Coincidences

So, I get to Tarpon Springs and an old friend and colleague gets in touch on Facebook and says that he had been in Tarpon Springs the day before. We had only recently reconnected on Facebook after about 15 years. We were both in IT training back in the '90s. On several occasions, when we were both in DC, we'd hit an oyster bar. Good times. So, Don stays in touch and we were both able to be in Gulfport at the same time.

Don took this of me and added

"I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by"

I cruised in and we met on the dock. I fueled up and Don jumped on the boat for the short trip over to my dock space. Don was kind enough to take me out to lunch. We caught up on family, work, and travel. A good reunion. Thanks, Don!
Don had to take off and he dropped me back to the marina. I did a few things on the boat and decided to check-in on Facebook. No sooner do I check-in than another friend and colleague says, "Hey I happen to be in Gulfport right now." Amazing! Robert and I worked together on my last contract before I retired. He was at a restaurant about half a mile away from the marina. I grabbed a shower and Uber'd over to the restaurant. Robert was there with his husband, Chrys. They've been in Florida for several years now. It was really great to catch up with them, too.

End of Month 1

Here I am at the end of the first full month of cruising the Great Loop. I am in Venice, Florida. I'm spending a second night here because I spent part of yesterday and all of today visiting my cousin Randy and his family. They live about half an hour away from where I'm docked. More on that later. More on my stop in Gulfport, later.
I just wanted to get it on record that I've completed my first month, not without troubles, but a great month nonetheless. What I want to say is that I've cruised 580.5 statute miles in my first month out. I'm really pleased with that. I'm under budget for fuel, boat maintenance, and my miscellaneous category. I'm way over for food and marinas. But, all in all, everything worked.
The surprise bonuses had to do with meeting friends in Gulfport and family in Venice.
I'll be back later with a recap of the month and a better entry for the last several days of cruising.

Tarpon Springs

I wound up spending an extra night in the Skeleton Key Marina. Nice, inexpensive, and well sheltered. It was a good place to stay to avoid the high winds on the Gulf.
I got a reasonably early start and made for Turtle Cove Marina in Tarpon Springs.
Turtle Cove was a nice, but odd, marina. It has huge boat storage facilities. The Bull's are constantly putting boats in and taking boats out. The facilities are really nice. But, the restrooms/showers are at least a quarter mile walk. I had to go out of a locked gate to walk down the street to get back in through a locked gate. The oddity continues. There is a Tiki Bar, closed. There is a really comfy looking lounge area, closed. Nice pool with water fountains, nobody there. Perhaps is the off season, I don't know. I did spend a nice afternoon there. Had a shower. Got good WiFi.
I walked into town for dinner. It's a nice little town, full of Greek heritage. Apparently it comes from the sponge divers that emigrated here from Greece. I found a restaurant that I thought looked good, Costa's. I had tzatziki and warm pita. I followed that up with some avgolemono and for dinner - bakaliaros with skordalia. I also had a couple of retsinas to help wash it down. It was really fun.
I walked back to the marina, got on the boat, and had a really nice night's sleep.

