Heading Down Florida's West Coast

Getting Fuel at Our Slip

Jane's Painting for Ted

After spending four days in Tarpon Springs, it was time to move on. We had become good friends with Ted, the marina harbormaster, and he was constantly helping us out. We knew that fuel would be needed somewhere before we reached Fort Myers, and when we asked Ted where would be a good place to buy fuel, he said that the best place would be the commercial fuel dock in Tarpon. And because he was good friends with the owner, he said that he would give him a call and have a fuel truck deliver to our slip. We were really happy with this arrangement and it was the easiest fueling we've had. To show our appreciation, Jane painted a picture for Ted's  wife. We said goodbye and headed out.

Coming into Clearwater

We were a little apprehensive about this stretch of the journey, because it runs through some notoriously skinny waters. The intracoastal waterway has a project depth of 12 feet, but we rarely saw more than 9-10 feet, and quite frequently the depths were down to 6 feet. Get outside the channel and you will likely go aground. This makes running this stretch very tedious and one has to be constantly alert as to where the channel runs. After we cleared the Anclote River entrance, we found ourselves almost immediately with 3-4 feet of water below the props.It was going to be a nerve racking run to Clearwater. But we did see some really great scenery and some very magnificent homes. We went on to Dunedin and stayed

Some really fine fish camps

at the Dunedin Municipal Marina. This is a really fine marina that charged all of $0.90 a foot, but had the best facilities we had encountered on the trip so far. It is located in a beautiful park and is well maintained and secure.We quickly made friends with two other boats and had happy hour aboard a Bluewater that was berthed next to a boat named Dunwurkin, which we thought was a really clever name and would work for our German-built boat. Happy hour went way too long and we staggered back to Bavarian Cream and crashed for the evening. Beginning to wonder if the liver will hold up for another 9 months.

Jane likes the big Norfolk Pines

We see dolphins everyday

Sunshine Skyway Bridge

Tampa Bay ship channel

Yikes! Let's get outta here!

Closer than it looks!

The next day we got an early start, hoping to knock off a substantial leg on our way to Ft. Myers. Again we saw some beautiful scenery and interesting cities. The big challenge today would be crossing Tampa Bay. Maybe we would have been better off to follow our fellow boaters advice and stay in Dunedin for the St. Patrick's Day parade that passed within a couple of blocks of the marina. But since we were pretty sure that we would be back to Florida's west coast, we decided to push on so we could spend time in places we would likely not visit again. Tampa Bay proved to be really interesting. After approaching from the north, we entered a long channel that runs parallel to the to the Sunshine Skyway bridge. Capt. Larry crossed this bridge on a motorcycle trip with a westerly 40 mph wind. The channel wasn't necessarily any more reassuring, as it was a cut through an extensive shoal with 1/2-2 feet of water on each side of the channel. As we approached the the bridge, things got really interesting as the channel crosses the Tampa Bay ship channel. We watched a large ocean-going ship cross in front of us, but neglected to see an equally large ship approach just as we were crossing the channel. It is really remarkable how deceptively fast these ships move and Capt. Larry had to put us up on plane to make sure we didn't get run down.

Blowing the dink up in the cockpit

Capt. Larry setting up the dinghy

Local sunbather cruising the anchorage

We decided to go into our first anchorage. The marinas were proving to be a lot of work getting into and out of, and we wanted to move on the next day. We read about a great anchorage off the ICW in in Skipper Bob's book on the gulf coast, and decided to try it. We left the ICW and sounded our way into the anchorage at Longboat Key which is just off Sarasota Bay. We anchored and Jane took a nap while Capt. Larry decided to haul the dinghy out of the engine room and get it set up. We took a dinghy ride into the gulf inlet. We met another boat flying a gold AGLCA burgee, which means that they had completed the loop, so we dinghied over to talk to them. They recommended some other anchorages and marinas along our route. We returned to the boat and had supper. The anchorage was absolutely beautiful and so much quieter than the marinas. We slept like babies.

