December 14, 2009 Venice, FL

December 14, 2009

Venice, FL

We thoroughly enjoyed our day and a half in Venice, FL and now see why Tom & Lyn spend their winters here.

The Crow’s Nest Marina is perfectly placed just off the ICW and on a pass out to the gulf. Tom & Lyn’s place is next to the Crow’s Nest. Yesterday afternoon Lyn and I probably did 10 loads of laundry trying to catch up on the last two weeks. Because we landed on a Sunday, we were entertained by pleasure boaters and fishing boats alike passing by.

On Monday the plan was to go to town on the bicycles for shopping and some groceries. We attached our bike cart on Mark’s bike and off we went. Lyn assures me we only saw a small part of town, but it was charming as you can see by the banyon tree-lined streets. Because we were hot and full from the pizza lunch we got in town, we decided to only get main provisions and got groceries at a little market on the way back to the boat. As it turned out, it was a good thing. Our bicycle cart did not perform as expected. Our load of bottled water, soda and beer (priority shopping) kept shifting forward causing the two little support legs in the front to drag. So…. Tom took the pop in his bicycle basket, Lyn took the beer in her basket, I had the bags of bread and chips, and Mark dragged the case of bottled water back to the boat. We were a motley crew – especially Lyn with the beer.

After getting back to Grateful, we all cleaned up and yes, did another 2 loads of laundry. As Lyn was monitoring laundry progress, she went out to the condo dock to visit with the regulars and read. She came back with fresh caught grouper for our dinner. The landlord of their condo complex also does fishing charters. He came back with a great catch and shared. Chef Mark grilled the grouper with lemon butter and onions, Lyn whipped up a salad and rice risotto as Tom kept the crew in refreshments. That night we captured the sunset. Lyn and Tom typically go to the nearby beach to watch this nightly event.

Ahhh…. Life is good.

Tarpon Springs to Venice, FL

December 10-14, 2009

Tarpon Springs to Venice, FL

WOW! We are warm and in the sunshine! Florida weather has been 10 degrees above normal so it has been in the 80’s with lots of sun and humidity. It’s going to take some getting used to, but this is what we were looking for.

On December 10^th, Tom and Lyn came to crew and visit for this leg of the trip. They will stay with us until we get to Ft. Myers Beach. Friends, Sherm and Donna delivered Tom & Lyn to us at Tarpon Springs Landing Marina. We had a small lunch onboard and then they were on their way. After getting situated, we had dinner at Capt. Jack’s. It is a dog-friendly tiki bar and Port was able to get off the boat for a little while.

We were off the next morning to John’s Pass at Treasure Island. When looking for a marina, we try to find one with plenty of depth so we don’t have to worry about tides, and one that is close to the Intracoastal Waterway ICW. John’s Pass Marina fit the bill and would have been perfect except for the 15-20 knot east wind. It was tricky to get into the slip and then we were bounced around by waves built up by the wind across Boca Ciega Bay for most of the night.

The ICW on the west coast of Florida is often narrow and interrupted with bascule bridges (see picture). However, we then were treated to beautiful homes that lined the ICW. There is always something to see. Bigger boats sometimes take advantage of their size and in one case were pushed out of the channel. The bascule bridges are very responsive and mostly open on request – we did run into a few that only opened every 20 or 30 minutes. Timing was important.

Saturday, December 12^th, we decided to take a shortcut across the mouth of Tampa Bay rather than stay on the ICW. Even with the wind, we would have limited exposure to the big water. We went out into the Gulf at John’s Pass and then made a straight shot between shoals and islands to connect up with the ICW at Anna Maria Island. We were nervous about crab pots so Tom & Lyn went out front to be our early warning system. They also got to enjoy the dolphins. (I keep trying to catch the perfect dolphin picture especially for you, Bette.) Once across the Bay and back into the ICW we made reservations at Marina Jack’s Marina in Sarasota, and were told we got the last slip. Little did we know we hit the jackpot at this marina!! We had floating docks, pampered service, a park surrounding the marina, and finally, that night we were treated to The Holiday Boat Parade. Lyn & I watched from the flybridge and tried to take pictures, but as you see….. A link to more pictures is www.heraldtribune.com/gallery. The boats were really decked out – too incredible to explain. One huge boat had a tribute to Elvis with an impersonator singing Christmas songs on the top of the boat. (That’s for you, Randy and Mattie.) We asked what it would cost to stay for a month at this marina – we can’t afford it, but it was sure great while it lasted.

Sunday we were up and took our time to start out because we only had 20 miles to Venice, our next stop. Mark fixed a fabulous breakfast. Before we left we fueled up and pumped out. Now we are ready for anything!!

The day was sunny and warm and we were landed at Venice by 3:00. We will stay for two days to explore this winter haven. Tom & Lyn have spent several winters here and love it.

December 7-8, 2009

December 7, 2009

Crossing the Gulf of Mexico

We are now in the warm part of Florida. But let me tell you the story of our crossing even though I don’t think I have the words to adequately describe our adventure.

