Apalachicola to Dog Island/Carabelle
Ground Hog Day, we woke up to the great news that we would have an early Spring, as the infamous Phil, the Punxsutawney groundhog, predicted. It must have been an omen because we got an improved forecast for the potential Monday evening crossing. Time will tell if Phil knows what he’s doing.
We “went to church” by linking up to our Compassion Christian app and streamed our Sunday morning service from Savannah. Right after lunchtime, Amanda reconnected with Kim (weather forecaster) once again for an updated forecast. Kim said, “GO!”. The weather was going to be pretty good for a Monday afternoon start. Within 15 minutes, we had disconnected the power and lines at the Scipio Creek Marina and were underway, destination Dog Island.
We tucked in on the NE side of the island, protecting us from the stiff SE winds.
Our 4-hour trip of 23 NM got us to the anchorage on the North side of the island. Winds were brisk, gusting to 25 knots. But the forecast called for them to calm down as the evening wore on. So, I bundled up and dropped 125 feet of anchor rode, to ensure we wouldn’t drag during the stiff winds. The boat rocked from 6 pm till about 9, but then settled into a quiet evening of calm waters. I watched the last 2 minutes of the Super Bowl. I watched a total of 2 minutes of NFL the entire season, as I still have issues with their tolerance of players kneeling during my National Anthem. I believe Kansas City won. Really glad I missed the halftime show. We crashed about 9:30 or so and had an incredibly quiet night, hearing only the Gulf crash on the shores just over the dunes of the skinny Dog Island. Tomorrow is the big “crossing” from here all the way to Clearwater.