It takes about 6 Loopers 5 minutes to figure out what day it is and now that we have crossed into the Eastern Time zone, add 5 more minutes. I wake up in the morning to the familiar surroundings of my v-berth bed, but I have to lie there awhile and ask myself, “Where am I?” I would definitely need more time and a little coaching to pass even a Mini-Mental Status exam these days. I like that about cruising life—everything is different practically every day except for your boat and your partner and I would not trade either of these.
We are off to Apalachicola today and hope to get there before major rain is expected. Our trusty "Intercoastal Waterway Chartbook" directs us through long narrow sections with very interesting descriptions of the adjoining land masses—the impenetrable swamp, cypress swamp, low swampy area, bayou and marsh. I can not tell you what the differences are but all have a subtle beauty and quietness as we proceeded almost alone for the whole morning. Questions that I cannot answer: "if the swamp is so impenetrable, how did they get a house there; what is the story behind the chair; how shallow is that island"? I think that these are the proverbial FL swamplands that are for sale to naive investors.
We then entered Lake Wimico which is very shallow (1-3 feet) off the narrow buoyed channel. This was made a bit more interesting by increasing winds and tidal flow so we had to be very vigilant to stay within the markers. There is anxiety with cruising, and in these situations, we do a rehearsal for the worse case scenario, i.e. “What would we do if our engine cut out right here and we are blown into the shallows in this really remote area?”
We arrived at the Water Street Marina at noon. We chose this marina as it is close to town and they have floating docks. However, at extreme low tide which is today, there is only 4’6” of depth at this marina which discouraged other Looper boat with deeper keels, "Golden Lily" and "Highlander", from coming in.
We are off to Apalachicola today and hope to get there before major rain is expected. Our trusty "Intercoastal Waterway Chartbook" directs us through long narrow sections with very interesting descriptions of the adjoining land masses—the impenetrable swamp, cypress swamp, low swampy area, bayou and marsh. I can not tell you what the differences are but all have a subtle beauty and quietness as we proceeded almost alone for the whole morning. Questions that I cannot answer: "if the swamp is so impenetrable, how did they get a house there; what is the story behind the chair; how shallow is that island"? I think that these are the proverbial FL swamplands that are for sale to naive investors.
We then entered Lake Wimico which is very shallow (1-3 feet) off the narrow buoyed channel. This was made a bit more interesting by increasing winds and tidal flow so we had to be very vigilant to stay within the markers. There is anxiety with cruising, and in these situations, we do a rehearsal for the worse case scenario, i.e. “What would we do if our engine cut out right here and we are blown into the shallows in this really remote area?”
We arrived at the Water Street Marina at noon. We chose this marina as it is close to town and they have floating docks. However, at extreme low tide which is today, there is only 4’6” of depth at this marina which discouraged other Looper boat with deeper keels, "Golden Lily" and "Highlander", from coming in.
The forecasted rain did materialize but we were able to get a picture of palm trees with Christmas evergreen decorations in front of Water Street Hotel and Marina. The Yule Log lighting ceremony was cancelled but Santa did arrive by shrimp boat yesterday so Christmas is on.
We did tour the Raney House in the rain. It is another example of Greek revival architecture during the antebellum period and gives a glimpse of life in the mid 1800's. We plan to tour more historical areas tomorrow, rain or shine.