Open Water Cruising

I must say that I can't wait to get back onto the Intracoastal Waterway. Since leaving Carrabelle, I've been out in the Gulf. The water has been fairly rough on several occasions. It has also been smooth as a pond. But, there have been precious few good places to anchor out. As a result I've been spending more time in marinas than I wanted to.
After leaving Sea Hag Marina, I cruised for a fairly long day to an anchorage called the Northwest Passage. On the map it looked like a nice area protected by an island. Nope. It was out in open water and anything close to the island was in very shallow water. So, while it was a good secure anchorage, it was a bumpy night. I did have a fairly good night's sleep, though.
I got up early and had breakfast. I did my engine prestart checks and was underway fairly early. The water was rough, but not too bad. I cruised along slowly and made it to Twin Rivers Marina. I had called them earlier to request a slip for the night. Even though I arrived at closing time, they were nice enough to fuel me up, sell me a couple of beers, and get me tied up for the night. I had a shower in a fairly nasty shower room, but it felt good to get clean.
The Twin Rivers Marina is on the Crystal River. It has a really gorgeous entry channel. It's a fairly long, but really enjoyable passage in and out. Here's a 30 second clip of the cruise on the entry channel. I probably should have stayed to enjoy the scenery and the manatees, but I'm still hurrying along to try to get northbound before hurricane season.
On leaving Twin Rivers, I made plans to get to the Hernando Beach Marina. My GPS doesn't give me an arrival estimate until I am underway. For some reason I miscalculated the distance. My arrival time was after 8p. I don't want to cruise into the unknown after dark (good thing, too). I made up my mind to find an anchorage for the night and not attempt Hernando Beach. I found a place on the GPS, out of the way of any big boats, but still out in the middle of nowhere. I anchored for the night, but the boat rocked all night long. I slept, but not well.
Again, I was up and out fairly early. Everything started well, but then the winds picked up and the waves got really big. I was sort of afraid of running out of fuel. As a result, I donned my life vest and hooked my portable radio onto the waist strap. Had my engine quit, I might have been in real trouble.
I eventually made it to the vicinity of Hernando Beach, but en route I discovered that the marina didn't have pump out services. I really needed a pump out as Twin Rivers didn't have one either. I altered course to get to Sterling Marina. I had a hard time finding the place. The GPS showed watered channels all the way through the area. But, roads had been put in that cut the channels off. Surprise, surprise! I finally got to Sterling and got fueled up and pumped out. I then had to sail about 3 miles around the channels to get to Hernando Beach Marina, which was only about 200 yards away from where I was.
I got to Hernando Beach Marina and tied up for the night. The guys working the front desk were really nice. I asked about shopping and restaurants. There is a restaurant on the premises and a Walmart about 5 miles away. I called the Walmart to refill one of prescriptions and got an Uber to take me there and back. I got a bunch of provisions. Then, I treated myself to dinner at the Tropical Grille. Fish tacos! With blackened grouper!
While having dinner, I planned out today's cruise (4/23/2017). Since there are so few anchorages, I had to hit another marina. So, here I am at Skeleton Key. Nice place. And at least half a dozen people have walked out on my finger pier to complement or comment on my boat. It's been a fun day. And, oh yeah, the water on the Gulf today was smooth as glass. It's amazing how in just a few hours it can go from raging waters to pond-like.
I'm still trying to decide on tomorrow. The wind and wave forecasts aren't real good.

Entering Crystal River

Cruising Without Pants

After the boat work yesterday, I took myself out to dinner again. Went to the same restaurant as the night before. It was pretty good and walkable.

I went to bed early with the intention of getting up early. Good thing. The marina starts early. Their hoist machine was putting boats in the water at 6a. I got up and cleared the decks for departure. I did all the engine pre-start work and made arrangements for fueling up. I backed the boat over to the fuel dock and filled up. I also filled the spare 5 gallon can that I had bought at the marina. I hope not to run out of fuel again!
I was headed out at about 7:30a. It's a long trip through the channel and out into the Gulf. As I was idling along (it's a no wake zone), I noticed that one of my bow lines was dragging in the water.
If that got pulled over the side, it could be disastrous. When I got out to the Gulf, the calm waters of the outbound channel turned really rough. I couldn't stop in the channel. I waited until I got into the Gulf to move that line. I grabbed my boat hook and sat on the starboard gunwale to grab the loose line. As I sat, a wave broadsided the boat and soaked me. I managed to get the line, but I needed to get underway right away. The only choice was to remove the wet pants and cruise on.
It turned out to be another long day cruising, just a little short of 10 hours.

