Florida’s West Coast

At Clearwater Beach, our last evening.  Same photo
we took 3 years ago!

So, we got out of Clearwater Tuesday as planned into a very humid, windy day.  We went “on the outside” in the Gulf, rather than staying “inside” on the ICW, so we could make more miles.  Even so, the winds were SW 15-20, so we had whitecaps, 2-3’ waves, and a very bouncy uncomfortable ride.

On Pier 60 at Clearwater Beach.
Our granddaughter loves dolphins.

Off of St Pete Beach, the tourists will go out in any weather

We crossed Tampa Bay via a narrow, shallow (6’) cut NE of Egmont Key, instead of having to go west about 3 more miles to follow the main ship channel.  We tend to pick our way through places like this, rather than setting waypoints on our chartplotter.  On the south side of the Bay, we re-entered the ICW near Anna Maria Island, and got out of the wind & waves.  We had scouted out several anchorages for this week, rather than spending the money to stay in marinas, and we made our first one early afternoon just to the west of Sarasota.

At our anchorage, mansions on one side (with the
cheesy tourist boat)

We anchored between two keys that were as different as could be.  On the one side was Otter Key, a mass of mangroves uninhabited by humans, but teeming with wildlife.  About 300 yards on our other side were mansions after mansions with a starting price of $1.5 mil and no apparent upper limit.  And right through the middle of our cove came a hokey tourist boat with chatter over the loud speaker.  The locals must really love it.

Our anchorage next to the mangroves & pelicans & egrets

The T-storms associated with the cold front gave us 30-40 mph winds but we stayed in place.  Our new anchor bridle (with 35’ of 1” nylon – way overkill for our size boat) is giving us much more confidence that we won’t be dragging anchor anytime soon.  The typical high pressure system behind the cold front gave us north winds but quite dry.  For the next couple nights at anchor, we could open our windows at night & turn off the air conditioners; something not normally done in May in Florida.

Along the ICW south of Venice, with his $1 million Hinckley
sailboat docked out front

I wonder if the liberals think this guy has more than
his "fair share"?!!  Maybe he could let a dozen other families
move in with him!  Just think what a true socialist like Bernie could do!!

Two possible captions:
"we have plenty of water depth!!", or
"this is the USA if Bernie gets elected"

The weather for the rest of the week was absolutely gorgeous.  Basically north winds 15 mph, but cool & dry.  Because we stayed on the “inside” route, we didn’t get the 5’ waves that the Gulf was seeing.  On Friday, we anchored again in one of our favorite spots – Pelican Bay next to Cayo Costa Island.  We had spent a couple nights here 3 years ago & loved it.  We’re gonna try out best to handle 3 more nights of it.  We’ll finally get our new dinghy ready to go & mount our outboard motor, which we bought a year ago & never used yet.  We hope to go ashore to the state park & finally get off the boat, after 4 days.  If everything works right, we’ll try to go to Cabbage Key to the quirky restaurant, where, the rumor goes, Jimmy Buffet wrote “Cheeseburgers in Paradise”.  Yeah, I know, this relaxing on our boat in beautiful anchorages sure takes a lot of work, but somebody had to do it!

The Crossing to Clearwater Beach

Our marina at Apalachicola was not necessarily
a high-class resort.  All the commercial boats
went there for fuel.

We waited until about 1 PM on April 29 (after the Admiral had even more oysters for BREAKFAST!) before we departed Apalachicola for our overnight crossing.  The key is to time our arrival at the Clearwater sea buoy for late morning, so the rising sun does not prevent us from seeing all the crab pots.

We had been watching a weather window for the past couple days & the forecast held for winds S 5-10 with waves 2’ or less.  The forecast was spot on, and actually improved as we traveled farther south.

About 5-10 miles offshore, we had some visitors on the boat.  See photos.  I hope they both made it back to shore, since neither one of them will float.

