Dunedin
to Pensacola: April 8 2018
We
broke into our picnic basket; wine – check, loaf of bread – check, pre-sliced
cheese - oops, still in the fridge back on the boat. Oh well, it’s a fair so the funnel cake vendor
took up the slack. The Highland Games
are actually not until next weekend complete with competitions; solo piping and
drumming, highland dancing, pipe bands and Scottish heavy athletics (lifting
and tossing a 100+ pound log, etc.).
This is the Hail to the Chieftain kick-off event when the Honorary
Chieftain arrives by canoe and enters the Festival escorted down the 725 foot
pier by a pipe band of more than 30 bagpipers (and drummers, too). How cool does that sound?! Too bad the sun does not set until 7.30pm…tick
tock, tick tock…did we mention that we can be impatient?!
Remember
that pre-sliced cheese we left in the fridge?
Well, it made wonderful Havarti with dill and sliced tomato quesadillas
for breakfast - voila! The anchor was up
at 10:15am as we waved goodbye to Dunedin.
By 11am we were out the Clearwater cut and into the Gulf of Mexico. The beach remains rockin’ with sun
worshippers and Spring Breakers. Oh,
Happy Easter! Our departure patience
paid off with calm conditions and sunny skies – perfectly boring. We are glad that we waited. The water color changed from stunning emerald
to deep sapphire as we got further into the Gulf. An easy dinner of Dr Martin’s Mix was hot and
flavorful as we motored along without another boat in sight. The full moon helped keep the dark night
gloom to a minimum for the 160 mile passage.
Patchy
fog throughout the night and early morning kept the radar busy and super
useful. At 8am we entered the East Pass
into St George’s Sound (4/2). All was
placid with swooping bald eagles, pelicans in formation and jumping
dolphins. The barrier island landscape
means that we still have bridges to pass below.
All bridges are named in honor of someone or some place. Here the man of the hour is Dr John Gorrie
and his 65 foot Memorial Bridge. Dr John
Gorrie?! Who is he? Well, he invented the ice maker and was a
refrigeration pioneer that lived in Apalachicola. That does seem like a needed invention for
the hot climate of Florida (and there is even a museum dedicated to his work in
town). By Noon we were docked at the
Apalachicola Marina (thanks for the line help David and Jeff). Arrival
to this small fishing hamlet makes it clear that we have made a change in
latitude because the nearest Coast Guard announcements come from Mobile,
Alabama; fishermen on the VHF radio have slow, southern drawls and the marina
guys carry a glass of iced tea at all times. Apalachicola is the oyster capital
of Florida and a place I have been looking forward to visiting since we started
planning this itinerary. Our first task once tied up is for Chris to sort
out the stages and timeline for the pilot house hatch replacement.
I started laundry and have mapped out the
route to the Piggly Wiggly supermarket.
The docks are lively as shrimp boats come to fill with fuel. This is definitely a working waterfront.
The
new hatch was waiting for us at the marina so work began immediately. Measurements appear to match so Chris removed
the old hatch and sees a short-ish list of items to get the new one installed. Screw holes do not match (of course) so the
old holes were filled with epoxy. Cure
time will be 24-hours – project to be continued. Not needed as a gopher, I took the chance to
walk to the Piggly Wiggly supermarket and was again reminded that we are in a
new latitude with distinctly southern favorites on the shelves like Duke’s
mayonnaise, White Lily flour and fried okra in the freezer. It seems you are nobody in this town if you
don’t have a smoker in your yard (including in the parking lot of the Piggly
Wiggly) or a ceiling fan on your porch.
Palm trees meld seamlessly with the live oaks and Spanish moss with
oyster shells tossed on the roads and paths.
That’s it for chores for the day.
Quick showers and we headed into town with my hair still wet. First stop was two beers at Oyster City
Brewery where I made a quick friend of Fat Jack the parrot (and his owner
John…doing his best impression of a pirate).
Apalachicola raw oysters (of course), duck fries and fried goat cheese
was the perfect casual dinner at The Tap Room.
We slept well with full bellies and with an overnight passage in the
rear-view mirror.
Our
boat projects have gone smoothly; pilot house hatch was installed and the fuel
pump was hooked up and is operational for fuel transfer between tanks
(4/3). Yippee! Plus, I did a total boat interior clean. Barefeet is squeaky clean and ready for
adventures further west. It is quirky to
be moving east/west instead of our winter usual north/south. Apalachicola is described as the unspoiled
“forgotten coast.” Shhh – let’s keep its
charm between us. Chris camped out at a
coffee shop while I explored the town stopping into seaside boutiques and
snapping photos until it was time for cocktails when we headed to Apalachicola
Ice Company. Just four years ago the
space was a huge marine supply store founded in 1909 (then moved across the
Bay) but today it is a neighborhood hang out with wine served in small jam jars
and open mic night every Wednesday night.
Food is limited to bagged chips, freshly popped popcorn and pickled eggs
until their custom-built food truck is delivered later in the summer. Owners James and Erin are excited for the
road ahead.
We’ll
return to watch open mic night but tonight we’ll eat at Hole in the Wall
restaurant. Could this town be any funner
(oops – I mean…any more fun)?! The
restaurant was hoppin’ and we got the last two seats in the place (at the bar –
our favorite). When my wine was
delivered I cackled with laughter for a good five minutes…totally festive and I
think EVERYONE needs a glass like this.
