Severe Weather – Four Days at Sandestin    

                                                                    

                                                    when the weather was good

          With high winds for days and thunderstorms predicted we picked Sandestin Harbor to go to knowing we would probably be there for 3 or 4 days.   We arrived with 25 mile/hr. winds blowing.   We had a really tough time docking the boat with the wind.  The wind was coming from the exact wrong direction. To make it worse 20 feet the other side of the boat it was only 2-3 feet deep. I made a great throw with the line to a dock hand which saved us.  Bill was still stressed about  it  the next day.
                                                           

          Sandestin in a very large planned resort community on one of the most beautiful beaches in the Gulf. There are bike paths all over the place.  They have restaurants, shops and lots of entertainment  geared for all ages.  With spring break going on it was bustling.  It was a great place to be stuck at!.

                                                                   

                                                           

     channel markers the day we left and the day we arrived

channel markers into the harbor- outside these its only a couple of feet deep

          While we were there we experienced a severe thunderstorm. There were winds of 45 miles an hour.  With the boat banging against the dock and the canvas whipping around it was an experience.  Bill insisted on standing on the flying bridge and hanging onto the canvas so it wouldn’t rip. I hung out below.  Fortunately our boat came through just fine.  Fort Walton 10 miles away had 70 mile/hr. winds.  The winds were much higher than predicted- so much for weather reports!  We got a lot of rain for a couple of days.                                                       

                                    stormy day - glad were not out there!

                                                                         

LOTS of jellyfish on the beach -  one about every 25 feet.  They're small about 4-5 inches diameter.

In spite of the rainy weather we saw a lot of the area. We biked, walked and used the shuttle that went all over the Sandestin.  The harbormaster let us use his golf cart to go get provisions. We also took the city bus all over Destin.

          I enjoyed their great tennis center.  They had 12 courts -10 of them were clay. I was asked to fill in for a missing player in a good doubles match. I got to play on clay for the first time - slow and slippery. It made me glad I've lugged my racket all over the country! Bill was happy that I got to spend some time talking with women!

                                                                  

talking parrot on the dock

        

The Harbormaster, Captain Ron, had parting wisdom for us as we left: “You’ve just endured the shit bucket, now you get to enjoy the bucket of roses” (regarding the weather we’d just had vs the  beautiful we left in).

                                 The Intercoastal Waterway in this area is beautiful but there is nothing on it.  They call it the "ditch", as it is 25-30 miles long, man made and straight.  It was built for WW2  so traveling supply ships could be protected from possible enemy torpedoes out in the Gulf. Didn't see any alligators here, but we are told there are lots.