From Spectre Island we cruised to Hogtown Bayou, another pretty anchorage, and quiet. Our cruising views range from well-developed to undeveloped and back again, with sandy dunes speckled with pines and scrub giving way to a few houses or larger hotels that look like they are right on the water’s edge. This area was hard hit last year by the edges of Hurricane Idalia, and there is much debris and many downed trees.
Sunday, Dec 3, we made our way to Emerald Harbor Marina in Panama City. This particular marina is small and tucked up into the northeastern area of the city. Most Loopers were staying at marinas down the GICW. We chose this one because it was much closer to the grocery stores, and we really needed to provision. Seth, the owner, offered a ride to the store and we took advantage of that, filling the back seat of his truck with our provisions, especially heavier items that are tough to carry when we’re walking to the store. We can’t say enough about Seth and his marina. Yes, it’s very small, and, Seth puts it, basically just a place to park your boat. But it offers everything a transient could want except for fuel: hot showers, free laundry, and access to town. (There were several smaller groceries within walking distance.)
Monday we bid goodbye to Seth, thanking him for all his friendly hospitality, and made our way into what Dan called the Dismal Swamp of the Florida Panhandle. This was a beautiful and scenic passage between Panama City and the Applachicola River. Much of the shore is cypress swamp and protected wilderness. Lots of birds. Late afternoon we turned into the Searcy Oxbow to anchor in a protected little area and spotted our first alligator! He was a big guy, sunning himself on the bank, and not at all interested in us anchoring twenty feet away. Our pictures of him and this anchorage don’t really do the place justice.
Tuesday we were up with the sunrise and made our way down past Applachicola as our phones jumped ahead an hour, and into the GICW headed for Carrabelle. This is a tiny town tucked into the upper bend of Florida’s west coast, and a popular jumping off spot for Loopers to make a Gulf passage all the way to Clearwater or Tarpon Springs. We took a slip at the Moorings of Carrabelle Marina, filled one of the fuel tanks with the cheapest diesel we’ve seen yet, and walked the town for about an hour. A very nice grocery store is less than a quarter mile away, as are a couple of restaurants and a nice hardware store. The marina has a clubhouse equipped with a pool table, and Dan and I played several games of eight ball Tuesday evening. (He won two of the games, and we took turns scratching the others, but I was satisfied with my performance.)
This morning (Weds Dec 6) we went to breakfast with fellow Loopers Mike and Debbie from I Think I Can. Dan and Mike strategized the next few days’ travel while we all enjoyed a good meal. They are considering an overnight crossing instead of the day-hopping down the coast we are planning out. After breakfast we bid them fair winds and took off for an anchorage about ten miles down the coast in Alligator Harbor, near the town of Sopchoppy, shaving off a couple hours from our next hop down to Steinhatchee.
No comments:
Post a Comment