Caladesi Island State Park

Our last night at the Tarpon Springs City Marina was a wild one with 30+ mph winds that strained our dock lines and rocked our boat. The winds blew so much water in from the Gulf that the high tide was almost over the docks. Before we left in the morning, I made one last trip across the street to the Sponge Factory where these amazing huge decorative sponges were on display.

We cruised only 17 miles across St. Joseph Sound with a strong north wind first on our beam (that's the side of the boat) which rolled us from side to side and then on our stern which sent us surfing down the waves at about 2 knots faster than the boat was moving. It was a roller coaster ride, but it was daylight and it was only for an hour, so it was quite manageable. We didn't want to anchor in the strong winds, however, so we headed for Caladesi Island State Park. Caladesi Island is a barrier island, just a couple of miles off the ICW. There is a well sheltered 100 slip marina, but only 5 other boats were there. Just a short walk across the island is the beach where big waves were rolling in due to the strong winds. The island and beach are kept in the natural state, including the seaweed that washes in.

Today we went for a long walk along the nature trail. The dominant palm tree is the sable palm and there is a whole forest of them here.

The forest then transitions to a pine forest. The tall white pines have the same type of needles as the white pines in Minnesota, but are shaped differently.

Next, the foliage changed to a hardwood forest, with the live oaks being the predominant tree.

Here's an interesting pine tree with a split trunk that is over 100 years old. The trail guide said it was a favorite photo place on the island, so we took a photo.

Tonight we are the only boat in the marina and the Park Ranger has gone home so we have the island to ourselves. After another delicious boat dinner, we're listening to the Vikings on satellite radio and planning our next destinations. Life is good.

Tarpon Springs

We slept well after our big adventure crossing the Gulf. The next day started off with fog; we've since read that it's very rare for the Gulf to have 3 consecutive days of all day fog, but apparently that's what happened. In our Anclote Key anchorage the fog burned off by noon, so we launched the dinghy to go exploring. We went to the State Park at Anclote Key in search of the lighthouse we had seen coming in.

We followed the boardwalk to the lighthouse and saw plenty of birds and sand crabs. It was warm and the skies were blue. We next boated over to a sandbar, exposed only at low tide, where a tour boat from Tarpon Springs was loading up its passengers who had come to walk the beach and look for shells. Right after the tour boat left, the fog descended upon us. Can you see the dinghy on the middle of this picture?

No radar, no GPS, what's a dinghy boater to do in this situation? We poked our way back to the dock at the State Park, and then kept the sun and the shoreline (when we could see it) to our port side as we putted along. The fog lifted, then returned, and still no sighting of the Shingebiss. At last Steve said "Look behind you" (I ride facing backwards in the dinghy), and what a relief, there was our little ship, right where we left her.

We had already decided to spend another night at anchor. Two dolphins jumped and swam around the boat later that afternoon. We had another great meal and relaxed on the boat. Unfortunately, the wind kicked up after dark so we had a bouncy and noisy sleep. The next morning, again warm and clear, we had a short cruise up the Anclote River to the charming town of Tarpon Springs. This town is all about the Greeks, who settled the area in the early 1900's and all about the sponge diving business, which they perfected and still practice. The marina is right by the sponge boat docks and a plethera of Greek restaurants and gift shops. Harbor Master Ted, orginally from Poland, is very helpful and friendly. We had our worst docking experience to date, my fault...apparently when you come in and toss the stern lines around these darn pilings, you are supposed to tie the other end to the boat. Ours ended up dangling from the pilings, but Ted somehow got us tied up in spite of ourselves and had someone in a dinghy retrieve our lost dock lines for us while we were out strolling on Dodecanese Boulevard. The sponge boat docks are right across the street from the restaurants and shops.
This bronze statue honors the sponge divers.

