Day 10: Laundry Day

Saturday, October 7

I started my day with Yoga and meditation!  

We were able to find a boat electrician to help Jacob install the new auto pilot.  While he did that all the power was off in the boat and it was getting hot and humid!  The nearing storms raised the humidity to 99%.  The kids and I were excited to leave to do laundry expecting the Laundromat to have free wifi and air conditioning!.  We walked about 7 blocks, each of us carrying a load of laundry with all the laundry stuff and walking Jeeno.  When the sign came into view we were thrilled!  We were told it may be 10 blocks away and for some reason our clothes, though we didn’t have many were extremely heavy.  As we got closer we saw the doors were all open, meaning only one thing, no A.C.  Oh well, no worries.  They had fans and there was a slight breeze.  I applaud my children for not making a peep about the lack of air conditioning.  They also didn’t complain about not having wifi. 

I didn’t have any quarters, just a twenty dollar bill.  There wasn’t anyone around for me to get change from; guess I was getting $20 worth of quarters from the coin machine.  We waited around while the machines swished and swirled our laundry.  25 minutes later the loads finished.  Laundromats are great for shortening laundry day.  I can do multiple loads at the same time and typically trying to save a few dollars, sorting clothes pretty much goes out the window, Through it all in and…hope for the best.  If it doesn’t survive well…I just don’t need it anymore.  To my dismay, one of my loads didn’t seem to wash well, so we had to redo it.   Oh yeah, and laundromats have HUGE dryers!  We started the dryer while we rewashed the other load.  During this time another couple people came in, one of which Jeeno scared half to death. Jeeno has a very scary bark.  I found out later that she was bit by a dog earlier this year.  For some reason our extremely heavy dirty laundry once cleaned, fluffed and folded was much lighter.  How dirty were they??  We could have walked home much easier, but a nice gentleman we’d been talking with offered us a ride home.  I hesitantly accepted.  It’s not in my nature to hitch rides from strangers, though I talk about it and have a desire to help someone just as this man helped us

The guys were still working on the auto-pilot when we returned so we dropped the clean clothes at the boat and headed to the pool to cool down.  We brought Jeeno to the pool because the whole boat was opened up and there was no place for a dog.  Plus he would have whined when we left anyway.  As soon as we jumped into the pool Jeeno followed right in line even though we were telling him no.  He must have been just as hot as us.  Of course, we didn’t let him stay.  We tied him up to the wall.  Then he was just being annoying barking at everyone who passed the pool.  No one seemed to mind, not even the office lady.  Though she did tell us he wasn’t supposed to be in there.

It wasn’t much longer before the guys were done.  Then we made final preparations for the outskirts of hurricane Nate to rain down on us.  The weather channel made it seem we may get hot real hard  and even issued a tornado warning.  Scary!  We didn’t get very much rain and there was almost zero wind.  The only thing we noticed was in the middle of the night the water level rose about 3.5 feet.  By the time we woke up it was back down.  The flooding was no big thing for locals.

Day 9: Apalachicola becomes home

Friday, October 6, 2017

Water Street Hotel and Marina

The water level has risen 2 feet since we docked.  We are on a floating dock with about 7 more feet to spare before we need to worry.  Hurricane Nate has flooded Nicaragua, Slidell Louisiana (where we just were a week ago) is being evacuated for Nate and coastal flood warnings are in affect for Apalachicola.  As of today we are living the good life.

We slept in, did some maintenance on the boat, tried to check the props with our go pro, but the water is too mucky to see anything.  Jacob is going to have to get in the water, but probably not here.  This is gator country.  There is a sign on our dock that says, “DON’T FEED THE GATORS”.  Jeeno has fallen in the water 3 times here.  I feel like he’s begging to get eaten by a gator.  He hasn’t fallen in once on our trip and now that we are docked up in marsh country he does???

When we ventured out today we saw many of the same people; this place is already starting to feel like home.  

