Inlets

 12/6- We had nowhere else to be today so we left around 8:00. This was mostly to catch the tide. Low tide was at nine so we caught a little of the ebb and then a bit of the slack and a good deal of the flood. It was a pretty easy day hazard wise as there was nothing to really worry about. The wind however was another story. It had picked up out of the north in the evening and was supposed to get stronger as the day went on. It was fine as we left but the first thing was St Catherine’s Bay inlet. This is a big expanse of water and as the wind was against the tide it made for a rather bouncy passage. I even ran out the staysail to steady the boat a bit. It was the first time in a while that we had heeled over. Not to mention taking water over the bow. We had 2 or 3 miles of this but fortunately we had the tide going with us and we sped along at 7 knots. We had a second inlet to go through later that was not quite as rough but was about 5 miles long. Again the tide was still with us and so she galloped along with a bone in her teeth. 

   It was more of the hairpin turns and twisted rivers today. We’ve had to learn how to drive through these. The current is always strongest in the deepest part of the curve which is the outside. So you learn to take your corners wide as there is less chance of shoal ground there but you end up driving further. It doesn’t pay to cut corners here  

    We settled in for the night in New Teakettle Creek which is another anchorage in the middle of a marsh. We are the only boat here again. In fact we have hardly seen another boat the last three days. I’m sure that will change when we get to Florida. There are lights onshore tonight though so we know there are other people in the world  

    We did manage to grill out tonight. Its been hard to grill as it’s been dark by 5:00 until lately but as we get further south the days miraculously get longer. Sunset tonight was at 5:30 so we had enough light to cook by. The twilights are much shorter now though.  

    It was fun today watching the pelicans feed. There were a couple hanging out and diving or should I say crashing into the water in search of food. I’m not sure what they eat but they were just continually diving for about 40 minutes. We have read that they inflate air bags in their chests so that they can survive the constant crashes into the water. However their eyes are unprotected and they do eventually go blind. 

    We are still waiting to see our first alligator. I would only want to see one from the comfort of my boat but I think it is a little too chilly for them to out and about. We are hopeful that the weather will warm up a bit as we get further south. I’d say it’s been chilly but back home they have snow on the ground so…

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