Day 7, June 13, 2004

Today was a typical day, I'd guess. I woke up around 0830, & was excited to be able to fix myself some real cereal. See, I'd grabbed a bottle of milk & stuck in in the cooler yesterday before I left P.C. So, I pour my Cinnamon Toast Crunch into a bowl, then top it with a nice helping of 2%, and salivate at the thought of that first bite. It's been so long since I've had a good bowl of cereal! You know what's coming, right? Yea...the first bite was the most awfully sour taste I'd ever tasted. I knew it just had to be too good to be true. Alright...breakfast is shot, how about getting ready to head out.

Wait...where's my bobber? Maybe I actually caught a fish while I was sleeping! Hmm...why's the line tangled around the dinghy...and the rudder...and the prop? And the anchor line?? This is craziness. This stupid line managed to get tangled up with every thing in a 300' radius...surely that means that a fish is on, right? Eh...when I finally found the lure, it's peacefully sitting below the surface of the water...uneaten.

I finally weighed anchor, then made my way through the Gulf County Canal, then to the ICW (intercoastal waterway). Towards the end of the canal, I saw the coolest bird, just flying circles around me. It stuck around for about 15 minutes, then disappeared. I got a few pictures, & I'm not going to dare guess at what kind of bird it was until I get them back...I will however, say that I know of multiple people who have spotted bald eagles on that stretch of ditch.

Once I got on the ICW, I was about a 1/2 mile in front of a towboat, pushing 2 barges. As I got close to Lake Wimico, it started to rain, & I could see a pretty nasty storm brewing to the south. Between the storm & all the floating debris & grass in the water, I knew I was in for a treat. Luckily, the brunt of the storm missed us, but the wind was howling across the lake. Understand something about Lake Wimico...at first glance, it looks like any other lake...very wide & long. But, there is a well marked channel that goes straight through the middle of it. The channel is 8-12 feet deep, but if you veer from it in any way, you quickly find yourself in knee deep water. It's especially tricky when the wind is blowing, & you have to watch the markers behind you as well as in front of you, so that you don't get blown out of the channel without realizing it. The lake is about 6nm wide, but it took me nearly 2 hours to get across...the wind & current had me slowed to <4kts, not to meantion all the grass the motor & rudder had picked up. I finally told the tow to pass me, because he'd been slowly gaining on me the whole time, & I needed to cleanout my prop. I'll tell ya...it's kinda freaky watching a fully loaded tow go by you with 2500 horsepower about 15 yards away. BTW...in case you've forgotten...I'm a bit outpowered even with my big 6 h.p. motor.

I got to Saul Creek (my first anchoring option for the night) around 2:45, and just wasn't quite ready to stop, so I decided to go on to Apalachicola. That decision ended up putting me in a bind. I figured I could either anchor just across from town, or go on to St. George Island. Neither of these ended up being the correct answer. By the time I got to Apalach, the wind was whipping, & the anchorage was wide open to it. St. George was another 2 hours away, & not much more protected, so I decided to make use of Scipio Creek Marina.

It's a very nice marina with round, PVC pilings...much better than square concrete. I was able to walk into downtown & call Mom, Dad, & Ms. Patti. I haven't had cell service since P.C., so it was good to check in. Apalachicola is a neat little fishing town, so I went to Boss Oyster for dinner, on Mark's recommendation. It was pretty cool to be eating 30 feet from the boat that caught my meal. I got to talking with Tom who worked there, & it turns out that we have a number of mutual friends from Newnan. Small world, isn't it?

Anyway, I was watching the weather channel, & it looks like the tropical wave isn't going to be too bad. In fact, NOAA Radio makes it sound like Wednesday may be the day for me to begin the crossing.

I hope to spend tomorrow night @ The Moorings in Carrabelle, then Tuesday at Dog Island. We'll see how it goes.