Gulf Crossing, Changes & Home

 

The track of the trip.

Wayne arrived as planned on the afternoon of December 1.  We enjoyed the last day in Pensacola by visiting an Irish Pub.  Weather forecast for the next few days were quite mild, even for Florida, but still pretty windy so there's no going out into the Gulf before the 4th.  Since we basically had to burn two days, we went to Panama City first.  The marina was a short ride to town and one of the guys from Sun Harbour Marina drove us in.  The city got hammered by Hurricane Michael in 2018 and looks a lot different than what I remember.  We had a great dinner at St Andy's Sports Pub before heading back.

Views passing Destin

The next morning was foggy so departure was delayed for a while.  We had a relatively short trip planned over to Apalachicola so the late start wasn't a big deal. It was another sunny day and traveling inside on the ICW made for a smooth ride.  After an overnight there with dinner at the Up To No Good Tavern, we made a leisurely departure for the 30 mile trip over to Carrabelle, FL to get ready to cross the Gulf of America/Mexico. 

Apalachicola from the water

Docked at Scipio Marina

The trip across St George Sound to C-Quarter's Marina was a little tense.  This was the first day in one of the narrow, dredged channels that are all over Florida.  These channels are frequently only around 10' deep and maybe 50' wide with depths on either side at 3' or less.  Channel markers can be located 1 or 2 miles apart giving very little guidance on where to go.  It took about 2 hours to reach Carrabelle just going slower to be safe.  C-Quarters has been a stop for my two previous crossings and it has always been good there, but this time they had other plans for us!  I had to get fuel for the run across the Gulf.  Another boat was at their pump, so I had to circle around in the little "harbor" to wait.  Once it was my turn and I was at the fuel dock, they put someone else in the one remaining slip where I could fit.  With no real apologies, they told me to go tie up at the public dock and wait until someone left.  Great plan except for the fact that the public dock lacked cleats or anything else to tie up to.

Anchored behind this house which looks like its in the water.

There was no where to go except for the anchorage area on the inside of Dog Island.  We located what seemed to be a good spot, got the anchor down and tried to enjoy the rest of the day.  This is the point where things start going south!  The wind was supposed to be dying down over the afternoon and evening, but that never happened.  It was blowing 15 to 20 mph out of the NE and the sound looked and felt like ocean surf!!  We were doing our best to chill and relax before an early start on the next morning (Dec 4) when suddenly Wayne says "I think I'm bleeding"!  And sure enough he was.............  Now somehow, he had cut his leg on a knob used to rotate the forward bench seat.  It's not good, but his jeans don't even have a mark on them.  OMG, Boy Scout first aid, ice and compression to get it stopped.  This should have been more than enough bad luck for one day, but at about 10 PM we broke anchor and were drifting toward the beach.  There is no choice but to reset which means Wayne has to go to the bow to pull up the anchor and get ready for a new drop.  It's so rough that he literally has to crawl to get there.  That task gets done.  Anchor is set with almost 200' of chain let out and fortunately no more issues.

At least, there was a beautiful sunset!

Thursday morning arrives.  We are to start at sunrise.  The wind is still blowing hard, the Sound is still rolling, but this is the only day for at least another week to do a crossing.  There are two other boats coming out of Carrabelle as we are getting underway.  They hit the pass first and I'm following.  The Gulf is rough - probably 2' to 3' waves with an occasional 4'.  This crossing is going to take about 8 hours running at around 22 mph.  At one point, I went below to be sure everything was ok.  The handrails on the walls were the only thing keeping me on the floor.  All this seems bad, but it's calmer than the trip Allen and I did in 2019 bringing Blue Ayes home from Maryland.  As we get closer to Clearwater, it gets better and better.  Tired and sore, it feels really good to get into the slip and finally relax.  Crossing is completed.

One of the boats that was crossing when we were.

Christmas lights in Clearwater.

Quiet night at the dock.

