January 30, 2014 Anchored at Gulfport, FL

We left Marker 1 Marina a little before 11am this morning between rain showers.  It was 28 miles to this anchorage of the ICW in Boca Ciega Bay adjacent to Gulfport.  Rain showers came and went all morning but they were just showers and the winds remained steady and light   We arrived at the Boca Ciega Bay around 3pm.  Field Trip went on to Isla Del Sol Marina a short distance away to meet up with some friends of theirs.  We'll connect up with them tomorrow morning when we leave for Sarasota.

We dropped anchor in about 8 feet of water and after man-handling the anchor chain (we haven't deployed the anchor in months) we're stuck fast.  A few showers pass bye every so often but its around 62 degrees so for me at least its balmy.  Plenty of dolphins out cruising  in the rain too.

We made water here with the generator running but when I switched the AC load over to our inverter the CFI kept tripping.  Turned out to be the freezer we have on the sundeck.  The window above the freezer was left undone and water was every where including the freezers electrical area.  So right now we're hoping it'll dry out over the next few days and be usable.  Otherwise its a new freezer for us and the painstaking task of cramming everything into one of our other freezers.

Current plan is to leave here tomorrow morning and head for the Sarasota Bay mooring field and stay for a few days.    Maybe then I'll have some pictures!  Meanwhile tonight we're eating early (thanks Jen for the pea soup!), having a drink, laying out tomorrows courses and resurrecting the West Wing episodes we began watching a few months ago.  The stress of finding the proper episode is a killer.  This could become a two drink night.
 

January 27, 2014 Dunedin, Florida

We made it!   Basically 24 hours crossing about 170 miles of Gulf waters to Clearwater pass and then on to Dunedin.

Leaving Carraabelle

We departed Carrabelle around 10am with 5 other boats under cloudy skies but mild temps and gentle seas.

Heading out East Pass to the Gulf

We were in the company of 4 other boats which provides a sense of comfort when we're out in the middle of the Gulf 75 miles from shore.  We kept in radio contact throughout the night.

Peregrine running along our starboard side

We were lucky with the weather window which provided us rather gentle seas and clear skies.  We hit some fog about 50 miles from Clearwater but it lifted after a few hours and didn't present any real problem.  But than goodness for radar!

Ocean sunrise

It was a long night but thanks Kathy for relieving me for a few naps.  Wonderful to see the stars out that far from shore too.  Sunrise was a welcome sight

Clearwater 

We made the turn into Clearwater and ran into patches of crab pots but nothing too severe.  The fog began lifting as we approached the city displaying an odd vista of building rising from the fog bank.

Tied up at Marker 1 Marina in Dunedin, FL

We tied up at Marker 1 Marina before noon.  We requested aside a side tie rather than a slip so we could get the dinghy down and they gave us the last area available on the long lay-along dock.

After trying to take a nap Monday afternoon I gave up and did a few things around the boat, most notably charging up the dinghy battery and deciding the master head's overhead light was beyond repair.   After a few drinks we ate on the boat last night and went to bed early.  Slept well!

We still remember how to get the dinghy down

Tuesday we got the dinghy down and it fired it up like it always does.  No apparent air leaks either although I was concerned because up in the pan handle the poor thing looked deflated but as it turns out I'm pretty confident it was simply the cold temperatures that caused the deflation.

 Everyone expressed  a desire to visit Tarpon Springs so Kathy and Dave took Bob and Martha in Dave's car while Mary and I hopped in the dinghy and ran it to all the way to Tarpon Springs.  We did manage to make a wrong turn and ended up in some private subdivision but after realizing the navigation error we found the Anclote river inlet and headed up the long passage to Tarpon Springs.

Coning along side Dimitri's for lunch

Met Kathy and Dave and Dimitri's for lunch and then I took the dinghy back to the marina since there was weather approaching and the sound was sporting whitecaps so it was a rough ride back.  Luckily I was alone, Mary stayed behind to explore the treasures of Tarpon Springs.

We were all back aboard around 5pm but Mary had to return to a meat market in Tarpon Springs to retrieve her wallet and phone.









Had  a nice talk and tour of a Chris Craft Commander yacht which is tied up behind us.  Very interesting couple.  It rained for about 30 minutes and then the winds picked up rocking the boat.  Had to adjust a few lines since the tides here are in the 2+ foot range.  How soon one forgets about tides!