A swing bridge opens for us

Albee Road bascule bridge

Fishing the black mangroves on the ICW

Bavarian Cream at anchor

Sunset at our anchorage

Full moon setting over the anchorage

The next morning we weighed anchor and headed south for Englewood, FL to go into another recommended anchorage. Along the way we encountered a number of bridges, most of which we could easily clear, but a few we had to request openings. We got to the anchorage and had very little water beneath us. After feeling our way in we were able to anchor in 9-10 feet of water. We had a long day so we decided to dinghy over to a restaurant for drinks and supper. However, it was low tide and the restaurant docks we about 7 feet above the water level. With help from a couple of barely sober restaurant patrons, we were able to haul ourselves out. We had a great supper but limited ourselves to one drink, because we were worried about getting back into the dink. When we saw another boat pull up to the dock we asked if it would be OK to pull the dinghy alongside their boat and use their higher boat to board the dink. We got underway and started to head out for Bavarian Cream when we suddenly found ourselves on a shoal with about 6 inches of water beneath us. The outboard was kicking up mud and bouncing all over the place. We got out the oars and got off the shoal and managed to return to the boat. Never did we think that our first grounding would be in the dinghy.

A osprey pair nesting

R16- Southernmost point of the loop

Downtown Ft. Myers

Steel drummer at the festival

"Memphis 56," very entertaining

The next day we headed out for Fort Myers. On our way out of the anchorage we followed a boat named Cigona with Covington, LA listed as its home port. Since this is in our back yard, we radioed and him and told him where we were from. He said he was headed back toward Louisiana and hoped to get there by the 4th of July! We made our way towards Ft. Myers and only was temporarily "lost" once. We passed a milestone as we approached Ft. Myers which was the southernmost point of the loop. Going into Ft. Myers on a pleasant Saturday afternoon proved to be daunting. We had never seen so many boats heading out to the barrier islands for time on the water. We must have passed over 200 boats in a two hour period and were practically the only boat heading toward Ft. Myers. We got settled into the Legacy Harbour Marina which is a really fine facility and were told to head to downtown for the Music Festival. This is a monthly event where 12 local bars and restaurants sponsor bands that perform in the street. We visited several bands before we stumbled upon a group called "Memphis 56" that was a rockabilly band. They played Elvis, Johnny Cash, and Johnny Horton, and the lead singer uncannily sounded like the real McCoy. But the real star was the bass player who played an electrified double or upright bass. When he started thumping that instrument the crowd came alive. Jane was moving so we danced in the street until Capt. Larry's knees gave out. He is paying for it today, but it was a really wonderful event.

Jane's blooming air plant

Toolin' Around Tarpon

Waiting for the Fishing Boat to Arrive

A Brown Pelican Roosting on Our Boat Piling

We settled in at the Tarpon City Municipal Marina because it was within walking distance of the sponge docks and most of what we wanted to see. In the morning, we cleaned the boat from top to bottom. Hopefully, we won't be kicking up that much salt spray for awhile. We took a walk through the tourist area and went to the sponge museum where

Capt. Larry at Spongeoram

we viewed an old movie about sponge fishing. The movie was undoubtedly made during the heyday of sponge fishing and probably bore little similarity with present day activities. Still it was entertaining and the museum was informative. Afterwards, we walked through the shopping district where Jane visited a number of interesting shops and boutiques.

At the Sponge Dock

This is a First!

We returned to the boat and waited for company to arrive. Right after we arrived the previous day, we got a call from Kevin & Pam Vogel. Kevin & Pam are the parents of Capt. Larry's nephew's wife, Janelle Blue-Duress (or something like that), and it just so happened that they were visiting kinfolk in Clearwater. Since they had a car, we invited them to come anspid visit us. We were excited to have our first visitors on the trip. They arrived around mid-afternoon and we enjoyed some drinks and snacks on the boat before

The Vogels on Bavarian Cream

Flaming the Cheese!

heading out to Hella's Original Greek Restaurant (Jane wanted to eat there because it was ORIGINAL, but aren't they all). Anyway, we got to Hella's and feasted on fried cheese and hummus, gyro platters, spinach pie, and Greek lasagna all washed down with Greek beer. It was the best meal of our trip so far. Afterward we stumbled through the shopping district and stopped at a Greek bakery for pastry desserts. Kevin & Pam left and we crashed for the evening. We enjoyed seeing them, but know that we will run into them again when we get up north.

Great Greek Food

Sooooooo many dessert choices!

The Greeks Know Capt. Larry!

