The intercostal waterway to Carabelle

Different day, same ugly, rainy, windy weather. It is depressing having bands of rain overhead for the last week. The marinas in the big bend area are not fun to tie up at. The docks are fixed docks that are about a foot higher at high tide than the gunnels of the boat. Tides range from a foot to 4 feet depending on where you are and change once a day. Bev has no way of getting off the boat during the low as it is about a 2 foot difference.

We have been to Panama City, FL where there is a main dock and 10 foot finger piers coming out designating a slip. Beyond the pier you play at being a cowboy during calf roundup. There are pilings that you try to loop your bow line onto on both sides as you are backing down towards the main dock. We were backing into the slip with a ten knot crosswind and some current. It was not fun as we were pushed all over the place with the wind overwhelming our thrusters. After one bailout, we tried again and were able to get the stern (back end) of the boat close enough that Bev was able to get one line on the dock. The dockmaster said to get your bow lines looped on the front pilings next. So Bev runs up to the bow and does her best impression of Annie Oakley. With some engine help she hugs the post to wrap the line around and bring it back to the boat. We ended up being trussed up like a turkey in the slip when all was said and done. When tying up to fixed docks, you must anticipate the tides when setting your lines. If you don’t, you could be rolled out of bed due to the lines holding your boat up on one side. The rain and thunderstorms started the next day. This was supposed to be a drought area of Florida, but it sure doesn’t look like it from our perspective.

The coastal waters of Florida are very shallow. Often there are tight channels going through large waterways. Once outside the channel you could be in depths of 1 to 4 feet. I have included a screenshot of the chart plotter showing typical Florida waterways in the panhandle.

After 3 days in Panama City, the wind dropped enough for us to feel comfortable leaving. We were the first to leave of the 27 looper boats waiting for good weather. Four boats did end up following us to Apalachicola, FL in the rain. At least we had a side tie on a fixed dock in Apalachicola. There was an oyster bar and brew pub on site, so we decided to head up to the brew pub and check their tasty selections. We entered through the marina store to another door in the back which was a dry way of getting to the brew pub. We opened the door and were greeted by a children’s birthday party for a 10 year old girl. There was a table set up with the birthday cake and about 15 girls were running all over the place and attempting to play pool at the pool tables. We both looked at each other thinking what is a children’s birthday party doing in an area attached to a brew pub. Well Apalachicola is a small town and we guess is was a party room that could be rented for the occasion. We did see some parents with local brews in their hands. We had to make our way through the screaming girls to find a small alcove where the bar was located. It was tasty beer and we enjoyed some fresh caught gulf shrimp. After dinner, we made our way through the rain back to the boat. In the morning we untied the lines in the rain and made our way out into the bay behind some barrier islands heading towards Carabelle, FL. It is nice having an enclosed pilothouse with heat on the boat to steer from in the rain.

Carabelle is the jumping off point for crossing the gulf to the west side of Florida. There are three marinas in Carabelle and they are all full. Luckily, we were one of the early arrivals and were able to snag a slip. Now mind you, this is northern Florida on the panhandle. There aren’t that many big cities nearby so it is very rural. The marina we are at has a main dock with little itsy-bitsy piers coming out from it. The piers for getting on and off the boat are 7 feet long and at a fixed height. Most boats back into the slips and play the cowboy lasso game with the bow lines on the front pilings. We came in at low tide. As we backed into the slip, our stern appeared to run aground. At least, we have a full keel under the boat which protects our propeller from hitting anything damaging. We tried moving the back of the boat using the stern thruster and it did not move sideways. Yup, we were aground. The dockmaster was very helpful saying it will float when the tide comes up. Gee thanks, you could have told us it was shallow back there. Unfortunately, backing in and going that far back in the slip is the only way to access the dock. To get up on the pier, we need to climb up and stand on the boat gunnel, grab hold of some handles that are screwed into the piling and step up onto the dock. Bev cannot do this at low tide and has to wait until the tide comes up a foot or so. Once the boat was in the slip and things had calmed down, we ventured into town. Carabelle is a small town, has a grocery store within walkable distance of the marina, some restaurants and a lot of good ol boys. We spotted the world’s smallest police station on one of our treks to the post office.

We have had one day of sun the two weeks prior our arrival in Carabelle. During that one day, we were able to get some pictures of the Gulf Intercoastal waterway. They were taken as we were going by a Cypress Tree Swamp.

We are waiting on a weather window to cross the big bend of the gulf over to Clearwater Florida. The trip will be approximately 146 miles on open water. We found out that Starlink only gives coverage to 12 miles out unless you add the ocean mode. At least they allow you to turn off ocean mode once the crossing is complete. Keep your fingers crossed, there may be a weather window later this week.