We landed at The Moorings in Carrabelle, FL in preparation to cross the Gulf of Mexico to Tarpon Springs. We were indoctrinated to the not so popular, but very common Florida docks. They have very short, narrow "finger piers" - 2 feet wide and about 8 feet long. This requires you to back in to the slip and climb over the rail to get off the boat! Very difficult to tie the boat up as well. On top of that, the lines for both our boat and the one next to us cross over the 3 stairs going up to the wall so it's like playing chinese jump rope getting ashore! No skirts for me this trip!
Preparing for the “big” crossing is an event all Loopers plan for/dread/anticipate for weeks. It is a 20 hour crossing from Carrabelle to Tarpon Springs (near Tampa) considered the shortest route straight across. For slow boats like our's, it takes around 20 hours to cross. The idea is to leave in the daylight and arrive in the daylight (not only to see the dock but avoid all the crab pots in shallower waters) and traveling across the open area in the dark. Some Loopers opt to “go around the bend”, taking three days to go around rather than across. The problem with that is finding a three day weather window to safely go that direction. This proved to be difficult at the time we arrived at Carrabelle. Most Loopers subscribe to “Eddy’s Weather Wag” for their crossing information. Eddy is a Looper himself and considered the local expert on weather. He sends emails every day with the upcoming safe crossing information. There are several other sources that people use and try for the best case scenario in an ever changing Gulf. Our friends on Angel Louise were so tired of the cold weather we’d been having that they decided to cross and hope for the best. They had one very rough crossing but are now enjoying the warm sands of Florida. When we first arrived at Carrabelle, Eddy didn’t have much hope that we would cross before Christmas, but a small window developed for Monday night and several of us decided to “jump”. Meanwhile, we enjoyed the town of Carrabelle. We met a marvelous couple that had been in our boat slip prior to our arriving. He helped us secure our boat which was no little task. They had just had their boat hauled out to have some repairs done. They do mission work (mostly marriage workshops) in the Bahamas on their time off of work. We went out to dinner with them to one of their favorite restaurants and I tried Grouper for the first time! My grouper looked like regular fish and chips but our new friend ordered the whole grouper. Quite impressive, don't you think?
We stopped at C-Quarters, the other marina in town and met Donna on Gold Looper boat Syzygy. Her husband was off the boat visiting his brother. We also had fun reuniting with fellow Loopers Grace and Emily on Elpis, Mary & Tim on Nellie Mae and their new buddy boat - Miss Norma with owners Tim, Remi, and poodle Ringo, and new Loopers Margaret & Denny on Paradise Cafe. Miss Norma's family has become famous in 2016 when they took to the road in an RV with Tim's mom to celebrate life before the cancer took her. Check out their book Driving Miss Norma for a great read! They have sold their RV and bought a boat to continue the travels doing the Loop! We had a lovely potluck with everyone before we left the next day with Tortuga.
We left Carrabelle at 3 PM in sunny, warm weather. People were out enjoying the sun and sand.
One of the last houses we will see in many hours, and it is a beauty!
Notice the lower left corner of the chart plotter. The bottom number gives the estimated amount of time, based on current speed, to our destination. This is in fact over stated as we were going very slowly at this point, waiting for Tortuga to catch up to us but I've never seen it over one day before! It was actually only 20 hours.
As soon as we entered the river, the water became choppy, which we expected from Eddy’s forecast.
Here is Tortuga bouncing around behind us.
Eddy warned us that seas would be a little bumpy at first but should settle down in the evening. Sad to say, the Gulf did not listen to him and the seas did not settle down until early Tuesday morning. We’ve seen rougher seas, but as the swells were hitting us nearly broadside, this was not a comfortable crossing and we couldn’t even eat the dinner that I had prepared earlier in the day. As our friend Ed on Angel Louise says “I fed the fishies”! First time ever for me. I took over the helm for Bob at 9:30 so he could try and sleep (he couldn’t). Tortuga was following us and we would contact each other on the radio every half hour. We had the radar on and watched for any lights signifying either another boat or an obstruction in the water. We saw a few towers in the distance, but otherwise no one else was around. About midnight a fog rolled in and we couldn’t even see lights anymore, depending solely on the radar. The rough water finally calmed down sometime early morning. Sun rise was nearly 7 AM still in heavy fog. Luckily the fog lifted right as we entered the shallower water where most of the crab pots are.
Sunrise in the fog.
This is Red 4 - the marker that denotes the end of the Gulf passage. We still have several hours to our marina but the water is very calm now.
We begin to see boats again - even boats that don't seem to see us! This guy seemed to want to cross where we crossed - every time we changed course, so did he! We really thought he was a collision course with Tortuga, but they said there was plenty of room, but he still made them nervous!
So glad that night is over. Our marina is right downtown, down a very long channel with a strict no wake zone - I don't think this guy cared! He made a lot of people very mad.
The area looks so pretty and well manicured!
The houses are getting larger!
And the boats too!
Our slip in the marina has another small finger dock, but this one is safer to walk on - lines do not cross over the stairs :) We look forward to spending a week here, visiting with fellow Loopers, as well as Andy and Evonne (friends from our Navy days) and touring!