I love when mother nature takes over.  Does anyone know how long it takes for this to happen?  and does it harm the structure?

Day 8: Change of Plans

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…

Day 7: Scipio Creek Marina, Apalachicola, Florida

October 4 : Panama City, Florida – Apalachicola, Florida (93 miles)

We traveled 8 hours on intercostal waters.  We crossed two lakes and motored through 2 rivers.  After we crossed East Bay Lake google maps no longer showed us on water.  I'm wondering...does this show/support global warming is real?  (Personally, I think the poles may be shifting)

 People around these parts call it the “ditch”.  It was a pretty smooth ride; the kids slept most of the time.  One of the lakes was only 7 feet deep yet the river was 25.  During the crossing of the first river it sound like we hit something.  EEKS!  I think it was a branch that was in the water.  The boat carried along fine so we weren’t too worried.  Jacob stayed up on the fly bridge the whole 8 hour trip.  Not able to move to use the restroom or eat.  Not having auto pilot is complicated with only one captain.  He is definitely earning his Captain’s stripes on this trip! 

We were cruising along fine that we didn’t even notice we were passing Apalachicola.  We had to turn around.  In doing so, we unknowingly were slightly off the channel.  All of sudden a group of mariners started hollering at us waving their arms in the air.  We really didn’t know what they were saying until the transducer and engines went out.  We hit land!!! A jetty at least 50 feet from land covered by about 2.5 feet of muddy river water.  One of the fellas hollering at us hopped in his boat with his broom stick and stuck it in the water revealing just how shallow the area was.  I am surprised it wasn’t marked better.  Jacob put the boat in reverse as the nice gentleman guided us with his broomstick.  Luckily, we were going slow enough and the ground was muddy, not rocky, so we were easily able to reverse out of the mud.  Once we made it back to the channel we continued through the narrow shallow harbor our marina, Scipio Creek , was tucked in.

The Marina was huge, but nearly vacant, with only a few boats docked.  After tying up we sent the kids to go explore, Jacob needed a moment of silence to relax from the drive and hitting land.    

We walked through a musty abandoned Oyster Bar and restaurant searching for the marina shop.  The boys both got chills walking through later in the night and are convinced it’s haunted.  When we came to the marine shop we found a woman and a partially stocked marina.  The shelves were closer to being empty than full.  This place looked like it was really cool at one point, but not anymore! 

The stop sign isn't even red anymore!

Apalachicola was a huge oyster town, but now like so many places humans have over taken.  One oystermen told me that it would take at least 10 years for the oysters in this area to reproduce to acceptable levels.  Most oysters you eat here nowadays are shipped in.  We, loving oysters, ate some at the Tap Room, bartender said they were local.

We also had also had a couple of locally brewed Apalachicola beers.  I really liked the IPA and Jacob the brown ale.

The full moon began to light the sky and the sun left us with a beautiful sunset

Day 6: Panama City Marina

October 3

After our wild day yesterday when we woke up and the wind was blowing, we decided we would stay put. 

I never imagined I would enjoy traversing the ocean so much!  Jacob always said he wanted to live on one of those cruise ships that travels the world.  It never appealed to me.  I wanted roots, a house, a garden, a place that I owned that I could call home.  I’ve never been a fan of renting because it never feels like it’s yours.  But after owning our previous house I realize now the maintenance and cleaning became overwhelming.  Too much time was spent keeping our home in order.  I decided I wanted to buy a tiny house and adopt a minimalist lifestyle.

Purchasing our boat, Dream Catcher, is like owning a tiny house that moves along the water to any place we desire.  Perfect for both of us!  I get a home and Jacob gets mobility.  We have only been living on the boat for a short time adapting our lavish lifestyle to be more simplistic.  I am loving it!  There is peace with simplicity.