Our first visitor 5-10 miles offshore was a cattle egret.
Sue saw him fly towards the boat & he hid behind our
dinghy for an hour or two.

Shortly after the egret left, a swift of some kind flew around the
helm station for 5 minutes before leaving.  Surprised us!

Sunrise on Saturday morning

After sunset, it is amazing how dark it becomes on the open water.  We had no horizon until the moon rose about 3 AM, and had to navigate using the Constellation Orion for a heading reference.  As expected, “Otto the Pilot” didn’t work very well that night.

We made the Clearwater sea buoy at 0815, only 15 minutes later than planned (over a 20-hour trip).  There must be an engineer somewhere close by.  We went to Clearwater Beach city marina, the same place we went to 3 years ago when we made the crossing.

Brian, Jess & family enjoying the beach

After sleeping for a couple hours (20-hours underway is way too long), we met up with Jess & Brian & their family, went to the powder-white sand beach, and watched the sunset “celebration” at Pier 60.  We had a good time, but I warned one the kids to beware of the herons & egrets who like to eat “Cheetos fingers”.

Didn't know there we so many different kinds of sponges!

The next day we took the “Jolly Trolley” (which I had read about on one of the boater websites) up to Tarpon Springs, costing us a whole $5 for both of us, both ways.  We acted like tourists, walking the sponge dock area, and leaving many good Yankee greenbacks with the locals.  The dinner at the Greek restaurant “Hellas” was fantastic.  It had been about 45 years since we had been in Tarpon, and, y’know, a lot of it was still the same!

One of the sponge boats behind another old relic.
Note diver's suit behing mast
& net containing sponges above pilot house.
(Click on photo to zoom)

Sponges everywhere in Tarpon Springs

Boaters beware!

Passing a good time in Tarpon

Our last day in Clearwater was spent cleaning the boat, scraping about ½” of salt off the deck, before going back to the beach to squish some more sand between our toes.  We’ll need to depart Tuesday to get across Tampa Bay before the cold front comes through, followed by lots of wind.  Waves are forecast 4-5’, and you ain’t gonna find me out there in that! 

Panama City to Apalachicola

We spent two nights at the PC City Marina, which was right next to the old section of town.  Wasn’t much happening at all in that part of town, so we walked to the few restaurants which were there.  Seems that everything has moved out to PC Beach.

At the eastern edge of St Andrews Bay, the
oystermen are using tongs to scoop the oyster beds.
A really hard way to make a living, but Sue's glad they do!

We did get our exercise walking about 4 miles to the county tax collector & back.  "What the heck for?", you ask.  Before we left New Orleans we finally scrapped the inflatable dinghy which was only 3 years old, but I had patched and sealed at least 4 dozen air leaks.  Since the Admiral refused to go to the Keys and Bahamas without a dinghy, we ran out to our favorite place to spend money (West Marine) and bought an inexpensive HDPE dinghy.  Even if it lasts only 2 years, it’s still a better deal than what we had.  But we had purchased it only days before we departed New Orleans, intending to title and register it whenever we could.  Panama City was the place.

A calm morning in Apalachicola, looking at the
US 98 Bridge over the ICW

Wednesday April 27 was windy (SE winds 15-20 mph), which was right on our bow, so we had 25 mph winds over the deck all day.  Luckily we traveled in the ICW, which was like a canal and river all the way to Apalach.  We have noticed that we’re not as hesitant about travel or docking conditions, as we were when we passed this way 3 years ago.  Maybe we have a bit more crusty salt on our skin.

Overlooking the Apalachicola River at sunrise

Obviously, a half dozen isn't enough!

We spent 2 nights in Apalachicola, eating lots of ersters, walking the eclectic shops in town, and preparing for our overnight crossing of the Big Bend “armpit” of Florida.  Looks like it will be a 20-hr run straight to Clearwater Beach.  These kinds of trips make the “pucker factor” increase exponentially.  Each crossing will be memorable, because it was either a trip through hell, or a stroll through heaven.

