With an early start and not knowing where we might end up, considering it is Christmas Day and everything is closed.  There was not even any traffic on the waterway.  We could end up on the hook, tied to a wall or possibly in a closed marina.

We left Alabama for the white sandy beaches of Florida…….

Along the way homes, docks and boats were decorated for Christmas…..

With no traffic (we passed one boat in 5 hours) we made good time despite small craft warnings of high winds in the bays.  As the weather improved we were fortunate to make it all the way to Destin.

Thankfully someone did respond at HarborWalk Marina in Destin and we were able to tie up at their fuel dock for the night.

It turned to be a great place to dock with lots of tourist activity for Christmas Day.  We opted to have our Christmas dinner (a mountain of nachos) at Jimmy Buffett’s famous Margaritaville with – of course – a margarita!

Our first Florida sunset, and Karen finally got our red Rudolph nose on the bow of Kara Mia.

For those interested, below is typical navigational directions that we follow, along with several electronic and paper charts, to move us safely along on our journey.  This is entering Destin Harbor off of the ICW- – – –

From Choctawhatcee Bay (Intercoastal Waterway)

• From ICW take a course S-SE into East Pass. Follow markers green (starboard) and red (port).
• Shallows to starboard. Typically referred to as Crab Island. CAUTION: At low tide and winter months.
• From West do not cut short of East Pass marker. Pass the marker then turn to S-SE
• Watch for NO WAKE ZONE.
• Maintain heading for Marler (Destin) Bridge. Center span 50’ clearance MHW.
• After passing under Bridge turn hard to port to run parallel with Bridge. CAUTION: Not well marked.
• Harbor entrance channel dark water. Depth 8’ to 10’. CAUTION: Do not track to starboard towards Norriego Point. Shifting sand bottom, heavy shoaling at point.
• East terminus of bridge make starboard turn to run parallel with docks at HarborWalk Village. Non-navigational Lighthouse structure to port.
• Enter Destin Harbor with north shore on port and Norriego Point (sand dunes) to starboard.
• HarborWalk Marina to port at: Lat 30.23 64 Long. 86.30 77