No Crocks, Oysters and Cooper's Island

Gulf County Channel to GIWW

We slipped our dock lines at Port Saint Joe yesterday at 0830 and headed into Gulf County Channel which took us back to the GIWW.  Our destination was Aplachicola for an early tie off.  The trip was magnificent in a part of the GIWW that was mostly swamp.  The charts termed it impenatrible swamp.  Trees lined most of the trip and although the wind was always on the nose, we made good time.  In the middle of Lake Wimico, we spotted a small, and I do mean small island.  It could not have been more than twenty yards by ten yards.  We dubbed it Cooper's Island since no reference to an island name is on the charts.  Along the way, we expected to see our first gators.  There were none to be seen but a boat that tied up next to us that night said they saw one eyeballing their little dog. 

I Dub Thee Cooper's Island

We made it to Aplachicola by 1605 hours and found a spot next to a restaurant on Scipio Creek.  The restaurant, we later learned, is a local favorite and the local specialty is oysters.  The oysters from this area are considered amoung the best in the US. I hate oysters other than fried but had to at least give them a try.  I now like oysters.  Dang, what I have missed all these years.  Anyway, we had a chance to walk the town.  It's existence is a nice change to the usual fishing towns.  Started as a sponge and cotton trading town, it now caters to oysters and shrimp and tourism.  One can walk the  entire historical district in a couple of hours or so.  We decided to take the advice of some, dare I say it:  power boaters, and change plans to skip the Big Bend of Florida.  That is we will visit some of the ports in the Big Bend.

The French Consulate in Apalachicola

Being Overtaken by a Nice Trawler

This morning, we left the dock at 1045 hours in a 24 knot wind, as usual on the nose.  Once out of the harbor, we were able to sail with the headsail for twenty seven minutes before our course took us east and into the wind.  So much for freebie movement.  The rest of the day was under power.  We reached a milestone just one hour before reaching our anchorage for the evening.  We came to mile marker 375 east of Harvey Locks (New Orleans).  That is the end of the GIWW from Brownsville to Carrabelle, Florida.  From this point on, we will navigate buoys and landmarks outside any channels offshore.  In a way, it was the official start of the part of the cruise we both have looked forward to.  We reached a major decision today, thus committing to the cruise in serious fashion.  We called the Port Aransas Harbor Master and "gave up our slip".  It took three years on the waiting list to get that slip and we were keeping it just in case we did not like cruising.  So there, we have done it.  Now the National Weather Service said that there are record high sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic.  They are predicting a very active hurricane season this year.  Great, just great. 

As I write this, we are at the eastern tip of Dog Island.  It is about five nautical miles southeast of Carribelle, Florida on the St. Gorges Sound.  We are in flat, almost Caribbean water with very little wave action.  The sky is clear and we are expecting a beautiful sunset.  Our goal is to make port in Steinhatchee, Florida in the next day or so, dependent on weather.  For tonight, the Colors are retired properly, it is spaghetti and a rather cheap but good chardonnay in a place that few of the  finest resturants in the world can match in ambience.