Days 187-189

Apalachicola FL - Carrabelle FL

• Start 8:16 AM
• End 11:44 AM
• Underway 3:30Hours
• Distance 26 miles
• Total Miles on Trip 3943
• Av Speed 7.4 knots
• Weather Sunny , 44 Degrees, Wind 4 Knts N

Carrabelle, The panhandle's Gateway to The Gulf. We had a short and quick run to get here from Appalachicola.

One if the challenges we have faced for the last month, is the number of boats traveling together. Even if we do not plan as a group or leave at a group we are all on the same path and schedule. This causes us all to arrive at the marina's within a very small time frame. What made Carrabelle even more challenging was most if not all of the boats needed to stop at the fuel dock. There were 8 boats waiting for two spots on the fuel dock. It took almost as long to get everyone fueled and docked as it did to travel the 26 miles.

As a group Rommel & Amy (Happiness Is), Mark & Karen (Kay Dee) and Angel & I, have decided to cross the gulf, doing "The Crossing" rather than the "Rim Route". Both routes have their challenges. The Rim Route is much longer, and requires traveling through some very narrow and shallow channels. We also were not able to get dockage at one of the stops. "The Crossing" is a 22 hour trip covering 163 miles.

Our plan is to leave at noon and arriving at 10:00am the next day in Tarpon Springs. It is going to be a long 22 hours. Nothing To Plunder is well equipped to make the trip, and the three of us will be traveling in sight of each other the entire time. We also will have regular radio checks with each other to make sure everyone is ok.

We have been watching several weather forecast, and the predictions are very favorable for the crossing.

Carrabelle is a cute town, with a few small restaurants, a grocery store, a hardware store and several marina's.

Tuesday night we had a captain's meeting to discuss the crossing, and afterwards most of us went to "The Fisherman's Wife" restaurant. Forty loopers waked in at almost the same time, with many large groups wanting to sit together. We took almost every table they had. To top it off everyone wanted separate checks. To say the least, the waitress were overwhelmed, but they did great. It took a while but they got everyone served and kept telling us how glad they were to see us. Almost every boat doing the loop has to stop in Carabelle, and we tend to spend a lot of money while we are here.

Soon we will be on our way to Tarpon Spring's. One of the best parts is we have company coming from home to join us! Matt & Ilene safe travels see you soon!!!!!