2/19/2011 - 2/22/11  We left Tarpon Springs late morning because it's hard to get out of  Tarpon Landing at dead low tide.  Our mission was to get to Ft. Myers in the next few days to see our friends from Lace's high school graduating class in Fullerton, CA..  We had our service forward our accumulated mail to them so that will be good to get caught up on.  This part of Florida is characterized by "over development" as our cruising guide puts it.  The water is clear and aqua colored, the shore lines tend to be white sand and are lined with homes each with their own boat, and all punctuated with high-rise condos.  There are frequent manatee speed limit zones although we have never seen the first manatee.  We saw no sign of recession here.  Everyone seems to have a boat and the trend seems to be maximum horsepower.  Perhaps it's because this was the first nice weather break this year, but we were struck that the waterways from Clearwater to Ft. Myers were clogged with motor boats, all in a hurry.  At first I was irritated that no one seemed inclined to slow down as they passed which rocked us frequently from their wake  After a while though, I saw that there was so many of them that if they all slowed down for each other, no one would get anyplace. We crossed Tampa Bay, at one point paralleling the famous Sunshine Skyway Bridge and ended up at Legacy Marina which is on the Caloosahatchee River in Ft. Myers.  The Caloosahatchee used to flow out of Lake Okeechobee and it is said that it was a very nice river.  Thomas Edison and Henry Ford wintered in on the river. Now there are locks on the river which prevent the water from flowing out of the lake and into the Gulf. The water is a mysterious shade of black.

2/18/11  We had a great day with the Houston bunch. We took a short lunch cruise out into the bay with Colonel Sanders.   Tarpon Springs has a great Greek sponge diver heritage and in the afternoon Lace and I walked down to the docks and mingled with the tourists.

The Crossing:  Second Half  2/16/11 - 2/17/11  We left Steinhatchee with two other boats but after a few hours the others disappeared over the horizon.  We were the slowest of the bunch but I like to think we are using less fuel than either of them.  This is rock crab country and it's a full time job just to keep from running over one of the hundreds of crab trap floats.  A crab trap is a chicken wire cage that sits on the bottom and lures the crab inside with bait.  It has a length of rope attached with a small float at the surface.  If you run over the vertical rope it has a tendency to wind up on the prop shaft and draw the steel box up and into the prop where it may jamb.  That can only be remedied by getting in the water and physically cutting it out; not a fun thing to do when the water temp is in the 50's. Again the water is very smooth so smooth in fact that we decided to do something which is only rarely attempted.  We decide to anchor in the Gulf of Mexico.  The bottom in that part of Florida slopes from the shore to the Gulf so slowly that we anchored in ten feet of water but we were more than ten miles off shore.  The weather reports were correct and we spent an uneventful night on a calm sea.  The next morning was foggy but good enough visibility to idle along and stay out of the crab traps.  After a couple of hours we caught up with the "Precious Time" and we motored together almost to Tarpon Springs where they split off  for another destination.  I think this was one of the best crossings that anyone has ever made in the wintertime. When we were just 30 minutes out of Tarpon we talked to friends of ours from Houston on the cell phone.   Gary, Tommi and Dennis were on a road trip pulling their motorcycles inside a trailer.  They intended to leave the truck and trailer in Tarpon and ride the bikes down to Key West.  When we talked to them, they were only 30 minutes from town.  We pulled into Tarpon Landing Marina and they came down to the dock.  Unbelievable timing! Later, on the recommendation of a local, we all went to Mr. Souvlaki's restaurant for Greek Chow Mein!

The Crossing: First Half  2/13/11 - 2/14/11 We left Pearl Bayou on a gorgeous sunny day with very little wind which was fortunate as we were beginning an open water crossing where the Intercoastal Canal ends and can't protect us from the waves in the Gulf of Mexico. The first leg is across Apalachee Bay and St. George Sound which are large bodies of water but partially protected. We anchored in a rather open place but a good jumping off spot to start before daylight. We pulled up anchor at 4:30AM and eased into the Gulf. It was very smooth; actually too smooth. When there is no wind on the water and no clouds in the sky and no features on the horizon it is very difficult to steer a straight course. The compass and even the GPS has a little delay telling your heading so you end up steering lazy arcs, left then right. It was monotonous but the rough water alternative is far worse as we found out the first time through here last year. We pulled into Steinhatchee, FL after a 12 hour run. This was one half the crossing before the Intercoastal Canal starts again in Tarpon Springs, FL.. Steinhatchee is a very small town with a marina and two restaurants. We met a couple of "loopers" Bill and Charlotte on the "Precious Time" and had lunch with them. We expect to run across them from time to time over the next couple of months as we are both headed for the AGLCA Rendezvous in Norfolk, VA in May. After a day in port the weather looked right so we cast off and started the second leg of the crossing which was to be two days.