As we were planning to cross the Gulf of Mexico, another boat, Noah Genda (Tom & Dianne) came to see us and decided to go with us. What a relief to have company on this long journey across BIG water over night. We made our plans and travel path and then left Carrabelle Marina at 3:15 pm. I took a picture of Grateful at Carrabelle before the crossing.

After checking with local mariners and computer information regarding the weather on the gulf, we were assured that this was a good time to cross. If we didn’t cross at this time we would probably have to wait for another week. The decision was made to go.

Our path took us along the shoreline north of Dog Island with the idea that we would travel closer to land to have protection from the wind. But at some point we had to shoot for Tarpon Springs. As soon as we angled from Marker “26” to marker “2”, we were in for a ride. Apparently the gulf “kicked up” over night and we were right in the middle of it. We had 5-6 hours of 3-5 foot waves combined with the rolling waves smacking us on our port side. With the pitch black of the night with only our GPS for guidance, we felt like we were hurtling through space. Mark’s claustrophobia kicked in and soon he appeared with our “sea-sickness wristbands”. Neither one of us could afford to be sick. Mark also opted not to eat – as I ate a bowl of goulash. Around 2:30 AM the seas smoothed out a bit with just rolling following seas.

As time neared dawn, we opted to stay 25-30 miles offshore to avoid crab pots. The floats for these crab pots are difficult to see and we needed to wait until daylight to approach seashore. Getting the crab pot lines wrapped around the props and shafts can really ruin a day. Unfortunately, dawn was delayed by fog! So we continued off shore.

Finally between 7:30-8:00 the fog began to lift and we began to make our way toward Tarpon Springs dodging the crab pots along the way. We knew we were nearing land and the markers we needed to enter the mouth of the Anclote River to go to Tarpon Springs, but the fog had not lifted from this area. Again, thank goodness for electronics as we knew which direction to go and where the markers were.

After 21 hours we were both so ready for this trip to be done, but we needed to travel further up the Anclote River to Tarpon Springs. The fog thinned and we were able to enjoy the trawlers loaded with sponges along the river and close to town – Tarpon Springs is the sponge capital of the world. We had reservations in the Municipal Marina, but we were shocked when we were asked to back into a space hardly wider than Grateful. Mark did a great job. We were tied down and Porter and I had taken a walk, when both of us crashed. Mark napped and I snoozed. That evening came and we discovered that with high tide we were NOT able to get off the boat. We had backed into a space with a dock off our stern and a “finger” dock on our starboard side that didn’t quite reach our side door. During low tide we were able to manage disembarking, but we could not reach the dock during high tides. THE THINGS WE ARE LEARNING!!!! We made the decision to move across the river to another marina in order to be able to get on and off the boat. Much better and the marina had a terrific restaurant.

Some of you may have wondered how our dog, Porter, did for this long journey. He has figured out that when we are underway, he stays on the sofa and doesn’t eat or drink. That is what he did for the entire crossing. He is an amazing traveler and we are so lucky to have such a sweet, smart dog.

We are expecting crew members, Tom & Lyn, on December 10^th and then we will be off for new adventures.

Sunday, December 6, 2009 Panama City to Carrabelle

Today was a long day as we traveled 90 miles and moved into the eastern time zone. We started at 7:20 but didn't get to Carrabelle until 5:45. We had just enough daylight left to find the fuel dock.

We had an unexpected visitor on our boat. I was driving - giving Mark a break - when something flashed in front of my binoculars. When I brought the binoculars down, there sat a brown pelican. He posed for ma and then walked across the boat and looked at me. After he was rested he moved on. They are funny looking.

Tomorrow we will do the gulf crossing. We have a small weather window and we think we can do it. We will leave Carrabelle between 2:00-3:00 in the afternoon. We will drive all night and hopefully find ourselves outside Tarpon Springs between 9:00-noon. We have to arrive during daylight so we can see the crab pots that line the Florida coast. It will be a long ride for all of us (Port too) and the biggest challenge will be to stay awake and pay attention.

December 4 & 5, 2009 Ft. Walton Beach to Panama City

December 4 & 5, 2009

Fort Walton Beach and Panama City

Today I am writing while we are underway. We hope to go 70 miles today to Panama city. We left Legendary Brooks Bridge Marina at 7:30 this morning and traversed Choctawhatchee Bay – a big bay with NW winds blowing at 15-20 mph and waves at 2-3 feet. We are now in “the ditch” that has been cut out of cypress marshes/swamps and are grateful to be out of the wind.

Yesterday was a waaaay more eventful day. We started out of Bear Point Marina in Orange Beach at 8:30 with an anticipated 60 miles to go. We had been warned about the channel here and not to miss it. Well, guess what – we MISSED it and spent some quality time on a sandbar. A local mariner and his son came out in their boat, “The Other Woman”, from Bear Point to try to pull us out. We gave him one of our long ropes and he tried to pull us off but we were really stuck. The rope snapped twice and the first time I had my foot on the rope trying to hold it out from our anchor. As it snapped back, my left foot took the punishment. The second time the rope snapped I was NOWHERE near it. Our good Samaritans had to give up and took nothing but a “Thank You” and encouraged us to help someone else along the way.

