Layover Appalachicola: Day 22, Florida CT Paddle 3.06.18

Dear Reader,

This morning we awoke to a forecast of a south wind with gusts up to 25 mph, 80% chance of rain and some thunderstorms. We had a 20 nm stretch to paddle with a seven-mile crossing. Winds out of the south would hammer us. At 5:00 am John told me to go back asleep. I was happy to oblige. But first I had to photograph the sunrise. And yes, that is another bridge, as seen from our hotel room at The Apalachicola River Inn.

Even with our recent layover day at Spoil Bank 2, we were still tired and aching. Segment 4 on the ICW, as well as our just prior paddle through East Bay outside of Panama City, had been tough on us. This is the segment we just finished. (Whoever made this map must’ve stayed at the Gibson Inn, although I don’t know what they did with their boat because it’s a few blocks inland.)

Here’s the map view of our next Segment, known as The Forgotten Coast. From here, we paddle to Carrabelle where Sara and my dad mailed our first resupply box and where my brother Rick will be meeting us with our new gear.

But it’s about 21 nm away so we’re going to find a place to camp along the way tomorrow night. You’ll also note that after the Crooked River we will be spit out onto the coast where we’ll begin our paddle around Florida’s remote Big Bend. But that’s still another week or two out.

Since we’re doing our resupply in Carrabelle, we had all of today to work on other things, like soaking in a hot bath or two, and booking our B&B room in Carrabelle. We also took advantage of a nearby library, whose computer allowed me to finish our taxes (yep, alas, there are still tax documents I can’t download from my phone), and then walked around this small, southern, funky, artistic, oyster-oriented, working tourist town.

The neighborhood homes and mature trees were pretty cool too.

We are alive.

We are healthy.

We are adventurers.

Goodnight!

Cheers, Susana

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