Appalachicola to Carabelle

     Ok, our plans for the crossing were behind us.  We would now have a few days to relax and enjoy exploring this particular area of Florida. You know, find the flavour of this area. However, things didn't start out well.  As I started to have a shower I noticed that the water pressure was low.  We had tanked up at our last stop so I continued to lather up....and ...no water...damn it!....soap from head to toe and no way to rinse off!...what the hell is wrong now!  Apparently, with all the banging and jarring around in the gulf a clamp had  loosened and come off the water pump and all the fresh water was pumped into the bilge!  Mildred, bless her heart,  heard the pump running after all of us had retired, and went down and repaired it on her own.  Thank you Mildred!  We would fill up again when we settled into a marina, tonight.

  

                                                        The Wharf in Apalachicola

       While the girls went to explore (read shop!) Tom and I set about repairing the bilge pump-- again. It turned out to be no big deal, some trash got caught up in the check valve and water was siphoning back into the boat!  We still hadn't got the boat balanced yet, since it involved moving lead weights from the port to the starboard side and we had no way yet to secure the weights on the other side of the boat.  I figured part of the problem was the new dingy being not centered, so opted for pulling the dingy towards the centre of the boat.  The boat was still low in the water since, we were still loaded  "Beverly Hillbilly style".  "Stuff" would be coming off the boat in Carrabelle to make room for any family or friends that were crazy enough to want to come along on this cruise, so we could rebalance later.

                                                                 Shopping Spree
                                                        

    We basked in the warm sun light and thought we would enjoy a nice relaxing day in Apalachacola.  We went to "Carolines" restaurant for breakfast. (recommended to Mildred by two little old ladies in a shop who argued  about where was the best breakfast in town)  Carolines was a homey dining room overlooking the water.  Apalachicola is "Oyster City".  Everything seemed to revolve around the oyster industry or shrimping.  Oyster bars, oyster restaurants, and oyster menu at the restaurant.  As we sat looking over the menu, I thought, "Ok, I'll bite lets see what this oyster thing is really all about."  Tom, Mildred and Beth ordered the usual morning fare,  biscuits, gravy and eggs for Tom, sausage and eggs for Mildred, spinach omelet (ehck!) for Beth and I would try the oyster cakes and eggs!  Two bites and I gave it over to Tom who loves oysters!  To me, the oyster cakes had a rich perfumey taste that certainly didn't go along with breakfast.   No more oysters for me!
     As Tom and I were finishing some repairs the girls returned.  Beth had a troubled look in her eyes and I knew something was up when she said in a somewhat higher pitched voice. "They told us at the store that the storm was coming much faster than predicted.  We should get tied up at a marina....now!"  
     Well, it wasn't that simple.  Wherever, we tied up is where the boat would stay until our return in a month.   There were many things to consider...floating vs. fixed dock, tide changes, security and price.  I had already figured out that Apalachicola was overpriced after calling the only marina in town that had a slip big enough, paying for breakfast, and finding out that the $5.00 PVC pelican on a stick Beth bought (to plant in the flower bed at the condo in St. Stephen, NB) cost $45.00!  Active Captain had reviews on a marina in Carrabelle, the Moorings, which indicated they were very helpful, especially when deciding  when was a good time to make the gulf crossing and they had a safe, secure marina at a good price for the month.  Getting the feeling something bad is about to happen?

                                                                             

     The sky darkened as we rushed to untie the lines and push off the dock.  Turning by the shrimp boats tied at the end of the dock, I swung wide......and hit the shoal and an underwater piling .  As I backed off I felt the props grind in and saw a few pieces of wood surface...but we were off and headed out to Apalachicola bay.  As it started to rain, I looked at the weather report...the radar showed more rain headed our way and a major storm with 65 mile per hour winds, rain , lightning and tornadoes headed north east travelling at 60 miles per hour!  It was a little closer to turn around and go back to Apalachicola, so what did we do?.......by now you should be able to guess the answer to this...remember the quote by Simone de Beauvoir...at the beginning of this blog...I decided to "extend oneself".  After all the bad storm was north east of us and travelling northeast.  As long as it didn't turn we could handle the rain .  The one thing this boat can do that a trawler can't, is get up on plane.  Away we went.  I throttled up to 16 knots, turned on the radar and would cut the normal 3 hour 28 mile trip in half...so I thought! We did well until the hazy mist turned into thick fog!
     Not wanting to run over any oyster men working the bay, I slowed down.  At times we passed markers that were visible on the radar but not to the naked eye but we persisted and I am happy to report that the map plotter and radar pulled us through. The bad storm continued northeast of us and the fog lifted as we entered Carrabelle.  Finally, we could rest.  Docs Holiday would be staying here, safely berthed until our return.

                                                                    Oyster Fisherman

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
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     Comfortably sipping a cubra libra, I could easily tolerate the burning in my ears from Beth chastising me.  She was more pissed about the grounding than she was about the trip across Apalachicola Bay, especially after I told her we would have to have a quick hall and the props exchanged before we attempted to cross the gulf!