Sarasota to Naples

(Wed Dec 15 - Dist: 55.6 mi; Avg Speed: 7.6 mph; TTT: 7:20 hrs)

After 5 days in Sarasota we decided to make a bee line for the Keys.  There were numerous other places which we would have liked to visit, such as, St. Petersburg, Braedeton, and Ft. Meyers, but we were now eager to get to the keys and have a vacation....some place where we could rest and not worry about getting up and travelling to a new place.  I figured that we could always go back to these places, if not by boat, then at least by car.

The GICW for the most part was similar to that area between Clearwater and Sarasota. 

We did see a section of mangroves that had a lot of white egrets resting in the trees.  I have also been surprised to see large birds like herons and pelicans also roosting in the tops of the trees. It is difficult to see in the photo but the white spots are the large birds.

We decided to anchor out on this leg of the journey and just off Cayo Costa Island was supposed to be a good anchorage.  We found it easily enough and followed the directions precisely in an attempt to get over a sand bar that was across the iopening to the anchorage.  Well we first started stirring up sand and then we started rubbing the bottom and that is when we decided to abandon the idea of staying here.  We got off easily kicking sand as we went.

We then decided to try around the back of an island, maybe it was Cabbage Key, I can't remember.  Anyway, things were going well until we encountered another shoal across the opening of the channel.  This was was a little more difficult to get off of but we did manage to do so without calling Towboat US.  We were getting tired and stressed so we decided to anchor just off the GICW near Useppa Island.  We were exposed but the weather was good and we had a good BBQ and sleep on the hook.

Useppa Island to Naples

(Thursday Dec 16 - Dist: 55.2 mi; Avg Speed:11.8 mph; TTT: 5:20 hrs)

T'was another fine day for travelling until these terrorists in a speed boat ran us aground.  We were approaching Boca Grande Pass when three masked men appeared unexpectedly on our starboard side and was crowding us to the left.  I slowed down and kept moving left in order to avoid a collision but they kept coming.  It was the US Border Patrol.

It was cool out but these guys were dressed all in black and were wearing ski masks.  Well when I stopped for them the wind promptly pushed us outside the channel onto the sand so I told them that they had to let me maintain steerage or they would have to pull me off the sand bar.  They agreed and then propmtly came close again and two officers jumped aboard.  In the end they were decent guys and we had some good conversations.  I think that they were actually overwhelmed with all of the official numbers that we were throwing at them.  The officer in charge took most but not all and called it in for verification.  I asked for another number and he wouldn't give us anything.    So for all I know they were terrorists in a fast boat with a decal on the side looking for official names and identification numbers.

The delay was not long and we carried on to Naples.  Naples is a cute little town, abit 

on the hautie-tautie side but quite nice none the less.  The houses along the river were not bad and even the condos and docks in the harbor were quite nice as well.  I'll leave this post with a few random photos from the area.

Clearwater to Sarasota

(Friday, Dec. 10 – Dist: 57.6 mi; Avg Speed: 9.8 mph; TTT: 6:00 hrs)

After a relaxing and fun week in Clearwater, we fueled up and headed further south. This top up of 260 gallons was the biggest in quite awhile. That was the cost of crossing the Gulf in the daylight as opposed to going trawler speed for 20 hours. In my books it was worth the extra cost.

The Gulf Intra Coastal Waterway (GICW) in this part of Florida is quite populated; there are houses,

some of them mansions, along the ICW and the many canals that shoot off the main waterway. Even a Holiday Inn, complete with boating slips, is right on the water.  We did have to cross Tampa Bay which allowed us to make a little time but for the most part we had to go slow and even slower through the many “No Wake” and “Manatee” zones.  There were also a couple of bridges which we needed to be opened but for the most part we timed them well and never had to wait.   It was a fairly nice day to travel with only a light chop on the protected waters and we arrived at Marina Jack’s in Sarasota by mid afternoon.

Marina Jack’s (the low blue glassed building in the centre) is a modern, even fancy, facility right in downtown Sarasota. There is a good restaurant/bar right at the marina which we enjoyed a couple of times, especially the live entertainment on Saturday. My cousin and one of his sons were able to visit one day. It was neat to visit under these pleasant circumstances because it seems that we only see each other at funerals any more. They also introduced us to O’Leary’s Tiki Bar. You must try the Buffalo shrimp, the best.  That night was the Christmas Boat Parade right in front of the marina.  It is the first one that we have seen and I must say that some of the decorations were very impressive.  I didn't even try to get any photos in the dark....you will just have to take one in some day.

