PCB to Appalachicola and Carrabelle

    After leaving PCB, we headed to Apalachicola.  It was about 67 miles from PCB and took us a little over six hours.  We travel much slower by boat - it's the scenic route!  We went through the bay at PCB and into the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW).  We also cruised through Lake Wimico.  When cruising, we only get about 2 mpg; that's why we gifted each other gas for Christmas. I bet we get the same thing for our birthdays too!

  Apalachicola was a cute town.  It's considered "Old Florida." They used to have the best oysters (not to me, I wouldn't like even like the best oysters!), but they overharvested the oysters after the BP oil spill because they thought the oil spill would wipe them out.  Now, they aren't allowed to harvest them until the oysters replenish themselves.  

  At Apalachicola, we stayed at Boat Dock and Marinas.  It was $2 a foot, plus $10 a day for electric.  It had showers and laundry and was within walking distance to downtown Apalachicola.  I think probably most of the boat slips were near downtown Apalachicola.  Basically, boat slips lined the southwest side of town. While docked there, we saw a dolphin, ducks and an otter swimming behind the boat.  Of course, there were also pelicans and cormorants fishing and looking for food.

  When we arrived, we were greeted by our friends, Rusty and Darlene on Bama Breeze.  There were other loopers there too, including our friends, Marco and Karen on Navigator and Glen and Tia on Child of the Sun.  We all went for dinner at the Tap Room.  They had taps everywhere!  We also went to High Five Dive Bar to enjoy drinks and listen to music.  The music was a single guitarist/singer, but he had the best mash-up of music that I've ever heard!  It was several songs mashed together. He was pretty amazing!

   The next day, after a shower, (we try and shower every other day - too much info? - at least you cant smell us!), we walked around town a bit, went to the local coffee shop and enjoyed some coffee and a pastry.  Then it was off to Carrabelle.

  Carrabelle was also a quaint town - Jeff hates the word "quaint."  He says if I'm told that anyplace is "quaint," then I want to go!  I think he's right.  Carrabelle is considered another part of "Old Florida," with little shops, antiques, small diners, bars and boutiques. 

  We had a looper's meeting that evening (Friday).  There were so many loopers!  Some we had met, and others we just met that night.  There's a great weather window coming up (Saturday) to cross the gulf.  We decided there would be a fast group (traveling 10 knots, a slow group (7 knots) and our group - the 7.5 knot group.   We are leaving tomorrow at 3pm to get to the inlet and will leave the inlet at 4pm.  Since we are the smallest boat, we're the leader.  We leave a smaller wake.  Also, we have radar but no AIS (Automatic Identification System), so the the boats with AIS, can identify other boats and let us know should another boat get close to us, using a VHF radio.  

   This crossing will take about 19 hours overnight and we will travel about 170 miles!  We will be about 35 miles offshore so we won't see land. It makes me a little nervous, but nervous and excited has a lot of similar feelings so I'm gonna say I'm excited!  Actually, when we first started this journey, the thought of crossing the ocean at night, did seem exciting; I guess my feelings have changed a bit since we're actually going to do it.  

  We have 6 boats total in our 7.5 knot flotilla. That's comforting, and it's supposed to be a calm, weather window, and a full moon.  It just seems like the stars have lined up for us and it's the best option.  We've had a few people tell us that we shouldn't take the big, overnight crossing in our little boat, but with these conditions, we feel like it's meant to be!   We'll be like the little engine that could - leading the pack! 

                                       Good-bye PCB!
                                         Apalachicola
                        Downtown theater in Apalachicola
                         Quaint downtown Apalachicola                      
The smallest police station is in Carrabelle - it's a phone booth.
                    Dinner with looper friends in Carrabelle.  
                          We're at the Fisherman's Wife.

 I hung our boater card up at a local restaurant in Carrabelle.
                         More of downtown Apalachicola.
                               On the ICW to Apalachicola.
               Look at how the tide recessed at Carrabelle!  We had      to wait for the tide to get off of our boat!
          Downtown Apalachicola.  Macaw's are so beautiful!



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