We had a delicious Greek lunch at Hellas and browsed through some of the shops. We had social hour with "gold burgee" loopers Hank and Ann (Queen Anne's Revenge). The gold burgee they fly indicates they've already completed the Great Loop, and are now cruising the coastal waters. We also met up with Bill and Diane (Homebrew). Bill spent 10 years building their 36' steel sailboat in Missouri and they headed for St. Petersburgh to have their mast and rigging installed.

This morning, we hopped on the bikes to go to the grocery and hardware stores. We got sidetracked through the historic district and the beautiful homes along the bays and bayous that flow through and around the town. After a brief stop at Sunset Beach, we returned via a different route and completed our errands.

Found all our fruits and veggies at bargain prices at a produce stand. The bike baskets were filled to the max by the time we returned. We had planned to venture back out to an anchorage tomorrow, but rain and strong winds are predicted, so we added another night to our stay here. Now that we are "here" and without a scheduled destination for the next 10 weeks, we plan to slow it down and enjoy our time on the Gulf Coast of Florida.

It had to happen sooner or later, Lucy finally fell into the water today. She was out on the dock and we didn't see her fall, but heard a splash just as a flock of birds took off. She was hanging on for dear life to a piling with her front paws and mawoo'ing loudly. The water level was at least 5 feet below the dock level and we weren't immediately sure how the heck to get her back out. Steve finally dangled half his body over the dock while I held onto his legs and he managed to grab her. He set her on the dock and she took off like a bullet for the boat. We hosed the saltwater off her and she spent the next few hours grooming herself so she is now back to her beautiful fluffy self. It's good to know that she can survive a little swim, but we're thinking about picking up a fishing net in case it happens again.

A Foggy Gulf Crossing

I have a fondness for tee shirts with maps so I had to get this one from the Moorings at Carrabelle as part of "crossing preparation". All the indicators said that Sunday to Monday would be the weather window, but we woke up to a blanket of fog on Sunday. The weather window was short, however, and since most of the journey would be at night anyway, Shingebiss and 5 other boats left at noon. We all left together, slowly and with radar on. In this photo, Dog Island is ahead of us, to the left, and after that it's the wide open Gulf of Mexico. Once we cleared the last marker, we split off a little from the group to follow the route Buddy had recommended, but remained within VHF radio range with them.

The fog persisted and the seas were more rough than either Steve or I expected. As it began to get dark, the Captain made a decision: "We gotta go downstairs, it's too rough". Needless to say, the First Mate agreed fully. We managed to get all our stuff downstairs and the flybridge covered, but were crawling around on our knees to do it. About this time, I started to get mildly seasick and lying on our precious maroon leather loveseat seemed to be the only cure. Darkness came and it was pitch black with only the instruments to guide us. We figured out a more comfortable and secure way to sit on the captains chair by using one of the wicker chairs for a foot stool, and then holding on with at least one hand to prevent toppling over. Walking three feet from the love seat to the table required holding on to something. We took turns standing watch. Look at the laptop, look at the chart plotter, look at the autopilot setting, look out the windows for any lights. Check the radar frequently and the gauges periodically, while the other person slept on the loveseat. I slept every chance I got, but Steve couldn't relax enough to sleep, so he ended up with many more hours at the helm than me. Around midnight it seemed like the seas were calming a bit, by three am calming more so we broke out the Hershey Nuggets with almonds. We eagerly anticipated daybreak and the ability to again see our surroundings, but when it finally came, the fog was still there. The seas were remarkably calm by the time it got light. We still had several hours left to travel, and were much relieved at the difference it made.

The fog began to lift just in time to spot the numerous crab pots that are found in the area. They are painted a different color to identify who owns them. The yellow and red one's are easy to see, but the white and blue, not so much, at least for me. Steve sees everything way before I do, doesn't get seasick and has the patience of a saint for figuring this stuff out, so thank goodness he's the Captain, eh?

And thank goodness for the electronic charts and GPS which guided us right to this "green 1" marker which indicated time to turn left and head into the channel to Tarpon Springs.

