Day 55

We woke up today with a fast decision to make. Do we leave or do we stay? The mechanic never called us back, so we decided to head out. Angel, the other boat in the marina that we have been crossing paths with, was also leaving. We decided to go because it was smarter for us to travel with someone, while we are having this problem with the engine. Apalachicola was not all that far away and could be done in a day’s time. Sure enough, about an hour into the journey, the engine began sputtering and would not stay running. Grant decided since we were with another boat it would be safe to travel the rest of the day on one engine. This cost us a bit of speed, but we were still able to travel quick enough to make Apalachicola in daylight. We called Angel to tell him our problem and he gladly slowed down and said he would follow us. Everyone is so helpful and kind when you are boating, it is like its own little club!

We ended up in Apalachicola at a marina highly suggested to us. The name is Scipio Creek marina and is supposed to have a fantastic Oyster bar. We pulled in at about 4:30 and Grant got in contact with a local mechanic who would come out in the morning to look at the engine. The marina was along a small creek nestled in between a couple shrimp boat companies. The marina itself was not very busy or populated and there was only a few other transients besides us . The marina has significant dry storage, and a forklift that transfers boats into and out of the storage facility. It apparently could lift out boat right out of the water! The creek is also a manatee area, which we had to be very careful of, because they are so slow moving and easily hit and killed by boats. We have yet to see one, but Tabbie has been roaming the docs with the camera, waiting to catch a glimpse of one. They tend to hang out in shallow areas because they prefer warm water, however, with the weather dipping into the 20’s, we were told that they travel to the power plants which discharge warm water.

Tonight we went out to eat with Phil, the captain from “Angel”. We went to the Oyster bar, which by the way lived up to praises of the couple from “Trust Me”. The oysters were the best that either of us has ever eaten. You could get any and everything that you wanted on the oyster. Tabbie ordered Scallions, Colby, and Monterey melted on her oysters, Phil ordered Oyster Rockefeller, which was cheese, and Spinach, and Grant ordered Colby, Jack and Bacon bits on his oysters. Then we also had a grouper sandwich and cheeseburger. Then back to the boat to watch Braveheart. (Yes Candace, Tabbie finally watched the whole thing. Too much blood and fighting) We are going to be here until the weather gives us the best possible chance to cross. It will be almost 20 hours that we will be driving and for 16 of that, we will not see land….