Back to Where We Started

11/17/11 Thursday     There's a cold front coming and it's bringing thunderstorms! A look at the weather radar and it looked like we could get out of Dodge before it hit so off we went. Back into Tampa Bay for a short trip to the ICW and a turn toward Sarasota. We ran at trawler speed for the first 10 miles or so until we hit the open water north of Sarasota. By now it looked like the storm was going to catch us. Using the resources available to us (twin 660hp diesels) we got up on plane and tried to out run it. Normally that doesn't work but this time it did. We slowed down at Sarasota with only a sprinkle catching us. Had we stayed at Desoto Point we would have gotten clobbered. The Coast Guard issued a 0 visibility warning for Tampa Bay as we were travelling.

We worked our way through the various bridges that cross the ICW only needing 3 of them to be opened.

Swing Bridge with the operator on the bridge!

One of the amusing things we spotted was a guy in waders standing in the water right beside the channel. Fortunately I was going slow so he didn't get knocked over by our wake.

Looking for Manatee?

Almost from the time we left Desoto Point we had been trying to call Fisherman's Wharf Marina in Venice each time getting a busy signal. We wanted to arrange for dockage for the night so we could visit my uncle Leo and his wife Jean who live in the area. As we neared I tried the vhf radio only to be informed that they didn't answer it either. What to do? What to do?
We drove in and put Tourist in a slip and walked up to the restaurant which doubles as the marina office. Then we found out that the marina is supposedly closed to transients. Apparently there is a group who live next door that have been blocking the permitting because they don't want to look at the boats. Why then are they living next to the water? Knuckleheads!

Marina neighbors.

Empty marina.

We were allowed to stay because we had come in to escape the "storm". Ironically the boat in the slip next to us was a 55' Hampton that Pam & I had looked at to buy a couple years back. It looked much better now than it did when we looked at it.
After we got the travel grunge off Uncle Leo came over to pick us up. He and Jean showed us around the Venice area before taking us to their club for dinner.

Family Visit.

Dinner was great and the company even better. It's always fun to listen to the stories about the Hillard boys early years! Following dinner we talked them into making a quick stop at Publix before returning to Tourist. Thanks Leo & Jean!

Tina, We found bananas foster in Venice, Fl.!

11/18/11 Friday     Windy! East winds 20 to 25 mph with stronger gusts. Fortunately we are on the ICW and most of our route today is sheltered from any big waves. All went well except that we had to wait for the Boca Grande bridge to open. Always fun in the wind. Once through the ICW we enter Charlotte Harbor which is a large expanse of open water. Remember the wind? Now we had 2 to 3' waves on our port beam. Rock and roll! The good news is that we were only going about 5 miles to Cayo Costa State Park anchorage. We made it without incident and dropped the hook in the shelter of Pelican Bay.

Cayo Costa anchorage.

11/19/11 Saturday     The wind is still blowing but not quite as strong so we decided to drop the dinghy in the water and check out a little cove that normally has manatees in it. We weren't disappointed. We entered the cove and shut off the motor and just drifted. All around us the manatees would drift to the surface, gulp some air and submerge again to forage for food. We gave it our best shot at getting a picture but most of them were camera shy!

Cayo Costa Manatee.

Back at the boat I changed the oil on the generator and some other minor maintenance before collapsing from the exhausting day.

11/20/11 Sunday     Wanting to get on the water before the week-end warriors start moving we pulled out around 7:30am. Our plan worked pretty good until we hit Captiva Island. Shortly after passing south Seas Plantation four boats at different times roared past us without so much as a wave. Now I'm not one of those whiners that cries every time we get rocked but I would like a little room to be able to turn into their wake. These clowns felt that they had to be close enough to shake hands!

The remainder of the day went well and we pulled into Ft. Myers Beach and grabbed a mooring ball. After paying our fee we took the dinghy over to Parrot Key Bar and watched the Packer game while eating lunch.

Packers Score!

Of course I had to have a brat for lunch. Good, but not the same as pulling one off the grill in the parking lot at Lambeau Field!

Fine Dining @ Parrot Key Grill.

The Pack went on to beat Tampa Bay and stay undefeated.

Unlike most times we've stayed at the mooring field it was almost empty. Maybe because it's still off season and maybe because they've pulled up 20 moorings and not replaced them. I think a combination of the two.

Empty Mooring Field @ Ft. Myers Beach

Tourist at the mooring field.

11/21/11 Monday     Not needing to be in  hurry we didn't unhook from the mooring ball until a bit after 9am. Our immediate destination was Ballard's Fuel Dock to top off the diesel tanks. Ballard's isn't fancy but they consistently have the lowest prices around and they move a lot of fuel which means it hasn't been sitting in their tanks getting stale and collecting moisture in this humid environment.

Ballard's Fuel Dock.