As we entered the channel the sun broke out. We dropped the anchor behind the barrier island Dutchman Key at 10 am and spent the rest of the day napping and catching up on e-mail. We've been in shorts and tee shirts (at last) all day and Steve is sitting on the back deck at 9 pm enjoying the warm evening air. Lucy has recovered too and has been out on the front deck.

Not the best sunset ever, but a memorable and significant one for us, as we sat on the top deck and watched it while talking about the high (and low) points of our gulf crossing experience, one we won't soon forget. We've always heard that the boat can take alot more than the crew, and now we know it's true. Shingebiss performed like a seasoned veteran.

We had a celebratory dinner...Macaroni Grill boxed dinners, just add chicken...highly recommend...with salad.

We'll both sleep well tonight and plan a very short cruise into Tarpon Springs tomorrow to see the sights.

The Moorings at Carrabelle

Here's our cart sitting next to the boat after our Walmart run to Panama City with Jack and Nan, courtesy of Ray and Patsy loaning us their car. Courtesy cars, common on the rivers as the stores were not close to the marinas, are not common in Florida. Although the smaller grocery stores are usually within walking distance, every Looper appreciates a Walmart run. As you can see, we are now well provisioned in anticipation of our Gulf Crossing.

The ICW ends in Carabelle and picks back up again at Tarpon Springs (north of Tampa). There are three ways to make this 150 nautical mile passage. 1. straight across during the day, which requires a 20 mph boat...definitely NOT trawler speed. 2. 50-80 mile daytime jumps into small towns on the big bend...the going in and out each day adds many miles, this route takes 3-4 long cruising days. 3. leave at about 4 pm, cruise all night to make landfall at noon the next day. After days of hemming and hawing, we have finally decided to go ahead with option #3. All of these options require a "weather window" for being out in the Gulf. This time of year the Gulf experiences one "storm" system after the next, followed by a couple days of letting the water settle back down. When the waves are down to 1-2 feet, it is considered a "comfortable" sea for crossing. The weather window only lasts a day or two and then the cycle repeats. We let one of these weather windows pass us by (last weekend), but we've moved to Carrabelle now so that we don't miss the next one.

We left Port St. Joe early morning. It was cold and cloudy (sorry to complain, MN readers, but it barely made 50 degrees yesterday). Here's the crew on the dock, buddled up to bid us safe travels. You can see the main marina building in the background.

We soon came down from the flybridge to the lower helm, even turning on the generator and heat occasionally). On the canal back to the ICW, we saw this "Free Boat"... could make a nice looper boat with a bit of work.

Although we loved our 11 days at Port St. Joe, it felt good to be on the move again as we passed through a canal, a lake and a river with this "handyman special".

We went through Appalachicola where some of the boats cross from, but did not stop. Out into the bay and St. George Sound, we had some rough water. Were the waves 1-2 feet? We are not very good judges of wave height, but these were not uncomfortable and Shingebiss and her crew took it well. Late in the afternoon, we entered the Carrabelle River and the town of Carrabelle.

There are docks and condos lining both sides of the channel. The Moorings is the most well known marina, there is a "chart room" here and a "crossing guru" named Buddy that we hope to meet. Several of the Loopers we met in Port St. Joe are scheduled to arrive today, so we will have "buddy boats" to cross with. The next weather window is currently forecasted to be Sunday thru Tuesday. Tonight Carrabelle celebrates Christmas with festivities (food and music) topped off with a lighted boat parade and fireworks. We hope the rain doesn't put too much of a damper on the festivities. The weather in Tarpon Springs has been 10-15 degrees warmer than here, so we are definitely looking forward to moving on to that "other Florida". Advice to future loopers: bring your fleece.

Port St. Joe Update

Yes, we are still at Port St. Joe. There was a one day weather window yesterday for a safe gulf crossing and the next one is not predicted yet, so we will be here for a couple more days at least. Sunday night the marina treated the loopers to a Shrimp Boil featuring the local fresh shrimp and topped off by another beautiful PSJ sunset.

