ICW 3 Panama City - Apalachicola

ICW (3) Panama City – Apalachicola

November 10-11

The ICW is short for Inter Coastal Waterway.

Since leaving the rivers at Mobile Alabama, we have been in the safe protected waters of the ICW. This waterway runs parallel to the shore line for the Gulf from Corpus Christi in Texas to Carrabelle in Florida. It starts again in Tarpon Springs, which is on the west coast of Florida. See the picture below, it is marked in yellow. Now, see the GAP in the yellow? That gap means there is no ICW, in other words, NO safe waterway to protect you from the wild waters of the Gulf.

The yellow line is the ICW.
There is NO ICW between carrabelle and Tarpon Springs
That little distance on the charts are about 170 miles.
That means a 24 hour crossing.
SCARY!!!!!!

Now here lies the problem. If you want to get to the west coast of Florida, (and WE do)you have two options. You could do the “arm pit” of Florida which will take a few days of travelling. Day hops between little places, quite scenic but it takes long and it is very shallow in places and littered with crab pots. OR you can cut across the Gulf from Carrabelle to Tarpon Springs in one giant hop which takes about 24hours. That means travelling in the afternoon, right through the night to arrive the next morning so you can have enough light to spot those pesky crab pots close to shore.

(Crab pots are attached to thick lines which will get tangled around your props and can cause MAJOR damage.)

Since day ONE I have been worried about the Gulf crossing.  Compared to it, Lake Michigan is a walk in the park, and I was worried about doing that, so you can imagine how freaked out I am about this trip.

We have had some scary times on the water but we have never been so far from shore that we couldn’t get there in a hurry, if we had to. This trip means we will be far from land, about 80 miles at the furthest point. See what I mean???

So the trick is to do this hop in good weather, not ok or so-so weather, because that can still mean high winds and high seas. No, what you do is you listen to the professionals who know what they are talking about and cross when the weather is at its best. And then you PRAY!!!! (Seriously, we know weather forecasting is accurate how often????? Exactly!!!)

Till that weather window is open, you wait.  A friend of mine just said, the weather window isn’t just closed it is nailed shut as well. So we might be here for a while, waiting.

Last night we spent a delightful afternoon and evening in White City on a free dock, with power and fresh water on tap. We spent the afternoon washing the salt off Time&Tide and she sparkled again.

At the same time we were there ther was a local Bass fishing Tournament. The winner took home $10 000!!! Seems like a lot of money just to catch fish ( if you ask me)

Today we are in Apalachicola, waiting for that elusive GOOD weather window to open, so we can brave the big waters and get to the west coast.

Gary takes the worst pictures of me!!!

Liquor AND Pottery???!! Say it isn't so!!

Clam shells in stead of gravel

Caution!

More clam shells

Shark teeth

Tin Shed

Time& Tide tied to the free wall in Apalachicola
Shrimp boats in the back.

We treated ourselves to lunch, Gary had Alligator (yes, it tastes like chicken) and I had Oysters Rockefeller and Tuna sushi. Then we walked around Apalachicola, a little town whose claim to fame is its succulent oysters and locally caught seafood as well as its diverse history in cotton, sponges, and A/C. Yes, air conditioning…this is where Dr. Gorrie invented the ice machine, as a means to comfort yellow fever patients, which evolved into modern day A/C.  (For which I am personally very grateful!!)

There are also many quaint antique and art shops that make Apalachicola an appealing location.

Today is November 11, 2012.

Take some time to remember those who died for your freedom.

 Lest we forget.

…………………………………to be continued.