Tuesday January 12, 2010

Panama City to Apalachicola

Dave and I departed Sun Harbor Marina in Panama City Florida at 6:30AM. We set a course to the Municipal Marina for fuel. It took us just under an hour to cover the five miles. The Municipal Marina is really nice. Restrooms are clean. Wish that we had had more daylight so that we could have made this marina. With our fuel tanks on full we headed east across St. Andrews Bay. I made coffee. It takes about 15 minutes to brew a pot of coffee with the butane stove.

About 9:15AM a dolphin swam along the Water Mark for about 5 minutes. The dolphin would dive underwater, then surface. Then dive underwater and surface over and over again.

Dave wanted to head directly into the Gulf from Panama City. The weather was improving, but I resisted and opted for the GIWW. Again a narrow stretch of water that started at East Bay and ran all the way from the East Bay through Lake Wimco into the Apalachicola River. About a 66 mile run.

We figured that we could make it because we had such an early start.

I cooked scrambled eggs with ham and toast for breakfast. Dave was impressed. Scrambled eggs on a boat were delicious. However, I think that the toast is was what caught his interest. He asked me how did I do it? I told him that I made the toast in a frying pan. It was fried toast.

About 2:00PM we were motoring east down the ditch when Dave noticed a bald eagle flying along the banks of the Intracoastal Waterway. We watched the eagle fly into its nest as we passed by at 6 miles per hour.

Dave unplugged the auto pilot and steered by hand. He said that he like to steer the boat. So he spent most of the day piloting Water Mark through the river system. While crossing lake Wimco Dave and I discussed several plans for crossing the Gulf of Mexico.

We talked about leaving the protected waters of the GIWW from Apalachicola and heading to Steinhatchee. This was an 80 mile run. We had enough fuel onboard to motor sail the entire distance if necessary. We also discussed heading to Cedar Key which is a longer run of about 120 miles. Cedar Key is south of the Suwannee River. We also had enough fuel to motor sail the entire distance if necessary.

We also discussed heading for Tarpon Springs. Tarpon Springs was 185 miles across the Gulf and we did not have enough fuel to motor sail the entire distance. After discussing these options the final decision would come tomorrow morning after listening to NOAA weather radio.

We arrived in Apalachicola just as the sun was setting in the west. We tied up at the Municipal Marina. Dave was told that there were good oysters in this little town. We were told by his friend Jim that the best place to eat oysters was at Boss Oyster. We walked into town and found the recommended restaurant. We ordered raw oysters on the half shell. One dozen each. They were delicious. We ordered an extra dozen to split. The waitress told us that they were caught the previous day. They were a fresh an oyster that you will ever eat. In fact 90% of the oysters bought in restaurant in Florida come from Apalachicola. The clam chowder was also delicious. I really like this little town.

I wandered around shortly after dark taking pictures of the area. Oysters drives the economy in this little town. Independent oystermen head out into the bay every day in small boats. Armed with oyster rakes these oysterman head for shallow water and using the rakes like chop sticks rake up the oysters from the bottom of the bay. The oysters are then taken directly to the waterfront dock were the restaurant purchases them. The remaining oysters are sold to a processing facility. At this plant, they are graded, cleaned, packaged and sent around the state and country on refrigerated trucks.

One company specializes in removing the shells from the oysters. I was amazed by this facility because they had a mountain of oyster shells 25 feet high. The oyster pile reminded me of the big snow piles that you see up north after a snow fall and the parking lots are plowed.

After the foot tour, I returned to the boat to listen to the NOAA weather forecast for the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The weather continues to improve. Sky is clear. Air temperature is 38 degrees at 8PM. Offshore conditions were reported the winds at 16 knots out of the north and would be diminishing to around 10 knots over the next 24 hours waves 2 to 4 feet decreasing to 1-2 feet. Ideal sailing conditions for the Gulf of Mexico even thought the water temperature was 50 degrees. The weather was now in our favor. We were not going in the water so the water temperature was not a concern. Heck, you can live for about 50 minutes in 50 degree water before hypothermia sets in. We were ready to make “the jump“.