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Oct. 26 – Houma, LA

By on October 27, 2014 in The Pearl
Houma City Dock

Miles to Rockport, TX – 468

“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” ―Henry David Thoreau

We had a long day filled with locks, barges and industrial lined shores. Our first lock this morning was the Industrial Lock that raised us up to the Mississippi River. Once out of the lock we cruised past New Orleans…the best view of the day. We existed the Mississippi about six miles up stream at the Harvey Lock. This lock isn’t used by commercial traffic, so there isn’t usually a wait. We found out a few days ago that it will be closed for maintenance for three weeks starting tomorrow. We lucked out…the alternate route wouldn’t have been fun. After crossing the river we had about a 58 mile cruise to Hoama.

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Oct. 25 – New Orleans, LA

By on October 26, 2014 in The Pearl
Pontchartrain Landing

Miles to Rockport, TX – 529

We usually plan our day the night before. How far we travel depends on the weather, the way we feel and in this area what anchorages or marinas are available. The choices are limited right now. Our plan was to go to an anchorage (Rabbit Island) about 25 miles from the locks we have to do to get across the Mississippi River in New Orleans. There isn’t anything else available except two small marines south of Lake Pontchartrain.

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Oct. 24 – Gulfport, MS

By on October 25, 2014 in The Pearl
Gulfport Small Craft Harbor

“Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true.” ― Leon J. Suenes
Wow…what a night. Our nice little anchorage turned into a carnival ride that lasted all night long. Wind predictions on all our weather apps called for light winds…I guess they forgot to tell the wind. Our evening was very nice, but by the time we went to bed the waves were slapping the haul and we were bouncing. The only place we could find an accurate reading was a weather station located at Fort Morgan…15 knots. It was a VERY long night. By this morning we were both ready to get moving…even if Mobile Bay was rough. It turned out to be more comfortable then the anchorage and by the time we got to the Mississippi Sound it was a very smooth ride. Another wonderful day to be on the water.

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Oct. 23 – Gulf Shores, AL

By on October 24, 2014 in The Pearl
Bon Secours Bay – Anchorage

We’ve been cruising the Florida waters for 123 days…and this morning we finally cruised into Alabama. The water around the Pensacola Inlet is beautiful, so clear and incredible colors of blue that look even better washing up on the pure white sand. Aww…if only we had a dinghy.

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Oct. 22 – Navarre, FL

By on October 23, 2014 in The Pearl
Navarre Cove – Anchorage

“The greatest discovery of any generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude.” —William James

This is going to be a wordless Wednesday…well – ALMOST. 

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Oct. 21 – Panama City, FL

By on October 22, 2014 in The Pearl
Panama City Marina

“A dream is your creative vision for your life in the future. You must break out of your current comfort zone and become comfortable with the unfamiliar and unknown.” —Denis Whitley

We moved further west today and made good time through a rural part of Florida. We had a push from the tide and we changed time zones so our day was shorter than we expected. Fuel prices are considerable lower here than anywhere else we’ve been, so it made an ideal stop for the day. After fueling up and getting docked we had time to get the boat cleaned up. After 13 days of travel is was covered in salt. Stan cleaned the outside and I did the inside…we look much better now.

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Oct. 20 – Apalachicola, FL

By on October 21, 2014 in The Pearl
Apalachicola City Wharf

“We who adventure upon the sea, however humbly, cannot but feel that we are more fortunate than ordinary people, for we have something which we cannot tell, nor they understand” -Claud Worth

We’ve been on the move for 12 days straight…the last three have been very long days, so today we slept in, had coffee on the aft deck and only traveled 26 miles. After yesterday we really needed a day to relax. We are docked at the to city wharf in Apalachicola, right in the middle of all the shops, restaurants and shrimp boats. As soon as we docked we walked over to Boss Oyster for lunch. We each had a Poor Boy…the best shrimp and oysters we’ve had in a long time. We spent the afternoon wandering around town looking in the little shops and visiting with people.

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Oct. 18-19 – Crossing the Gulf

By on October 20, 2014 in The Pearl
Dog Island, FL

“A smooth sea never made a skilled mariner.”  —English Proverb

To get the Texas Pearl home we have to cut across the Gulf from the Tarpon Springs area to Carrebelle or Apalachicola. We decided to make the crossing in two days since we aren’t as familiar with this boat. We wanted to stay closer to shore, just in case there were any issues. Although we did loose cell serve both days, we were in radio contact the whole way. We pulled out of Dunedin before dawn on Saturday and docked in Steinhatchee just after sunset. It was a beautiful day, sunny and cool, but a little breezy and we felt like we had ridden a bucking horse all day. We docked at River Haven Marina…where we stayed in 2011 on The Pearl.

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Oct. 17 – Dunedin, FL

By on October 18, 2014 in The Pearl

Marker 1 Marina

“Life is a tide; float on it. Go down with it and go up with it, but be detached. Then it is not difficult.” -Prem Rawat

We had another long but beautiful day on the water. Most of todays travels was through very populated areas, so there were a lot of slow zones. We passed St. Pete, Clearwater and several other places we enjoyed on our way south in 2011.
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Oct. 16 – Nokomis, FL

By on October 17, 2014 in The Pearl
Blackburn Bay – Anchorage

“There are times when we stop, we sit still, we listen and breezes from a whole other world begin to whisper.”―James Carroll

A front has moved through and though it was a little windy today the temperature was wonderful…nice to be comfortable for a change. The area past Fort Myers and around Pine Island Sound is a very busy place…even on a Thursday morning it was a zoo.

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