We completed fueling and pulled out at 10am. Just a short ride to the Caloosahatchie River and the final leg of this journey. We took advantage of the incoming tide and headed towards Legacy Harbour where we started from on April 1st.

You know you're getting close when you can spot the condos next to the marina.

Legacy Harbour. Our home away from home!

We pulled in to what Pam now considers "our slip", under the careful supervision of a small gathering of friends. We barely got the lines tied before the hugs and handshakes began! (Sorry the camera was still on the dash). After everything settled down we hooked up the power cable and trotted over to Joe's Crab Shack for what has become our traditional first day back lunch. While we were sitting there fellow Galenian's Marc & Michelle McCoy walked in. They are also doing the loop and are keeping their boat, Marc's Ark at Legacy. Guess I have to behave now!

Always the slave driver Pam made me get right to work washing the salt and grime off of Tourist as soon as we got back to the dock. No nap today!

If my math is correct since we left on April 1st we have been out 235 days of which we have spent 180 on Tourist and we're still talking to one another. I think we can do this cruising "thing"!



Do We Stay or do We Go?

11/14/11 Monday     One of the good things about Dog Island in addition to the natural beauty is a good internet connection. With that I can check out the various weather sites to check on conditions for our crossing . What I found was a mixed bag. One said 2' to 3' seas for today. One said 3' to 4'. One said if we stay closer to shore we could expect 2' or less. All were consistent with winds speeds of around 15 knots from the Southeast and waves from the same direction. Our destination once we cross is Tarpon Springs, about 150 miles if we go straight from East Pass to Anclotte Key.

We pulled the anchor at 6:45am and headed to the pass leading out to the gulf. As soon as we rounded the point of Dog Island we could feel the swells rolling in as Tourist glided up and over them. Once we cleared the channel I set the auto helm for Tarpon Springs. The waves were manageable at between 2' to 3' on the nose, not bad but a little jerky when the occasional 4 footer came along. All went well until about 8:30am when the 4 footers became the norm with more than an occasional 5 footer thrown in. We throttled back to minimize the pounding and made a course change to take the waves more on the starboard bow. Better but we were still pounding and taking sheets of spray over the flybridge. All of this made it extremely challenging to make your way to the head let alone take care of business. After travelling like this for an hour or so I decided to head more directly towards shore still taking the waves on the starboard bow but now the impact was much softer. Eventually we got back into 2' to 3' waves and were able to turn more to the south. As we continued we were finally able to set a direct course for Tarpon Springs and pick up some speed. Now all we have to worry about are the crab pots!

We hit the north end of Anclote Key around 3:30pm and headed towards the Anclote River and Tarpon Springs.

Anclote River @ Tarpon Springs.

By 4pm we had covered 171 miles and were in our slip at Tarpon Landing Marina ready for a cocktail!

Once we decompressed and cleaned up the smell of Greek food was too great not to be seduced by it. Off to find it's source we went. Tarpon Springs is noted for it's large Greek community who settled here to dive for sponges many years ago. Now not so many sponges but they have figured out how to use their history to attract tourists. We wandered across the bridge and found Mama's Restaurant. On almost every menu in town are Fried Smelt and Mama's was no exception. That's where we ( I ) started.

Fried smelt appetizer.

We each had more food than we needed and left with doggie bags of our unfinished meals. Don't be mistaken. The taste was as good as the aroma promised! Fortunately we had a nice walk back to Tourist to work off some of the meal.

11/15/11 Tuesday     The Tourist crew decided to take a down day today. That meant that I scrubbed Tourist from top to bottom on the outside and Pam did the same on the inside. Later we strolled through town checking out the shops and stopping at a Greek bakery for some baklava before returning to the boat.

Tarpon Landing Marina.

Sponge Boat

Sponge Diver Monument.

11/16/11 Wednesday     Today the first order of business after departing Tarpon Landing was to travel about a quarter mile downstream to F & Y Inc. and take on fuel. Nothing more than a commercial fuel dock but they have the best prices in the area. And believe me we needed the savings after our gulf crossing. Tourist was thirsty! Ouch!!!
Our next mission was to find a pump out station. The unit at Tarpon Landing wasn't working and we were getting full. Fortunately as we neared Clearwater I overheard two boats talking about a free pump out station right along the ICW. Not long after we came upon it and pulled in. A nice new facility that is easy to get into and not complicated to use. Mission 2 accomplished. The cruising life sure is exciting isn't it?

All along our route today we had dolphins playing in our wake. Pam shot a short video of a couple of them.

They followed us for about 15 minutes before breaking off to entertain someone else.

Our travels took us along the Sunshine Skyway and across Tampa Bay to the Manatee River and our anchorage that we've used before, Desoto Point.

Sunshine Skyway.

Desoto Point anchorage.