Jane at the nature preserve

The next day we got the bikes down, packed a picnic lunch, and road an extensive bike trail to the Anclote River Nature Preserve. We ate our lunch in the preserve then headed back to the boat. We were hoping some mail would arrive so we could leave the next morning, but we will have to wait and hope it is delivered tomorrow.

Our Big Day!

Heading for the Inlet

We had worried, fretted, stewed and sweated the arrival of the time where we would do the 170 mile crossing in open water on the Gulf of Mexico. Most of the time we would be about 50 miles offshore, and the crossing would take about 10 hours. Jane was a wreck! Fortunately there appeared to be a really good weather window which started on Saturday, but would even improve more on Sunday. So Sunday was our day. We spent Saturday afternoon going over the boat, securing anything that would fly around in rough seas, and reassuring each other that we could do this.

Cruising on the Gulf of Mexico

Keeping Warm on the Cool Gulf

We didn't expect to make the crossing with the change to daylight savings time. So we lost an hour meaning we would arrive in Tarpon Springs later than we had originally anticipated. We set out at 0745, and headed for the inlet. The sunrise occurred on our way to the inlet. We had the boat on plane, the autopilot on, and headed out. Conditions could not have been better for the crossing- waves <1 foot, winds <5 knots, sunny skies, and fairly warm temperatures. In fact, things went so well that the trip turned out to be a little boring.

Dolphins Running with the Boat

Jane and R4- the End of the Crossing

We both read books, listened to music, and talked until we hit the R4 marker at Anclote Key and made our way into Tarpon Springs. We arrived at the marina to find it closed, but another looper was there to help us tie up. Exhausted, we showered, at a light supper, drank some rum, and went to bed.

Carefree in Carrabelle

Tug Pulling a Dredge Li

Oystermen Working Their Beds

We left Apalachicola after a big storm rolled through the area. The water was choppy and the winds started out to be fairly strong, but the biggest hazard was the shallow channel across Apalachicola Bay. We were following a tug and were glad we were. The channel has the tendency to shoal and there is a dredge that likely continuously works the channel. The tug knew how to proceed through the channel which at one point got down to 2.3 feet below our props. Both the tug and us were churning up all kinds of mud! Once we got in deeper water, we passed the tug, got up on plane, and hightailed it all the way to Carrabelle.

Happy Hour on Bavarian Cream

Lining Up for the Parade

WWII Hardware, Well Preserved

Jane Shows Her Confederate Roots

Carrabelle is a really quaint town and one we would like to come back to. We got to the Moorings Marina and berthed the boat and hosted happy hour with two other looper couples who were setting out for Steinhatchee the next day. They wanted us to join them, but our only goal from Carrabelle was to cross the gulf as quickly as possible. The following day we went to the Camp Gordon Johnston Memorial parade. Carrabelle was the training site for the WWII Normandy Invasion (D-Day Landings), and they probably brought out all of the WWII veterans they could find. Anyway, it was a very moving and nice experience. After the parade we went shopping to provision the boat and turned in early for our gulf crossing the next morning.

Provisioning with Ginger Cookies on Dr. Carl's Recommendation for Sea Sickness

Spending Time in Apalach!

We got settled in a Scipio Creek Marina which is slightly off the beaten path of the intracoastal waterway. We had only planned on staying a couple of days, then moving on to Carabelle to stage for our crossing, but a helldacious storm went through on our second night and we felt that conditions would be a little rough to move on. The good news came from Ellena who called and told us our inverter had been delivered and she would bring it to us the next day.

Jane and Our Lifesaver!

Ellena delivered the inverter and ran us around for some errands before we took her to lunch at the Owl Cafe. If you visit Apalach, try the Owl Cafe. The food is exceptional. Jane and Ellena dropped Capt. Larry off at the boat and then went shopping while he installed the inverter. No sooner had they returned when the weather started to turn really nasty. Ellena left and we battened down the hatches and prepared for a big blow.

At the Gorrie Museum

Learning About Refrigeration

The next day we decided to stay in Apalach rather than chance it on the gulf, so we went on a walking tour
and took in three museums. The best was the John Gorrie Ice Museum which focused on the first ice and refrigeration machine that was created by Dr. Gorrie. We also toured the Rayney House, the Gibson Inn,and went to the Ormond House which is a restored antebellum mansion with botanical gardens and a Viet Nam Veteran's Memorial.There were also a lot of shops and tourist traps that kept calling Jane's name. We had a really nice time, but will be happy to move on.

