Waiting for a Suitable Crossing of the Gulf

Dec. 14, 2011   Yes we are still in Carrabelle, FL.  We've been here a week, ready to go again, but the week has gone fast.  We've climbed two lighthouses, walked the beach, did some biking and ate a lot of seafood (even fixed some - the shrimp- ourselves!) 

The IWC which is a route thru mostly protected water behind islands and bays ends at Carrabelle and doesn't begin again until Tarpon Springs.  This means 180 miles of  running thru the gulf in open water.   In boats our size, waves over 2' to 3' can be very uncomfortable, so everyone waits at Carrabelle until there is a good weather window.  After about a week there, their were at least ten boats in the two marinas waiting to cross.  This gave us the opportunity to meet several people who live on their boats and cruise as we do.   Many of the larger boats travel at 8 to 12 mph and take up to 18 hrs or more to make the crossing.  Normally they'll leave in the early afternnoon , run all night and arrive in Tarpon Springs or Clearwater the next day.   We run much faster but don't carry enough fuel for the whole trip.  The solution is to run a route closer to shore, duck into Steinhactchee River for fuel and a night of rest then finish the trip the following day.

                                                             Another beautiful sunset!

Tom & Jan's Boat -Laughter

We helped them decorate and rode along in the lighted boat parade.

Tom & Jan at the after party.  They won 2nd place in their division.  Got a nice trophy.

On St. George Island Beach, with the Gulf in the background.

 

A mountain of oyster shells in Appalachiacola, FL. 

 They use them for their roads and driveways instead of gravel.

We ate fresh oysters in this town - they were pretty good, actually.

Dec. 15 & 16, 2011  We made the infamous cossing of the Gulf!  Started out Thursday at about 9:30 AM and arrived in Steinhatchee at 2:30 PM for the night.  Up and travelling at 8:30 the next morning to arrive in Tarpon Springs at 1:45PM.  Got settled in and took our bikes to check out the Old Time Greek Town - very touristy and sponge capital of the World!  Sponges everywhere!  They are harvested right here in the gulf.

We left Carrabelle and ran the 7 miles to the pass into the gulf between Dog Island and St George Isand in verily calm water but at the pass and into the gulf some waves were 4' more more.  For the second time in all our boating life Theresa got seasick.  It was a very bumpy ride for the first couple of hours.  After that things settled down some and by the time we got to Steinhatchee it was verily calm.  The following day was much better although most of the day we were dodging the floats tied to crab traps.  Commerical crabbers run traps as much as 50 miles from shore.

A ship we met out in the gulf.

You've probably figured out by now that we are not sending Christmas Greetings,

so A Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year to all from us.

(We're flying home to Iowa for the holidays and plan to return to the boat Jan. 10.)

Florida Panhandle

Welcome to the Florida Panhandle, which includes the Emerald Coast (Pensacola to Panama City)
 and the Forgotten Coast (Panama City to Carabelle).

                                                      Dolphins out for a swim one morning.

                         Friendly birds at the Pensacola Marina, just waiting for us to take their pictures. 

We think they were homeless as they kept begging for food.

Large ship next to our marina in Pensacola.   It's function is to lay oil pipe lines in the gulf.  It was in the harbor being refurbished.  This picture doesn't  do justice to the size of this ship.

                                                       Oranges, ready to pick in Pensacola.

                                                      Beautiful sunset at Fort Walton Beach

We tied up to the city pier for one night in Fort Walton Beach.  The 2nd night we got a room at a resort on the water.  They had a slip for the boat, spa, heated pool and laundry at off season prices.  

It was nice having a king size bed and big bathroom even if only for one night.



Christmas in the South.  Someday I'll learn to rotate a picture and put it on the blog.  Now I can do only one or the other. 

                           Florida's Grand Canyon (Intracoastal Waterway "ICW") - more white sand

                                                    Full grown deer here are rather small.

                                                  Low Tide - raking the bottom for oysters.

                                      Shrimp boat heading back in to port - we've seen several...

                Carabelle Marina - where the locals gather for coffee in the AM and beer in the PM.
          Note: burn barrel, wood, basket for cans, dog.  They tell fish stories, boat tales, you name it.





 This is one of the more interesting marinas we've stayed at.  Tonight there's a free barbecue chicken  dinner, a lighted boat parade and fire works.  This is the end of this part of the ICW.  It begins again at Tarpon Springs.  This means we'll be traveling in wide open gulf water for the next 180 miles.  Several cruising boats are here waiting with us for a favorable weather window to make the crossing.  We'll probably be here another couple of days.

Florida!

We've arrived in sunny Florida - lots of people, condos, restaurants,marinas and BIG boats!  And lots of water!  I have a couple of corrections to the last blog - The picture was of Mr. Pelican, not Mr. Seagull and the Hurricane that left so much damage along the Gulf was Katrina!

                                                    Shrimp Boat rigged and ready.

                                                         Constant companions..

                                                      Lunch at Lulu's (Jimmy Buffet's sister)

We got stopped by the Coast Guard right before this lunch - they came aboard and made sure we had all the required safety stuff on our boat.  We passed, thanks to our "attention to details" Captain!

           We saw a group of dolphins swimming in this area one morning - we'll have their picture next time.

We are now running along the Gulf of Mexico, sometimes travelling the Intracoastal Waterway, which is more protected and calmer water.  We still run into LOOPers wherever we go, even saw our solo, sailing friend  from Germany sail by as we were docked in Perdido Key, just inside the Florida State Line.

Temps have been a little cool, but expected to warm up this weekend.  Daytime hi's should be in the 70's.
Until next week...........