Going Backwards

Well, not exactly, but...in some ways yes. Let me explain.

Having crossed our wake, as per the second to last blog, we are deja vu all the way to Port Charlotte, now. This has it's own comfort, I have to tell you.

Having been there before, means you pretty much know what to expect the second time around...or third, etc.
This helps us and the others we come across on the Loop, just as so many have helped us with their knowledge and wisdom. For that we are eternally grateful. We also seek to help make journeys less complex and more comfortable for others.

I guess when you experience the worst of something, then anything else is worthy of celebration. I am thinking in particular of the Crab Pots that everyone anticipates as they enter the final leg of the overnight crossing of the Gulf of Mexico, and enter into Tarpon Springs. Not only are there rows and rows of crab pots (if you can figure our the pattern, you are good to go!) but there are also the shallows....sometimes extreme, at low tide...to consider. Of course low tide is always when you don't need it most, right? Like this morning!!:)..Ok...I'm not really smiling.

The journey from Panama City to Apalachicola was uneventful, if a bit boring. We took (make that *I*took) one of the 90 degree corners a little too close to the green marker (well, we have had to in other places, in my defense) and ended up taking the boat out of gear for a moment or two to avoid cleaning the props in the sandy nothingness beneath us! The shallows didn't make me too crazy, this time around, coz I knew what to expect...I had just forgotten some of how shallow some places are, and how vigilant you have to be...like ON IT all the time. It is stressful and tiring.

Sunrise in Panama City, over the Marina.

 We motored down St Andrews Bay towards Apalachicola. At least this bay is deep...relatively.

 We are back in Florida Swamp territory. There are also lots of Pine trees and associated industries...which smell like over-cooked cabbage.

Small signs of civilization along the ICW, which twisted and turned. The channel itself was reasonably deep...about 15 feet.

 We see so many scuttled boats...or just plain sunken ones, along the US waterways.

Out of this channel we entered Lake Wimico  which is only about 1-3 feet deep outside of the designated channel. It pays to stay in the channel.

It is beautiful in it's own way.What a pity it isn't deeper...we might feel inclined to anchor out somewhere.

 Back into another channel at the other end of the Lake. We are more than half way to Apalachicola, at this point.

 ...and we had a hitchhiker. He/she was a curious fellow/gal, and not easily disturbed. I thought to photograph it. It is about 1 1/2 inches long. I watched with great delight while it washed itself...including it's wings. I loved the little barbs at the end of it's legs.

Now we are on the Apalachicola River, coming towards the town, which is where we docked on one of the town walls, last year. There was no room at the Inn, as it were, with all the Marinas and walls full of Loopers waiting to take advantage, as were we, of the weather window to cross the Gulf. You can see on the chart, the little town at the very end of the river, and where it goes out into the Bay, along the channel marked with red and green.

With the town full up to busting, we kept motoring....

 You can see on the chart, how the dashed channel lines make several angled turns. They take us right up St Georges Bay and Sound. St Georges Island is a Barrier Island on the Gulf Coast. That's it at the bottom of the chart. It is famous for it's shells, we are told. We looked up the houses for sale, on the island, and you either need to win the lottery or don't care if you live in a trailer home...not much in between, when it comes to price. Hohum!

 The St Georges Light House, on the Island. As you can see, there are condos there (left)...how unusual (tongue in cheek!)

We anticipated anchoring just before East Pass, on the northern side. The wind was coming out of the south west, but was supposed to turn to the north east, later in the day. It was a long day of motoring, and we were glad to finally put down an anchor in 7.5ft of water not far off Royal Bluff, just west of Carabelle, where some of our accompanying fleet will depart from.

Never mind that the chart plotter shows there is no water under us, lol.

 The lovely long, white sand beach about a mile from the boat made us want to launch the dinghy and go walking, but there was much preparation to do for our journey.

 It was warm in the sun, but the wind was cool. The sun set, and we saw so many stars in the dark.

We were surrounded by Jelly Fish at one stage...sorry about the photo...hard to take when they suddenly dive! must have known I was taking a picture.

I decided to do this one task, before the sun went down, rather than wait for the next day. All the ropes needed to come off the rails. First time since we can remember. We are back in salt water, and the salt gets into everything. We stowed all the ropes, and Waz had brought the fenders in not long after leaving Panama City.

 They are in horrible condition, and I have to buy some olefin fabric to replace them...another sewing project:)..of which I have lots, this winter.

We slept well, and didn't feel the need to get up early in the morning. It would be a long day/night, so resting when we can, is important.
We rose around 9am, having gone back to sleep several times, since we first woke at 5am...something we have been accustomed to doing, and now that we are back to eastern time, the clock is forward an hour, having taken it back an hour for eastern central time, down the rivers...Daylight saving and all.

