Remember all those people who didn’t ask us about the ICW from Orange Beach to Pensacola? They also didn’t ask us about the stretch known as “The GICW Grand Canyon.” But we’re from The Grand Canyon State. We’ve hiked to the bottom and back out of The Grand Canyon. We know the majesty of The Grand Canyon. Heck, even the lesser canyons of Arizona are awesome. In anticipation of spectacular vistas that we’d need to share with everyone, Doug set up the time-lapse video again. And again it didn’t work.
Question: Can something with ten-foot walls that passes through “swampy areas” be considered a “canyon?”
For that matter, can it be considered “grand?” Before answering those questions, of course, we had to get there.
About 5 a.m. the rain started up again, but if we want to voyage across the Gulf this week we better get moving. Gotta get to Panama City today. By 7:30 when we departed Fort Walton Beach, it actually looked sort of like promising weather.
Then the clouds darkened. Then the rain started again. Oh well, it’s a long day so let’s get comfortable in the pilothouse. At about Destin the dolphins joined our wake right beside the boat. Dolphin photos soon may become a staple of every blog post if Dana’s skills remain intact.
Back to The GICW Grand Canyon, which we reached midday. It’s actually pretty interesting and in places just plain pretty, despite the absurd nickname.
The rain finally stopped just about the time we started seeing hurricane damage. And this isn’t even close to the bad stuff.
The Lighthouse Marina (or “Thouse” as the sign now says) was hit, but not as devastatingly as most of the others in the Panama City area.
They put us next to the pirate ship.
Today was long and wet, but any day cruising is a good day. Tomorrow Apalachicola. Wednesday Carabelle. We hope.