The Crossing and Tarpon Springs - Loop Trip Days 53 - 57

The opening for the crossing has arrived, but not without some added concerns.  The wind and waves have subsided and now the forecast says morning fog.  There are three other boats here at Carabelle ready to go.  We discussed the weather and our options.  Consensus is to go out to Dog Island and anchor to be ready for a quick exit into the Gulf at first light.  That being decided, Regina and I took off on one more bike ride.  The idea was to go back to Pirates Cove for lunch, but they weren't open so then we rode to the Junction and had soup and sandwiches.

On the bike ride to Pirates Cove

At about 4 PM we motored out of the harbor to an anchorage called Shipping Cove on the north side of Dog Island.  It was sunny, warm and calm winds.  This was not destined to last very long.  As the sun went down, the winds picked up and then the waves did the same.  It was not a really comfortable night as we rocked with waves hitting the boat.  I was up several times to see what was happening and mostly what I saw was fog.  Anchor lights on the other boats glowed in the haze so it was obvious that we hadn't moved and that was good.  I don't think anyone slept great that night.  Tomorrow will be a day to do something that most of us have never done and the butterflies are certainly in abundance. Track and photos - www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/933890

The "fleet" anchored at Shipping Cove

The sun rose about 7:30, according to the time tables, none of us knew that because the fog was too thick.  Even though that was the case, if this crossing was to be made, it was get moving or wait until the middle of next week for another chance.  Decision made, a little before 8 AM we began creeping out of the anchorage.  One person estimated visibility at 500 feet and I think that might have been about double the reality.  So on we go using GPS, chart plotter and radar to go out East Pass into the Gulf. There were at least 2 channel markers that we never saw in the fog.  A short run that should have taken 15 minutes turned into about an hour.  Once past the shoals, we hit some 1 - 2 waves but we're able to get some speed and not bounce around too bad. About an hour out one of the other boats, a big Hatteras called Sweet Relief, called to say that they were passing on our port. Out of the gray they appeared and went by knocking down the waves so I got behind them and ran in their wake until they decided to slow down. As we went on alone, Jan shot some video of us running which is really cool!  On we went continuing the longest single run we have ever made - 160 miles in 10 hours 45 minutes.  The other thing continuing was the fog, but finally at 3:30 in the afternoon, we actually could see blue sky and the horizon!  For the first time today, we could actually see where we were going. There were pods of dolphins jumping around us, birds flying and surprisingly ducks in the water.  At this point in the trip, we had three problems, but only began to recognize two of them. I had been calculating fuel burn all day and it became obvious that we had to slow down to conserve fuel so we would be able to reach our destination (problem 1) and we were not going to be able to get there before dark (problem 2 - remember that slow start). So we did slow down and continued on through the land mine of crab pots that had appeared and headed to the point where we would exit the Gulf going into the Anclote River.  The marker here is "R4" and as we finally got close with the sun setting what we ran into is the thickest fog ever (problem 3). Now it is pitch black, foggy and totally impossible to see anything so we slowly idle to a spot out of the channel and drop anchor to wait for morning and no fog.  Track and photos - www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/934700

Sitting in the morning fog

Okay, according to the chart plotter, we anchored right next to an island last night in the total pitch blackness. This morning when I got up and could actually see something, it is totally different from that. Honestly, it looks like we are back in the middle of the Gulf. That island is about a mile away and there are crab pots all around us!  Good news is that the fog has lifted and we only have to go 7 miles to Turtle Cove marina. So today there is no warming up the engines, it's start up and go at just above idle speed into Tarpon Springs harbor.  At idle our speed is basically 6 mph, so a little over an hour later we pulled into the fuel dock and got the last 140 gallons of diesel that they had. I needed about twice that amount, but right now, this was like gold!  Track and photos - www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/934706

There's that island that was so close on the chart plotter

Made it to the fuel dock!  Port tank was about the same as this one.

The three of us that were crossing together had dinner on Friday night at Rusty Belle's and our AGLCA harbor host, Herb, joined us. Everyone had a story about the trip over. No one made it exactly as planned, but all are here and had a great time dining and chatting. Saturday was a trip to Publix to stock up on food and another visit to Rusty Belle's!  On Sunday, Regina's brother and girlfriend came from Orlando to visit us. We walked into town to see the weekend craft fair, sponge docks, check out a Greek grocery and have dinner at Costa's, an authentic Greek restaurant.  It was a great way to end our stay in Tarpon Springs!

One of the old sponge drying buildings

Pond where the Epiphany cross diving celebration is held

Downtown harbor

We saw this little critter and a friend down at the sponge docks

And then we found a flock of chickens!

Sponge boat

Downtown market

Monday morning we will head out to our next stop. We're going to Gulfport on the south end of Saint Petersburg. This is about 40 miles down the ICW. Forecast calls for good weather so this should be a nice day. Next updates will be from further south and with any luck a warmer place!