Oysters in Florida's Big Bend

There's a part of the north western side of Florida, on the coast, they call the Big Bend area. If you're cruising and can't stay in the GIWW it means you're going to have make a few decisions. From Pensacola around to Tarpon Springs you have to be out in the Gulf if you have a mast that's over 50 ft (ours is 61). You can do longish day sails, as we did, until Carrabelle but then its 120 nm to Cedar Key. The good part is that oysters in this area are delicious - so we ate our way around.

Oysters at Boss Oyster - Apalachicola

4/9/11   We spent only enough time in beautiful downtown Destin to sample a few dozen on the waterfront. Didn't seem like our kind of place, too Spring Breaky. So fog or not, the next day we headed out. Besides, now we have to get to Key West as Dave and Angela are meeting us on the 23rd for our sail to the Dry Tortugas. Nancy is planning on meeting us for a couple of days when we return around the 30th.  The pressure is on.

4/10/11   It was supposed to be a light patchy fog but wasn't. As Timmy reminded us we were recreating the last line from Scuppers the Sailor Dog Rhyme "...under full sail in a fog." It was a damp, sloshy kind of sail, but eventually we reached the entrance to St. Andrew's Bay and sailed towards Massalina Bayou (Panama City area) in order to anchor and have dinner at Bayou Joe's. Ahhh... had oysters from Apalachicola. Well we'll head there tomorrow and get some more.

Marina at Apalachicola

4/11/11 Finally a day with no fog, none!! Several hours of lovely sailing. Then we entered the Apalachicola River and motored past piney woods with Osprey nests all around. Apalachicola is a lovely old town, known for its oysters AND the first machine that made ice! It was invented here by Dr. John Gorrie to help yellow fever victims.

He figured that since the cold weather stopped the disease from spreading, if he could keep patients cool he could save them. He devised a machine to make ice and then one that blew air over the ice to cool the patient's room. He's known as the father of Air Conditioning.

Beautiful old homes under mossy live oaks are nestled between the river and Apalachicola Bay. We found our oysters at a dock side restaurant called Boss Oysters. Yum, Yum.

Carabelle Waterfront Sculpture

Coming into Carabelle

4/12/11 Time to get to Carrabelle. They say a front is coming. Carrabelle is THE place; boats are either leaving to cross the Gulf or just coming in from crossing the Gulf. Its our 3rd time there, but this time we spent a little time and got to know the place. Thought we'd hang around for a day and let the seas subside after the front went through, but around 2pm it was so pretty and the weather forecast was so good that we decided to leave for the long passage to Cedar Key.

I don't know who wrote that forecast - wrong, wrong, wrong! Instead of 10 to 15kt winds from the North with 2 ft seas we were in 20 to 25kts from the SE causing the 3 to  5 ft sea hitting us from the starboard aft quarter of the boat. Not a comfortable ride. At times we were cruising at 8kts with just a little bit of jib up to steady the rolling. What a night; but we stood watches and got through it!!

Cedar Key Waterfront from our Anchorage

4/13/11   The entrance to Cedar Key is long, narrow and tricky, sinuous like a snake. So, while we wanted nothing more than to be safely at anchor, we were glad when the wind fell off some and we could slow down and spend an hour in the channel waiting for the sun to rise. We were rocking and rolling (and not the fun kind) but it was safer to take that channel in the early morning light. Finally put the anchor down around 8am and spent a few hours snoozing. We love Cedar Key and wanted to make the most of our day there,  so we dingied ashore and found oysters for a late breakfast.

Breakfast Oysters and Grouper Sandwich - Cedar Key

Spent the day drifiting around downtown poking around in the many local artists co-ops, visiting the local museum, buying a few things and eating ice cream. Cedar Key has only about 1200 residents during its high season yet at one time it was an important town with several manufacturing plants plus fishing and lumber mills. But when the railroad wanted to put a big line in the local powers wouldn't play and so the railroad went to Tampa. We all know how that story played out.

Ended the day aboard the boat having dinner with some crabmeat from Higgins Seafoard and watching the dolphins play while the sun set.

Luxury House in Cedar Key

Not Luxury House in Cedar Key

4/14/11   We're writing as we sail along to Tarpon Springs, another favorite stop. They speak Greek in the streets. Its a town that's known for its Sponge Fishing, even have a Sponge Museum and a Sponge Exchange. We remember several Greek restaurants where they sold freshly baked pita bread and an outdoor vegetable market where we can replenish our supplies of perishables.