Day 44 - floridays

Miles cruised 62, fuel purchased 0, slip fee $67.50, daily high temperature 76*FWe awoke to cloudy skies that soon turned Sunny. Dale and I went to the ESM office at 8:00 am and paid our $1907 maintenance/repair bill. This is one of the crystalline moments a boat partner is most appreciated. We said our farewells around the dock to Larry and Peaches on Lady KK, Randy and of course Chuck the cat.Finally after seven days we are making way. We cruised south on Mobile Bay and entered the ICW. The ICW in this area in more narrow than the rivers. We even passed three tows. There is a lot more to see on the ICW than on the rivers. The ICW has many houses, condos and marinas. There are lots of small pleasure craft too. We passed LuLu's at 10:15 am. Good thing we went to LuLu's for lunch on Sunday or we would have missed out.Several times this morning we have been greeted by dolphins frolicking in our wake and swimming next to our bow.There was an awesome looking Navy ship tied up in Pensacola Harbor. It is a trimaran cruiser. It looks fast just sitting there.We have crossed the boarder of Alabama into Florida. We will be in Florida for several months.Floridays - A holiday taken in Florida: Florida+Holiday=FloridayEllen Sholtes picked us up at the marina and took us to Bill and Nancy's house. They live on the ICW in Gulf Breeze, Florida. Bill and Nancy Drane are the real deal blue water sailors. They built a 53' catamaran and crossed the Atlantic several times and cruised the Mediterranean. Then they cruised the Pacific to New Zealand and Australia. Due to the issues with the Somali pirates they decided to sell their boat in Australia. Bill was very helpful providing us with several cruising websites he had used. Nancy made a wonderful dinner of Gulf shrimp, sausage, corn and potatoes. Pam's mother Gail was visting also.L to R - John, Priscilla, Pam, Dale, Andy, Hail, Nancy and Bill.  Ellen is the photographer.Ellen Sholtes is an entrepreneur and a captain. Upon graduation from Campbellsville College and starting a successful career she bought a rental property and filled it with college students. Her sister Colleen is the building manager and gets to live there for free. Her next acquisition was a 19' motor boat with an inboard/outboard engine. She and her boat owner (BO) partner named this brown beauty "Piece of Ship." Piece of Ship is tucked away snugly in a barn for the winter. Spring can't come soon enough.Pam and Ellen Sholtes USS Piece of ShipWe are still chasing a weather window to cross the gulf to Tarpon Springs this weekend so we will make a long run outside the ICW on the gulf side.  We will cruise from Pensacola to St. Joe today.Carl (Chef) Wooden - quote of the day.James TaylorBeing on a boat that's moving through the water, it's so clear. Everything falls into place in terms of what's important and what's not.  -  James Taylor