During our few days in Sarasota we had an opportunity to visit more local establishments but the highlight was the day at the Ringling Bros Museum.  There is huge display of a miniature circus set up that took the creator many, many years (ie. 20+ years) to do the current display.  He is still working on it.  The circus boggles the mind, especially the logistics involved in getting 1300 people and an unbelievable number of animals to a new performance each day.  In another building the original wagons and such were on display and finally there was Bill Ringling's summer house on the property.  The circus used to winter in Sarasota but has moved....to Venice if I remember correctly.  Bill Ringling willed all the property and his most extensive (and expensive) art collection to the State of Florida when he died with $311 in his savings account.  Since then the University of Florida has been responsible for the property, the art and the displays.  It was a most interesting day.

I will end with a bunch of photos from the Ringling Bros Circus Museum.

 

 

Here are a couple from the Rose garden on the property.  Because of the cold many of the roses were in bloom.

Now some photos from the Art Gallery on the property.

Tarpon Springs

Tarpon Springs is a neat little Greek sponge fishing settlement here in Florida.  Without getting into too much history, when sponges were discovered in the Gulf of Mexico, many Greek sponge divers settled in Tarpon Springs to harvest the sponges.  It became a very successful proposition so the town still goes on today, harvesting and selling sponges.

Everything in town, such as the boats, divers, sponges and food is quite authentic except for this impostor.  This is Ed another Looper from the boat Dream Fever.  He and Nancy completed the Great Loop just a few days later when they crossed their wake just outside of St. Petersburg.  Yes there was ten of us who took the Jolley Trolley from Clearwater to Tarpon Springs.  Five of us were really interested in the boats and the Greek meal that we had then were bored stiff.  The area by the docks is very much a tourist trap so the girls wandered for hours while we made fun of this Greek impostor.  He still does not speak Canadian very well, hey.

Here are some random photos from Tarpon Springs:

Clearwater, FL

Clearwater, Florida.... now this is what I expected.   Not so much the wind but the fine white sand and a beautiful beach.  On my first day here, Saturday, Linda needed the day off to recover from the stress of the crossing, so I wandered to this beach just at the end of our marina.  It was fairly crowded with sun bathers galore.  Of course there was no wind that day and unfortunately I did not bring the camera.  The scenery was interesting enough that I decided then and there to spend a full week here.

Through the week we also found a number of good restaurants and bars.  Linda and I have now acquired a taste for oysters both baked and raw.  When they are fresh they are really good and we found plenty of places that have fresh oysters and seafood.  It was a good week despite the cooler weather.  There were numerous Loopers in the harbor and we even got a chance to visit with friends from our home port, Jim and Sandi.  Jim and I even got to play a round of golf together for the first time.

At this city marina there were numerous, read dozens, of charter and cruise boats.  When the fishing charters returned, they cleaned their catch right at the dock and as you can see they usually had an audience.

Linda and I have had to learn about tides.....seems simple enough, the water level goes up and down once or twice a day depending on the location.  Securing the boat to the dock takes some getting used to but also getting on and off the boat is different each time you go to get off.  Here in Clearwater you can see that at  near low tide we can easily get off the boat by stepping off the gunwale to the dock.  High tide is no problem either because the boat rises almost three feet and we can easily step from the swim platform onto the dock.  It is the times in between where we either have to jump down 2 feet or step up 2 feet that becomes the interesting part.  Oh well. 

This update is getting long so I will tell you about our side trip to Tarpon Springs in a separate post. 

Success - We Conquered the Gulf of Mexico

Linda was really worried about the crossing but now it is behind us and will be another memory of our travels. We were up at 5 AM but it was no big deal because we had both been awake for a couple of hours and tossing and turning the rest of the night. There was frost on the fore deck for the second day in a row. We hosed it down. You can do that here in the south, even with water from the bay or river. Water temp is 67 F even in the panhandle. We pulled out just before 7 about 20 minutes before sun rise. The Bay and Gulf were both nice and flat when we started out but when we cleared Dog Island waves were about 2-3 feet. They pretty well stayed that way for the day which was not really that bad especially when you compare it to what we had to endure on Lake Michigan.

The worst part of the trip was the crab pots which we encountered as we got closer to Clearwater Pass. Starting at 18 miles from the entrance we had to dodge crab pots. They were all over the place and tough to see. Each fisherman has different coloured floats and some are very difficult to see. My favourite was an aqua sea green colour; it ranked right out there with the older floats that were encrusted with slime and barnacles. Very hard to see in 3 foot seas.

We travelled with another boat, named Finally. There were three persons on board and they did a superb job of spotting and then avoiding the crab pots. It was a tough day but we are all thankful and relieved that we are now in the main part of Florida.

More updates about the missing segments when I get a chance.

Ready, Set, GO

I just want to allow everyone to share in our angst tonight and tomorrow. There looks to be a 24 hour window opening on Friday for a comfortable crossing of the Gulf. Linda and I have changed our minds a few times this week on how to do the crossing, what port to depart from and where to go. Earlier in the week we were set on departing from Apalachicola early in the morning and going to Tarpon Springs (we even had reservations made). Then we heard that the docks in Tarpon are too narrow for us to fit into. Now we are going to Clearwater.

