Our Great Loop Adventure

Saturday, February 1, 2014

On a beautiful Monday, January 27th, we left Palm Island Marina with our destination being Cayo Costa, an island on the inter coastal that is a state park. After about a two hour cruise, we carefully came into the anchorage near Cayo Costa. There were several boats already there including What's Next, whom we met at Palm Island. After securing the boat, we launched the dinghy and went to the island. They provide transport across the island from the dock. We spent a marvelous warm afternoon on the beach. As we listened to the waves of the Gulf of Mexico lap onto the beach, we enjoyed the sunshine. We decided to stay another day because the weather forecast was for sun and warm temperatures. Again we enjoyed the beach sitting, reading walking and shelling. Wednesday brought a slight fog with winds building. We were aground but got free as the tide rose. We had a slightly bumpy ride through Pine Island Sound and San Carlos Bay. We entered the Caloosahatchee River just around 12:40. We were joined by a pair of dolphins. They entertained us with their flips as they swam along side the boat. To get to the Cape Harbor Marina we had to go through a small lock. This keeps the harbor stable as it is not affected by the tides. As we were docking the rain began. We went to the restaurant Rum Runners for cocktails and conch fritters for appetizers. What a great experience coming here by boat as we ate dinner with Jeff and Becky at Rum Runners when they first moved to Cape Coral. The rain did not let up. It rained all Wednesday night and all day Thursday. Cape Harbor is a also a condo resort community. We were able to go to the coffee shop (Run Agrounds). I browsed the shops and we had lunch at another restaurant called Pignolis. The rain persisted through Thursday night and into Friday morning. As we left the marina on Friday, it began to lighten up. We had a very short run to an anchorage called Bimini Basin. To get to the anchorage we travelled through a canal bordered on both sides by some lovely homes. Bimini Basin is near downtown Cape Coral. This anchorage brought back more memories because there is a park adjacent to the basin. The park is special. Becky and I brought Brendan here for a music and movement class. I also brought Brendan here to play, when I stayed with him while Jack was being born. Finally, it is special because it is within walking distance of one of my favorite dive bars, the Twisted Conch. They have great conch fritters. What a special way to relive these memories coming here on our own boat. Today, (February 1st) we have arrived at Legacy Yacht Harbor in downtown Ft. Myers, where we will spend the month. There are looper boats here and we hope to make some new friends and new memories. It is sad that Becky, Jeff and the boys are not here to share time with us. I am also sure Tony and the family wishes they were here since they are getting 6 inches of snow today.

Cayo Costa Anchorage

Cayo Costa Beach

Cape Harbor Marina

Homes Along Canal at Cape Harbor

Bimini Basin Anchorage

Yummy Conch Fritters

Sunday, January 26, 2014

On Saturday, January 18th, we decided to stay a second day in Bradenton. In the morning we went to the downtown farmers market and purchased fresh produce and some artisan bread. We had coffee in our new favorite coffee shop. In the afternoon we took a long walk along the riverfront and back through downtown.
Sunday was a beautiful day for travel. We left Bradenton behind and after going through a small portion of Tampa Bay, reentered the inter-coastal waterway at Anna Maria Sound. We travelled on Sarasota Bay and docked at Marina Jacks in downtown Sarasota. We celebrated my birthday at Barnacle Bill's restaurant. The food was great. Monday was spent in Sarasota. We walked downtown in the morning. Of course we found the Starbucks as well as Whole Foods. Adagio I pulled in. We discovered that we had met Rod and Michele at Perry Sound two years ago at the Great Lakes Cruising Club Rendezvous. Sarasota also has a beautiful river walk. It is dotted with sculptures. At the end of the river walk we came upon the Marie Selby Gardens. We walked the perimeter and saw the beautiful assortment of flora.
Tuesday we left Sarasota and followed the inter-coastal through Roberts Bay, Little Sarasota Bay and Blackburn Bay and came to the city of Venice. We had two low bridges, but upon hailing the bridge master, they were opened for us. We entered a canal that took us around the Venice Airport and connected to Lemon Bay. We made reservations to stay a week at Palm Island Marina Resort in Cape Haze. The winds had picked up during the day, but the dock attendants skillfully helped us tie up. We were having issues with one of the aft shore power outlets so we had to use the outlets on the bow. After we were secure Tony solved the problem by tripping the breaker. We went for happy hour at the restaurant followed by a quiet evening.
Our week at Palm Island has been mostly sunny but windy. The nights have been very cool. During the week we replenished supplies at the Publix, and we found a tiny coffee shop up the road. The owner was a former barge captain and knew all about the rivers we went through to get to Mobile. There was another looper boat, What's Next, at the marina and we shared stories and docktails with Deb and Rick. We also took a boat taxi to Rum Key and enjoyed a relaxing walk along the beach. We enjoyed a dinner at the Leverocks restaurant one night. It also was very good.
Today, Sunday, January 26th we were visited by Deb and Jim from Sea Fever and Al and Charlie from Always 5 O'Clock. We traveled with them several times during the first part of our adventure. Deb and Jim came in their RV and Al and Charlie came by car. They stopped on their way to a RV Show in Fort Myers and were stopping in to Legacy Harbor to jam with Tom and Patsy Conrad. Deb made all of us breakfast and we had a great time sharing our experiences and reminiscing about our travels together. Deb and Jim will restart the loop in Chattanooga. They may cross their wake this year or next as they seem to be in no hurry to finish. Al and Charlie finished the loop when they crossed their wake at Santa Maria Island just before Thanksgiving. It was great to see them.

