November 23 – 24, 2023

It is Thanksgiving Day – November 23. We plan to have pork chops, not turkey, with buttered small potatoes, cranberry sauce, and of course, pumpkin pie. With whipped cream. Not bad for being on a boat.

En route to Apalachicola, Captain Pat has his favorite food to make the day complete – popcorn!

We are having a heck of a time finding packaged popcorn, like Skinny Pop (the Captain’s preferred snack.) We do stumble upon Orville Redenbacher’s microwave pop that is only sea salt and oil – no buttery toppings. It’s pretty good.

If You Ain’t Run Aground, You Ain’t Been Around

(Credit to Doug Roberts, Great Looper and cousin)

We are surprised at the barren landscape as we leave Panama City and travel the Apalachicola River. The bare shoreline trees are remnants of Hurricane Michael that hit five years ago. Other boaters later tell us it’s much improved.

It is a long tedious ride for Captain Pat, who is still keeping watch out for crap traps.

Then suddenly – the boat stops.

Oh sh – t.

Captain Pat is following the channel, driving directly across to the town dock of Apalachicola. We suddenly hit ground.

Fortunately a captain who had just docked radios us, asking if we need help. Yes, that would be great.

John jumps into his dinghy and soon rescues us. Sunshine is up and running in no time, thanks to our hero.

To add to the story – after we dock Sunshine, with John and wife Heidi’s help, Patrick cleans the strainers on the boat (clearing out the seawood, etc., after the grounding.) I look out the galley window and comment:

“Look, there’s a cute sailboat anchored out in front of us.”

Patrick takes a look.

“That sailboat isn’t anchored! It is grounded!”

Sure enough the poor sailboat hit ground too. Hard. John and Patrick offer to help via the radio. He’s in too deep. Sea Tow comes to push them off.

John comments that this happens so often. The channel is not marked correctly. It needs to be corrected!

As far as running aground, they say there are two types of boaters – those who say they have run aground, and those who say they haven’t, but are lying.

We enjoy quite a laugh when sharing our story with our cousin Doug who completed the Loop a few years ago. Doug sends us a song quite appropriate for the occasion – “If you ain’t been aground, you ain’t been around!” You can listen here:

Thank you, Doug, for always lifting our spirits.

Exploring Apalachicola

John and his wife Heidi are most hospitable, welcoming us onto their boat, Jo-Ca (named after both of their mothers.) They are happy to share crossing stories. They have crossed many times and provide useful tips.

They also give us the rundown on the spots to hit in Apalachicola. Unfortunately it is Thanksgiving so most places are closed. We have a fun time perusing the town. We make it to the Piggly Wiggly at 4:20 to discover they closed at 4:00! All ok. We head back to the boat for our pork chops and an early night to leave in the morning for Carrabelle and begin our crossing!

Here are photos from our Apalachicola visit:

Friday, November 24 – to Carrabelle

We depart Apalachicola and see some rugged buildings that have seen better days.

Sunshine Has Company – Dolphins!

The bright spot travelling to Carrabelle is the entourage of dolphins that accompany our boat. We’ve never seen so many so close.

I take several videos of these flying dolphins. I tell my brother David we are amazed at their stamina, keeping up with the boat for so long. He texts me this article:

“You may have seen film of dolphins swimming alongside a fast boat and leaping as they go. Dolphins are streamlined and have evolved to slip through the water cleanly.

An efficient travelling speed for a dolphin is about 4 – 6 miles per hour.

Dolphin’s fast ‘cruising speed’ is between 8 – 10 miles per hour. They can keep going at that speed for some time.

Dolphins have been observed getting up to speeds of about 16 miles per hour over shorter distances of about a mile.

If dolphins have a wave behind them, or a bow wave of a boat to carry them along, they might go much faster.

Dolphins might get up to about 17 miles per hour over short distances, for example to do a big jump out of the water.”

Who knew these creatures have such speed!

Arriving the Moorings at Carrabelle

Our visit to the Moorings at Carrabelle Marina has a rocky start. We stop at the fuel dock for fuel top off and a pump out. We discover paying by debit card is the way to go, to avoid the 3 1/2 % credit card surcharge.

We head over to our slip. We are told to back in. The dockhand (looks like Jack Sparrow) is trying to help the best he can. The current and wind are so strong. Sunshine does not have bow thrusters. We are the bow thrusters.

The slip is too small and it is impossible to back into with these conditions. Frustrated, Captain Pat declares “Enough – we are going to the wall. We cannot dock here.” So off we go.

This is a much better place to dock.

Change of Crossing Plans

We dock in front of R & R, a Kady Krogen who was in our flotilla travelling through the first locks with us.

We talk with R & R’s captain, Rick. Rick has paid the extra money to have the personalized consultation with an experienced captain to get the best day to cross. He is crossing later today and will continue throughout the night, arriving Tarpon Springs late afternoon Saturday.

One piece of crossing advice received from John on Jo-Ca is “be flexible and prepared to change plans at the last minute if need be.”

This is Friday, and we are planning to cross Sunday, thinking that to be the better day. After speaking with Rick, Captain Pat decides the best day to cross is tomorrow, Saturday, not Sunday. So that is our new plan.

Sunshine travels 15 – 16 nautical miles an hour. R & R travels at half that speed, so will take longer to cross. We are hoping to leave early in the morning to make it by late afternoon.

We have a nice dinner at a recommended restaurant – The Fisherman’s Wife. It’s not fancy – paper plates and plastic cutlery – but the food is delectable.

Best we’ve had in a while. Our “last supper!” Tomorrow morning will be our crossing to Tarpon Springs.

So we think.

Here are pictures from the Moorings at Carrabelle.