2/12/11 After a 30 degree night, we left Pearl Bayou on our way through Panama City Bay. We passed a small outboard boat with two men aboard. One was "tonging" for what we think are scallops. Tonging is where you use a tool with two long handles like a post hole digger but has a basket on the bottom end that gathers the scallops. Looks like a tough way to make a living to me. We made it to Port St. Joe Marina within walking distance of a Piggly Wiggly. We met some nice folks on the nearby boats. One couple had been cruising for two and a half years.

2/11/11 We left about 7AM and crossed Choctawatchee Bay and into a narrow channel that the locals call "Grand Canyon". Anchored in a snug little inlet called Pearl Bayou. We were next to a military reservation of some kind. Our cruising books warned that going ashore was prohibited. We didn't see anyone but heard the Star Spangled Banner through the trees at sundown.

2/6/11 to 2/9/11 We left Dauphin Island under ideal conditions to cross Mobile Bay - sunny and with a slight westerly wind. We had a fellow AGLCA (America's Great Loop Cruiser's Assoc.) member named Wally Conway offer to let us spend a night or two in the slip near his condo while he was away in the Florida Keys. It is located in Orange Beach, AL on a cute little bay framed with white sand. When we arrived we were anxious to put some meat and produce on the boat so I looked up the nearest grocery store on my phone GPS and we started off on foot. No sooner had we walked across the street in front of the condos when we ran into a couple walking down the sidewalk and asked for some verification of the location of the grocery store. Jim and Jennie told us it was about three and a half miles in each direction, clearly out of walking distance. We were reassessing our plan when they offered us the loan of their car. What a treat! We drove to the Publix and loaded up $150 worth including some things we normally wouldn't buy because we wouldn't like to carry them back to the boat (like cat litter).
We left Orange Beach headed for Fort Walton Beach and "Free City Dock, Rest Rooms and Pump Out". The dock indeed was free but it was quite run down, the rest rooms were a good walk and below par oh and the pump out was not working. Also we were immediately inspected by two obviously homeless gentlemen both of which had there beer in paper sack. We chatted with them and they seemed harmless enough but one never knows for sure.
We left headed for Bluewater Marina in Niceville, FL. The weather is cold and blowing out of the north which is less than desirable when traveling east bound. We spent a couple of days at the upscale marina ($65 per night to tie up) but they are fully equipped with laundry, showers, restaurant and a loaner car. We took advantage of the car and ran across the Air Force Armaments Museum. I leaned on a B-17 which my father flew on many occasions in WWII. Bluewater Marina is located next to Niceville, FL. As we were driving I was looking intently for a photo opportunity with a Niceville police cruiser - a rolling oxymoron. No luck. Lace wants a haircut but when it came down to actually walking into a salon cold she chickened out. The GPS odometer now reads 723 miles.

1/30/11 to 2/5/11 We got to Dauphin Island, Alabama and planned to spend an extra day to re-provision. The only grocery store on the island (also liquor store, hardware store and drug store) was somewhat of a disappoint- ment. Lots of dry goods but not much in the way of fresh meat or produce. Also many grocery items didn't have a price on them leaving it to the cashier to levy whatever she liked. The next day we discovered that we had a narrow weather window to get across Mobile Bay which is a rather large body of water and gets very uncomfortable with a north wind.
Dauphin Island has two approaches. We came in on the western approach but we decided to exit on the eastern approach which we have never tried before. With only 50 yards to the bay and deep water we hit an uncharted sand bar in the channel and came hard aground. No problem as far as safety of the boat because the tide was on the rise so it was just a matter of time until we floated off. Unfortunately it was 5 hours until we got free and our window to cross in daylight had slammed shut. Nothing to do but go back to the marina and wait out the weather. We were able to attend the local Mardi Gras parade which was a hoot. We collected 57 bead necklaces and 13 Moon Pies (sort of a big cream filled cookie). We hung the beads on the bow of the boat. I don't know what people do with them after the alcohol wears off.

1/29/11 Cat Island was beautiful, but we had a very windy night. We left at 7:30 in sunshine and calm seas heading to Dauphin Island AL. We traveled with Ranger Dave on the Sydney Ann - a tug pushing a barge. He had lots of information about Dauphin Is. We arrived at the island at 3:30. We put on fuel and water and then walked to town. Checked out the 4 churches on one intersection and decided that if we were up early we would go to the Methodist Church.
1/30/11 At 8:30 we went to church and heard a great message titled "YOU are chosen". A church member Craig took us to breakfast. It drizzled all day. We stayed in and did chores Dick was in the engine room.
1/31/11 Today is our only safe day to cross Mobile Bay. A big storm is coming. We left about 7:30 and got about 1/2 way around the island when we hit a sandbar. We stayed there 1/2 a day waiting for higher tides to free us. Knowing that the weather was going to deteriorate quickly we headed back to the only marina on Dauphin Island. Dick spent extra time securing the lines. The front hadn't arrived yet so we decided it would be a good time to walk a few blocks to the laundromat. We also ate lunch out. I made homemade pizza for dinner - so glad I brought the bread machine. It was a stormy night.