At the Gibson Inn

At the Viet Nam Vet's Memorial

Onward to Apalachicola!

We made two visits to Apalachicola. One was by car with some other loopers in the Port St. Joe Marina. The other was by boat. Our looper friends had a car and wanted to show us around Apalachicola. So the day after we landed in PSJ, we had a road trip and got to see most of the landmarks, the marina that was recommended, and feast on some of the famous Apalachicola oysters and seafood. It was a great break. We ate at Boss Oyster's Oyster Republic, and the food could not have been better.

Lady Loopers as Boss Oyster

Is this like the Conch Republic?

We spent one more day in PSJ, reprovisioned the boat, bought some boat stuff, took a bike ride and chatted with fellow transients. The weather for our gulf crossing was not looking good until the end of the week, so we thought about staying put. However, a storm front was going to move through the area in two days, so if we wanted to not be stranded in PSJ, we would have to move on the next day. Conditions were very windy the following day, but we were running mostly in protected waters all the way to Apalachicola, so it didn't really bother us.

Riding another "ditch" to Apalach

Isolated but beautiful

We crossed the very shallow Lake Wimico with no problems and entered the Apalachicola River. We passed an eagle's rookery, turned through a bend, and found a mature bald eagle diving on a flock of common coots in the water. Every time the eagle dove, the flock would scatter and it apparently could not focus on a single bird and would come up empty. We drove the boat very close to the coots and our presence did not seem to phase the eagle which was apparently fixated with the chance at an easy meal.
 

An eagle's rookery

Tora! Tora! Tora!

 

 

 

We Make Port St. Joe

Cutting Up with the Vernons

After an emotional departure from our Harbor Host friends, Carl & Greg Vernon, we left Panama City and headed toward Port St. Joe. The long term forecasts for a gulf crossing didn't look very promising for the next 5-7 days, but we decided that it was time to move on and explore new surroundings. Although it is somewhat off the beaten path, we had been to PSJ and PSJ Marina on two previous occasions with fellow loopers. The town is small, quaint, and easy to get around. Plus it has a Piggly Wiggly to which Jane could wear her "I Dig the Pig" tee-shirt Capt. Larry bought her before the one we regularly shopped at in Springfield, LA closed its doors. Talk about hog heaven!

Ellena & Jane

Ellena & Roy Getting Happy!

Hmmmmm! Tom's Dogs with Secret Sauce!

We left the Vernons' early and had good weather for the short 5-hour run to PSJ. But the forecast was for weather conditions to start to deteriorate around mid-afternoon, so to give us a little cushion, we put Bavarian Cream up on plane across the large East Bay. The eastern section of this body has some really skinny water, and although the channel is well marked, it was Capt. Larry's first test of navigating through a fairly narrow channel. Following the advice to look fore and aft to make sure one was in the channel, he hesitated when a couple of the buoys were considerably out of the straight line presented on the chart. Figuring that some tow had knocked the buoys off station, he started to proceed on the charted course, when he recalled a warning to always follow the lateral ATONs. He quickly put the boat back in the channel, passed the lateral marker on the proper side, and avoided running aground- at least for another day!

We entered Wetappo Creek and a man-made cut which provided some very scenic cruising, and leisurely followed this to the Gulf County Canal leading us out into St. Joseph Bay. By the time we arrived at the bay the wind had picked up to 15-20 kts. with gusts to 25 kts. Ugh! The short, open water ride to PSJ Marina was miserable. We knew the marina had some tight turning spaces and worried that it would be difficult to dock in the wind. When we called the marina to find out where they wanted us and get some help, they said that fellow loopers were waiting for us on the transient dock. Seems that Roy Short of Royel was following our progress and telephoned everyone to let them know we were arriving! We had 3 men to help us with the lines and Jane was playing her role as the "distressed damsel," and telling them all how wonderful they were. She could really get used to this! Anyway, thank you Roy!


We secured the boat, met our fellow loopers, and had happy hour on one of their boats.

Our first beautiful sunset!

Doing the ice detail