We got going in the morning by 830am. Today we were going to travel about 45 miles via the Intracoastal and stop at the free dock in Fort Walton Beach. The trip there was again how we like it- uneventful, though the wind was definitely increasing throughout the day. We were moving with the current, so we got there around 230pm. We had read about the dock and some people had questioned the safety of it due to the homeless living in the park and on boats there. When we approached, we could see a few boats anchored in front of the docks, and one boat which looked kind of neglected, at a slip. Due to the wind and not knowing the depth or any underwater obstructions, we chose to dock on the end of the ‘T’ and not risk pulling into a slip. This turned out to be the right choice, as after we had docked and tied up, we saw a sunken boat in one slip and the guys on the ‘questionable’ boat said the depths were shallow in all of the slips except one.
Once we were tied up, we went about walking Frank and making sure our bumpers were set properly as we were expecting the wind to keep increasing. The guys next to us had told me one of the boats that was anchored in front of the dock was dragging, and I was watching the other two boats anchored closely to see if they were too. There was about seventy five feet between them and us. We eventually decided to walk up to a grocery store, Publix, which was around the corner from the park/dock we were at. Just as we were getting ready to leave, I noticed a trawler headed toward the dock at a slow speed. I ran up to the flybridge, turned on our VHF, and called out to them: “Trawler approaching Ft. Walton Beach dock…are you looking to come in here?” We had tied up at the far end of the dock leaving room for another boat, just in case. “Yes- can you move?” was his reply. “Nope…I’m all tied up, but there is room behind us. I’ll catch a line for you- there is plenty of room” was my reply. We were all tied up and not going to be moving. I went down and helped them dock. We all met and they were a nice family that has recently bought the boat and are traveling with their family of four as their two children were along with them. They were not ‘looping’ per se, but were just traveling, living on their boat. We were on our way to the store, so we departed and walked up to town to get our groceries for Thanksgiving dinner which is coming up in two day. Shopping done, we now had to walk back a couple of blocks to the boat. I looked at Uber to get a ride, since we had stocked up. The charge would have been almost $8 for two blocks…plus tip. We decided we could make it walking, so walk we did with our arms full of grocery bags. We made it back to the dock and prepared dinner. While making dinner, I was still watching the boats anchored not far from us and noticed one of them was making its way closer to us. We ate dinner and researched our next stop, Destin, then Lauren called it a night. I stayed up a little while longer watching the boats. While keeping an eye out, I saw a sailboat pass us heading down the channel. I didn’t think too much of it, other than why are they out here at night and in this wind? A little while longer I noticed them come back the other way kind of slowly. It looked like they were maybe searching for somewhere to stop, and since I knew about this free dock, I would expect others know about it as well. I went up to the flybridge and tried calling to them on the radio, but I got no response. Hmmm… I went back downstairs and now they were a little closer, now out of the channel, but not quite heading toward the dock. I called out to them and got a response. “Are you looking to come in here?” I called. “Is this a dock? Can we stop here?” was the response I heard. “Yes, this spot is open and deep I was told, but I can’t be sure, but you’re welcome to try- I’ll catch a line.” I don’t want to be responsible for someone running aground and I am not familiar with the area, but I was told this is the only deep dock available by our neighbors. I helped them dock and they were grateful and fun. They had just picked up the boat from a family member and trying to get it to southern Florida. The problem was their mast is forty eight feet tall, and the bridge at the end of the channel was showing forty seven feet clearance. They understandably didn’t want to take a chance on this, so decided to stop for the night and try to figure it out tomorrow. Their only other option was to turn around and go back to Pensacola to get out to the Gulf and come down that way. I went back to watching the drifting boats and soon I was seeing one boat within about twenty feet of us, yet there was nothing I could do about it until it either reached us or stopped moving. I put every other bumper we have not being used out on the side where the boat could potentially hit us. I kept watching, debating what I would even do if it came close enough for me to reach it. One thought was I would at least raft it off of us so I could control it at least until we were ready to leave; another was to try to walk it to a dock space and tie it off there. As I was watching, it started moving behind us toward the other boat docked there. I soon saw a flashlight trained on it from them, and I stepped outside. We discussed what we could do, and the only option was to wait to see if it came close enough to reach. The winds must have shifted, as it eventually moved a little farther away from us and seemed to be stopped there.
At this point I was ready for bed, so I retired knowing I have protected as best we could our boat and also thankful we are a steel hull, so not too worried about a small fiberglass boat hitting us. Tomorrow we will head to Destin, Florida and anchor out there. The weather looks good, so we’re excited to have a warm day!