Bouncing dinghy and fenders

Had a few drinks with Bob and Martha and then we fiddled around on the boat.  We left the dinghy in the water and now that the winds have picked up from the south its banging pretty good on the swim platform so I had to go out and put the dinghy fenders out to keep from banging on the the swim platform with the increasing winds.  So much for a quiet night I guess.






Tomorrow Dave and I are off golfing and if the weather turns out to be nice we'll dinghy over to Honeymoon island in the afternoon.

January 25, 2014 Carrabelle, FL (Moorings Marina)

Running out Scipio Creek for Carrabelle

We decided to leave Apalachicola this morning and and head the 30 some miles east to Carrabelle.  This cut out an additional 30 miles we would have had to do on Sunday when we head across the Gulf  for the west coast of Florida.

We fueled up in Apalachicola and headed out around 10am.  Very calm waters in the bay.  Hardly even a ripple so it was a uninteresting 3 hours.

At Moorings in Carrabelle

 We made it to the Moorings marina around 3pm and tied up opposite the fuel dock but right next to the party room!

Our overnight route to the warm side of Florida

Our plan is to leave with 4 other boats around 10am for the overnight crossing.  We should be in Dunedin by noon on Monday.  We'll most likely sleep the rest of the day and then hit Tarpon Springs Tuesday.  Dave and I will probably be golfing Wednesday and then we take take Kathy to the airport Thursday so she can fly back to bask in the sub zero temperatures.  Being residents of Florida now we have only a modicum of sympathy.

January 24, 2014 Apalachiacola, FL

BeachQuest and Field Trip at Panama City Marina

We arrived in Panama City marina around 5:30 pm.  It was chilly and the expected winds began steadily blowing form the northwest so we put out 6 dock lines.  It was still a bumpy and noisy night especially with some sail boat who neglected to deploy a flopper stopper on one of their halyards.  It banged all night!

Bayou Joe's

We decided to forgo any attempt to head east until the Friday when the winds were forecast to subside.  So we went out to breakfast at Bayou Joes.  And then we headed to Apalachicola by car (thanks Dave) to explore the town. It was a great day.  And I was able to talk with all the marina folks.  Turns out the Scipio Creek Marina was the only viable alternative for us.

We returned around 8pm and while some watched a movie aboard I went over to see Curt and Marilyn who arrived a few hours before.  We met them at Green Turtle.    



I was up musing over the weather and Gulf crossing windows and decided we should leave for Apalachicola this morning because of the potential Gulf crossing weather window slated for either Sunday or Monday.  Our plan was to get to Apalachicola by Friday and then make our way another 30 miles to Carrabelle the next day to fuel up and await word on the weather.

Yeah it was a little cold.

So we scrambled out of bed, made the boat ready and untied about 8:50 along with Field Trip and headed east along the ICW.   Curt and Marilyn elected not to leave until noon so it was juts Field Trip and us.  We had to leave early in order to make it to Apalachicola before sundown.

The trip was mostly uneventful.  Luckily we had fly bridge heat though since it was pretty frigid outside.  The scenery was reminiscent of the ICW in Georgia with long stretches of winding waterway bordered by grasslands or forest.  We made about 8 mph so our arrival  was after 4:30pm when the marina closed but before sundown.





It was friggin cold ... 29 overnight in in the low 30's when we left.  I had the engine room heaters all night going again so start up was fine.

Once we arrived in Apalachicola we had to make a 180 degree turn back up into an adjacent creek, (Scipio Creek) and run up about a half mile to the marina.  There is a bifurcation buoy  marking the creek entrance but I turned before it and almost went a ground.  Backed out ok and went around the buoy and headed up the creek in 7 feet of water.   We tied up on the fuel  dock as Dave, Kathy's husband met us.  Filed Trip went into the basin and tied up to the center pier.

The temperatures began to plummet as the sun set so now we have all the heaters blasting away while we try to figure out what to do tomorrow.  Probably head to Carrabelle which is about 30 miles away and fuel up at a marina in anticipation of a Sunday Gulf crossing.  Or ... stay in Carrabelle until we can safely run the 170 miles across the Gulf to Clearwater.

January 22, 2014 Panama City

No, we haven't left the boat, or fallen prey to roving Florida pirates.  I just haven't written anything over the last few months because, well, basically for lack of anything to write.  We've been in SanDestin since Thanksgiving except for a 2 week stint over Christmas.   Poor weather and some extended boat repairs to Field Trip kept us here enjoying the resorts amenities even through the frigid temperatures.

Dave and Kathy came down for a visit with visions of warm breezes and tropical seas only to be confronted with 30 degrees and blustery northern winds.  Shorts?  Not so much.

