Day 98
We pulled anchor early at 6:30 am to get a head start on today’s long travels. Thankfully, the weather was perfectly clear and sunny, though still chilly. Just as soon as we got out into the bay, seagulls and dolphins appeared everywhere around us! We soon put two and two together and realized that wherever we saw a flock of seagulls hovering above the water, there was sure to be a pod of dolphins feeding at the surface of the water directly beneath them. We figured this was because the dolphins had the fish in the area stirred-up at the surface, which made them ripe for seagull picking! As we progressed toward our heading, Legacy was sailing directly into the sun, which was blinding at best. We had so longed for the sun yesterday and the day before, but now we remembered why one should always be careful what one wishes for!
As we cruised further eastward along the ICW, we continued to see large swaths of past hurricane damage that seemed actually worse than that we’d seen earlier where Hurricane Sally had come ashore back in September. Then it dawned on us that we were now passing just north of Mexico Beach, Port St. Joe, and adjacent areas; ground-zero for Hurricane Michael, which had hit land at Category 5 strength back in October of 2018. Although, like everyone else, we’d seen the devastation from that hurricane covered over and over by the media, it was quite sobering to see it first-hand. And more than two years later!
As we entered into Lake Wimico (a wide body of water that was deceptively shallow, and had one of the narrowest channels on the Loop), we began to encounter what were destined to become Steve’s worst nemeses – dreaded CRAB POTS! We knew we’d be seeing many of them once we entered the gulf, but today we got a preview. A crab pot is actually a wooden or metal cage that sits on the water’s bottom with bait inside to lure and trap crabs. A rope is attached to the pot that extends up to the water’s surface, where it’s connected to a small floating buoy, usually about 10″ in diameter. Ideally, the buoy is brightly painted either white or day-glo orange or green for easy spotting by area boaters, but we’ve found that clearly-marked crab pot buoys are in the minority. Some of them are even painted black or dark-green, which blend perfectly (and maddeningly) with the exact color of the water. Non-boaters may wonder why crab-pots are so dreaded – in fact I read one FB post by a novice that stated, “It’s not like if you hit one with your boat, it will explode…” 🙂 That’s true, but something just as bad (if not worse) can happen if you happen to get a crab-pot’s line wrapped around a rudder, or worse – a propeller – while underway. This disaster can result in damaged equipment on the boat’s hull and even a completely disabled vessel that could require expensive towing and inevitable costly repairs! Needless to say, wise boaters always avoid crab-pots as though they were the plague.
The afternoon temps were still only in the 40s, but the bright sunshine heated up our flybridge perfectly. We continued along the Florida ICW toward Apalachicola, FL, where we’d hoped to tie-up to one of their marina transient docks for the night. We had called them in advance and the harbor master had promised to check availability and call us back. We’d hoped to be able to stop, as we’d heard good things about this tiny little oyster harvesting town, but were eventually informed they were full for the next several days, so we cruised on past them, across Apalachicola Bay to Carrabelle, FL, where Steve had already made reservations at C-Quarters Marina. Carrabelle is where a vast majority of Loopers stay to wait for good crossing days (weather-wise) to cross the Gulf of Mexico down to Tarpon Springs or Clearwater, FL, on Florida’s west coast, north of Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL. We were following suit.
We arrived at C-Quarters’ fuel-docks for a fill-up around 3:00 pm, where the harbor master, Kim, assisted us and then directed us to our transient slip. Our slip at C-Quarters was very different from those in our past. It is bordered by nothing but tall pilings on both sides of the slip, where boats usually back-in and tie-up to a high, fixed dock at the very back. This slip was also perpendicular to the Carrabelle River (upon which C-Quarters is located). The tide was coming in (something else that’s fairly new to us), which created a 2-3 knot current pushing our boat up-river, which – just like up in Knoxville at Volunteer Landing marina – Steve had to fight against while backing the boat across it. After three harrowing tries, Steve got the swim-platform between the two outside pilings of our slip, where the dock-crew and I could help pull the boat the rest of the way in, but not without first glancing the boat off of several pilings. Fortunately, the wood on these pilings was soft and forgiving, so Legacy wasn’t damaged. After making it all the way in, the dock-crew cross-tied our stern lines to secure the boat, so Steve and I could then begin placing fenders and wrapping bow and mid-ship lines around the pilings. Once again, I found myself leaning out over Legacy’s railing, literally HUGGING a piling in order to wrap a line around it! Fighting the current made for hurrying to get the boat in and tied-up. At one point during the chaos, I accidentally dropped one of our fenders down into the water! I froze, started pointing, and shouting “The fender! The fender!” I could just picture it being swiftly carried away in the river current and having to be replaced at approximately $250.00! Steve told me to hand him the boat hook, which he promptly lowered into the water, caught the wayward fender’s line, and pulled it back into the boat. Whew! Once we were secure, we realized the fixed stern dock rose almost 5 feet above Legacy’s swim-platform, which is how we normally exit and board the boat. There were no dock fingers between these particular slips, only small, fixed “piers” jutting maybe 8 or 9 feet out from the rear docks along the boat’s stern. That pier was also way up in the air – especially at low tide, which made for an extremely precarious way to get on and off of our boat. Tides up to this point have only been a foot or so, but starting here tides are increasing, and in this spot they would run 3 feet from low to high tide. I told Steve right then and there that this questionable setup was an accident waiting to happen, and that he needed to be ready for me to fall into the water at least once during our multi-day stay at C-Quarters. He reminded me the boat would rise with the tide, which should make things easier…. (?)
By this point, we had entered EST, which meant it was already happy hour, so a nice glass of wine helped to steady my ragged nerves. By the time we’d both showered and changed, the tide had finished rising, so it was indeed possible to get off the boat (though it remained precarious). Kim had recommended Fathoms Steam Room and Raw Bar for dinner, so we walked the short distance from our slip to partake. After a tasty meal and great service, we walked back to the boat in 40-degree temps and very breezy conditions, which made Steve reiterate that we were still located “way too far north” for his liking!
Position: N 29° 51.143, W 84° 40.183
Distance traveled: 83 SM
Total distance traveled: 1897 SM
Total marina nights: 82
Total nights at anchor: 16
Locks today: 0
Locks Total: 27