Our Great Loop Adventure

On Tuesday, November 11th, we made the run from Appalachicola to Carrabelle through St. George Sound. We had to wait about an hour to get fuel and a pump out because a large boat filled up with 700, yes I mean 700 gallons of fuel. Docking was not easy because the Moorings in Carrabelle have short docks. Tony tried to back in, but due to the wind and current we finally decided to bow in. We spent several minutes putting out lines because we had to consider the two foot tide changes as well as the heavy winds that were expected. Getting on and off the boat was an adventure for me because the dock was fixed so the boat would go up and down with the tide as well as the short dock sometimes I had to step down to the dock and sometimes I had to step up . However, I learned after a while. Carrabelle is the port where loopers wait for the best time to cross the gulf. The decision is not made lightly. We looked at Tom's Weather Musings every morning. We talked to Buddy, the dockmaster at the marina everyday. We looked at the NOAA website and Buoy 42036 website everyday. Also, all the looper captains compared notes and tried to agree on the best route. Wednesday through Saturday were not good days. We had gale force winds on Tuesday night into Wednesday. They winds really did not subside until Saturday. Plus it rained Tuesday night, Friday night and Saturday evening. So what do you do while you wait. You clean your boat inside and out. You keep looking at your route. You go to the free breakfast every morning. You watch TV. The marina had cable. You go into town. In town we found a good coffee shop called Carrabelle Junction. Carrabelle also had a good IGA grocery store and two good hardware stores. We had docktails every night in the 'chart room.' It was the second story of the building that housed the showers and laundry. It was a large room with comfortable chairs, tables, a pool table and even a card table set up with poker chip. Also, it had charts of the gulf on the wall. One highlight of our stay was dinner with Kerm and Chris from Southern Belle at a restaurant called Fisherman's Wife on Friday night. They specialized in dishes made with oysters, crab and shrimp. By the time Saturday arrived there were several looper boats in Carrabelle. They included Southern Belle, Sea Glide, Barefootin', Mooring Dove, Always 5 O'Clock, Misty Isles, Lovin Life, Miss GG, and Terrapin. All our travel sources finally aligned and it was decided we would leave at 1:00pm on Sunday, November 18th. Sunday morning dawned with cloudy skies and peeks at the sun through the morning. The boats that were leaving with Summer Recess were Southern Belle, Seaglide, Terrepin, and Barefootin'. We were also joined by Sun Down and What's Next. We paraded out at one o'clock on by one. We got into the gulf at two. As we rounded Dog Island and made it through the East Pass, we experienced two to four foot waves with the occasional six footer thrown in. Southern Belle decided to turn around because their boat did not have an autopilot so they would be forced to steer the boat for over twenty hours in heavy seas. The rest of us were going for it because the gulf was supposed to calm down the farther southeast we went. We set our courses and proceeded to rock and roll in these waves until after sunset. The winds and waves calmed down to one to three footers. One thing all the captains agreed upon was a check in at the top of the hour. This was comforting to make sure everyone was doing all right. Being on the water after dark is quite the experience. It is DARK except for the moonlight. You count the blips on your radar to make sure other boats are out there or check for the running lights of other boats within a mile or two . The hardest part as the seas were calming down, was not knowing when the boat would be rocked. I took the first watch from 10 to midnight. Tony slept on deck. This is when I prayed my rosary and played solitaire on my phone while continuing to check the instruments to make sure we were on our set course. Tony took the second watch from midnight to two. Unfortunately, I could not find a comfortable sleeping position, so I sat up with my eyes closed. The winds and waves finally calmed down by 2:00am. But then we faced another obstacle. We had traveled too fast and too close Anclote Key, which is where we go into Tarpon Springs. You cannot navigate around the Key in the dark. One reason is you never go into a new port in the dark, also we knew we were going to face crab pots, and low tide was scheduled for just before 7:00 AM. We had to make sure the tide was rising before we passed buoy R4 which marks the entrance to the channel. Well, we slowed down to almost idle speed and ran a parallel course to the one we had be on because we wanted to stay in water over 50 feet because crabbers don't put pots in water fifty feet or deeper waited for the sunrise which was about 7:00am. It was during this watch that we had a very interesting experience. A pod of dolphins, at least six, were swimming, jumping and whistling off the bow of Summer Recess. I think they were challenging us to a race. After a while they got bored and swam away. When the sun finally came up we proceeded the 30 miles into Tarpon Springs. We had to do the crab pot dance for several miles to buoy R4. The pots have a floating device on the water, which is a little bigger than a softball. It is attached to the pot with a rope about 40 feet long if you run over the ball the line winds around the propeller shaft until the pot hits the propeller. Hitting one of these could ruin your day. After 21 hours, we finally arrived at Turtle Cove Marina at 10:45am. We did it. We crossed the gulf safely. So did all our buddy boats, including "Barefootin" who crossed their wake with the crossing. This was the part of our journey that I dreaded most. After docking we took showers. As I stood in the stall I could still feel the swaying. We actually had a glass of wine at 12:30 in the afternoon and ate the first food we had had since breakfast on Sunday. I took a three hour nap, while Tony rinsed off the boat and 'putsed' . Tarpon Springs is a Greek community with many fine Greek restaurants. We went to Mykonos for a great dinner. We were in bed before 9 o'clock and both slept soundly. Tuesday, November 19th dawned and we were both rested. We walked into town and visited many different shops. Tarpon Springs is home to the sponge fishing fleet. We bought several sponges as gifts. Tony also got one for boat cleaning. I was amazed at the variety of sponges. We also found a great coffee shop, Eco-Bean. It is the best one yet. Even better than Saugatuck. This will be the last blog post until mid January. "Summer Recess" will take a well deserved rest on Snead Island, south of Tampa, where she will have maintenance work done. We are going to Becky's home in Charlotte for Thanksgiving and then flying back to Michigan for Christmas and New Year's. We wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving, a Merry Christmas and a peaceful New Year.