Shalimar, FL to Steinhatchee, FL

Saturday, January 13. We decided to wait for Bobby and Elaine to join us in Shalimar, at Two Georges Marina, as they were making a long journey without stopping from Milton, FL where we kept our boats during December. The night before was windy and as the day wore on it calmed down. We invited B&E over for taco soup and had a nice early evening.

Our view from Two Georges Marina the evening before we left.

Sunday, January 14. We left the dock at 8:00am for our 60 nautical mile cruise to Emerald Harbor Marina near Panama City, in Choctawhatchee Bay. The water was calm, I was able to defrost the refrigerator while in the canal before we popped out at West Bay. One of the chores that needs attending every two weeks to eliminate ice build up in the freezer —hopefully this helps the battery not work so hard.

A zoo along the way….

More fixed docks. It’s a challenge so far getting used to tying the boat to poles and short docks.

As we tied up the boat, Kathleen from Dragonfly was playing her fiddle on a deck above the docks. She plays beautifully and we would love to have this happen everytime we dock! This marina had showers plus free laundry which was a nice surprise.

Monday, January 15. Our slip was next to the shore and the low tide dictated that we should wait to leave until the tide started coming in. At 10:00 am we left without any issues to head for Apalachicola.

These are Slash Pines that hurricane Ivan in 2004 did alot of damage to.

Homes along the canal. They seem very isolated in this part of Florida.

Unfortunately the marinas were full in Apalachicola so we opted to stay at the City Dock. They charge $2 per foot and there are no services or anyone there to help. We had traveled 52 nautical miles and had 72 more to go to the next marina so we decided to stay. What could go wrong—it was a relatively calm day….

This was at the Half Shell Dockside restaurant by one of the marinas. We had a nice walk and dogs were welcome so we didn’t leave Snickers behind alone at the dock.

I did not take a photo with our boats tied to the dock. This photo shows how it looked Tuesday before we left—but it does not show how low the water was.

Tuesday, January 16. The early morning was calm, Darth and I walked to a local coffee shop and if we had a spot at the marina, we may have stayed to explore Apalachicola. The town has alot of history, however, we would not get to explore this time. Our next destination 26 nautical miles away to Carrabelle, which is where alot of Loopers would be to plan either the Big Bend crossing or night crossing to Tarpon Springs.

The morning took a turn. As the wind picked up, we started to plan our departure with Bobby and Elaine. Darth and I were tending to the lines on our boat when I heard Darth say “Bobby! are you ok?” Then Darth said “Bobby fell in” and ran to help. Bobby was ok—-cold from going underwater but thankfully he did not hit his head or break any bones. We re-grouped and waited until Bobby was able to change to dry clothes —the wind kept picking up so we told them we would hold the lines and help them leave the dock when they were ready.

Unfortunately our troubles were not over. After we turned into Apalachicola Bay the predicted 1.2’ waves were 3’ - 5’ waves and mostly on our beam. B&E were ahead of us and though it was uncomfortable our boats plowed through.

This is not a car wash! It did feel like we were in a washing machine though.

We arrived safely, Bobby is ok..with good humor. He said he got to swim, go to the beach(this was when he went under and pushed off the bottom), and ride a roller coaster.

Wednesday, January 17. We joined approximately 20 fellow loopers to determine when it would be safe to cross and what route everyone was going to choose. Only one of the 13 boats said they intended to do the night crossing. The rest of us decided to travel the 75 nautical miles to Steinhatchee possibly Thursday depending on the 4:00pm weather prediction. We would meet again at 5:00 pm.

Carrabelle is a small town with no chain restaurants. We ate before the 5:00 meeting at ‘The Fisherman’s Wife’ restaurant, and did some light provisioning at the IGA.

The 5:00 meeting established that we would cross Thursday, we exchanged phone numbers for group texting. As the night concluded, we shared our expected departure times. It felt good to be part of this large group.

Marina in Carrabelle. The upstairs in the building is large room the marina reserves for Loopers to meet at. We are side by side In Cahoots.

Thursday, January 18. It was a beautiful calm morning. We were up and off the dock by 7:00am.

Our view as we left the channel. Right after I took this photo two dolphins popped up. I stayed for awhile hoping they would pop up but no… they did not.

The sun came up over Dog Island. The water an easy 1-2’ chop as predicted.

And then we passed Dog Island. We were told it might be might be ‘Sporty’. I thought Sporty meant 2-3’ chop…. NOPE! The description should have been ‘NOT FUN’ —which is 3-5’ waves again…. The good news is the waves were not on our beam which taking the waves head on is much easier and we kept saying these are not as bad as Tuesday’s waves. Also, at least we aren’t traveling 178 miles overnight!

The forecast also said the waves would subside in two hours of this 9+ hour cross. WELL—-not so much, the waves stayed until we were 12 miles from destination. All boats were within eye-sight most of the way, and we never felt we needed to abort the crossing. Per the AGLCA Forum, we found out we were one of the largest groups that made the crossing so far this time of year.

This was the photo we used to show our path to family and friends when cell service would be available.

A fellow looper took a photo of our boat as we rock and rolled. The video really shows the waves a little easier.

Just when the waves calmed down, the next challenge is to avoid crab pots. Seen above is a red one that would be about 60’ away from another red one. The colors range from red, white, pink, blue, and black.

Osprey at the channel marker to Steinhatchee.

Celebratory wine.

Shown are relieved and happy loopers!

The Steinhatchee Marina at Deadman Bay is wonderful! We were met with dock attendants, moorage only 75 cents a foot, power, water, showers and enough room for all.

Friday, January 19th. Steinhatchee, FL - pronounced StEEnhatchee. We washed and cleaned the boat. There was salt everywhere from the last few days of travel. The last episode of the REACHER series was released on Prime so we invited B&E over for dinner and movie night.

We don’t know when we all will make the next hop to Chrystal River 75+ miles away. There are about 8 boats that did not leave to continue moving through the Big Bend. We all seem to be content to taking a break and waiting for the next window.

Sunset Firday night.

Saturday, January 20. Darth and I got on the bikes and rode to McDavid’s for a delicious breakfast. It has been a relaxing day.

McDavid’s

Darth in his bright easy to see coat for the bike.

Mr. Heron has been replaced with Mr. Pelican…. or Ms. Pelican.