Apalachicola oysters featured prominently so we had half a dozen steamed
oysters with jalapenos, crispy bacon and cheddar cheese. We loved them! And got the recipe from the bartender: clean
and open oyster; sprinkle with bacon, jalapeno and cheese; cover and cook in
microwave for two minutes…done! We will
have to try this at home. Sorry, the
photo is the decimated remains because they were too good to pause for a photo
until eaten.
A
bit of this and that today with engine work (setting the main engine valve
gaps), hose test on the new hatch (not a drip – fantastic), orange cinnamon
bread baked and a bit of laundry (but a hick-up ended with clothes needing to
be wrung out until the gremlin was fixed).
In town golf carts buzz among the cars which keeps the single stop light
the biggest hurdle to easy pedestrian/motor cohabitation. We are feeling on top of projects so we did
some work on hobbies; reading Spanish, stitchery and more reading (4/4). Dinner at The Owl Café (The Tap Room’s fancy
sister) was delicious and a bit more fancy with sauces and homemade dressings. We rounded out the night at open mic night
with plenty of local talent taking the stage.
Our favorite was the rendition of Tom Waits’ Chocolate Jesus – gravelly goodness.
It
is hard to leave this charming spot but we have more to see before turning
around for the season (4/5). The slip at
Apalachicola Marina is a tight squeeze and a bit tricky with wind and current
thrown in but dock help from David and Jeff was invaluable. They walked and warped the stern out and
around the slip into the river. Phew –
no loss of gel coat is always a success.
Our short 2.5hr motor had us anchored at Oxbow Anchorage. This place is definitely our own episode from
Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. There
are gators hunting, bald eagles gliding and a swarm of bees trying to architect
a new home in an almost dead tree. There
is not supposed to be any wind so we can practically touch the trees
ashore. Our dinner of Caesar pork
tenderloin, mashed potatoes and peas with a bottle of wine had us feeling on
top of the world. Wow – we love this
boating life! It was hard to fall
asleep as we strained to hear critter activity ashore.
Our
short travel day yesterday was made up for today (4/6). We made a ten hour move to Choctawhatchee Bay
located solidly on Florida’s panhandle coast.
It was a long day but the scenery was stunning; dripping Spanish moss,
pine trees, palm trees slowly gave way to bright white sand dunes. We passed through the “Grand Canyon,” below
bridges higher than 65’ (no opening dance required) and past bodies of water
called bayous and creeks rather than rivers or keys. The views remind us of the ICW through the
Carolinas on the east coast – some of our favorites. Countless dolphins played in our bow and
pelicans plopped into the water in search of a snack. We changed over to the Central Time Zone to
drop the anchor at 5.45pm. Dinner was
quick and easy Caesar pork quesadillas after sundowners on the top deck. Goodnight.
We
woke before the sun in the hopes of being beyond the wide-open Choctawhatchee
Bay before the thunderstorm whipped up (4/7).
Drat – not to be. Well, in any
case, we had to move from the exposed anchorage. We got started and will simply see how far we
get. The skies darkened and rain
pelted. Eegads, the Coast Guard on the
VHF radio warned of tornadoes ashore and waterspouts offshore. We see lightning and hear thunder - it is
pretty spooky when the storm cells pass overhead dumping even more rain and swirling winds - especially when they actually
canted the boat with a lean to the left.
Bugger – the center windshield wiper crapped out which makes it harder
to spot the channel markers…gggrrr. We
took our first out and anchored after four hours off of Santa Rosa Island in 12
feet with a sandy bottom. Strong winds
forecast for tonight have been labeled a “small craft advisory” so we will stay
in the snug spot to plan our next explorations in the areas of Pensacola and
Gulf Shores/Mobile Bay, Alabama. On the
plus side, Barefeet got a great car wash style fresh water rinse with water
from loads of angles and is drying out, sparkling clean. And what a difference a few hours makes?! I’m making great progress on the stitchery
looking at the sand dunes. The day wound
down with cocktails on the top deck with a Chris pizza in the oven and a triple
barge passing in the channel. Cool!
Today
we finished the route that we started yesterday with arrival at Pensacola Beach
(4/8). It was a chilly morning (48F) but
conditions were calm. We had mapped out
a couple of anchorages that appeared to have good, all around protection so
that we could rent a car and explore by land.
Little Sabine Bay was the first on the list and a home run. It was wide open without a soul anchored;
restaurants a dinghy ride away and an Enterprise Rental Car just a short Uber
ride away. And the perfect spot to catch
up with Karen and Terry of s/v Sora. The
last time we saw these guys was in Phuket, Thailand. We were both
part of the sailors Class of 2007 who criss-crossed through the South
Pacific and South East Asia together. Wow – we picked up right where we left
off at The Sandbar on Pensacola Beach. As Karen said, “It feels like nine
weeks since we last saw you…not nine years.”
We caught up on travels and trips and family and learned about future
plans. We told tall tales and laughed
and laughed.
This
is our turn-around spot for the season – we made it! We will explore the area by land for a few
days then start making our way back to Stuart, Florida, where we will put
Barefeet away for the summer. Life is good.
Dr.
Martin’s Mix
(I Hate to Cook Cookbook by Peg Bracken)
1
– 1.5lbs pork sausage (hamburger will do, too)
˝
teaspoon salt
1
Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
1
green pepper, chopped,
2
green onions, chopped
3
celery stalks, chopped
2
cups chicken stock
1
cup raw rice
Crumble
pork into skillet and brown it. Pour off
a little of the fat, if needed.
Add
remaining ingredients and stir.
Dr
Martin then puts the lid on and lets it simmer at the lowest possible heat
while he goes out and sets a fracture.
When he comes back in about an hour – his dinner is ready.