I am learning that we have roots regardless of our location, life isn’t as complicated as I was making it, and things don’t have to be perfect.  Laundromats are more time efficient for doing laundry, when your home is small the cleaning is simple, and potted plants are a great way to garden.  I don’t think I will ever want to purchase another traditional home.   I can definitely see us retiring buying a larger boat and traveling the world on our “tiny house”  

Day 5: More Than We Bargained For

- October 2 -

Destin, Florida - Panama City, Florida

Boy oh boy!  What a day!  We ventured out of Destin, Florida today with white caps on the water and a breeze in there air.   We closed up our eisenglass as waves crashed crashed into our boat.  A few zippers wouldn't close all the way so the water was still trickling in.  The boat rocked, the waves crashed, today was gonna be a rougher day at sea.  Luckily, none of us get sea sick.   

Even though Jacob and I both had the thought that we should turn back we didn't share that thought with each other so we kept moving along.  I took a shot of tequila, liquid courage, to calm my nerves.  I have a tendency to worry too much otherwise I would have told Jacob that we should turn around.  I'm working on letting go of my worry so my intuition can be more accurate.

The waves were 2-4 feet high, not too big, Dream Catcher was handling them like a champ.  Oh, crap!  The grill.  It's connected to the railing on the bow of the boat.  The waves are too big for me to go to the front to remove it now.  All of a sudden the lid flies off and the grate crashes into the deck and slips into the water.  Ah!  The first valuable item to go overboard.  A few moments later I hear another crash, this time at the back of the boat.  The top of the swing gate is missing!  It must have fallen.  Hopefully, onto the dive platform.  I run over to the back of the boat to find it is in the water right at the edge of the platform.  I can reach it there.  As I head over the platform, a wave pushes it beneath the boat.  I scream STOP!!  I don't want it hitting our props.  Our props are fine, but the that piece sinks 25 feet below us in the Choctawhatchee Bay.  Ahhhhhh! I was so close to retrieving it.

Whoops!

How many more items will go over board before we make it to our destination, St. Thomas?  I wonder how much that piece will cost to replace, if it's even possible.  It'll probably have to be custom made.  At this point I suppose we don't need it and on the island we may need it even less.

We keep motoring along.  At this point we are to far along and monetarily invested in making it to Panama city so we don't even think about turning around.  Plus there is a small canal we'll go through and the water will be much calmer.  Jacob steps away from the helm for just a moment to use the restroom. Jayden and I faintly hear a beeping noise, but the only thing that we know beeps wasn't beeping.  Moments later I notice that the boat has significantly veered right and we are heading straight towards land.  I check with Jacob and he exclaims, "Oh Shit!"  He checks the autopilot.  That beeping we heard was the autopilot shutting off.  It got too wet!!  I sure hope it turns back on.  The rest of the run Jacob at to stay right at the wheel steering us.  It's a much harder way to travel for long distances, but he did it.  If our eisenglass would have properly sealed up we probably wouldn't have lost our autopilot.

We get a break from the rough waters as we go through West Bay Creek.  It was calm and beautiful through the creek, but once we reach West Bay Lake the chops start up again.  It's not as choppy as it was, but definitely not a smooth ride like our previous days.  We reach Panama city and raise our glasses; we made it!  It's time for a cocktail, Cheers Mates! 

Day 4

- October 1 -

Weather Forecast: 3-7 foot and a storm system in the gulf just below us.

We debated on leaving to head to the next marina, but it was 4.5 hours away.  We decided not to go out.  Hoping that tomorrow will bring better weather.

Somehow we ended up going back to Harry T’s for brunch.  Their breakfast was much better.  I drank bottomless mimosa’s and we all dialed into our electronic devices using their free wifi.

Can you believe our marina was $160 and they don’t have wifi?!  It’s shocking to me.

Fish, an employee at the marina helped us, me, learn how to fillet a fish.  I tasted a bit of the Spanish mackerel raw.  Tasted pretty good, I could have eaten it sushi style.  After filleting the fish I took a nap before preparing our feast; Spanish Mackerel, rosemary lemon potatoes, and salad.  Homecooked food is so satisfying.