There is no rest for the wicked or anyone on a boat with a schedule.  The next day is a run to Sarasota for the next crew change and for Wayne to finally go to a doctor.  Another beautiful warm day,  The Gulf is calm and we can stay outside until the entrance to Tampa Bay where you basically have to go south on the ICW to Sarasota. Another fraternity brother, Vance, and his wife, Rebecca, are getting aboard as the next crew.  The plan was to spend an extra day in Sarasota to do laundry, but Vance is sick and we can't get started until Monday.  This gives me time to work on reservations and check on the marina where we planned to spend 3 months in North Palm Beach.  I had been in touch with the harbormaster there and there was a plan on how we could stay by moving from slip to slip as needed.  Now my bad, I never asked about cost.  I knew it was going to be expensive.  I figured, based on the published transient rates, that it would be 4 or 5 times to cost of a slip in Chattanooga.  When I heard that it was going to be 15 to 20 times more, it was time to change the plan!  Now we are going to Hilton Head where I already have a slip.

Marina Jacks in Sarasota

Sarasota Christmas parade

Vance and Rebecca get to the boat early on Monday morning.  He's still a little green around the edges, but says he'll be fine.  We're going to Fort Myers today which requires an inside run down the ICW to Venice Beach, out the inlet, into the Gulf and on to our destination.  All is easy until we get in the Pine Island Sound and the Caloosahatchee River around Sanibel Island where we have more of those dredged channels.  It's a slow go, but by mid-afternoon we arrive at Gulf Harbor Yacht Club.  Beautiful location, well protected and surrounded by some very nice condos.  There was a very nice little restaurant on the property where we had dinner.  Our waiter was a fishing charter captain (in the beginning stages) who was very interesting and we chatted throughout dinner and after about boats and boat travels.  Hopefully, he didn't have any other tables!!

Done for the day

Crew is off to dinner

From Fort Myers we are going to Rowland Martin Marina in Clewiston, FL on the edge of Lake Okeechobee.  To do this means continuing on the Caloosahatchee River until it turns into a Canal by the same name and passing through 3 locks.  These locks are nothing like the ones on the Tennessee River or the Tom Bigbee.  They have ropes hanging over the walls that you must grab and hold.  Then instead of opening valves in the bottom to raise or lower the water level, they crack open one set of doors.  If you are going up, the water is rushing in and pushing the boat backwards.  Having that extra person onboard was a real blessing.  After the last lock, it's a short distance to the marina, where there is a chance that you might have to do another lock should the lake be high.  Rowland Martin is a fishing competition location complete with a huge Tiki bar, giant gift shop with trophy fish on the walls, mosquitoes and no see 'ems. It's been a windy day and there's no change now as I have to back down a narrow canal with boats on one side and rocks on the other.  I'm totally stressed, but as soon as we hit the dock and get a couple of lines on, Rebecca has left for the bar!!  Wait a minute - somethings wrong here!!

An Okeechobee lock with water pouring through the door

Rowlan Martin Tiki Bar

Our spot on the dock

Wednesday morning started out by washing dead no see 'ems off the boat.  It was black!!  Unbelievable!!  The lake is right there and we're out on in before the sun is high in the sky.  The wind has died so the lake is pretty calm.  On the opposite side, is the next lock.  We had to wait a little bit as they locked down a couple of boats before we could enter.  There is only one more lock left on the trip.  The opposite side of the lake is called the St Lucie Canal and it leads to Stuart, FL.  Once there, we go into Sunset Bay Marina for an overnight.  If this had been summer time instead of winter, the daylight would have lasted long enough to make this a one day trip.  Rebecca has family nearby who come to see her, I walk into town to a little Italian place for dinner and Vance has turned a new shade of green and stays on the boat.