We had also called Boat U.S. for a tow. That’s when we found out that although Mark had signed us up for maximum service we were not covered for salt water. The folks at Boat U.S. still covered us and Mark called immediately to upgrade our coverage. The tow boat got there and we put a harness around the front cleats and with a little zig-zagging, we were finally off the sandbar. The Boat U.S. captain said that he pulls 3-5 boats out of the same place every week. He has reported it to the Coast Guard, but nothing has happened since. It doesn’t help that the green reflective marker is missing from the first channel marker. Mark still feels bad because the channel is well-marked on his charts but apparently he was going to cut the corner and looked away for a bit. The navigator was on the front of the boat putting away fenders and ropes before we picked up speed. We had no leaks down below, but we do have a slight vibration in the props. Other than that Grateful is running like the grand old lady she is. After seeing this sailboat, we guessed it could have been much worse.

After that low light we had a high light!! Dolphins came to swim with Grateful – they must have known we needed our spirits lifted. It was two adults and a baby and they ran with us at 8.5 knots for about five minutes right at our portside door. We tried to capture their images, but as you can see…. At one point, one of the adults turned on it side and looked at us and “smiled”. It was super cool!!

Other sights included this unusually constructed tower in a restricted area on Santa Rosa Island. The sugar sand is so white, it reminded us of snow. By the way we read that we left rain and possible snow showers in Mobile. Without the sunshine here we have been chilly – outside 40-52, and inside the upper cockpit we have been about 55 degrees. We have been told that Tarpon Springs is where Florida starts staying warm all of the time. The panhandle has seasonal temperatures.

Freeport managed to stay relaxed through all our excitement. He is a good traveler, however, he is asking to go for walks more frequently now that we are underway again. Oh, and the left foot was not unveiled until it was time to go to bed. It is swollen and bruised from the little toe to second toe, but nothing broken. I was able to get it into my shoe this morning and I am still getting around – just a little slower.

Well I need to finish the story of our day. We did have a little more excitement. Two boats that we had met in Mobile motored past us yesterday before we got out of Bear Point. Today we caught up to them. Apparently last night they were tired and it was getting dark so they decided to anchor near a bridge out of the channel. They failed to take the tidal conditions into account as it was high tide. We found them sitting on the bottom with the water a foot below their water lines. After waiting for a tow/barge to go by in this very narrow channel, Mark decided he would try to help. Twice we angled our way into rope-throwing distance of one of the boats while still keeping in at least 8 feet of water. The first time I couldn’t get the rope tied on time before Mark needed to back out, but the second time I got the rope tied down. Mark had to fight the tidal current and wind and back out quickly. The rope snapped – I heard it coming and had moved. The boat we were trying to help did not budge. We had to leave the boats there. Boat U.S. said they would have to wait until the tide came up before they could help – around 6:00 this evening.

Dolphins danced again with Grateful – don’t know if we’ll ever get tired of it.

December 3, 2009 Mobile, AL to Orange Beach, FL

December 3, 2009

Mobile Bay to Orange Beach, FL

After fueling up and pumping out, we started from Dog River Marina around 10:30. We delayed the start because the wind was supposed to settle down a bit later in the day. As it was we crossed with a NW wind at 15-20 knots that created 1-3 foot waves. It took us three hours to get to the southern end of Mobile Bay, and that was using the shortcut Chip Lucas had mapped out for us. We gathered a following of seagulls and pelicans. They were fun to watch.

The first part of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway was narrow, and we passed by Lulu’s Restaurant. Its claim to fame is that Lulu is Jimmy Buffet’s sister. There are “Jimmy” sightings on a regular basis.

We stopped after 45-50 miles at Bear Point Marina in Orange Beach, FL. We ate at the marina restaurant, Flippers. Can you imagine seafood nachos? They were delicious! The name of the restaurant might be a clue to what one might expect to see along the way. According to Mark, he had several dolphin sightings – in fact one right in the marina. I saw two fins in Mobile Bay and that was it. I swear Mark was fibbing.

That night Mark got the picture of the heron on the post next to Grateful.

December 1, 2009 Mobile, AL

December 1, 2009

Turner Marina, Mobile, AL

Singing in the rain, just singing in the rain……..

Yep, we are still here and happy for it. We are safe, if not dry and we expect 6-8 inches of rain yet to come. We hear it might impact the high tide being 3-4 feet higher than normal.

We also are getting great mariner advice from people here. Tomorrow morning we have a date with one of the marina owners and he will show us his route to Tampa Bay and good places to anchor. He says he makes the run in three days. We want to hurry, but we also want to make the gulf crossing with a group of boats. So we’ll see what happens.

We also have enjoyed watching this loon-like bird in the harbor. He frequents us often and the other day we watched him catch lunch and swallow it almost whole. If anyone knows what this bird is, please respond. People here say they have seen loons in the past couple of years, but this bird clearly is not a loon, but has some characteristics.