Reunion Voyage: The Wharf to Palafox Pier Marina, Pensacola, FL

Friday, October 30, 2015

The Wharf to Palafox Pier Marina, Pensacola, FL

We departed about 9:30 with quite an adverse tidal current keeping our speed down to 6.6 mph that would usually be 7.8 or so. Later in the day that effect would reverse and we would see 8.3 mph, tidal flow usually reverses about half way between openings depend upon their size. The two openings controlling the flow today were the Mobile Bay opening and the Perdido Key opening and later the Pensacola Bay Inlet. Lots of Navy Jets flying over the Bay as they practice flying together, Pensacola is the home of the Navy Flying Team, the Blue Angels. We arrived at Palafox Pier about 2:00, picked up a rental car for the weekend, and visited the downtown for a while. As we walked downtown and passed the Saenger Theater, Boz Scaggs is playing tomorrow night and three tickets were available, so we are going to a concert. We plan to be here until Monday we expect Sunday to be a rain day and we want to watch the Packer - Bronco Game Sunday night. There is a boat in the harbor called the Nor Goliath, a supply ship for oil rigs and other off shore tasks. It has a 70 meter boom and dwarfs anything else in the harbor,sleeps 314 people, has a workout center, a pool above the bridge, and a dining area that can serve 150 people. We watched a heron fishing here in the marina and saw him catch a fish by standing on a fender, extending his body downward and snatching a fish from the water, way cool. Tonight dinner was at Jaco's here in the marina, good food but a bit noisy.