Pensacola! (805 miles from Port Mansfield)

We arrived in Pensacola yesterday evening after a lovely 53 mile sail across Mobile Bay from Bayou Aloe anchorage on Dauphin Island, where we spent 2 nights. We're anchored right in front of my sister Judy's new house on the Intracoastal Waterway. Our brother-in-law Yohannes is doing an amazing job...their house is going to be gorgeous! Everything in it is top of the line, and the cherry spiral staircase is an absolute work of art! They lost their house to Hurricane Ivan in 2004, and this house is going to be MUCH better than the old one! It's 3 stories high with a breathtaking view! I'll post some photos soon. We went out to a GREAT Mexican restaurant last night to celebrate niece Karen's 26th bday. We are so glad she's here, having just arrived from her librarian internship in Germany with a side trip to Morrocco! It was a great evening, and their neighbors, Mike and Susan joined us. They're really fun and interesting and know everyone in town! He told us about the upcoming Regatta Al Sol sailing race from Pensacola to Isla Mujeres on May 9th. It's really tempting to join them, as it's just 555 miles due south from here! The weather's so perfect right now, we could be on our way, but would hate to miss Tom and Jodie (who are in Key West for his bday!), and also Alfred and Monika, who we haven't seen in YEARS, so we'll prob'ly stick to a couple more west coast Florida stops. This morning, Karen and I took the mainsail in to have a 12 inch tear repaired by Hunter at Schurr Sails. I'd tried fixing it with the sail repair kit, but it didn't hold. Hunter was so nice to have it finished by this afternoon! Karen and I are planning to grout the shower tiles while I'm here, and I think that'll be at least until Tuesday. We'll see....