Destin to St. Petersburg

Trip dates: 
Sunday, October 31, 2021 to Monday, November 8, 2021
Trip length: 
9 days
Type of watercraft: 
Power

We left Destin in the early morning hours and went out into the Gulf of Mexico to cross over to Panama City Beach. It was a beautiful morning and the seas were very cooperative. Once we got to our destination, we fueled up and had plenty of daylight and time in our favor, so we proceeded to go to White City. We traversed a few bays, rivers and tributaries and found a wonderful anchor spot  where the Apalachicola River and the Gulf Canal intersect on Halloween evening. We checked out billions of stars and could not have had a nicer time. The next morning, we headed to Apalachicola. We got there early in the day and tied up to the city dock. From there, we went and explored the city, finding some good restaurants and a brewery. We also provisioned and found a seafood market that had some good deals. Since the price of staying at the city dock for the evening was two dollars a foot with no amenities (not good if you want to get tourist dollars in your city from boaters), we decided to just anchor across the river from the town. It was a lovely spot and the next morning, as I was  taking us out into the bay, there were pods of dolphin everywhere. Many of them followed us as we sped off into the distance. Early that afternoon we made it to Carrabelle, where we docked for the night and topped off our fuel tanks. The next morning, we trusted our many weather apps, which told us that it would be a good day for a Gulf crossing. We realized that they were not accurate as we found ourselves in 5 and 6 foot waves upon hitting the Gulf of Mexico. Our plan was to cross from Carrabelle to Crystal River and arrive there before dusk and were wondering if we shouldnt just make the crossing quicker by just going to Steinhatchie. However, the seas calmed before we were about a third of the way through our journey, thank God! Once we made it to Crystal River, we docked for the night. The next morning, we left for St Petersburg, where we met a bunch of friends for dinner and did touristy things for the next couple of days. The weather turned south on us and we had to stay for an extra day or two. That is not a bad thing when you are in St. Petersburg Florida, as there is plenty to do despite the weather. Our plan is to leave first thing in the morning and cross the bay going down into the intercoastal waterway once again.