We left Panama City, FL about 1000 CDT yesterday, and headed
across the northeast Gulf of Mexico for Clearwater, FL. Winds were fairly light, but seas were choppy
and confused off Panama City, and we were obviously bucking a knot or so of
current until we were well clear of Cape San Blas. After that, our speed picked up, and seas
became smoother. It was a new moon black
night, so we had little to see except what the radar revealed. There was quite a lightning show over the
eastern horizon all night, though none of it was near us. We had a very smooth day today, and arrived
at the Clearwater Inlet about 1800 EDT.
That was at low tide, and though we never touched bottom, we saw some
very shallow spots within the marked channel leading from the inlet to the
municipal marina at Clearwater Beach. We
docked at the transient pier about 1900, plugged in, and located the security
guard who provided gate/shower keys.
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| Clearwater Marina |
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| Approaching Clearwater from the Gulf |
We then wandered into town (Clearwater Beach) and found
dinner at the original Frenchy’s café.
The later iterations of this iconic spot have become more sophisticated
with larger menus, but this was truly the small, quaint, original on which the
others are based. There was quite a
thunderstorm as we made our way back to the boat, and though we had gotten
pretty good sleep for alternating watches, it still didn’t take long for us to
be sound asleep.
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