We got the anchor set and relaxed a bit before cleaning up for dinner. Tomorrow...On to Venice!

Panhandler's

11/6/11 Sunday     Down day at Grand Mariner Marina. Highlights of the day; Wal-Mart run (sad!) and watching the Packer's win!

11/7/11 Monday     Big day today. In our trips through the area we have never stopped at Fairhope, Al. on the east side of Mobile Bay. Today is the day. Pam wanted to check out Fairhope and I wanted to get the props changed to hopefully eliminate a slight vibration. 11 miles across the bay to Eastern Shores Marina. Marina might be stretching it when trying to describe this place. Like Dog River Marina, it is a working boat yard with a few slips for rent.  We pulled up to the fuel dock to check on the timing of the haulout. When I told the yard foreman what size our props and shafts were and that I didn't want them to pound them off with a hammer he said we had a problem. Their prop puller wouldn't fit my shaft. (No joke's please!) Having already committed to staying we went to our slip with the old props still in place.
Pam went to town and found a small community much like our hometown of Galena. A variety of shops all geared to the tourist. Upon her return Ed the owner of the marina came to the boat and said they would have a puller to fit our shafts by morning. We could be hauled first thing if we still were interested.  We agreed and settled in for the night.

11/8/11 Tuesday     7am and it's time to go to the travel lift for the haulout. Up and out went Tourist. The prop puller did the trick as they came off with a bang! Within a few minutes the new props were in place and Tourist was going back in the water.

Props in place. Ready to splash!

By 9am we were heading out into Mobile Bay and on to the GICW and points East. Near the lower end of the bay we were hailed on the vhf by an officer of the Alabama Marine Police wanting to know the name of our boat and where we had spent last night. Odd, but that was it and he sped off. We hit the protected waters of the intercoastal and cruised past Lulu's restaurant (Jimmy Buffet's sister).

Lulu's

 Shortly after Lulu's we were passed again by the same officer who had hailed us earlier. Meanwhile in our rear view mirror I could see a familiar boat catching up to us. Lindonia who we had last seen at Bobby's a few days back. Still a good distance back we could see them at various times as we traversed the waterway. We hit Wolf Bay and here comes the Marine Police again. This time with his lights on and another officer with him. Once we came to a stop they were quick to inform of what was going on. Turns out a boat similar to ours from Chicago had fueled at Grand Mariner and took off without paying. They wanted to know if we had seen them in our travels and let us know who to call if we did.

Counterpart to the boat that stopped us.

We continued on to anchor near Pensacola in an area at the east end of the Big Lagoon. Us, Lindonia, and another boat, Atlantis anchored for the night in this tranquil spot. We were near the Pensacola Naval Air Station and were able to watch a variety of planes coming and going.

Anchorage near Pensacola.

11/9/11 Wednesday     An easy morning enjoying our coffee before pulling anchor and heading into Pensacola. We pulled into Palafox Pier Marina by 10:30am and started to clean the salt off of Tourist and get ready for a visit to the National Museum of Naval Aviation.

Naval Aviation Museum.

We spent the afternoon looking at all types of aircraft and reading the stories of the people who flew them.

Pensacola is home to the Blue Angels.

One of the attractions at the museum is an Imax Theater in which we watched the Blue Angels go through their routine. I say watched but at times it was as though we were in the co-pilots seat twisting and turning right along with them!

The next slide said "No Photography in the Theater"  OOPs!
We finished the day with a delicious meal at the Fish House Restaurant located just a few blocks from the marina.

11/10/11 Thursday     With small craft warnings issued for the waterways we chose to depart anyway. Winds from the north caused the bay to be a bit lumpy but once we turned east it settled down to a light chop which had little effect on Tourist. By mid afternoon we found our way into Joe's Bayou near Destin to anchor for the night.

I know it's down there!

11/11/11 Friday     Today we travelled across Chocktawahatchie Bay enroute to Panama City. St. Andrew's Marina is on the west side of Panama City and is home to quite a few shrimp boats. Not the best marina in the area but we chose it because of it's proximity to the Captain's Table Restaurant. A spot that we've been to before. Our reason for going.....the Baked Cajun Oysters! Yummm!

Almost forgot to take a picture!

St. Andrew's Marina

11/12/11 Saturday     This morning before we pulled out we went to the farmer's market located next to the marina and then bought some fresh shrimp from the shrimp guy who has a stand on pontoons in the corner of the marina.

Farmer's Market

Pam & the Shrimp Guy.

The route east from Panama City winds through a series of bays and narrow waterways enroute to Apalachicola.

No markers, just stay in the middle.

Sights along the way.

