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.