Approaching Port Mayaca lock on the edge of the lake

Tucked in at Sunset Bay

Stuart bridge all lit up

By the next morning, Vance has somewhat recovered and we are off to the next stop in Cocoa Beach.  This is a pretty long run, again filled with those shallow, skinny dredged channels.  The ocean has been torn up by fronts moving through so all we can do is go up the ICW, running as fast as possible when the opportunity presents itself.  Cocoa Village Marina is a little spot tucked into a corner past the bridge to Merritt Island, but it's also right on the edge of town so we could walk right in.  We checked out local restaurants and visited a hardware store named after Vance's family (so he says).  Our day ended at an amazing little Irish Pub that we initially past up and then went back to.  So if you are ever there, do not miss Hogan's Irish Pub.  Vance may have been returning to his green shade after our visit here ended!!

we 

We got to see a rocket launch!

Vance's hardware - you would think we could get a discount!

They had lots of Vol's memorabilia.

No comment needed

Now it's Friday and our destination is Halifax Harbor Marina in Daytona Beach, FL.  Regina is going to be driving down from Bluffton in a rental car that Vance and Rebecca will take back to Sarasota.  Again, we are going up the ICW because the Atlantic is not good for cruising.  We arrive mid-afternoon and fuel up the boat for the first time since Fort Myers.  Regina gets there about 4:30 and the next crew change is completed and my friends are on the way back to their winter condo on Lido Key.  For dinner. Reg and I went on a short walk to Mama Foo Foo for a delightful meal.

The next morning was, at best, going to be an aggressive attempt.  We needed to get to Fernandina Island to have any hope of making it to Hilton Head by Monday.  Unfortunately, I wasted our early morning start by locating a sand bar right outside the marina where we had to wait for a tow to get loose.  At this point, with no opportunity to run outside in the Atlantic, our best option was to go on north to Palm Cove Marina.  It was a long, slow trip through lots of slow and no wake zones, but we arrived to find out they were having their Christmas Party that night. I topped off the fuel tanks so that it would be possible to make it home, if the weather would just give us a break.  While we were invited to join the marina party, we opted to go to Marker 32 restaurant located right at the marina.  We joined all the locals waiting for the door to open at 5 PM and race for a seat at the bar!  This was an excellent choice.  Dinner was great and we enjoyed talking with everyone at the bar.

Lion's Bridge in St Augustine

Calm afternoon at Palm Cove.

Fernandina is only about 30 miles away.  The day is sunny and windy.  It's also low tide which I really hadn't thought about all that much except in this area the tide swing is about 7'.  So we again slowly pick our way along the ICW, hunting for the barely marked channel and watching birds walk, ankle deep, on either side!  And I wonder why I have knots in my neck and shoulders........  We got to the newly rebuilt Harbor Marina and, of course, they put us on the outside facing the Amelia River as the wind continues to blow harder and harder.  Regina has to go back to work.  This week is final preparations for the initial broadcast of TGL season 2.  She gets an Uber back to Bluffton and I start trying to figure out how to get to our new marina.  There are only two choices, a 2 day trip up the ICW through all of the undredged, super shallow Georgia waterways or a straight outside run in the ocean.  A winter front is coming through, winds are blowing 25+ mph, the river has whitecaps and the boat is getting pounded!

Beautiful sunset and ugly water

Fernandina Christmas

My go to when I have tough boating decisions is Tom, who started this trip with me in Knoxville.  He reminds me that we have a mutual friend from Maryland who now lives nearby.  I get in touch with Mark who agrees to help me make this last part of the trip!  Now we just need a window.  It's currently looking like at least 3 days before the front passes and there's a chance to run in the Atlantic.  I make plans and alternatives and we study these along with weather forecasts.  Decision reached - on Wednesday, Dec 17 - we will head out into the ocean and see what is there.  Hopefully, something less than the 4' to 8' seas that have been reported.  

