Finally we are on the move again! We left Port St. Joe about Dawn 30 (0720) and traveled the 60 miles to the Moorings Marina in Carrabelle, FL which will be our launching port for the Gulf Crossing. The 
trip over was pretty uneventful but chilly. For those not ever being 
in Port St. Joe, when you leave the marina you exit back out into St. Joseph Bay then make your way over to the canal that runs about 5 miles back to the inter coastal waterway. After about 10 miles you make your way thru Lake Wimico, which is about 5 miles across, 
then 10 miles of the GICW to Apalachicola. The first 7 
pictures are of the town which is know for the best oysters in the south, but since I tried them and don't care for them, it doesn't matter. The bridge is highway 98 that runs the whole panhandle of Florida east to west. After leaving the 
GICW canal we entered the Apalachicola Bay which is BIG and 
runs into the St. George Sound. It was about 31 miles of water, some of it pretty shallow and it was not unusual to see depths of 5 to 6 feet in a lot of places. We ran about 1500 RPM which was a speed of 8.7 to 10.7 MPH depending on tide movements. To enter the Moorings we turned north just about the east pass on Dog Island which is 
where we will exit to cross. Upon arrival we had to wait for our buddy boats that made the trip with us ... "Little Bit Of Life" with Nelson and Elizabeth and their nephew Captain Robert and Skip and Barb on "Moor $tuff" to get fuel and pump out before our turn. We put on 203 gallons which has carried us 288 miles, part of which (228 miles) was with both injector pumps leaking fuel so I think our MPG may increase. All 3 of us plan to cross together hopefully this weekend when a weather window might appear. We plan to leave late in the day so we don't arrive before noon in order to see the crab pots without the sun in our eyes. Thanks Ross & Nancy for the tip. In the next couple days we will probably do our laundry and final mechanical checks before getting rested for the trip. Obviously this will be one of the bigger challenges of the whole adventure. Tonight was a steak dinner with our buddy boaters on "Little Bit of Life". We are saving the champagne for Clearwater.
trip over was pretty uneventful but chilly. For those not ever being 
in Port St. Joe, when you leave the marina you exit back out into St. Joseph Bay then make your way over to the canal that runs about 5 miles back to the inter coastal waterway. After about 10 miles you make your way thru Lake Wimico, which is about 5 miles across, 
then 10 miles of the GICW to Apalachicola. The first 7 
pictures are of the town which is know for the best oysters in the south, but since I tried them and don't care for them, it doesn't matter. The bridge is highway 98 that runs the whole panhandle of Florida east to west. After leaving the 
GICW canal we entered the Apalachicola Bay which is BIG and 
runs into the St. George Sound. It was about 31 miles of water, some of it pretty shallow and it was not unusual to see depths of 5 to 6 feet in a lot of places. We ran about 1500 RPM which was a speed of 8.7 to 10.7 MPH depending on tide movements. To enter the Moorings we turned north just about the east pass on Dog Island which is 
where we will exit to cross. Upon arrival we had to wait for our buddy boats that made the trip with us ... "Little Bit Of Life" with Nelson and Elizabeth and their nephew Captain Robert and Skip and Barb on "Moor $tuff" to get fuel and pump out before our turn. We put on 203 gallons which has carried us 288 miles, part of which (228 miles) was with both injector pumps leaking fuel so I think our MPG may increase. All 3 of us plan to cross together hopefully this weekend when a weather window might appear. We plan to leave late in the day so we don't arrive before noon in order to see the crab pots without the sun in our eyes. Thanks Ross & Nancy for the tip. In the next couple days we will probably do our laundry and final mechanical checks before getting rested for the trip. Obviously this will be one of the bigger challenges of the whole adventure. Tonight was a steak dinner with our buddy boaters on "Little Bit of Life". We are saving the champagne for Clearwater.Our position is N 29 51.113 W 84 40.377
I'm so excited for you guys .... I'm ready to piss myself!
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