Back on the craft beer trail, we find the
Oyster City Brewing Company and their "flight of 8"

We found a botanical garden in Apalachicola
& noted this huge osprey nest at the top of the city's water tower.

UNDERWAY

After several days of heavy rains followed by several more days of high winds, King Neptune finally quit fussing & let the seas die down.  We saw our escape window from Seabrook boatyard in New Orleans & on Wednesday April 20 we turned in our landlubber ways in favor of our sea legs and a taste of salt air.

In the narrow ICW east of New Orleans, we
recognize this tow boat

We had Lady Luck on our side when the recalcitrant L & N Railroad Bridge rose up for our passage on our first call to the bridge tender.  That allowed us to travel the ICW to the Rigolets, which was several miles shorter that going out through Lake Pontchartrain. 

As we’re passing the tow boats along the narrow canal of the ICW, we recognize one of the tows boats as one we followed for several days down the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway in years past.  You know you’ve been on the water a spell when you recognize the tows.  

A gaggle of pelicans waiting for their next meal

And then, as we entered Mississippi Sound, we passed a nice big Hatteras yacht that started to look familiar.  It turned out to be “Critical Mass” and some good friends from New Orleans Power Squadron, who were returning from a weather delay in Gulfport MS.  It started to seem like we knew most everyone we passed!

Crossing Mobile Bay, we meet one of the Navy's new
Littoral Combat Ships.  Using our radar, we tried to get
a bearing line (EBL), but our radar couldn't pick up a target
(can we all say "radar cloaking device"?)

We had planned to go to a Biloxi marina for the night, since our best friends from Chattanooga Power Squadron were at Keesler AFB tending to some medical issues, but we couldn’t make connections with them.  So instead, we continued on for over 100 miles total that day (and over 10 hours of travel) to anchor on the north side of Petit Bois Island, one of the barrier islands along the MS/AL coastline.

We crossed Mobile Bay the next day, and King Neptune kept things very calm for us.  We enjoyed the nice travel weather & anchored at a new cove which we hadn’t tried before (this is our 2^nd time passing through these waters, so we are looking for some new places).  We’ve been using our new anchoring bridle, a high-class, expensive addition which we thought would allow us to sleep better at night.

And, or course, we had to pass Lulu's near Gulf Shores
(Lucy Buffet, Jimmy's sister).  We didn't stop this time
for a cheeseburger in paradise.

We found some dolphins near Perdido Pass
(or did they find us?)

At the Pensacola Palafox Pier marina

On Day 3 we made Pensacola Palafox Pier marina, where we had stayed in April 2013.  We had the restaurants and beer pubs and farmers’ market all scoped out for our 2-day visit.  A serendipitous treat was the front-row fireworks show on Saturday night after the minor league baseball game (the Pensacola Wahoos) right next to the marina.

Weekends in Pensacola bring out some strange folks

At Ft Walton Beach, the locals are enjoying a
sunny Sunday afternoon

From Pensacola to Panama City was a 2-day trip through familiar territory.  When we were stationed in Pensacola in the military, Sue’s brother was stationed in Panama City, so we made this trek by car several times.  The powder white sand beaches were still gorgeous, but the Sounds were not as clear blue as 3 years ago.  Maybe the high winds had stirred up too much mud & silt.

Of note, when I refer to our travel notes from 3 years ago, we were buying diesel fuel for $4.00-$4.50/gallon, and happy to do so.  Today in Panama City, we paid only $1.96/gal (however, we took on about 200 gallons!)

After Panama City, we’ll head east to Apalachicola to eat some oysters (OK, maybe a lot of oysters) as we plan our big 20-hour overnight open water crossing of Florida’s Big Bend area.  When we did this crossing 3 years ago, we had a terrible trip.  This time, we have many more miles under our keel & the hopes of a fantastic weather window.

