Including crossing the Gulf
Very cold morning – 42 degrees! The weather has held (i.e., calm wind and waves), so we were up and on our way by 7:00am on Sunday, Nov. 24, leaving Carrabelle in Florida’s Panhandle and crossing the Gulf of Mexico to Florida’s upper west coast.
Several other boats had left yesterday and staged at Dog Island which saved them an hour this morning, but we are thankful that we can even leave given the damaged prop. Below is “Til You Can’t” running ahead of us.
We’re running slower than normal because of the vibration caused by the bent prop, so a couple other boats that left Carrabelle this morning – “Into the Mystic” and “Sweet Equity” – have passed us way off to our starboard (below left photo). Though cold out, the sun is shining and shimmering on the water’s surface.
Seeing lots of jellyfish …
… and lots and lots and LOTS of crab pot floats on the water’s surface. These floats are connected to crab pots (i.e., cages) in the water by ropes that can become tangled around a boat’s prop. Crab fishermen set the floats/pots in rows in the shallower Gulf waters. Boaters must be continuously on watch for crab pots, not only for those in rows but for the large number of single pots that brake loose from rows. The floats are every color and combination of colors, including blue, black, and green hues that don’t show up well in the water! There were many times that we narrowly dodged running over one, steering away at the last second. The third picture below shows two pots of the same (connected) row. Rows can extend for quite a distance.
Both of us stretched our legs on the bow at different spots during the trip.
At one point, a small bird (finch?) landed on the antenna and hitched a ride for a while, no doubt needing a rest, as it was out in the middle of the Gulf with no place on which to sit besides our boat!
We spotted land at 1:40pm while also hearing and catching sight of a loon next to the boat. Unknown to us, loons from the Great Lakes region migrate to the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida coasts. We also saw a Needle Fish tail walk across the water. Pretty entertaining!
We lined up with the first buoy of the fairway leading into Steinhatchee at 4:00pm and arrived at the anchorage at 4:45pm. Crossing successful!
There wasn’t a great deal of water in this anchorage, and we were concerned about how the boat would ride in low tide (slated for 3:30am). As it turned out, our concerns were well-founded: At 3:00am, after Dennis awoke and noticed the boat was not moving, we weighed anchor, used the inflatable to pull the stern so that the boat was again floating, and then reset the anchor.
Crab boats like the one pictured below come and go at all hours.
When taking the dogs to shore in Steinhatchee, we observed firsthand the amount of devastation caused by the hurricanes to the area. Things were still very upended and scattered. Because we’d heard about how marina owners in the upper west coast of Florida were struggling to reopen and/or to obtain goods and provide services (e.g., dockage, fuel), we knew that we couldn’t expect much in the way of marina amenities and had done our best to provision and fuel up in Carrabelle with plans to anchor as much as needed.
It was again a chilly morning when we left the Steinhatchee anchorage on Monday, Nov. 25, but we were able to get another early start and made it successfully that afternoon to the fairway going into Cedar Key (an area greatly damaged by Hurricane Helene). Because of the extent of that damage, we elected to remain outside of Cedar Key, anchoring off the fairway along with “Til You Can’t” by Seahorse Key. A number of dolphins greeted and escorted us as we entered the fairway, putting on quite a show!
They then swam around us after we anchored.
Our boat and “Til You Can’t” were the only boats in our 360 degree view, and the four of us were the only people in sight.
Seahorse Key (below left) was like our own deserted island. The dogs loved running in the sand.
And the sunset was stunning.
Readying to do the “dog run” to the island the next morning (Tues., Nov. 26), we were again greeted by dolphins. They accompanied us on our way in the inflatable.
Returning to the boat, we saw “Checkmate,” “Not So Fast” and “Tika” heading out of the fairway toward the Gulf and later exchanged float plans with them over the radio. Like us, “Checkmate” and “Not So Fast” were headed to Anclote/Tarpon Springs. “Tika” planned to go inland a bit to Crystal River.
More dancing the crab pot tango today! It feels like crossing a minefield, because there are so many floats, seemingly everywhere. If you look below the float in the following picture, you can see the rope descending toward the crab pot.
We’re pretty tired, but we have to take advantage of this string of nice days and make as much progress in the direction of the more protected waters of the GIWW; so, eating lunch at the helm is part of the Captain’s multi-tasking efforts. The dogs are hoping that a wave jars perhaps part of the sandwich off the plate and onto the deck!
We anchored outside of Anclote (which is adjacent to Tarpon Springs) on Tuesday evening and experienced another absolutely breathtaking sunset, start to finish.
Tomorrow we have reservations at Anclote Village Marina which has dockage and power! Reaching the Anclote/Tarpon Springs area, we will again be travelling mainly within the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW).
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