After 2 calls to Scipio Creek Marina we finally confirmed a slip for the night. In our travels through here over the years neither of us had stopped in Apalachicola so this was the time. The marina isn't much with no help at the docks, just a "come into the office when you get tied up". In what is now a recurring theme, we stopped here for the raw oysters. Papa Joe's is located right next to the marina and isn't any more impressive to look at than the marina itself. But looks are deceiving. The food was killer. Started off with a dozen raw oysters! We each had an entree and for desert we had another dozen raw oysters! By the way. I now weigh 500 pounds!

Scipio Creek Marina & Papa Joe's

Notice the presentation on the cafeteria tray.

We waddled back to the boat and passed out after dinner.

11/13/11 Sunday     With only a short distance to Carabelle today we decided to walk downtown. An old Florida town that now caters mostly to tourists. Of course there wasn't much open on a Sunday morning so the wallet got a rest.

Apalachicola downtown.
Once we were back to Tourist we headed out to cross Apalachicola Bay passing the oyster fishermen on our way and arriving in Carabelle shortly after lunch.

Oystermen in Apalachicola Bay.

Heading into Carabelle.
We fueled up at C-Quarters Marina and were able to use the owners truck to run to the deli for some sandwich meat before heading out to Dog Island to anchor for the night.

Sunset over Dog Island.

Demopolis to Dog River (Mobile)

11/3/11 Thursday     Our hopes to be the only boat leaving Demopolis today were squelched when I looked outside at 6am and saw lights on in 3 other boats! Shortly after one of them made a call to the lock and was told to head on down. Just like ants at a picnic the boats appeared at the lock. When the gates closed there were 9 boats in the lock. Normally even at a slow speed we are faster than most boats so after some vhf chatter we had a plan of departure from the lock. That is until the lockmaster said for the side with the slowest boats to leave first. Well, after the lock we got the order established and we took off with Lindonia on our heels. Maybe it's just because I'm an only child , but I just don't like running in a pack.

Ants filing into Demopolis Lock.

97 miles later we pulled into Bobby's Fish Camp to spend the night and partake of some of their famous catfish for dinner. We decided to raft off of Lindonia since we knew several of the other boats would be coming in and it would be better to raft with someone you know and trust.

Rafted at Bobby's Fish Camp

By evening the others showed up with one boat going back upstream to anchor because he didn't want to raft off another boat. We ended up with 5 boats tied to their dock. In true boater fashion we had cocktails first and then went up to what has become an institution on the trip down the river. Pretty much you have the choice of catfish, catfish, or catfish! Beer they have but bring your own wine.  A rustic place for sure with memorabilia and other junk hanging all over the walls. In spite of the decor dinner was good and we can now say we've been there!

Bobby's Fish Camp

Memorial to the late Bobby in front of the restaurant.

11/4/11 Friday     Up and off at 7am headed to the Coffeeville Lock. Our last lock of this trip. Not all of the boats from yesterday made the first lockage so the order of departure wasn't hard to figure out. Some of the boats wanted to make it all the way to Dog River or Fairhope 136 miles away so we let them go. Our plan was to get to the Alabama River Cut-Off anchorage, about half way to Dog River. The cruise was uneventful until we entered the twisting, turning part of the river and saw the nose of a tow coming around the bend. A quick call to the tow to see where he wanted me and his response was "put it on the beach!". He had his nose on the red buoys and his stern almost hitting the bank. That left us about 100' between the reds and the shore. We got out of the way and continued on our way. The boat following didn't get out of the channel far enough and the tow had to come to a stop by putting his nose into the river bank. I'm sure he wasn't happy but never showed it on the vhf.
The river below Coffeeville has several switchbacks that make it interesting when you travel through it.

Chartplotter showing the twisting river.

Meeting a tow with plenty of passing room.
We continued on passing retirement homes and a kayaker on our way to the anchorage.

Retirement home.

Kayaker heading south.

We arrived at the anchorage and when the boat started swinging toward the bushes Mr. Lazy decided to deploy a stern anchor.

Alabama Cut-Off anchorage.

Behind us there were 4 other boats that I know of but couldn't see.

11/5/11 Saturday     Fog!!! Finally we saw a tow going by northbound and decided to go. Not the best visibility but enough.

M/V Tosmo following in the mist.

All went well until arriving at the 14 mile RR bridge. The old swing bridge has just recently been replaced with a lift span and the bugs aren't worked out yet. The bridge tender was all apologies and suggested maybe we could do a little fishing while we waited.

New 14 mile lift span.

Old 14 mile swing span on barges waiting to be taken away.

An hour later with no fish caught they raised the bridge and we cruised on into Mobile harbor and beyond to Mobile Bay.

M/V Moon Lady

Hey B-Gravy. I see your old jeep!

New Navy ship being built.

There was plenty of commercial activity as we passed through Mobile before arriving at Grand Mariner Marina for the next couple of nights. Of course this means we're back in salt water. Bring on the dolphins! Pam has been practicing her call for the past couple of days.