Departure is planned for sunrise, the front passed on Tuesday and winds died down and we hope that so did the Atlantic.  We get started and as we are leaving for some reason the depth finder goes crazy.  It is reading 160' in an area that's only about 35'.  This isn't good at all particularly if we have to duck back into the ICW.  After a while, as we are going out the inlet, the readings go back to something reasonable.  All I can guess is that something got stuck on the bottom while at the dock.  So off we go, holding our breath to see what the ride is going to be.  As we get out offshore, seas are about a foot - almost nothing!  The day is cloudy and tomorrow another front is coming in so this is looking great.  The run to Hilton Head is about 110 miles, roughly 5 hours.  The trip is smooth compared to Gulf!  We actually have to slow down a bit as we get into the Caliboque Sound at Hilton Head Island to wait for the tide to start coming back up.  My new marina has a lock at the entry which is to be dredged in the next couple of months, but right now, I can't get in or out at low tide.  This lock is 19' x 75' and keeps the marina effectively at "high tide" level.  My boat is 15.5' wide by 55' long so I must admit that, the first time in, this felt really tight!  From there, we go straight to the slip and get settled in for the initial tie up. 

Windmill Harbour

Now after one month and one day, the trip is done.  The distance was roughly 1,980 miles.  It took 133 hours of actual engine run time and used 3,092 gallons of diesel fuel.  Stopped at 16 marinas and anchored out 4 times.  Now it's time to start learning about Bluffton and start the process of getting all the little things done in the house to make it home.  Hope you enjoyed reading about this voyage - not sure what's next - keep watching for the next issue of the blog.

As We Go South

Leaving town

The first portion of this trip was just going back to Chattanooga.  My great friend Tom came from Maryland to experience the Navy, go to the game and go down the river,  We left on Sunday, Nov 16, and ran down river to Blue Springs Marina.  That's about half way and they were the only place that still had a restaurant open!  Then on Monday, we completed the trip to downtown Chattanooga.  Those two days were beautiful, sunny and actually quite warm for November.  Of course, not everything can be perfect, so to prove that, my brand new alternator failed on the way down!

The grass is turning brown so the "T" is a little hard to see.

Settled in at Blue Springs.

My plan was to spend two days in Chattanooga getting the engines serviced.  Now we had to add getting another alternator replacement to the list.  I've got a great mechanic there and Jerald did not disappoint at getting everything figured out and completed.  The only downside was that instead of leaving early on Thursday morning, it turned into a 1:30 in the afternoon departure.  Best laid plans as they say.  The late start combined with a delay at Nickajack lock got us into the dark and fog about 5 miles past the dam.  Allen got out on the bow and we crept into a spot where we could anchor the boat out of the channel behind Long Island (who knew TN had one of those?).

Allen working in the rain.

Friday started out about the same.  Again hoping for an early start, the fog didn't permit it.  Once again, Allen went to the bow and acted as the lookout as we idled along until the fog finally broke up.  The destination was Riverwalk Marina in Decatur, AL where we would meet Regina who was flying into the nearby Huntsville airport.  Along the way, a stop at Goose Pond Marina was required to get fuel.  That was when we discovered the bugs!  Apparently these things descended upon us while we were anchored.  There had to be about a 100 million tiny black bugs all over the boat which I attacked with bug spray.  We got to Riverwalk marina at about the same time as Regina's flight was landing.  The harbor master took Allen to the airport to pick up his rental car and Regina.  While he was doing that, I was getting everything connected for the evening and washing the boat!

The Admiral gave me a break.

When we woke up on Saturday morning, Allen headed back to Knoxville and we started out toward Wheeler lock.  The rain was finally gone and the sun was shining - for a while.  We were cruising down the river and suddenly the fog was back.  Only thing to do is just slow down, use the chart plotter to navigate and turn on the radar in hopes of seeing anyone else who ended up in this mess.  Fortunately, it cleared soon and we got to Wheeler lock and through with only a short delay.  Next comes Wilson lock.  This is the highest single lift lock east of the Rocky Mountains at about 100'.  We had to wait for a bit while they brought up a large tow boat and barges.  As we left, there was a boat similar to mine who led the way to our next stop at Aqua Yacht Harbor Marina. 