I like to make a good breakfast for us both, as this keeps us going all morning, and sometimes into the afternoon too, depending on what we are doing. We get tired of making do with nuts and cheese and fruit...REAL food is necessary.
We had much to do to ready the boat for the overnight journey in open water. Even though the final forecast was reasonable, we never can be absolutely certain of what awaits us on the crossing. We had a fabulous one last year, and have been hopeful of a repeat.
We had arranged with other boats to meet at East Pass at around 6pm.
With this in mind, we up-anchored at just on 4.45pm. It would take us 45 mins to get to the Pass to join the Fleet. We were six, starting out, but we had watched other slower boats go through the pass, most of the day. Some really fast boats (20+ knots) left before first light.
St Georges Island is on the right, in the chart photo, and out of sight on the left is Dog Island...yes, another one!

 We joined the fleet four boats back, with one behind us. One of the boats was unsure of the direction we were all taking, and waited to follow us. We had enjoyed a lunch with them at Panama City, just after we docked there, the day before...

 Sunset wasn't long coming.

 but it wasn't as spectacular as some we have enjoyed recently.

Not much point taking photos in the dark. We settled into a rhythm, all of us and made our way in the dark, until around 9pm, when the moon (bright orange at this point) appeared on the horizon. It was finally good to have some light for our passage.
We had our red light available for dinner making, once it got dark, and it was put to good use. Having white light is a no no in the dark. We also fashioned a cover for the chart plotter as it was reflecting in the pilot house windscreen. The most important piece of equipment, of course was the Radar screen!


Waz had a short nap of about an hour, before waking...for no real reason, but he got up and we sat together until around 11pm when I went below for a sleep. It wasn't that comfy down there , or anywhere for that matter, as the sea was rocking and rolling, and it increased, during the night. We had a rolling swell....no wind, just swell.

I did get some sleep, I think, but my brain seemed to have a hard time letting go of trying to keep my body in one place, so bad was the rolling at one stage. I got up again at 3am, feeling like crap. My eyes felt like someone had thrown sand into them:(

Poor Waz doesn't sleep well, while on these trips, with an hour at a time being about the limit of his rest. He had a second go at it, but 1  1/2 hrs later he was up again. We saw daylight together and marveled that we hadn't seen any crab pots yet....yet. They were to come, but not in the huge numbers that we saw last year. We crossed some three weeks later in the year, last year, and crab season was well under way then. It is just beginning, now.

 All 15 of us were pretty spread out, on the line. We joined the two groups ahead of us around 4am..the slow ones, that is.

 We turned around the Red #4 marker at the north end of Anclote Key, at 9.3am, as you can see.
I remembered not to go to close to the next red marker, as we did last year, as the water at low tide is VERY shallow and we had a small problem then. We didn't this year, but there was no more water this year, at low tide, this morning.

 The light house at Anclote Key. This is on the Barrier Islands off Tarpon Springs.

 We are back in turquoise waters and white sands again. The crab pots were still giving us grief after we turned around Red 4! aieeee!

 Meander is following us through our first bridge on the ICW going south.

 Waz reported that Dolphin had kept him company in the dark, last night, and lots of them, so I was very happy to see this one today. He kept pace with the boat for a good ten mins, before turning off and returning to what Dolphin do, when not entertaining boaters like us:)

 And we are Soooo happy to see Osprey on almost every sign post. WOW!

 These buildings are on the Barrier Islands to the west of Clearwater, which is another place you can enter the ICW from the Gulf.

 The bridge across to the Island. This one didn't need to open for us.

 The bridge on the left takes boaters out (under) into the Gulf of Mexico, or conversely, into the waters at Clearwater.

 We finally found a place to put down the anchor. Not much water under us, at 6.3ft, but enough for us to spend the night. We are anchored beside some multi-million dollar homes...

 Waz out checking to make sure the anchor has 'taken'.

 The neighbors

 At the bottom of the Island, there is a circle penciled in...can you see it? That is where we are anchored. It is just before the bridge and Conch Key...the last little bay before The Narrows...oh joy...MORE narrows, lol. I have lost count of the number of NARROWS we have come through on the entire journey. It is almost a joke now...except that we cant take the time to laugh....it takes all our concentration to negotiate them.

And so...we ate some lunch...baked beans from a can (Heinz vegetarian ones) with two fried eggs on a whole wheat ciabatta (1.2 each) roll. We were a bit desperate for real food by then. I lay down on the fly deck in the sun and had an hours kip, while Waz went down to the bedroom for his. He was up reading his mail when I finally came downstairs.
The sun is going down, so I will go and take the sundown photo for the record, and think about some more food. We really don't want much....we feel too otherworldly, but I fear we will be up at 2am, hungry, if we don't eat at least a light dinner. Thinking cap going on now! :)

Ciao for now. We move south again tomorrow! Almost there...Port Charlotte!