October 5
Jacob and I woke before
the sun even began to cross over the horizon.
Our goal was to get an early start when the waters are most calm. The weather wasn’t going to be calm and
favorable, but we knew with the tropically storm brewing in the gulf and with
it scheduled to come right through Apalachicola we wanted to be away from
here. If we made it to Tarpon Springs
today we would be far from the possible hurricane making landfall by Sunday. The harbor waters were like glass but as soon
as we reached Apalachicola Bay the choppy waters began and the rip current was
making it difficult for Jacob to keep on course. Today was gonna be a loooong day!
My stomach was a little
queasy, today we were traveling 120 miles in fairly open ocean, still close to
shore, but not within 2-3 miles swimming distance. Jacob gripped the wheel and the throttles and
steered the boat as best as he could. We
slowly made it to the last channel marker and turned left to head north. As soon as we did the water spray in through
the open isinglass. Three huge splashes
soaked Jacob and continued to interfere with his ability to see where we were
going. Man, oh, man! Brand new isinglass would be nice right about
now. I didn’t even bother to try to
close it as Jacob and I both agreed we should turn back. The waters in the bay should be more
favorable than the ocean and this was already looking terrible. We immediately turned around, the huge sprays
of water stopped and we headed back in.
This time crossing the channel the water was already 2-3 feet shallower
than just moments before. It’s strange
to me how tides work. It was as if the
full moon from last night was pulling the waters with it.
Back within the safer
waters of the harbor we docked up with the help of a neighboring mariner at
Water Shore Hotel and Marina. We noticed
this spot yesterday when we pulled into Scipio Creek. This marina had a floating dock, power, pool,
and a cozier feel. If we were gonna have
to be here for a few days we wanted to be more comfortable.
Pud’n and Jerry, our
adopted family from New Orleans even text us today making sure and insisting
we don’t move an inch until at least Tuesday.
So it looks like we get to hang out in this quaint little sleepy town
all weekend!
There was such a sense of
relief when we checked into this marina!
They had smiling faces and comforting personalities. I poured myself a cup of their freshly brewed
coffee and browsed the books in their library.
I noticed they had a Yoga class offered on Saturday, I will definitely
be there. I have only done Yoga once
since we left and was just thinking how awesome it would be if a marina had a
yoga class! LUCKY ME!
Instead of battling the
waves of the ocean today we relaxed by the pool and made arrangements for a new
autopilot to be shipped to us. We also
headed to Piggly Wiggly, the local grocery store to grab some food and rib-eye
steaks for dinner. Our delicious steak
dinner for four cost a less than $7 per person!
Lately, we haven’t been eating meat, but today, it sounded amazing. Even though it was only a pan-fried steak it
was!
Some pictures of the
sights we saw…
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