The upper door on Wilson lock is quite different.

Aqua Yacht is one of the 2 marinas at the top of the Tennessee - Tombigbee Waterway.  Turning off the Tennessee River to start the trip down was a little sad knowing we were finishing another piece of the Era that I talked about before.  In the past, I've always stopped at the other marina, so as we continue new things, I changed this time.  It was a nice location with very helpful staff.  They even had a little bar and grill at the marina where we got to watch the Vols win the game in Gainesville!!  How good can it get!!

From the Tennessee River to Mobile Bay, it is roughly 455 miles.  The other three times I've made this trip I have had to make stops at literally every fuel stop because the old boat didn't hold as much fuel as this one does.  I filled the tanks to the top at Aqua Yacht and off we went. Sunday the 23rd was our first day and we did pretty good.  The first lock is Whitten where we had to wait about 45 minutes.  Then we hit the the next 4 perfectly.  They were ready and waiting for us to arrive and go through.  But at the fifth one, our luck ran out.  A tow was coming up and we had to wait with some other boats.  I had hoped to get through 7 locks that day.  We completed 6 and found a spot to anchor about 15 miles short of Columbus Marina.  

Day 2 on the Tenn-Tom started with fog again.  We had to wait a bit before we could start and that caused a wait at Stennis lock.  After going through that lock, we made it on down through Armory and Aberdeen before suddenly developing an alternator problem.  I was getting warning alarms for overcurrent on both engines if I ran over 12 mph.  So for a little over 4 hours, we crept down the river to get to Kingfisher Marina.  I had planned to go there for fuel, but now I needed a mechanic.  Luckily they were able to get a guy there that night after we had arrived in the dark.  And even better, he found the problem and had it fixed in about an hour!

Day 3 on the Tenn-Tom began by getting fueled up for the remainder of the run south.  As I was filling up the tanks, the dock master mentioned that the lock had some unusual schedules and suggested that I give them a call.  So I called and the lock master said "If you can be here in 20 minutes, you can go through.  If not, it will be 3 hours."  Don't think I have ever gotten the boat moving that fast before!  I had wanted to do a little test run to be sure the alternator issue was fixed, but that turned out to be a race to the lock and fortunately, everything worked correctly.  We got through Demopolis lock as well as Coffeeville lock (the last one)while in and out of showers all day.  Finally about 4:30 the rain got so bad that we just had to stop and we were very close to an anchorage I had used before so into Three Rivers Lake we went.  Interesting place down a sort of long, narrow entry creek, but totally protected.

I think this is not in the right place!

Tenn-Tom day 4 started out nice and sunny.  I have never gotten down this far, this fast.  Now it's only about 100 miles to the bottom of Mobile Bay.  The cruise down the rest of the river was uneventful.  We arrived at the end of the Tenn-Tom about noon and entered Mobile Ship Channel.  Big ships are everywhere.  After the Channel, it's into the Bay.  The winds have been picking up and are blowing straight out of the south.  The top of the bay isn't too bad, but by the time we got mid-way, it was getting pretty choppy.  That was about the time that a Coast Guard cutter went roaring by leaving a 5 or 6 foot wake!  I'm pretty sure that we had to be airborne for a couple of seconds before slamming into the next one.  Then we had to make a turn that put us broadside to the wind generated waves, not a comfortable ride!  Bottom of the bay got better as we headed east toward the ICW.

For some reason this has been nicknamed the Dolly Parton bridge?

This guy is the one!!

Once on the ICW, we had about an hour and a half until we reached Pensacola.  That was pretty much a nice smooth trip until we got closer to the city.  The approach toward the city harbor was getting very choppy from winds.  The next few days are going to really be blowing, but since we are taking a little break for Thanksgiving all is good.  I'll start the next couple of legs over toward Carabelle, FL with a new first mate.  Regina goes back to work and my buddy Wayne will join me until we can get across the Gulf and down to Sarasota.

All my Tennessee flags are flying here in FL.

