Day 34, "on the Loop", 11/11/2022

Day 28, Saturday, 11/5 - A relaxing day, spent in Apalachicola. Apalachicola had their annual Seafood Festival. The guys (Joel & Eric) walked around to check things out. I was feeling a bit under the weather (losing my voice) and decided to stay in to rest.

The town is adorable, with an old town feel, several antiques and craft type stores.

The day ended off great, my friend from high-school was in town for the weekend: Kimberly Jeffers Cramer and her husband David Cramer. They drove over from Carrabelle, FL to Apalachicola and had lunch with us! It was so great to catch up, hear about what is going on in Villa Rica (my hometown). Thank you Kimberly & David for making the extra effort to visit us!

Day 29, Sunday, 11/6 -

Since we had a short ride (3 hours) to Carrabelle, FL, we left Apalachicola at 11am. Most of our looper friends stayed at C-Quarters marina (just a walk from The Moorings of Carrabelle, which is where we stayed). The Marina is okay, but I am here to tell you, there is no way I could have assisted Joel into the slip without the help of Eric Heise (Many thanks to you). See pictures below:

Some pictures to help explain:

Our slip had a finger pier. Finger piers are short walk ways (allows you to get on and off the boat). It didn't feel very stable, wobbled A LOT.

We had to tie off to two pilings (wood poles) at the front of the boat, which meant preparing lasso's (lines) to be tossed around the pilings. We tossed lines to the dock hands who tied the back (stern) of the boat to the dock.

Summer Place in the slip and secure.

Bottom line is, the docks / boat slips are not steady and did not feel safe. Many of the pilings (the tall timbers / logs) are wobbly and hard to reach. This new experience required us to create a "lasso" with the lines to grab the two front pilings. Although, we had a dock hand, he was not much help.

The winds were coming at us, blowing us away from the dock where Joel was trying to dock the boat (Did I mention there was a random line floating in the water? That Joel worked to avoid catching in the prop). It took us 3 times before we were able to secure the boat in the slip. Note: I am wondering if the stress of my first mate responsibilities is what has caused me to lose my voice. Well, guess the guys are happy, I am not bossing them around - LOL.

Map of Trip - From Apalachicola, FL (Scipio Marina) to Carrabelle, FL (Moorings at Carrabelle Marina). This was only a 43 miles day; however, it was a 3 hours boat ride.

Day 30, Monday, 11/7 - A tropical storm delayed our trip. This is very common for loopers and the reason they watch the weather so closely. The winds were a bit strong today and based on this, we feel we will be in Carrabelle at least 5 - 7 days. We need to wait for a good weather day to cross the gulf. Note: this is an overnight trip; hence, one reason Eric is with us on this leg. Crossing the gulf takes a lot of pre-planning, watching weather, talking with other boat captains, etc. We met a boater that will take the lead (provided we are all in agreement with the weather conditions).

Joel and Eric walked the town separately, looking for grocery stores, restaurants, etc. Joel and I found a laundry mat and although the hours were posted on the door Monday - Friday: 9am - 5pm, no one was there at 9:45am, ET when we arrived. We prefer to go to laundry mats as they have multiple machines. I opted to do the laundry at the marina, they only had one machine; but, it didn't take too long.

Most restaurants are closed on Monday's so we had dinner on the boat. For the most part, we eat breakfast and lunch on the boat and occasional dinners. Eric is intermittent fasting so he eats between the 11am - 7pm. After dinner, Joel and Eric walked to a near by marina where the other loopers gather for docktails. Note: We are now in the eastern time zone.

Shout out to Casey Carr, my niece, it's her birthday on this day.  Happy Birthday, Casey girl! 

Day 31, Tuesday, 11/8

Joel and I walked the boardwalk and read up on the history here in Carrabelle. It's a very small town with limited resources. Ubers are not available and this marina doesn't have courtesy vehicles; however, almost everything we needed was in walking distance.

Day 32, Wednesday, 11/9

I was still not feeling well so I went to a local doctor that accepted walk-Ins. We rode our bicycles to the medical facility. The staff was super friendly and saw me within 30 minutes of my arrival. I was treated for Bronchitis (got a prednisone shot and ZPack, I should feel better in a few days). I also have Laryngitis, so I have been resting my voice (which those that know me, that's hard)! The guys went out for dinner, met with the other loopers and gave me some down time to rest.

Fun Fact: Carrabelle doesn't have a pharmacy. The nearest pharmacy is 30 minutes away in Apalachicola. I hired a driver, Cher, a local Concierge, to drive me from the marina to the pharmacy. Cher moved here a few years back and saw a need for this transportation service. If you are visiting this area without a car, I highly recommend her service.

Ate dinner at Fathom's Restaurant, known for their oysters:

Day 34, Thursday, 11/10

Tropical Storm Nicole delayed our departure from Carrabelle. The weather predictions indicate it may be Thanksgiving before we can make the gulf crossing. With this new news, Eric decided to head back home. Mark MacLean received our repaired boat props in Panama City and drove them out to us, 80 miles (Thank you, Mark) & Thank you, Eric for all your help this past weeks! Eric rode back to Panama City Beach to fly home to STL.

Joel and I will wait out this weather and plan accordingly.

Day 35, Friday, 11/11 -

Happy Veteran's Day!  Thank you to all the men and women who served (and are serving) our country. Your sacrifice is greatly appreciated.

Tropical storm Nicole past and wasn't too bad. We had a lot of rain that started around 10am. and went through the night. We had wind gust around 35 mph throughout the day. For various reasons, many of the boaters took their canopies down (to prevent wind damage). Note: Boater insurance companies sometimes requires this of their clients (to remove canopies), add on extra lines and to take pictures to have on hand to show that all efforts were taken to keep the boat safe. The pictures are used later should a claim need to be filed. Luckily, our insurance doesn't require us to remove our canopy (that is a lot of work).

Some random information about Carrabelle:

- Carrabelle has the World's Smallest Police Station

In the early 1960s, Carrabelle's police phone was located in a call box that was bolted to a building at the corner of U.S. Highway 98 and Tallahassee Street. During this time the city had problems with people making unauthorized long distance calls on its police phone. The phone was later moved to another location but the illegal calls continued.

Google "World's Smallest Police Station if you are interested to learn more"!

- Other points of interest here in Carrabelle

Carrabelle History Museum

Highlights local heroes, the Steamship Tarpon, which was key to building this community in the early 1900's and gives insight to the first people of Carrabelle (those that lived here thousands of years ago).

Also highlighted is the 1899 "Carrabelle Hurricane" which caused many shipwrecks. Note: In 2018, Hurricane Michael uncovered parts of two ships that were wrecked during the 1899 event.

Camp Gordon Johnston WWII Museum

In 1942, Camp Gordon Johnston opened. Its sole purpose was to train infantry divisions and special brigade for WWII 1900's landings in the Pacific, Africa, and Europe. It closed in 1946 after training a quarter-million solders and sailors. You can learn more history about this at the museum.

Crooked River Lighthouse

Also known as the Carrabelle Light, was built in 1895 to replace the Dog Island Light on Dog Island which was destroyed in 1875 by a hurricane.

The sunsets here in Carrabelle are beautiful.