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Discovering The Forgotten Coast

Published by Boat US Magazine
Written by Michael Vatalero

Discovering the Forgotten Coast Shortly after the United States entered World War II, the Army Ground Forces Command went looking for a place to train amphibious assault forces in preparation for D-Day. Their requirements included a deep water port near shallow bays and miles of natural, gently sloping beaches, preferably without too many civilians around. Fifty years later, those same features that attracted the Army’s planners continue to attract a different sort of coastal invasion: boaters have discovered Carrabelle, FL, and unlike the Army, many of them have come ashore and stayed. Long known as Florida’s Forgotten Coast, the region is located 50 miles southwest of Tallahassee and about 100 miles east of Panama City. From the protected and deep Carrabelle River, resident and visiting boaters have exceptional access to the Gulf of Mexico, and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, with barrier islands that provide protected anchorages as well as miles of public beaches. Carrabelle is situated on the south shore of St. James Island facing the Gulf. Looking out from the mouth of the river, Dog Island and St. George Island mark a shallow, protected bay that boaters must cross before reaching the Gulf proper. Full service marinas and boat storage facilities line the river, a testament to the town’s popularity as an access point to the Gulf. Boaters have been coming to Carrabelle for years, attracted to the welcoming small town feel, exceptional yearround fishing and the beauty of the protected bays and rivers. But recently, more and more of these visitors have decided to take up residence. BoatU.S. member David Myrick, a charter boat captain who runs Nixie, a 42-foot Thompson out of Dockside Marina, and his family have had a home in Carrabelle since 1950, but became full-time residents only 10 years ago. “The town is wonderful. It’s growing, but it still has a small town atmosphere,” says Myrick. “I think the whole county doesn’t have but one traffic light. We have the conveniences of a small city, but with the seclusions of the country.” Myrick’s charter boat customers come to fish both offshore for abundant grouper, snapper, amberjack, black seabass, Spanish and king mackerel and inshore for redfish and sea trout. He also offers freshwater fishing trips, traveling miles up the Apalachicola River, located just west of Carrabelle, to fish for bass, bluegill and crappie. “The Apalachicola River is completely unchanged,” says Myrick. “It’s like stepping back in time a million years. Up there, you fly fish for two-pound bluegill with the alligators and snapping turtles right in front of you.” Carrabelle’s proximity to extensive and accessible wilderness areas and public beaches attracts swimmers, campers, hikers, birders and kayakers to nearby state parks and national forests, including Tate’s Hell State Forest, St. George Island State Park, Apalachicola National Forest and St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge. Over 80% of the county is protected forestlands, ensuring that even as Carrabelle grows, it’s seclusion and natural beauty will remain. The protected inland forests mean that growth will occur on the coast and on the river, transforming an already boater-friendly town into a first-class boating destination. Unlike many parts of Florida, access to the water is increasing in Carrabelle. New slips and dry storage facilities have been built, and many more are slated, as new waterfront developments spring up along the river. One of these, the Carrabelle Boat Club, a state-of-the-art enclosed dry-stack storage facility with space for 284 boats, offers a first class clubhouse that rivals that of any yacht club, as well as a caterer’s bar, restrooms and showers. The building is rated to withstand winds up to 130 mph and can accommodate boats to 40 feet. In addition, the city has applied for a federal grant through the Boating Infrastructure Grant (BIG) program to create a marina in the heart of downtown Carrabelle for transient boaters cruising the Gulf Intracoastal. Currently, many transient boaters find themselves returning year after year to the Moorings at Carrabelle, which has just built 34 new slips off the deep water channel and a bulkhead for larger vessels, which will be linked to the rest of the marina by a pedestrian bridge. Melvin and Laurie Blank, longtime BoatU.S. members, have kept their 48-foot Egg Harbor Blank Check at the Moorings Marina since 1998. Residents of Tallahassee, the Blanks make the hour and 15-minute drive to their boat frequently on weekends. “I think if I couldn’t keep my boat in Carrabelle, boating wouldn’t be as fascinating to me as it is,” says Melvin