Later we learned that departing Apalachicola through Government Cut was a very risky option because the currents are so strong there that the channel is constantly changing sometimes even outside of the buoys. Decision was then made to go to Carrabelle and leave from there. On Tuesday, the weather advisers informed us that the 48 hour window that was predicted is now only 24 hrs and that a daytime crossing was not practical. The safe window was from noon Friday to noon Saturday; So we decided this morning, Thursday, to join the other slow boats and do an overnight crossing at slow speeds; a 20 hour crossing instead of our planned 9 hrs.

This afternoon we learned that if we took a slightly different route closer to the western shore of Florida we could avoid some of the bigger waves in the morning and do a daytime crossing comfortably. So.......as of now we plan on doing the 180 mile Gulf of Mexico crossing in the morning. We will leave at daybreak, 6:30 AM, and if all goes well we should arrive in Clearwater about 4:30 PM. The biggest determining factor in our arrival time will be how easily we can spot and avoid all of the crab pots that scattered all along the shore as we approach Clearwater. We have heard that the crab pots are as far out as 20 miles and are quite numerous. The float for a crab pot is about the size of a soft ball or large grapefruit and could be any colour. Getting one tangled in your prop means that you need to dive under the boat and cut the line to the actual trap on the bottom. One usually has to cut the line that is also wrapped around the propeller and shaft. That is the best case scenario. Last week, a boat that we were travelling with out of Panama City, Dream Catcher, caught one which sheared one of his propeller shafts leaving his propeller in the bottom of the Gulf. He had to drop anchor and wait through the night for a tow boat to get him. Fortunately the shaft was sheared and not ripped out of the boat and no water was coming in.

Well, we have our sandwiches made for lunch tomorrow and the way points figured out. I will drop you a line when we get to Clearwater.

Getting to Carrabelle

While waiting for a weather window Linda and I joined Brenda and The Old Grouch for a day of golf at the Port St Joe Country Club.  It was not the most immaculately maintained course that I have played on but it was a nice layout and great fun to play.  The signs in the rough affected Linda's play somewhat.  She said that she could not concentrate and keep her head still while looking for snakes and alligators.  I just suggested that she aim for the middle of the fairway and not the rough.  I saw the 9 iron coming and ran.  The people are so friendly at the marina here that John let us use his vehicle to go out to the course.  Everybody is so good to boaters.

Linda and some of her friends went for walks along the pathways.  You can see the tide is out and the birds are feeding.  Linda also spotted some horseshoe crabs or at least the shells.  One night, well one night after other similar nights, we had a looper gathering in the Raw Bar at the marina.  I believe that there were 18 or 20 Loopers present and all were discussing the weather and how they were going to cross and where they were going to land.  There were several different options and I think that each was actioned by one or more boats crossing.  Some even delayed their crossing in order to wait for a longer window of good weather.  As of this date of writing, Dec. 7, they are all still in the panhandle.

A number of us left Port St Joe the next morning, Thursday, in preparation for a Friday crossing.  Us faster boats went all the way to Carrabelle to minimize the distance for the crossing.  The slower boats only got to Apalachicola but since they needed at least 20 hours for the crossing they could leave at mid morning and arrive across the Gulf the next morning.  The trawlers needed to leave by 2 PM in order to arrive in the late morning. 

It was an interesting journey past the town of Apalachicola then across Apalachicola Bay to Carrabelle.  The marinas in Apalachicola looked pretty rustic and I was glad that we were staying the night in Carrabelle.  Some excitement though, more for The Old Grouch however.  A sail boat was aground just outside of the Apalachicola River in a very narrow channel.  In fact the whole day was a journey through a small channel, say 100 feet wide, with little to no water immediately outside of the channel.  The Old Grouch made several attempts to pull the boat off the shoal but did not succeed.  Once the line broke and then Dave's boat was in too shallow water itself.  It was a valiant attempt none the less.

Not much later we came across fisherman who were harvesting oysters.  It looks awful primitive the way that they do it.  They are in small boats, sometimes with 4 persons aboard.  They use these long tongs or poles with rake like heads on the ends.  They scrape the bottom then use the tongs like chop sticks to bring up the oysters.  Then one or two other persons start shucking the oysters right there on the boat.  You can barely see the mound of oysters and the seated guys who are doing the schucking.  Evidently it is necessary to return the shells so that the oyster bed stays healthy.

The 5-6 boats in our flotilla got to Carrabelle, fueled up and then waited.  A couple of us went out to the best restaurant in town, Old Salty.  I wish that I had taken our camera.  It was cold that night and as we entered the restaurant we had to step over numerous heaters that were plugged into every available outlet.  The ceiling was corrugated metal and studs, the floor appeared to be very old barn board. Very, very rustic.  The food though was quite good especially the raw oysters.  The only down side, besides eating in jackets, was that nobody had informed us that one had to BYOB.  Oh well, I survived.