Steinhatchee, Florida

I spent nearly a week in Carrabelle waiting for a weather window and a buddy boat. It wasn't all bad. I drank some beers. I had fresh Gulf oysters and fresh Gulf shrimp. I chatted with passersby. Just about everybody that walks past the boat has a comment.
Saturday (4/15/17), M/Y My Dream arrived at C-Quarters. The owners, Ted and Sue, have cruised all over the place in their Kady Krogen 42. We had beers onboard their boat and chatted away the afternoon. We decided to re-position to Dog Island on Sunday for the crossing to Steinhatchee on Monday.
Sunday, the plans abruptly changed when Ted wound up in the ER. The diagnosis was cellulitis. He was given a course of antibiotics and told to take it easy.
So, instead of going to Dog Island, we stayed at C-Quarters. Ted and Sue invited me over to their boat for Easter Dinner. We decided to head out early Monday for Steinhatchee. The weather forecast was for 10 kt winds and 1/2 meter seas.
We were all up early on Monday. Capt. Kim from C-Quarters was there as were a couple of other loopers. We were on the water at about 0730. It was calm heading out to the Gulf. We rounded Dog Island and the conditions deteriorated quickly. Instead of 1.5 to 2 foot seas, we got 3 to 4 foot seas. Instead of 10 kt. winds, we got 15 kt. winds. For nearly 12 hours, we rocked and rolled across the Gulf. As we entered the channel to approach Steinhatchee, I ran out of fuel. Ted and Sue came back for the rescue. They got a line from their boat to mine. They attached a 5 gallon jug of diesel fuel to the line and I dragged it across to my boat. I got most of the 5 gallons into my boat and with some reluctance, my engine restarted. We made the last 5 or so miles up the Steinhatchee River without incidentl and docked at the Sea Hag Marina.
I treated Ted and Sue to dinner at a nearby restaurant. It was a pleasant walk, there and back. They had already decided to head out in the morning. I was undecided.
I spent a quiet night and got up fairly early. I coiled up the line that we had used to pass the jug of diesel. I had the jug refilled with diesel and returned both the line and the jug to Ted. Ted came over and offered me a little guidance on how to change the main fuel filter on my engine. And then, they took off.
I spent the rest of the morning changing the fuel filter. Not a difficult job, but as I had never done it before, it was a learning experience. I got some help from one of the guys, Rodrigo, here at Sea Hag.
By the time that was done, I had decided to spend another night here. I'll try to get a reasonably early start tomorrow morning.

Lake Wimico to Carrabelle

After a long day's cruise, I spent the night on Lake Wimico. It was a larger lake and a much larger cove than I had anticipated, but after the sun went down, the lake settled.

I had a good night's sleep on anchor. It was here, or near here, that I cruised into the Eastern Time Zone. When I got up it was already after 8a. I had coffee, but skipped a proper breakfast as I wanted to get underway. I did the engine check and got started on my way. I still had a little coffee left, so I had a breakfast bar.

It was mostly a pretty cruise along the Jackson River. This area was a little more natural and a little more beat up by hurricanes than the cut was. I saw several sunken boats, boats out of place, wrecked docks, and abandoned homes.

By early afternoon I had gotten out of the lake and through the Jackson. I entered the Apalachicola River. The wind and waves were coming straight at me. It was rough going. But, my little boat just plugged along. I was running a nearly full power. Then, it got really rough. I entered Apalachicola bay. Again, the wind and the water were against me. It was about an 8 hour run. I had called C-Quarters the previous day and made arrangements for an overnight slip. I called again when I was about an hour out. They were on the dock waiting for me when I pulled in. I filled up on fuel and moved over my assigned slip.

Secure for the night, I had a couple of beers. I was exhausted.

As I write this, it looks like I might be here for a  few more nights. The winds are unfavorable for the 70+ mile crossing to Steinhatchee. I figure as long as I am waiting, I'll get some work done on the boat. The fuel gauge has never worked, so I've got someone coming over to take a look at replacing the sending unit. He says he will also look at repairing the dinghy. I also made a call to a local artist to see about painting the name Traveler on the boat. She hasn't returned my call. So, I'm stuck for a few days, but at least this place is affordable.

I just added up the miles I've traveled thus far... Drum roll, please... 190.1 nautical miles!

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