Thursday, May 23, 2013

Crossing Lake Wimico

One of the most memorable passages we've done was crossing the swampy Lake Wimico in  the Florida panhandle.

Entering the lake from the east side.

After leaving Panama City Municipal marina and crossing East Bay  the ICW (inter coastal waterway) narrows into a swampy serpentine channel to the entrance of Lake Wimico.

Entering the wide expanse of water is beautiful but risky.  The Lake is very shallow in many places and you must be very careful to stay in the dredged channel that crosses it.  The Markers are so far apart that binoculars must be used to see them.

Each time we've crossed the lake there has been wind and we found it hard to stay in the channel.

After leaving the lake,
 the Apalachacola River is a wonderful swamp experience.  JoAnn  (a woman who is terrified by snakes) actually became enamored by a mother alligator tending to its babies.  Go Figure???

Its tempting to skip the Lake Wimico route and cruise on the outside in the Gulf from Panama City to Port St Joe or Apalachacola, but you miss out on a beautiful day.

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