A Day of Preparation and Small Victories

Day 199 |  Carrabelle    

Today was planned as a chance to relax, check items off the list, and prepare for tomorrow's Gulf crossing. Almost before my eyes were open, Barry had the Passage Weather reports up studying wind and wave forecasts for tomorrow night. Predicted numbers are still low for each, so preparations continued. What was also low was the water level here in the Carrabelle River. A look out our back window showed a nice little island that had emerged with the falling tide. Our charts had showed shoaling, but seeing the island gives a whole new perspective. Misty Pearl arrived from Apalachacola by mid-morning and pulled into the slip beside us. Several folks made comments about the twins being docked side-by-side.

It was bordering on cold this morning and I stayed inside paying bills, watching President Bush's funeral, and starting on a few Christmas cards. By 1:00 it had warmed up enough for the resident duck to swim by and for me to venture out for a walk. Chris (Miss Utah) joined me and we headed into town, first to the River Walk and Wharf. The park had signs outlining Carrabelle's history, a fish display that reminded me of a Dr. Seuss book (One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish), nice fishing piers, and these cool turtle sculptures for kids of all ages to climb on. From there we were off to the Bottlehouse, a site recommended by the lady we met at the gift shop yesterday.

You guessed right, bottles and concrete used to create a lighthouse and a small work shed. Definitely interesting in a small-town curiosity way. The wife came out to meet us as did her two friendly poodles. There had been another display, but it was lost just recently in Hurricane Michael. A pirate stopped us on the way back to Main Street and begged us to take photos with him. It was a warm and sunny day so we obliged. Our final stop was at the Carrabelle History Museum, located in the old city hall. Displays included ancient fossils, Carrabelle's "first people," nautical artifacts from the golden steamship age, and Civil War history.

Inside was the original "World's Smallest Police Station," complete with its rotary dial telephone. Seems Barry was photographed in a replica yesterday. Coming back to the marina, the "twins" were in full view. Barry and I spent an hour taking care of our future marina and rental car reservations and, most importantly, our healthcare marketplace renewal. When our "Submit" click was returned with an "Accepted" message, we were done. That called for a little and short-lived celebration. We went up to the flybridge and prepared our dinghy and ditchbag for tomorrow's crossing. The sun set over the harbor marking the end of our last full day in the Florida panhandle.

We joined the crew of Misty Pearl for dinner then gathered with the crews of all the other boats looking to cross tomorrow night. About 15 boats were represented at the meeting. Some will go to Tarpon Springs (like us) and others will head to Clearwater. Fingers crossed our weather window is accurate and holds for one more day. We were reminded today that forecasts are wild guesses at best and that there is a chance that, despite all or planning and weather watching, things will take a turn for the worse. We're prepared, Crossroads is built to handle conditions far worse than we can, and the Captain is highly capable. The crew is hoping the forecasted light winds and low waves holds true.