What’s Happening

Since Christmas, it’s amazing how busy we can be since we no longer have jobs!  But I guess that our “hole in the water” is actually a full-time job.

We made our trips to Chattanooga TN and to Ashland OH to care for Sue’s mother and uncle.  And there’s on-going communications & corrections to their medical and financial affairs.  So that accounts for SOME of Sue’s time.

I get to work through our TO DO list on the boat, starting with over 100 items for this past winter.  We got through the priority items and actually were able to work on some lower items such as cosmetic repairs.  And, of course, we hauled out the boat for bottom paint and an out-of-water survey for our insurance company.  And found the obligatory “OH CRAP” items to spend even more money and time in the yard.

Colorful CAT engine when I'm cleaning and painting it!

"Fruition" on the hard again.  My hole-in-the-water costs more
when it's out-of-the-water

One problem we found was a big crack in the fiberglass just above the
waterline, where either Sue or I (I'm not saying which) hit a log or debris.

But the main reason we spent the winter in New Orleans was to see our super wonderful perfect granddaughter (and her parents of course) & to try our best to spoil her.  Yes, she’s growing quickly (or are WE just getting older faster?)

At Mardi Gras World, we find two more revelers!

The Festival of Balloons, where EVERYTHING is made of balloons,
even Captain Hook.  Amazing stuff

Mardi Gras headress at the Festival of Balloons

And then it was time to start getting ready to go cruising.  Finish up the boatyard work, pay the bill (we almost had to sell our first-born child!), provision the boat, and watch for a weather window (the weather this winter has been cool and very windy).  Hadn’t spent the time I wanted on trip planning, but we’ll start out following the same path east that we did 3 years ago.  And after a week of lousy weather, the window finally opened.

At our winter marina, we prepare for yet another winter cold front
and high winds.  7 dock lines tied to this piling.

Our "last supper" in New Orleans...boiled crawfish, fried shrimp po'boy
from Parkway Bakery, and Barq's root beer (created in New Orleans)

Christmas in New Orleans

In City Park, Santa rides a pirogue pulled by alligators!

A good time was had by all (really!).  The family got together in New Orleans for Christmas & we all made it through the week without killing each other.  Actually, we all enjoyed each other's company, & tried our best to eat ourselves silly.  Someone received a bath scales from Santa, but I don't think we'll like the numbers it will tell us.

We went for a walk to City Park, where the "Christmas in the Oaks" was full of lights.  But, being New Orleans, there were unique light arrangements.

The best thing about Christmas being over, is that now we can eat King Cakes, all the way to Mardi Gras on Feb 9!

Yes, Virginia, there really is a Santa Claus!
Sue's brother takes a selfie!

On Dec 29, the weather was warm enough to
go for a cruise on Lake Pontchartrain with
our Captain-in-training

Y'know you're in New Orleans, when....

... the largest food display at Walmart was red beans and rice!

Over 1000 pounds of rice with enough red beans to keep a smile on your face for a week!



In the hills of TN, this car has been sitting in one place
so long that the vines have grown up the radio antenna

We are doing our best to catch up on eating all the New Orleans cuisine, which we have missed during the past 7-8 months.  We got our shrimp po-boy (dressed, or course) right away, but Sue had to wait until this week to finally get some boiled crawfish.  And yes, we got our Popeye's chicken last week (when we got Popeye's around the Great Lakes, we were disappointed that the seasoning was not the same as what we get down here).

Late last month we spent an excellent week in the Chattanooga area, sharing Thanksgiving with about 30 relatives, and Sue's mother was basking in the attention all week.  Her mother loved having all the babies (all 4 great-great grandchildren) surrounding her most every day.  All in all, a very good family reunion.

So now we prepare for Christmas this week at Chris & Ali's new home.  Looking forward to another good week with family.



While in TN, we hiked through the mountain trail
to a beautiful waterfall