CruisingNorth AmericaUSA

The Gulf Shore

By April 11, 2010 No Comments

Roberts Bayou was the absolutely perfect place to spend Easter morning.  The entrance was very narrow, but once you get in it opens up and has houses on the shore and several local boats anchored or tied to the trees.  It is perfectly protected from the elements and has a country lake feel.  At the entrance is Pirates Cove, which is a beach bar with lots of dogs.  You can take smaller boat right to the beach and get out.  They have thermal camera, lots of beach to play on, and a full restaurant with live music. 

 I could have spent a couple of days at this location, but everyone needs to be in Pensacola by Tuesday night.  So we packed up and moved east 5-7 miles to the Big Lagoon.  Before we got there we went to east end of Ono Island (as in Oh No You Can’t Go There) and came back 3.5 miles so we could have lunch at the legendary Flori-Bama Lounge.  They had McClellan Oysters, so of course I had to get them.  We anchored for the night at the west end of Big Lagoon and had Gulf side beach a 100 feet across the key.  The sand was amazing.  The book describes it as sugar soft.  It reminded me of snow in Colorado durning the spring.  I don’t know if I will find as perfect of an example of sand anywhere else, but I will keep trying.

 Monday we traveled a whole three miles to the east end of Big Lagoon and anchored in between the spoil island and the location of a 1860’s fort.  The fort has been lost to the sea, but there is still ruins from gun emplacements from the 1910-1950.  We took the dingy across Pensacola Pass and visited Ft. Pickens.  The fort was great.  Much bigger than Ft. Massachusetts.  As technology advanced, Best quality work were installed and are all over the area (harbor defense systems became obsolete in the 1940’s as airplanes advanced to the point of able to take the role.

 We got to Bayou Chico in Pensacola on Tuesday afternoon and filled up with water and fuel, pumped out the holding tanks, and washed the deck before anchoring.  The next morning all three crew members disembarked and I did laundry at a place right on the water.

 I biked down to the Naval Air Station to visit “the best air museum in the country” and Ft Barrancas, another 1860s fort. And hung out in Pensacola as I awaited my next crew member.

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