December 2, Day 172 – In Port St. Joe

The wind howled and the rain beat against the boat all night long. In addition, as the lines stretched they made an eerie screeching sound, but everything seemed okay this morning. However, as we were having a leisurely breakfast, the marina manager came running down the dock, knocking on everyone’s doors. Seems Port St. Joe was under a tornado warning and they wanted everyone to come into the office area … pronto. We grabbed raingear and headed up the dock. Everyone congregated in the office to wait out the storm. We had heavy winds and rains, but the tornado moved inland without hitting the marina area. (Note: We later learned that a water spout had passed just to the west of us about 200 yards away. Guess we really lucked out.)

Other than that, it has been a pretty laid back day, catching up on logs, blogs, and email. Linda did some banking, Gerry fiddled with computer software updates, kept adjusting lines, and tried to stay out of the weather. We were hoping to make the crossing to Tarpon Springs on Sunday, but it looks like another weather system will get in the way of that plan. Guess we will get to know Port St. Joe a little better.

Tonight the marina organized a dinner at one of the local restaurants, Sunset Coastal Grill. It is located right on the bay and the view at sunset was spectacular. After the weather we had today it seemed almost unbelievable to have clearing skies and a beautiful sunset. There were about 10 couples that joined in the festivities. Great food and company. Just as we were paying the bill, the marina manager arrived to let everyone know that the water was over the docks and they had turned off the electricity. Once back at the marina, they helped everyone get back to their boats and, more importantly, onto their boats. We had quite the climb to get back on Monk’s Vineyard. No way we could use either the step or the ramp to get back on. We had to get onto the swim platform and then work our way around the dinghy and through the railing on the stern.

Our plans for heading to Apalachicola tomorrow have changed as we’ve been told the canals are very high and full of debris. We will probably wait at least another day … maybe more. We’ll have to see what the weather brings.

This is a picture of the sky and the small craft advisory flag flying shortly before the marina staff asked everyone to come to the office because of a tornado warning.

After returning from dinner, most people took off their shoes and rolled up their pant legs to walk down the dock .....

... while some went a step further

Here you can see (sort of) the water over the dock. It was kind of hard to get the full effect, since it was dark.

When we left for dinner we had walked down the ramp from the boat to the dock. Upon returning, there was no way to walk back up it.