The loopers continue to come in to PSJ ... tonight 34 of us are going to Peppers, the Mexican restaurant in town. Looper boats come in all shapes and sizes. Here at the dock is Sundancer, a shrimp boat converted into a liveaboard. Next is Eschaton, a 36 foot Gibson that is doing the loop, followed by Shingebiss.

Over the weekend another type of visitor came to Port St. Joe. A mantee swam right into the harbor by our boat, seeking the fresh water coming out of the storm sewer in our corner of the marina. Attached to his tail was a tracking device, a bobber/antenna contraption that monitored his location and vital signs. On Saturday the Mantee Rescue folks called. They told the marina his name was Harold and that he was not doing well in the colder water and needed to be taken further south. They were coming to rescue him. We all ran to the docks with our cameras as the rescue boat pulled in on Monday morning. Note the outboard motor mounted at the front of the boat and the open transom, through which they will lift the 1000 lb. manatee.They strung a net with weights on one side and floats on the other between the shore and the rescue boat and began to close the circle with Harold in the middle. Harold didn't offer too much resistance, another sign that he needed to be rescued, but I captured one good shot of him flipping around as the net tightened. With a mighty heave ho, they tugged him into the boat, put a space blanket on him and off they went. The Florida Fish and Wildlife boat and two very knowledgeable folks (in a 15 foot Whaler) from the USGS were also on hand. The USGS guy said they would put Harold into a climate controlled truck (they are mammals and can be "dry" for a long time) for further assessment. If he is healthy enough they will bring him to the fresh water in Crystal River, a well known manatee hangout around the big bend from here. If not, he will have some zoo time to regain his health.

Later the same day, Ray and Patsy loaned us their SUV and we drove with Nan and Jack (Eschaton) to the St. Joseph Peninsula. This narrow peninsula, which serves as the barrier island for the town of Port St. Joe is full of lovely vacation homes and the far end is a Florida State Park. The beach has been voted "best in US" and you can see why. As you can see from this picture there were piles of shells, lots of intact ones. This panorama shows how narrow the peninsula is with the Gulf of Mexico to the left and the bay to the right. PSJ Marina is 5 miles to the right across the bay.

After a great beach walk, we drove further out the peninsula to the end of the road. We followed a trail with a boardwalk through this beautiful swamp section. The trail led to another section of high sand dunes, protected with snow fences so the vegetation can grow. The sand is so white and fine, that it looks like snow. On our way out of the park we saw this sign, which really made us giggle. "Swim with Caution"??? uh, okay !!!??

On the way home, we bought some of the delicious local shrimp and had our own shrimp boil with Jack and Nan on our boat. First time we've entertained on the boat since we left Newport. Another delightful day at PSJ.

Lucy the Seasick Kitty

Today was quite a weather adventure here in the Florida panhandle. It rained like crazy all night and this morning the wind started to blow strong and steady. About 9 am Clara, the marina manager, came down the dock to warn us of a tornado in the area and ask us all to come up to the office for safety. The tornado went over us without touching down, but the wind was howling and the rain was pouring sideways. After a cup of coffee and some socializing, we all returned to our boats. Shingebiss was rocking and rolling and the patio door that we had closed but forgotten to secure, had been rocked wide open. Alot of rain came in, but the floor is really clean now. The table was even wet, we were relieved that the lids on the computers were closed and they are fine. The boat was rolling so much that Lucy and I both got a little seasick. Lucy lost her lunch, but I did not. We got several inches of rain along with lots of lightening and thunder. By afternoon, the wind and rain subsided and by sunset the sun began to peek out. The air was fresh and clean as I took this picture of the marina from the top of the observation tower.

The marina arranged a couple of drivers to take about 18 of us out to Sunsets for a great dinner. We sat with a couple from St. Petersburg who stop at St. Joe every year on their annual cruise. Russ grew up on the Big Bend at Crystal River so he had lots of good local knowledge for us. Ray and Patsy were again the instigators for this outing. They are the ambassadors for a fun time at Port of St. Joe. What a great couple. Ray runs around all day helping people with whatever they need. Here they are.