At least someone is properly dressed for  Florida 

Ok, so I was a tad late picking someone up at the airport.

Yes.  That is ice on the dock!

Dave and I did manage to play a few rounds of golf and there was some shopping adventures.  But other than that, the fitness center and stuffing Mary Ann, the marina parrot with pistachios it's been a sedate few weeks.

Until now!

We finally left Baytowne Marina at SanDestin for Panama City where we are currently tied up at the Panama City Marina readying ourselves and the boat for another 30 degree night.   The next Gulf crossing weather window might be available this coming weekend so we're heading towards Carrabelle and East Pass where one heads out into the Gulf for the 170 mile passage.  We'll have to wait and see how this all develops but the fervent hope is to be in Warm Florida by the beginning of next week.


More pictures and other commentary forthcoming when there is a decent internet connection.

December 19, 2013 Ixonia, WI

Leaving the swaying palm trees in Florida for the bright fields of snow in Wisconsin is not without it's pitfalls.  It's COLD!

We had an uneventful journey driving up here although we were leaving very early in the morning but everyone rose to the occasion and we made great time.   2 days!



Back when we were in Dog River Marina a reporter came bye during one of our cocktail parties and conducted an interview with all of us.  I sent him pictures but they weren't published with the article he wrote for the local paper.  We did finally find the Looper article and we are mentioned.  The party was on our boat.

On the night of this interview, several couples were gathered in the salon of another Looper’s trawler. It was a bon voyage party, as three vessels were leaving the next day. Their destination was Sandestin, Fla., where they had dinner reservations for Thanksgiving. The convoy had meet previously on the Loop, and decided to make the trip together.

“This is a fabulous experience,” said one Looper. They had come from as far as Wisconsin and Connecticut. One captain’s goal was to keep heading south until he did not see another snow shovel (he had left 18 inches of snow in May).

 We'll be here in the bright glow of ice and snow until after the new year.  

Dec 17, 2013 (still at) Baytowne Marina Destin,FL

Don and Linda took me golfing at Sea Scape Monday morning.  18 holes.  I didn't keep a firm score but rampant speculation was putting me around the very low 90, high 80's.  Maybe laying off golf for many months is the key to success?

We all had a few drinks at the marina afterwords when Mary Ann the parrot, just up and flew off her perch out over us heading out to the water.  After a short flight she ended up landing on the shore next to a raised walkway about a 100 yards away.  Her wings are clipped so flying is supposed to be near impossible for her.  Guess not.  Like I said she's a precocious avian we always seem to be crossing paths with lately.

Anyway I ran over, hopped a fence and she stepped right up on my arm.  I swear she looked relieved and a bit excited as if a latent talent was suddenly re-discovered.  Had a hard time getting up on the raised walkway with her on my arm but a kindly soul who knew birds took her and all was well.  Mary Ann though has been confined to her comfy closet/cage until the wing clipper person can render her flightless again.

No Green Flash

We returned to Elephant Walk that evening for a little impromptu cocktail party and dinner.  Clear skies an wonderful sunset.  No Green Flash though.

Dodge mini van for the trip north.  It has heat!

Any of you kids got a soccer game to go too?

Hertz, bless their hearts, picked me up this morning around 9:30 to finalize the rental car.  It was remarkably easy and  hassle free.  And I'm excited to report I used my new Florida drivers license to rent the van.

After a few errands we returned to the boat and began our always calm and measured packing routine.  Yeah...

A chilled snake

I went off to the fitness center for one last session but on the way stopped to check a phone message while on this deck pathway for a few minutes.  Felt an odd sensation on my right foot and lo and behold there was a demure brown serpent crawling across my ankle.  It made it's way across my foot onto the deck and then slithered under the side.  Fascinating!  Don't know what specie it was but probably a garter snake of some sort.  It was still pretty chilly so I guess the poor critter wasn't too functional in the cool air.

Found my boots!

Our packing is pretty much complete. The boat shutdown check list is ready, and we have all our dock lines secured.  And I found my Wisconsin shoes which are basically boots since up there snow seems to be all around.   Even located my gloves, jacket, heavy wool socks and sweatshirts.  Alas, no t-shirts or extra shorts.  But I'm obstinate!  I will be driving without pants tomorrow.  Long pants!  I'm still in shorts!




Leaving between 7 and 7:30 Wednesday morning.  Should be in Wisconsin by Thursday night.  I'll be the idiot in shorts.