The Moorings Marine - Carrabelle, FL - Dec. 16 & 17 - with Tortuga, Miss Norma, Nellie Mae, Paradise Cafe, Elpis. Met Syzergy at C Quarters.
Preparing for the “big” crossing is an event all Loopers plan for/dread/anticipate for weeks. It is a 20 hour crossing from Carrabelle to Tarpon Springs (near Tampa) considered the shortest route straight across. For slow boats like our's, it takes around 20 hours to cross. The idea is to leave in the daylight and arrive in the daylight (not only to see the dock but avoid all the crab pots in shallower waters) and traveling across the open area in the dark. Some Loopers opt to “go around the bend”, taking three days to go around rather than across. The problem with that is finding a three day weather window to safely go that direction. This proved to be difficult at the time we arrived at Carrabelle. Most Loopers subscribe to “Eddy’s Weather Wag” for their crossing information. Eddy is a Looper himself and considered the local expert on weather. He sends emails every day with the upcoming safe crossing information. There are several other sources that people use and try for the best case scenario in an ever changing Gulf. Our friends on Angel Louise were so tired of the cold weather we’d been having that they decided to cross and hope for the best. They had one very rough crossing but are now enjoying the warm sands of Florida. When we first arrived at Carrabelle, Eddy didn’t have much hope that we would cross before Christmas, but a small window developed for Monday night and several of us decided to “jump”. Meanwhile, we enjoyed the town of Carrabelle. We met a marvelous couple that had been in our boat slip prior to our arriving. He helped us secure our boat which was no little task. They had just had their boat hauled out to have some repairs done. They do mission work (mostly marriage workshops) in the Bahamas on their time off of work. We went out to dinner with them to one of their favorite restaurants and I tried Grouper for the first time! My grouper looked like regular fish and chips but our new friend ordered the whole grouper. Quite impressive, don't you think?
Carrabelle is a quiet little town without much there. They do lay claim to the world's smallest police station. The policemen would sit in their parked car next to the phone booth to do their paperwork and jump out of the car to take phone calls!
Like most cities we've seen along the waterway, Carrabelle has a tribute to all who served in the Armed Forces. This was a very unusual one in the small statues representing each of the services.
We stopped at C-Quarters, the other marina in town and met Donna on Gold Looper boat Syzygy. Her husband was off the boat visiting his brother. We also had fun reuniting with fellow Loopers Grace and Emily on Elpis, Mary & Tim on Nellie Mae and their new buddy boat - Miss Norma with owners Tim, Remi, and poodle Ringo, and new Loopers Margaret & Denny on Paradise Cafe. Miss Norma's family has become famous in 2016 when they took to the road in an RV with Tim's mom to celebrate life before the cancer took her. Check out their book Driving Miss Norma for a great read! They have sold their RV and bought a boat to continue the travels doing the Loop! We had a lovely potluck with everyone before we left the next day with Tortuga.
We left Carrabelle at 3 PM in sunny, warm weather. People were out enjoying the sun and sand.
One of the last houses we will see in many hours, and it is a beauty!
Notice the lower left corner of the chart plotter. The bottom number gives the estimated amount of time, based on current speed, to our destination. This is in fact over stated as we were going very slowly at this point, waiting for Tortuga to catch up to us but I've never seen it over one day before! It was actually only 20 hours.
As soon as we entered the river, the water became choppy, which we expected from Eddy’s forecast.
Here is Tortuga bouncing around behind us.
Eddy warned us that seas would be a little bumpy at first but should settle down in the evening. Sad to say, the Gulf did not listen to him and the seas did not settle down until early Tuesday morning. We’ve seen rougher seas, but as the swells were hitting us nearly broadside, this was not a comfortable crossing and we couldn’t even eat the dinner that I had prepared earlier in the day. As our friend Ed on Angel Louise says “I fed the fishies”! First time ever for me. I took over the helm for Bob at 9:30 so he could try and sleep (he couldn’t). Tortuga was following us and we would contact each other on the radio every half hour. We had the radar on and watched for any lights signifying either another boat or an obstruction in the water. We saw a few towers in the distance, but otherwise no one else was around. About midnight a fog rolled in and we couldn’t even see lights anymore, depending solely on the radar. The rough water finally calmed down sometime early morning. Sun rise was nearly 7 AM still in heavy fog. Luckily the fog lifted right as we entered the shallower water where most of the crab pots are.
Sunrise in the fog.
This is Red 4 - the marker that denotes the end of the Gulf passage. We still have several hours to our marina but the water is very calm now.
We begin to see boats again - even boats that don't seem to see us! This guy seemed to want to cross where we crossed - every time we changed course, so did he! We really thought he was a collision course with Tortuga, but they said there was plenty of room, but he still made them nervous!
The landscape is new and different again with small islands of low trees greeting us.
So glad that night is over. Our marina is right downtown, down a very long channel with a strict no wake zone - I don't think this guy cared! He made a lot of people very mad.
The area looks so pretty and well manicured!
The houses are getting larger!
And the boats too!
Our slip in the marina has another small finger dock, but this one is safer to walk on - lines do not cross over the stairs :) We look forward to spending a week here, visiting with fellow Loopers, as well as Andy and Evonne (friends from our Navy days) and touring!