Back into salt water so routines change.  Boat gets a bath after every trip and we're surrounded by sport fishers!

The End of an Era

I had to borrow Regina's tee shirt

To borrow a phrase from Taylor Swift, I've reached the end of my Vol Navy Era.  The other day I was chatting with some old friends and the idea hit me to start a new Vol Navy fleet on the Atlantic coast.  It seems like there should be some Vol fans who have boats and live in the Charleston, Hilton Head, Savannah area.  Why couldn't we find a location to tie up or raft up for game day just like we do in Knoxville?  Maybe it's a crazy idea, but seems like it would be better than going to a sports bar to watch a game on tv in the middle of groups from five or six other schools also playing on tv.

The last game was Oklahoma.  That Saturday morning, the river was covered in fog and as the sun came up it was both eerie and beautiful.  After a couple of hours, the fog burned off and it went from a chilly morning to a beautiful warm day.  There was even a Oklahoma boat in the Navy!  These guys had come from somewhere on the Arkansas River to be here which was a 9 day trip.  We were all hoping that they would have a long, sad ride home, but the Vols managed to lose another game that they should have won.  I will always bleed orange, but these boys are trying to kill me!

The full moon rose early this week.

Last week, I moved the boat for the first time since I got here in September.  Fortunately, the crew from the Volunteer Landing Marina will deliver water and do pump outs for boats in the Navy.  I've had them visit my boat twice, but now it was time to top off the fuel tanks and get ready to start the trip downstream.  My fraternity brother, Allen, came to ride up with me.  After we got fueled up, I decided it was time to go to the source or headwaters of the Tennessee River.  From the marina to the convergence of the Holston and French Broad Rivers is only about 4 miles.  I've wanted to go up there for a while so we did it!  After that little trip, we got back to the Vol Navy docks where I turned the boat around and got a spot where I can easily get out.

Holston River to the left and French Broad to the right.

It's one week until the Homecoming Game.  That will be my last one this year so I've got to make the best of my last few days.  Yesterday, I went to the men's basketball game at Thompson-Boling.  I haven't been to a game there in several years so I was pleasantly surprised by the latest modifications that have been made.  That really is a great arena to watch a game, but if you get a seat near the top, you better take an oxygen bottle!  I spent the first half up high and then joined some friends down closer to court side for the second half.  Vols won handily over Northern Kentucky.  Looks like we just might have a really good team this year.

There's actually a lot more rows past here!

A little closer to the action!

Sunday, November 16 will be departure day.  My great friend from Maryland, who taught me how to be a boat captain, is going to be here for that trip back to Chattanooga.  Hopefully there are airplanes still flying with this government shutdown going on so he won't end up driving down here.  Contingency plans have been made so however it works out we will go down the river.  I've been wanting to show him our Navy and the beautiful scenery on the upper end of the Tennessee River ever since making my first trip up in 2013.

The last week of my time in Knoxville has gotten a bit challenging.  Mother Nature decided to send us an artic blast!  Two nights of temperatures in the low 20's..............that's enough to make you shiver.  Generator run times increased to keep the heat on and I even sat my alarm to get up at 2 AM to start it and warm things up. Now to finish out the week, I'm going to the Wednesday night basketball game, then to another frat brother's home to do laundry one last time on Thursday, final (no such thing) boat repair on Friday morning (totally unplanned), annual dinner with friends at Ye Old Steakhouse on Friday night and Homecoming game on Saturday.  The forecast says sunny and almost 70 degrees so the last sailgate should be just about perfect for a November day.

Looks like it should be St Patrick's Day!!

The crew at the boat for pregame.

Pipes & Drums perform with The Pride.

The next update will come from somewhere downstream.  I'll be in Chattanooga for a couple of days to do oil and filter changes.  Then it's about 1,600 miles to North Palm Beach for an extended stay.  Hoping for good weather and fair winds - don't have to worry about tides until I get close to Mobile Bay.