On to Crooked Island

Another favorite spot (I suppose we have a lot of them since this is prime cruising grounds) in the Florida panhandle is Crooked Island.  It is extremely remote and one end of it is a bird sanctuary for several endangered species.  Since it is only accessed by boat, it is not overcrowded even during high tourist season.  The one major drawback is the narrow opening to get back into the protected waters.  You don't even see the break until you are only a few hundred yards off the shore.  You definitely never go in without prior knowledge, good sun and a good depth sounder.  Google Earth was also a help in seeing exactly where the shoal water versus deep water was located.  I wish I could overlay the Google Earth shot onto the chart plotter.  Hope that one is in the works for the electronics designers.  It took us a few attempts to get in but once in and anchored, we had the entire bay to ourselves.  For 3 days we had no other boats anchor near us and only a few fishing boats trying their luck.  We went to shore each day to walk, collect shells and just enjoy being alive and cruising.  New Year's was celebrated with champagne on the eve and black eyed peas on the day.  If the rest of the year is so glorious, it will be our best ever!

This was a washout area across from where we were anchored.

Obviously, the water comes over the island during storms.

The eastern end of Crooked Island.  You can see the

smoke from a controlled burn in the background.

David looking at calm water knowing it isn't always that way.

We found hundreds of starfish on the beach.  We're not sure why but

the gulls enjoyed the easy pickings for dinner.

We walked at low tide and the designs made in the sand

by the receding water were amazing.

We tried to rescue this octopus but he was too far gone.   David

found him washed up on shore and we took him out past the

surf line.  He just came back.

This poor little plant is tenaciously hanging on. The

stems of these shore plants make a myriad of designs in

the sand as they are blown back and forth.  Nature's crop circles.

The sun gave us a special show through the gathering haze.

Just a few of our treasures.  We didn't think we'd find much

so we hadn't brought a bucket.  We marked our trove with the

stick so we could find it the next day.  Turned out to be a good idea since

boats brought over about a dozen people to beachcomb.

Last sunset of 2014.

Good morning 2015