We spent a couple of nights in Venice. Primarily to visit with my Uncle Leo, but also to let some strong winds and rain pass through. Both missions were happily accomplished and we had a nice stroll around downtown Venice as a bonus.
We left Venice on Easter Sunday and headed north on the ICW past Sarasota and on to Tampa Bay which we decided to cross while conditions were good. As we entered the channel on the north side of the bay we caught up to a familiar looking boat with an unfamiliar name. I hailed the captain on the vhf and confirmed that it was formerly March Winds IV which had been slipped behind us at Legacy for a couple of winters. The new owners were quite proud of their new vessel and seemed like they would take care of her the way Gary and Linda did.
We decided to pull into an anchorage that turned out to be not the best but you'll have that once in awhile.
Pam wasted no time in getting out the Holiday Mimosa's so we could toast Easter.
We followed up the drinks with our now traditional holiday meal while on Tourist of Cornish Hens.
Our night was bumpy as the anchorage didn't protect us as well as advertised. We were happy to get going the next morning and had a peaceful ride up to Clearwater where we took on fuel. Did laundry and walked to Publix.
The big day is upon us. Crossing day and the weather looks good. Forecast wave height of 2 foot or less most of the way with possible 2 footers near East Pass at the end of our day. Off we go.
Once out in the Gulf the forecast seemed to be accurate. We had 1' to 2' on the nose which was very comfortable for Tourist. As an additional bonus we experienced very few crab pots after leaving Clearwater. I put Tourist up on plane and cruised along around 17 to 18 knots most of the way with the exception of an hour and a half of running at 8.5 knots for lunch and to save a drop of fuel.
You'll notice the stuff under the table by Pam in the above picture. Even with the good forecast we take all chairs, tables. and any other loose items out of the cockpit and secure them elsewhere.
Once again the wisdom of this extra precaution paid off. About 20 miles from our destination the wind picked up and started coming at us from the port beam raising the waves to 3' to 4'. Yuk! Not unsafe but certainly not comfortable. A little throttle play and we found a speed that didn't beat up the boat, just threw water over the bridge periodically.
Part way through the last 20 miles I noticed the burgee on the bow of the boat had come loose and was only holding on at one eyelet. I immediately slowed down and turned into the waves. Pam took the helm after refusing to go out on the bow (imagine that!) which left me to retrieve the burgee. Back inside we once again got under way and made it through East Pass and around the corner to our anchorage behind Dog Island. 172 miles for the day. Time for a drink!
We shared the anchorage with 2 other boats that night and in the morning got under way. First stop C-Quarters Marina in Carrabelle for fuel before going on to Apalachicola.
Apalachicola. Originally we were going to only stay one night but changed our minds. We had only spent one night here in all our times of going this way and when we explored the town it was a Sunday morning. Nothing was open. Duh! This time we would see what this neat little town had to offer.
I'll offer up some scenes from around town.
Shops were open with the usual selection of items that you find in tourist towns. My favorite was one that had an abundance of all things nautical just scattered around as though they just dropped them as they brought them through the door.
Apalachicola has had it's ups and downs like so many small towns. It seems that it is on an uptick once again because of tourism and the shrimp boats. As for the Apalachicola oysters. The folks are waiting to harvest them once again. Supposedly back following the BP oil spill everyone was warned that the oil was coming and it would ruin the oyster beds. As a result the beds were over harvested and of course the oil never came. Now they are about a year away from being able to get the beds back in a rotation much like a farmer and his crops.
Did we have raw oysters. You betcha! But they came from Virginia.
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