We had passed Pensacola Beach before noon, so we decided to continue on. Our cruising speed would put us at Fort Walton Beach before sunset, but there were also a few anchorages to check out along the way. The anchorage that looked the best on the chart was a bit intimidating when we arrived. We were concerned about water depth as the description on how to enter read “sound your way in”. It was quite cloudy by the time we reached this anchorage and we were concerned we couldn’t see well enough to add a visual inspection to “sounding our way in”. We were also a bit worried about getting back out of the anchorage in the morning when we would have to contend with the sun’s glare off the water. Fortunately we decided to continue on – I say fortunately because we had an absolutely amazing dolphin encounter shortly after checking out the anchorage.
We saw a dolphin pop up in front of the boat a couple of times and then disappear. Fred then saw an unusual splash almost under the bow of the boat, so I went on deck to check it out and see if the dolphin might be swimming with us as we have heard they do – and yes, he was swimming with us – right under the bow – so close his dorsal fin was just about touching the boat. After a few minutes, Fred handed me the camera so I could try and get some pictures. I kneeled on the bow and talked to the dolphin and snapped pictures. We were traveling at just over 7 mile per hour and the dolphin was leading us along. He was so graceful in the water it looked like he wasn’t even working hard (and he probably wasn’t). He would swim back and forth from one side to the other and often roll over on his side, almost like he was looking up at the boat to make sure it was still following him. At one point he swam just off the port side and did a leap into the air – with his full body out of the water just like in a dolphin show. We thought he left, but all of a sudden he did two more leaps into the air on the starboard side and then back under the bow for more swimming. After staying with us for well over a mile, he gave us one more good-bye leap out of the water and left us to continue our travels.
We arrived in Fort Walton Beach and scoped out the area trying to figure out where the various marinas were and where we might stay for the night. We ended up at The Boat Boathouse and Marina (at least we think that’s where we are). There is no one around at any of the marinas we passed – we assume that’s because it is a Sunday evening in the fall. Hopefully we can locate someone tomorrow morning so we can pay for our slip.
Miles: 60.6 Bridges: 3 Locks: 0
 |
| this is what the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway looks like just after we leave Orange Beach - lots of homes along the water with docks and covered boat slips |
 |
| These appear to be radar domes near Eglin Air Force Base. Although we can't find any information about them we assume that's what they are. |
 |
| another radar dome - this one is just slightly taller than the others in the area |
 |
| you can just see the nose of the dolphin under the bow of Boreas - that's the anchor you see on the far right of the picture |
 |
| I was lucky enough to get a few shots when the dolphin came out of the water to breathe |
 |
| Isn't he beautiful? |
 |
| more splashing at the bow |
 |
| the dolphin and the anchor - what appears to be the corner cut off the picture is actually the bow of the boat |
 |
| one last picture |
No comments:
Post a Comment