We walked back to the marina on the "Bay Walk" a lovely sand trail through the palm trees along the bay. Upon our return we learned that the high tide was extra high tonight due to the wind on the Gulf and the water was about 3 inches over our dock. When this happens, the electricity has to be turned off until the water goes back down. No big deal, but Clara was there to escort us all back to our boats and see that we were okay. The docks down here don't float like we're used to on the river, so as the water and boat go up, the dock stays put. At high tide it's always a challenge for me to get on and off the boat, but tonight the only way on was from the swim platform. Hmmm, maybe I'll have to try that during "normal" high tide. Here's Clara next to our boat, note the water on the dock and how high the boat is off the dock.

The tide has dropped and the power is back on now. They sure take good care of us here at St. Joes.

Port St Joe Marina

The last few days of November were fantastic cruising days....warm sunny weather, calm water, and great sights along the way. After leaving our anchorage at Choctawhatchee Bay, we entered the "Grand Canyon", a 20 mile cut that someone apparently thought bore a resemblance to the Grand Canyon with white sand banks.

The canyon opened into another large bay with a pelican on every channel marker.

and then........the dolphins (and credit to Steve for snapping these good pictures)


After this fantastic day of cruising, we dropped the hook at Smack Bayou, a beautiful cozy little cove, named for the noise the dolphins make as they smack up against your boat hull. We didn't hear any smacks, but we did see dolphins on our dinghy ride across St. Andrew Sound to the Panama City Marina, where we bought $5 worth of dinghy gas, parked at the dinghy dock and walked about a half mile to a grocery store. We came across this lovely little town park, but other than that, there wasn't much happenin' at the marina or in the town, so we were glad of our choice to anchor out.

We got back to the boat in time to hear the Vikings/Bears game on Sirius radio...another victory for the Vikes...and enjoy the city lights from across the sound. Here are a couple of pics of the anchorage taken as we left in the morning.

By noon we were in Wetappo Creek a narrow, winding river.

Just when we thought we were all done with tows and barges, here one came around the corner. It was pretty tight, but we made it past.

Our destination was Port St. Joe (PSJ) Marina, which is five miles off the ICW to the south, on the coast, but protected by a barrier island. We had met Patsy and Ray (off PatsyRay) at Demopolis; they are the harbor hosts for the marina and they encourage all cruisers to stop there. It seemed like a great place to sit out the storm being predicted and has turned out to be just that. We turned off the ICW into the Gulf County Canal, passed a few fisherman and saw these shrimp boats at anchor.

We entered St. Joseph Bay and soon were at the fuel dock where Ray and Patsy welcomed us. We got settled on the transient dock, showered and prepared a quick appetizer for the large (30+ cruisers) social hour organized by Ray and Patsy. The PSJ Marina advertises as the friendliest marina on the Emerald Coast, and is one of our favorites by far. Today we went by car with Patsy and Ray to Apalachicola to have lunch with Tom and Diane (Noah Genda) and ended up meeting 2 other cruising couples, both from Minnesota. We had our first taste of oysters (cooked, not raw), and lots of fun. We returned to PSJ and walked through town...the Piggly Wiggly is only 2 blocks away! The storm has finally arrived and the marina manager is walking the docks, making sure everyone's lines and fenders are secure. We've had a great dinner of locally caught shrimp and are snug in our boat as the rain pours and the wind blows. Tomorrow's prediction includes gale warnings, small craft advisories, winds up to 40 knots (46 mph), seas 13-17 feet on the gulf, and several inches of rain. The ICW waters we have been traveling are called "protected waters". No one is leaving here by boat until the weather improves as the next section of our journey takes us out of the "protected waters" and off shore into the Gulf to cross the "big bend". The boats all leave for the crossing from either Apalachicola or Carabelle and both are only a days journey from here. The accomodations here are such that we will stay and enjoy them until mother nature decides its time to go.