Blank. “It’s hard to find a place that offers as much as Carrabelle does as a boating community. The people are wonderful; the people at the marina were just invaluable teaching us the right and wrong way to do things.” The Blanks have watched Carrabelle change in recent years, but think it is for the better. “I can see Carrabelle blooming in the next three to five years,” says Blank. “I see more people finding the boating community at Carrabelle.” Those people perhaps might be like David McDonald, a new BoatU.S member, who discovered the joys of boating in Carrabelle on a cruise. After purchasing the 44-foot Sea Ray Lorilei last July from a MarineMax dealer in Pensacola, FL, McDonald intended to have it shipped to Lake Lanier, GA, closer to his family’s full-time residence in Roswell, GA. But a MarineMax-organized cruise from Pensacola to Dog Island changed all that. “We followed MarineMax to Dog Island and enjoyed it so much, we decided to keep the boat in the area,” says McDonald. “We enjoy cruising out around the islands and up the Intracoastal. We even cruised to the Clearwater Jazz Festival as part of another MarineMax getaway.” While Carrabelle wasn’t exactly unfamiliar to the McDonalds — they have a vacation home on St. George Island — the experience of cruising the region and the availability of marinas dedicated to recreational boats changed their plans. “We have the boat in Carrabelle because we had a hard time finding a recreational marina in Apalachicola,” says McDonald. “There are not a whole lot of options from Panama City to probably Tampa for recreational boaters.” The list of options for boaters in Carrabelle is growing to include many new developments where new homes come with private docks. Pickett’s Landing, a gated community of luxury town homes along the river, has completed the first of three phases of construction and is offering three or four bedroom units that feature covered parking, private elevators, and balconies on the second and third floors. The community pool and adjoining pool house and community room have been completed and the construction of the community dock with slips available for residents is underway. Other options include developments that offer lots rather than finished homes. Lisa Spooner, another longtime BoatU.S. member, built her home on a lot near Pickett’s Landing after five years of boating out of Carrabelle, while living in Tallahassee. Since 2005, she has commuted to her job as a certified public account in Tallahassee and lived in Carrabelle just down the street from her 30-foot Pursuit, Bottom Line. Her house’s proximity to the Moorings Marina allows her to use an electric golf cart to run back and forth from her slip. “I think Carrabelle is a great place and has a great future down the road,” says Spooner. “It’s a family-oriented boating community; everybody looks out for one another. It’s not uncommon for neighbors to chat on the VHF.” For those like Spooner looking for property close to their boat, the community of Sandalwood at Carrabelle is offering 44 lots, each with its own deepwater slip on Timber Island, just across the river from downtown Carrabelle. The slips, with water depths ranging from five to 10 feet at MLW, were recently redesigned, casualties of Carrabelle’s military past. An obscure Army Corps of Engineer rule states that a right-of-way wide enough to turn a warship around must be maintained in the river. Sandalwood’s earlier dock plans trespassed on this imaginary circle, forcing the redesign. The community will feature a club house and pool with homes built in the style of a Florida cottage. Farther up the river lies Kapes Bayou Landing, 60 single-family-home sites, including water and marsh-front lots. The community will offer docks for homeowners on the waterfront and a private boat ramp for the communiy. And just across the river from Carrabelle, Anglers Harbor, a community of 26 homes, several of which are already built, offers both waterfront and water view lots, a pool, boat ramp and docks. While this may seem like a lot of development, the town council has kept a tight rein on land use, maintaining a strict threestory height limit which means no beachfront sky scrapers. “There are going to be some growing pains,” predicts Spooner, but she is not worried. “Most people I know who have invested in Carrabelle’s growth also fish, boat and dive out of Carrabelle. They all want to see this done right.” — By Michael Vatalaro Discovering the Forgotten Coast Carrabelle offers sugar sand beaches, easy access to the Gulf, small town charm and exceptional fishing. Photos courtesy of Visit Florida/Carrabelle Chamber of Commerce. Photo courtesy of Sandalwood at Carrabelle. Photo courtesy of Visit Florida/Carrabelle Chamber of Commerce.

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