Birthday Dinner at Barnacle Bill's Restaurant

Sarasota River Walk Sculpture

Marina Jacks in Sarasota

Sarasota Fountain

Sarasota River Walk Sculpture

Marie Selby Garden

Beach at Rum Key

Across from Rum Key Water Taxi Dock

Friday, January 17, 2014

After six weeks at home for the holidays, during which we had a most enjoyable time with family and friends, we returned to the Summer Recess on Wednesday, January 15th. The boat spent R&R time at Snead Island Boat Works, which is near Bradenton across the Manatee River. After being pampered while we were away, she was floating comfortably in a covered slip. We were sure she was ready to continue our adventure. She has new bottom paint, a waxed hull, some minor engine maintenance, and an oil change. As we were unpacking Tony tested the air conditioning and discovered that water was not flowing, which would quickly result in a burned out water pump. We went to the office to report the problem and right after lunch the technician came out, flushed the hoses and everything worked perfectly. We highly recommend Snead Island Boat Works. The people are knowledgable and very accommodating. They also have reasonable prices. While we were busy getting the boat ready, our entertainment was the pelicans diving into the water in search of fish. It's a wonder they did not crash into the docks. We stocked up on provisions, looked at the charts and at the NOAA weather web site. We discovered a cold front would be coming through on Thursday complete with small craft warnings. The decision to stay or leave would be put off to the morning.
We woke up Thursday morning to 42 degrees and gusty winds. Thinking we would wait until afternoon to leave, we went for a walk. We discovered Emerson Nature Preserve. It had several walking trails and scenic lookouts. It was bordered by Terra Ceia Bay and Tampa Bay. We had a beautiful three hour walk. Two of the highlights was observing several turtles and wind surfers flying in front of the beach. When we got back to the marina the decision was made to stay until Friday.
January 17th brought a cool (38 degrees) but sunny and calm morning. We left Snead Island behind at 11:30 for the short hop across the Manatee River to Twin Dolphins Marina right in downtown Bradenton. By 1:00pm, we were walking around downtown Bradenton. We stopped for a light lunch at the B'Towne Coffee House. The coffee was also very good. Bradenton also has a lovely river walk.
We are glad to be back on the loop and look forward to new and exciting experiences as we continue our adventure.

Summer Recess at Snead Boat Works

View of Snead Island Boat Works

Our pelican friends sunning themselves

Turtle at Emerson Preserve

Scenic Views at Emerson Preserve

Parasailing at Emerson Preserve

Para sailor gliding across the bay

Downtown Bradenton

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

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.

Docktails in the chart room at Carrabelle

Docktails in the Cart Room at Carrabelle

Carrabelle Junction Coffee Shop

Sunrise Monday morning on the Gulf

St. Michael's in Tarpon Springs

Coffee Shop in Tarpon Springs

Sponge Boat

Monday, November 11, 2013

On Saturday, Nov. 2nd, we went went under the New Cochrane Bridge and officially entered the port of Mobile. We were surrounded by tows, ocean going ships, and shipyards filled with containers waiting to be loaded on the ships. We then came to the shipping channel where we officially entered Mobile Bay. Summer Recess is in salt water. We were amazed at the number of birds following the shrimp boats dragging their nets. We also had dolphins in front and behind us. We followed Priorities into Dog River Marina. After docking and going into town for groceries, we walked over to the neighboring marina (Turner) to meet our good friends, Kathy and Ken, on Meandering. We had an enjoyable visit. At Dog River we had our first experience with tides. The water level here varies by about 18 inches twice a day. It was great to take a warm shower and do laundry on Sunday. We also had a great time taking our dinghy to dinner to celebrate Ken's 60th birthday with three other couples. Monday and Tuesday were taken up with engine maintenance. The technicians were very thorough. Tony was pleased. My days were saved by having a Starbucks in the area as well as visiting with other loopers we have travelled with off and on. After saying good bye to everyone, we left Dog River Marina on Wednesday, Nov. 6. (We were pleasantly surprised that our dockage at Dog River was free because we had all our engine work done there.) We crossed the bay with no incidents. We began our journey on the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway. Our first stop was at the Wharf in Orange County, Alabama. It was a lovely resort complex. We went out to dinner with Janet and Bob (Harmony) to celebrate the 4th anniversary of Tony's triple bypass surgery. Thursday was overcast and gusty, but we left the Wharf without a problem. The ICW is formed by a series of bays and narrow waterways. Pensacola Bay was very rough and we bounced our way into the narrow Santa Rosa Sound where things calmed down a little. We passed Fort Walton Beach, FL to get to Shalimar Yacht Basin just off the entrance to Choctawhatchee Bay. The sun was going down and the winds were howling. Docking was not easy, but we were settled in just before it got really dark. It was a very long day. Friday the winds were still strong, but it was sunny. It was another laundry and grocery day. The marina owner let us use his car and lo and behold there was another Starbucks and a Publix for supplies. Also, many times during the day we saw the Blue Angels flying overhead from the Pensacola Naval Base. Choctawhatchee Bay was choppy as we began our travels on Saturday, Nov. 9th, but it settled down. We left the bay and entered what is called the "Grand Canyon, " a man made canal that connects Choctawhatchee Bay with West Bay. We still have not seen gators, but dolphins and pelicans are all around. We spent the night at the Panama City marina. Left Panama City behind on Sunday morning and travelled through West Bay, the Wetappo Creek, Lake Wimico, and Jackson Creek. Today we had four dolphins enjoying our wake. They came very close to the boat. We also saw a shipyard, where ocean going vessels are constructed. We found a beautiful anchorage on Saul Creek and tucked in for the night. Today, Monday, Nov. Nov. 11th, we had a short six mile trip to Water Street Marina in Appalachicola. After docking we walked into town and found lovely boutiques, restaurants, a coffee shop, and a fresh fish market.