of us as we travel about 8 knts. The current becomes in our favour and we run a couple knts faster for awhile.
We entered the canal from Choctawhatchee Bay and traveled about 20 miles along the canal. Entering the West Bay the chop is getting more prevalent. The storm is still predicted for later today and full bore overnight. Tomorrow the storm is at its worst but at least we will be awake for that. We head into St. Andrews Bay and stop at St. Andrews Marina for a fuel stop and top up, along with a pumpout. Then continue throgh St. Andrews Bay to the bayou.
We stayed at the Panama City Municipal Marina in 2017 but it is gone, completely gone due to Hurricane Michael. The construction is continuing but they are a long ways off for completion. So many homes destroyed in this area as it was close to the eye, which hit City of Mexico Beach, just a few miles east of here. The trees are barren in some areas. Tops of palm trees are starting to recover.
We head up Watson Bayou to Emerald City Marina. There are great folks that just purchased this marina. It is not on Navionics but we would recommend this marina every day. The docks are in good shape but aqkwardly cut. They are working on what will work for future but for now this is one of the only marinas still in operation in Panama City. We meet up with 4 other Loopers here.
The mairna has free laundry, restrooms, showers, 50 and 30 amp power. We pull out every fender we own to get ready for the storm. It takes us the next 2 hours battening down the lines, getting the right spacing for the fenders and tying down anything on deck. Seth, the owner, then offers to drive us into town for groceries and provisions from the liquor store. It’s going to be a long night folks.
The night sets and for the next 24 hours we battle against heavy westerly winds, rain and fender positioning. We were both up for a few hours just fixing the changes of the boat from the swirly winds. In the morning the rain had passed but the winds stayed. By tonight the winds will pass and we will all come out of our boats with a sigh of relief.
This was one of the worst wind storms we have been in while on the boat. The only other one was in Tobermory, Ontario in 2015.
