Aggravation on Appalachicola Bay (But Worth the Trip)

[CPYOA]

Aggravation on Appalachicola Bay (But Worth the Trip) by Doug Vaughan

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I have just returned from a most interesting trip to Appalachicola Bay. Interesting in the sense that I trailered my Com-Pac 16 "A Little Freedom" about 600 miles to St. George's Island only to be socked in by "Allison", the tropical depression that dumped on Texas and Louisiana.


It was planned as the ultimate weeks vacation; sun, sail, fishing and swimming. More importantly, it was to be a week of showing my daughters (age 8 & 6) the simple thrill of sailing. What I got was a lingering storm and unusable ramps when the weather finally cleared. I had done my research..... 4 ramps on the island itself, 2 in the state park on the east end of the island and 2 located on either side of the bridge that connects the island to the mainland at Eastpoint. Not one of the ramps were as advertised, all too shallow to be of use. This I discovered after paying the weekly visitor rate at the state park and running aground at each of the bridge ramps. Very frustrating to say the least.


Not all was lost though, I packed up the crew and went across the bay to Appalachicola. We found the city marina with great ramps right under the 98 bridge that crossed from Eastpointe to Appalachicola. I only got two descent days but it was worth the trip. Word to the wise... don't expect to use any of the ramps on St. George's Island unless you're using a canoe.

This article was last updated on August 01, 2003.