Hurry Up and Wait

Ray was up early looking ahead at the weather as usual when he informed me that the winds were going to be picking up.  Today was predicted 10-20 knot winds.  Tomorrow 20-30 knot winds with gusts up to 45.  That left us with some decisions to make.  Stay here in Pearl Bayou where it is good holding on the anchor in mud, go to White City to the free dock and wait out the winds longer than the one night we initially planned on, or just go a day earlier than anticipated to Apalachicola.  Knowing that Ray wouldn't sleep well at anchor we decided to just go to Apalachicola a day prior to our reservation.  The small problem with that is that Apalachicola Marina does not open until 1:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Sunday.  We called and left them a message to call us as soon as they could so we would know if dockage was available there or if we would have to make other arrangements.
We hailed "Lorelei" on the VHF to tell them our new plan with no response.  No wonder they didn't respond.  Just as we were getting underway here they came across the anchorage in their dinghy from taking Sasha to shore.  We told them of our plans.  They said they would discuss what they were going to do once they were underway.  "The Bar-B" also left St. Andrews Marina to head to Apalachicola.
We were in the lead for a couple of hours before "Lorelei" overtook us and had decided to just push on to Apalachicola also.  "The Bar-B" stayed behind us for the entire trip as they could not catch even our slow speed with all of us fighting the wind and current.  We barely managed 6.5 miles per hour all day with the RPMs revved up even more than yesterday.
At 11:50 a.m. Central Daylight Time we crossed into Eastern Daylight Time.  That hour sure flew by!
These two bald eagles were fighting over a fish one of them had but dropped.
"Lorelei" docked at Apalachicola Marina's office/fuel docks.  We docked at their old ice house building which we prefer for the easy side tie, especially in this wind, a little after 4:00 p.m. with 57 miles traveled.  "The Bar-B" pulled in behind us shortly thereafter.  Rob and Naomi came walking over with Sasha.  The Border Collie was happy to be let off the leash in our fenced area to play Frisbee for a couple of hours non-stop.
After that we all went to dinner at The Tap Room.  Our order of Duck Fries was not as good as anticipated.  When will we learn?  Dinner on the boat tomorrow!
We will be sitting in Apalachicola who knows how long.  The predictions for next weekend are still questionable for crossing the Gulf of Mexico then at the earliest.  We have to go somewhere else though by the following weekend because Apalachicola is booked up for its annual Seafood Festival.
If you read yesterday's blog and there were no pictures, I added some.