Meandering Magees: Crossing The Gulf

Day 66 - Friday, November 11
2011 miles

I mentioned in the last post that we were waiting in Carabelle for a good day to cross the Gulf of Mexico to Dunedin. I also mentioned that it might be until Friday before we got our weather window and that is just what happened.

The ride from Panama City to Carabelle last Sunday was interesting. There was a lot of traffic on the intracoastal as a steady stream of pleasure craft were headed in the opposite direction. We saw several half-submerged, abandoned boats on the banks and for a while, we were dodging debris again.
Carabelle is a very small town with a decent size marina. It was a little too small to spend 4 1/2 days in.
We were assigned a spot on a long wall between two boats so another parallel parking job was required. The marina is associated with a hotel that offered a free breakfast every morning and that included boaters. We like free, and ate there 3 times!

The marina did not have a courtesy car as there was a grocery store, hardware store, and restaurant across the street. So we hired a taxi service on Monday to drive us the 22 miles to Apalachicola. Apalach, as the locals call it, is a quaint fishing town with trendy shops and lots of restaurants. It claims to be the oyster capital, and one eatery boasted they can prepare them 17 different ways. None of us on True North had ever tried oysters, so we discussed getting one order as an appetizer to share. That "when in Rome" philosophy. But we all had the slimy stereotype in our heads and couldn't bring ourselves to do it! In hindsight, we should have stayed several days in Apalachicola before moving on to Carrabelle. As a Gold Looper (they have completed the Loop and crossed their wake) said - The docks in Apalach are not very good, but the town is great. Better dockage in Carabelle but not much of a town. True North is very self-contained so we don't need great marinas with lots of amenities. Friendly, helpful people are better than a swimming pool for us!

On Tuesday, my sister Sue arrived, having driven our car from Michigan for us. She not only delivered our car, but she brought our mail and homemade cookies from Mike and Greg's Mom and Karen's Mom.

We celebrated Sue's arrival by washing the boat because . . . well . . . you know . . . it had been several days since it was done. I think I can safely say that True North is the cleanest boat on the Loop. We also did some re-caulking.

Our buddy boat, Lucky Ducks, got into Carrabelle on Tuesday. (they did stop in Apalachicola).
Jim and Terri invited us for Election Night Tacos and to watch the results - fortunately, the two boats are politically like-minded. We realized that one benefit of being on the boat, doing the Loop, was we watch very little TV. This meant we were spared the endless barrage of political ads during commercial breaks. You have to be thankful for the little things . . .

It was our turn to act as hosts, and the Dawson's joined us on Wednesday night for Mike's grilled mozzarella chicken and Blue Fairways sundaes.

Thursday afternoon, the laid-back Loopers (which included Lucky Ducks) left at 3:00 for their overnight Gulf crossing. These are the boats that travel at 10 mph or less.
We prepared for our Friday daytime crossing. We had been contacted by another go-fast boat that was also leaving on Friday and wanted to travel with us. Having our boats on Lake Michigan and being used to running in open water (not seeing land), we were probably less apprehensive about the 8 hour trip than other Loopers. But there is safety in numbers. Plus it is just nice knowing there is someone else out there within radio contact, even in broad daylight.

So Friday morning True North left Carrabelle at 6 am, with Karine and Riverdance. It was still dark and Mike held the spotlight while Greg maneuvered us out of the channel. Just before 7 am, as we entered the Gulf of Mexico, we were treated to a beautiful sunrise. Did you catch that? WE ENTERED THE GULF OF MEXICO!!!!
Since coming off the inland rivers into Mobile Bay, we have been traveling on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, so this was our first time in the Gulf. Another woo-hoo moment for us. Karen was kind enough to let Sue experience this as she drove our car to Dunedin and Sue was aboard for the crossing. We cruised at about 26 mph. Eddy, the Looper weather guru called it right - the waves were less than 1 ft and we had a smooth crossing. Our crossing had to be timed so we would not enter the marina in Dunedin at low tide.
About an hour out from Tarpon Springs, where we entered the intracoastal on the west side of Florida, we started encountering crab pots in the water. They are marked by floating balls, about the size of a large softball. This meant all four of us were on the look-out, scanning the water. They were everywhere - on the right and left, so it was like splitting the uprights - going in-between them.
I couldn't get a picture of them as I was too busy looking for them.

It took us about an hour to get from Tarpon Springs to our marina in Dunedin because we were back to our 10 mph while on the intracoastal. We needed to have a drawbridge raised and Karen, Jeff and Julie (Mike and Greg's brother and wife who live in Tarpon) were waving to us from land after going under it. It got better when we pulled up to the fuel dock for a pump-out and our son Matt was standing there waiting for us. We have not seen him since August.
We enjoyed a great mini family reunion over a wonderful dinner at Jeff and Julie's. We chose a marina in Dunedin to spend the month of November because of the close proximity to Jeff's. Mid-December will find us spending time further down the west coast until we head to Marathon in the Keys on January 1.
With the boat safely in Florida, (you have to be thankful for the BIG things . . . ) and the first leg of the Loop complete, Greg, Karen (and Sue) fly back to Ludington on Monday. Mike and I will remain on the boat until the first week of December and then return to Ludington for a much-needed grandkids fix, early Christmas celebration, meetings and appointments. We'll be back on True North on December 17.

I said today that now that we are in Florida, it feels like the adventure is over until we resume the Loop by heading up the eastern seaboard. We have wintered in The Sunshine State for several years now, and enjoy it immensely, but it is nothing to write a blog about. It's just daily life in Florida.
Mike disagrees with me and said he feels living on a boat on the water will be different enough from RV living that it will still be an adventure. I think this will be my last post for a while, unless he is right (and he usually is) and something really extraordinary comes along!

It is a little early, but wishing everyone a blessed Thanksgiving.