Crossing the Panhandle to Apalachicola

I think I need to break this post up into topics, to include sights and sounds of this journey.

I woke up this morning thinking about the contrasting sounds one hears on this trip.  The night before last, I was at St. Andrews Marina, near Panama City Florida.  I had picked this marina because they have floating docks.  In general, I sleep better at night if I am tied of to a floating dock.  With incoming tides, or the raising and lowering of water levels, it is good to know that where my boat is tied up will move up and down with the water level. If I am at a fixed dock marina, I will wake up throughout the night and check my lines to make sure my boat is floating properly.  Lines which are too loose or too tight can cause damage to the boat.

So, back to St. Andrews.  Everything I read about the marina made it seem like a great choice, and it had the Active Captain 1st choice rating.  One of the benefits is the proximity to bars and restaurants.  However, in the middle of the night, when there is loud, bad, music playing into the wee hours of the morning, the proximity to bars and restaurants is not really the ideal choice.  At 2 in the morning, as they are wrapping up a night of partying, the DJ is yelling, "We are going  F'N party all F'N night!!!"  I thought they already had. Then, one notices the sounds of the the cars revving their engines and leaving.  Eventually, by around 4 a.m, even the bartenders and waitresses are leaving.  Then, it is getting light outside, and I need to get ready to go.  One Friday night was enough for me, I wasn't going to stick around to see if Saturday night would be any better.

When at anchorage, it is rare to hear anything.  Sometimes you might hear the sound of the anchor chain against the hull.  You don't want to hear your anchor dragging, and if it does drag and you don't hear it, that is another story all together.  If anchored near an overpass, like I was on the Mississippi one night, you can hear the traffic.  When anchored on the rivers, sometimes you could hear and feel the barges go by. Generally, they were not loud.  Hearing the splash of a fish jumping can be a good thing.  The quietness can also make the sound of a mosquito seem very loud.

Being tied up at a city dock can bring other sounds, including sirens.  Surprisingly, there were some small towns that had volunteer fire departments, which had their own sirens to announce to the volunteers to come running to the fire department.  I was surprised at how often the volunteer fire department sirens went off.  I have been tied up near railroad tracks, which can be quite noisy.  In one town wall along the Erie Canal, there were several of us having dinner, and we could hardly have a conversation because of the trains going by.  At one of the worst marinas I stayed at, in New Jersey, they had a railroad bridge next to the marina.  Every time they opened the bridge, they would sound a siren, which seemed like every 15 minutes to half an hour.  Locks have sirens to give notice to people of opening and closing the lock gates.

Here in Apalachicola, I haven't heard any sirens, or loud bar noises going on through the night.  It has been peaceful and quiet.  The only sounds I heard waking up this morning, were shrimp boats, with their low rumbling diesel engines, puttering by me, heading out to the Gulf.  It is a good sound.

I barely managed to catch this shrimp boat passing by.  I ran with my camera!

Apalachicola is a great little town.  After walking around last evening, I decided to stay another day.  Apalachicola is known for their great oysters.  Apparently, they ship oysters all over the states, and if you have had oysters, chances are, they may have been from here.  My first stop here was "Up the Creek Oyster Bar".  I ordered a half dozen "Mediteranian style" oysters, then ordered another half dozen steamed oysters with butter.  I also ordered a 'gator empenada.  I didn't realize people ate gators... I guess it makes sense, we seem to eat just about anything else.  The flavors from the sauces were somewhat overpowering, so it was difficult to really taste the 'gator.  I can now add 'gator to the list of foods I have tried!  As I was contemplating another half dozen oysters, the waitress came out and offered dessert, so I had to stop her immediately at the suggestion of Key Lime pie, one of my favorites.  It was definitely a meal of indulgence!

Since leaving Fairhope, I have seen dolphins every day.  They are really difficult to take pictures of.  By the time I get my camera out and get ready to take a picture, they have gone below the surface and disappear.  I did manage a picture of a fin.  I have not been surrounded by them, like I was for the few minutes coming down the Delaware Bay, where I felt there were dozens of dolphin.  However, seeing dolphin is one of those things that makes my heart feel joyful.

Here are some pics:

It is good to see the pelicans again.  Pelicans seem to hang out on the buoys or they are diving for fish.  Sometimes they just glide along the top of the water.

More sunrises and sunsets...

Sunrise leaving anchorage south of Pensacola

Sunset in Apalachicola from the back of my boat.

Other pics from Apalachicola:

On floating dock at Water Street Hotel & Marina in Apalachicola.  Dinghy is back... so I can anchor and head to the beach.

At the Tin Shed in Apalachicola, they have this net with buoys.  I first saw a picture of these on Debi's boat, Sea Fever.

Addendum:
A quick change of plans!  I was eating breakfast this morning, when I started looking at the weather.  I decided to head to Carabelle for the night, a half day's journey.  Carabelle is the jumping off point for crossing the Gulf.  This was the forecast for tomorrow in the area of the Gulf that I will be crossing:

NORTHEAST WIND 5 TO 10 KNOTS. SEAS 1 FOOT OR LESS NEARSHORE

AND 1 TO 2 FEET OFFSHORE. DOMINANT PERIOD 3 SECONDS. PROTECTED WATERS

SMOOTH. ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AFTERNOON.

           

MONDAY NIGHT

NORTHEAST WIND 5 TO 10 KNOTS INCREASING TO AROUND

15 KNOTS AFTER MIDNIGHT. SEAS 1 TO 2 FEET BUILDING TO 2 TO 4 FEET

OCCASIONALLY UP TO 5 FEET WEST. DOMINANT PERIOD 4 SECONDS. PROTECTED

WATERS SMOOTH INCREASING TO A LIGHT TO MODERATE CHOP. ISOLATED

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN THE EVENING.

As the week progresses, the weather gets worse and worse.  Tomorrow, I will cross over to Steinhatchee.  Then I can either weather it out, or if the seas are good, head down the Florida coast.  I will be leaving early in the morning, for the 85 mile crossing.