Port #43: The Oyster Capital of the World!

Great Loop II Date: 11/04/2014

Day # 95 (Tuesday): 61 miles (2566 total miles)
Locks: 0 (25 total locks)
Port #43: Apalachicola, FL
Marina: Apalachicola Wharf Dock

We were on a march through the Panhandle of Florida to position ourselves for crossing the Gulf. Todd and I could see a possible day crossing forming for Thursday or Friday. The day was clear and cool again making us very anxious to get OB to her dock in Cape Coral.

The Panhandle has it’s own interesting features. Most of our trip was through East Bay and the last of the GIWW canals. There was very little in the way of industry or homes. Moving through this are gave us time to worry out all our possibilities for crossing the Gulf. We talked mostly about putting OB on plane, burning some diesel and crossing during the daylight hours.

We passed this ship building company before.  The last time it looked like they were building a cruise ship.  This time it looked the ship they were building was a freighter.

This part of the GIWW is more rural with salt marshes, pine trees and other brush natural to the area.

This house caught my eye the last time.  It looks about the same...dilapidated and the tree continues to grow well through the roof!

This old fishing boat looked abandoned.

And this shrimp boat was done in, as well.

The railroad here is abandoned and the swing bridge stands open all the time...no waiting to pass.

We arrived at Apalachicola mid-afternoon and saw the City Wharf in front of the park had plenty of open space. We tied up ahead of the only pleasure craft there…a sailboat. One of the sailors had his sails spread out on the park lawn and was making some repairs.

OB on the Wharf Dock at Apalachicola.  Thanks to Jackie on Eufloria for the great picture.

Our last time in Apalachicola, we stayed on the edge of the city at Scipio Marine and saw little of the town. This time we were right in the heart of downtown. We walked around to get a feel for what was available. There were many quaint little shops, a sprinkling of restaurant/bars and a nice looking local brewery, the Oyster Bay Brewing Company. We enjoyed a fine afternoon of cold beer there at happy hour prices.

The Wharf Dock is right in front of Apalachicola's City Park...a really nice place to stay and no charge.

The town is the Oyster Capital of the world...and home to numerous fishing and shrimp boats.  They respect their watermen highly here.

An awesome little brewery with 4 great crafted beers.  Just what we needed!

Another glorious sunset.

Todd and I decided to stay put in Apalachicola and cross from there. We discussed our options. More and more it looked like a window of opportunity was developing to cross the Gulf on Thursday. If we felt too uncomfortable with the idea of a lone crossing, we could wait for the pack of Loopers that were making their way toward us for a group overnight crossing the following Monday or Tuesday.

We made our way to the brewery the second afternoon to cool our apprehension with some more of their good beer. I set my clock for 4AM so I could look at all our weather models before disturbing Todd. I closed my eyes, said my prayers and tried to put myself into a restful sleep.