Dec. 14, 2011 Yes we are still in Carrabelle, FL. We've been here a week, ready to go again, but the week has gone fast. We've climbed two lighthouses, walked the beach, did some biking and ate a lot of seafood (even fixed some - the shrimp- ourselves!)
The IWC which is a route thru mostly protected water behind islands and bays ends at Carrabelle and doesn't begin again until Tarpon Springs. This means 180 miles of running thru the gulf in open water. In boats our size, waves over 2' to 3' can be very uncomfortable, so everyone waits at Carrabelle until there is a good weather window. After about a week there, their were at least ten boats in the two marinas waiting to cross. This gave us the opportunity to meet several people who live on their boats and cruise as we do. Many of the larger boats travel at 8 to 12 mph and take up to 18 hrs or more to make the crossing. Normally they'll leave in the early afternnoon , run all night and arrive in Tarpon Springs or Clearwater the next day. We run much faster but don't carry enough fuel for the whole trip. The solution is to run a route closer to shore, duck into Steinhactchee River for fuel and a night of rest then finish the trip the following day.
Tom & Jan's Boat -Laughter
We helped them decorate and rode along in the lighted boat parade.
Tom & Jan at the after party. They won 2nd place in their division. Got a nice trophy.
On St. George Island Beach, with the Gulf in the background.
A mountain of oyster shells in Appalachiacola, FL.
They use them for their roads and driveways instead of gravel.
We ate fresh oysters in this town - they were pretty good, actually.
Dec. 15 & 16, 2011 We made the infamous cossing of the Gulf! Started out Thursday at about 9:30 AM and arrived in Steinhatchee at 2:30 PM for the night. Up and travelling at 8:30 the next morning to arrive in Tarpon Springs at 1:45PM. Got settled in and took our bikes to check out the Old Time Greek Town - very touristy and sponge capital of the World! Sponges everywhere! They are harvested right here in the gulf.
We left Carrabelle and ran the 7 miles to the pass into the gulf between Dog Island and St George Isand in verily calm water but at the pass and into the gulf some waves were 4' more more. For the second time in all our boating life Theresa got seasick. It was a very bumpy ride for the first couple of hours. After that things settled down some and by the time we got to Steinhatchee it was verily calm. The following day was much better although most of the day we were dodging the floats tied to crab traps. Commerical crabbers run traps as much as 50 miles from shore.
A ship we met out in the gulf.
You've probably figured out by now that we are not sending Christmas Greetings,
so A Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year to all from us.
(We're flying home to Iowa for the holidays and plan to return to the boat Jan. 10.)
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