NAS Pensacola Air Show

Last weekend we took a trip over to Pensacola to see the annual Blue Angel Homecoming Air Show. This is their last show of the season and always draws a large crowd here in their "hometown". It was an even bigger deal this year as the team lost a member this year while preparing for a show in Tennessee. To the town of Pensacola these flyers are part of the family and it was evident by the number of #6 flags flying everywhere to remember the lost pilot who flew plane #6 for the team.

We arrived on Thursday to be sure we got a good spot since we had heard the anchorage fills up and, boy, did it! It was nice to be anchored again in the clear waters of the gulf. Our anchorage was at Fort McRee just off the Pensacola inlet and right across from the air station which gave us great seats for the show!

The picture below is just a small number of the boats in the cove for the weekend.

We dropped our anchor and backed up to the beach putting out a stern anchor to hold us in place. This would help leave room for the other boats to get good spots too. It seems most boaters here are very helpful and courteous unlike some other events we've boated to.

We had a visitor shortly after we got there. We heard this is a very popular weekend party cove and I guess he was looking for a handout. I only included the picture to show how clear the water is.

Another unexpected surprise was that Thursday turned out to be dress rehearsal day for the air show and we were treated to the full show a day early! The next picture was taken Thursday and is a bit unusual. See if you can figure it out...zoom in... (answer at the end)!!

The "Blues" weren't the only ones flying this weekend, it was a whole air show with planes of every variety.

It was unfortunate that I didn't take as many pictures on Thursday since Friday turned out to be overcast and the shots didn't turn out as well. The following are a few of the better ones as well as a short movie that show's how close we are to the show. Towards the end of the clip you can see planes 5 & 6 racing to catch up for the next "act" which includes the whole team.

Pensacola Lighthouse

All 6 together

I'm always amazed when I see the diamond formation pass, it's said there is only 18" between wingtip and canopy...that's really close at those speeds.

Another bonus was the second show on Friday that started at dusk and went into darkness with planes streaming fireworks, followed by a full firework show! Really something to watch!! The Blue Angels weren't part of this show but the prop planes were amazing.

We went down to the show planing to leave early Saturday before boats began showing up for that show. We imagined there would be even more boats and we'd be better off getting out before it got too crazy. We were also convinced to leave when the generator died Friday night and spewed anti freeze all over the engine room. I believe we sucked a jelly fish up against the intake which caused it to overheat. There were hundreds in the cove that night. It's all working fine now after making the repairs!

Soooooo....did you have the answer to the question above?? One of the planes in the picture is the #7 plane which doesn't normally fly in the show but is flown on practice day by one of the other pilots. It's used as a backup and pilot #7 is the narrator for the show. This and other interesting info can be found at this helpful site.

Lastly from the "Crises Narrowly Averted" files...as Jill and I were walking around the old ruins of Ft. McRee the following picture was taken...to think, I almost stepped on it!! Good thing I wasn't wearing flip-flops!!

Adventures on the Tenn-Tom Waterway

OK, it wasn't really much of an adventure this year (which is a good thing). Last year the waterway seemed a bit daunting, not so much this year. Having done the trip before made it a pretty easy transit but we tried to stop at new places along the way to see what's out there.

After leaving Aqua Yacht we passed through 3 of the 12 locks between us and Mobile Bay. The first was the biggest drop of the whole trip in the Whitten Lock. Please forgive me if I repeat pictures from last year...I'll try not to.

We mainly stayed 1 night at each stop before moving on. The exception was 3 nights spent at Demopolis where we met friends Ed & Kyle who keep their boat there during the summer while they're in Canada.  The following are some pics taken along the way. It was mainly just long travel days with a short rest stop each night.

1 picture I'm sure I used last year was the famous "White Cliffs of Epes" (I've seen it spelled Epps too)

In the "interesting things you see along the way" category

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Below Demopolis Lock there is only one more Lock between there and Mobile Bay. This is the area where we start looking for gators. We saw a few but 1 was the biggest we've seen on these waters. I estimate it at about 10-12 feet! Where is T-Liz when you need her?

Shoooooooooot....

Just above the last Lock is the "famous" Bobby's fish camp. It's famous only because it's the last dock until you get to Mobile. We passed by last year but made the stop this time. At $1.50 a foot it's a bit pricey but it's the only game in town as they say.

Next day we anchored in a side channel about 40 miles from the bay to have an easy run the next morning. Another boat in the anchorage got a nice shot of us at sunrise the next morning.

Next stop was another new one. We had heard about a free dock at the Mobile Convention Center and wanted to see the town. There was no power or water but the traffic in the busy ship channel was mostly polite and wakes weren't too much of a problem. We were right at the foot of Dauphin St. with it's many shops, bars and restaurants. We agreed it will be worth another stop.

Next day was a short run into Mobile Bay and the western shore stop of Dog River. We passed a ship in the bay that looked different from any we'd see before. From the front it was very wide for it's height. Once passed it we saw that the back was two decks full of railroad cars! I'm not sure where these cars come from or what makes it cheaper to move them by sea vs rail??

After Dog River we went across the bay to Fairhope for a night. We stopped here last year and really liked the town. This year we found a small, city run, marina attached to the fishing pier. It's just a few blocks walk into town and a very nice stop as long as the bay is calm.

Friday we traveled down the rest of the bay and back on to the GIWW for a 2 night stop at Homeport Marina in Gulf Shores. This marina is right behind the LuLu's restaurant we stopped at for lunch last year. The Saturday we were there was BooLu's where the kids came out for some Halloween festivities.

This stop was another first for us this season....toes in the sand! OK, maybe it's trucked in but it's still sand!!

Sunday (Funday) we moved the boat to an anchorage in Ingram Bayou and took the dinghy to Pirates Cove for their beach party and a famous Bushwacker.

We are now in a nice covered slip at the Orange Beach Marina for the month of November. The monthly rates are very reasonable here. We'll be getting some more boat projects done while we're here as well as exploring the area. Next weekend is the Blue Angels homecoming show not too far from here and we're planning to anchor out the night before for a good viewing spot. Another event is the Frank Brown International Songwriters Festival. This is a 10 day music fest full of people you've never heard of but know their songs! Many have had dozens of hits recorded by more famous artists that you have heard of. It runs between Pensacola and Bon Secour at various bars with the "main" club being the FloraBama.

After that....who knows. The "plan" is to slowly explore the Gulf coast before ending up in New Orleans next spring. We'll post again when there is something interesting to add.

I understand our tracker is a bit hard to follow now since we're covering much of the same ground. I'll see if there is something I can do to change the color of this year's tracks. No promises.......