Friday, April 29, 2016

Weather to go or Not!

Since we're moving up the West side of Florida most of our travel has been in the protected waters of the ICW. Overall it's been good traveling but our eye has always been on the conditions for crossing the Gulf from Clearwater to Carrabelle, a 170 mile run over open water completely out of sight of land. When we pulled out of Legacy it looked like Tuesday was going to be the day according to the weather sources I use. (www.marv'sweather.com), (www.passageweather.com), as well as the N.O.A.A. web site. As we progressed along our route it remained looking like Tuesday was the day.

Just down river from Legacy we spotted the Nina & Pinta replicas.

We made our way through the Miserable Mile and turned North passing Useppa Island.

Opposite Useppa is Cabbage Key.

We continued past Cayo Costa State park and were soon going under the new Boca Grand bridge.

Our first night was spent at an anchorage at Cape Haze.

Tourist moved along under the bridges and managed to dodge the weekend warriors who became thicker as we neared the Tampa area. We pulled into Clearwater Beach Marina on Sunday. After topping off the fuel tanks we took a slip for what we thought would be a 2 night stay.

Somewhere South of Venice we passed this abandoned vessel.

We also had this knucklehead pull right out in front of us and then proceed at a speed that I could only duplicate by putting the shifters in neutral!

Just above Venice we passed Pelican .

We had to wait for traffic to clear before we could pass through the Blackburn Point swing bridge.

A typical CF Saturday!

Passing by Sarasota.

Night two found us anchored on the lower side of Tampa Bay at Desoto Point.

Sunshine Skyway over Tampa Bay.

Looking from our slip towards Clearwater.

The nice community had a fireworks display for our arrival!

That night the wind kicked up and the tide shifted making for an unpleasant night for both us and Tourist. By morning we had made the decision to move to Clearwater Harbor Marina for the next couple of nights. That's right. The forecast changed. Now it looked like we may not cross until Friday!

Our empty slip at the Beach Marina.

Our new slip. Much better.

Apparently no one is home?

Monday Pam spent doing Laundry while I cleaned Tourist. Tuesday we walked downtown Clearwater and had lunch before boarding the water taxi and riding back over to Clearwater Beach.

Street art downtown.

More downtown art.

And even more downtown art!

Scientology has a huge presence in Clearwater. This being only one of the buildings they occupy.

 The water taxi docked just behind Tourist.

They had just completed the Sugar Sand Festival on the beach before we arrived.

Clearwater Beach.

Arrrgh! Pirate's on the horizon.

By Tuesday evening it still appeared that Friday would be the smoothest day for a crossing but Wednesday was showing better than before. Forecast winds around 10 knots from the South and seas ranging from 1' to 3' the further North we went. The good news was that the waves would be coming from the South also and that we could run a route more to the East and find smaller seas. Wednesday seemed like an acceptable day.

Morning came and after stopping at the pump out dock we pointed the bow out the pass.

Looking back at Clearwater Beach as the sun comes up.

Our view for the next 170 miles.

7 and a half hours later we were coming through East Pass just South of Carrabelle, Fl.

We went straight into town and took on 307 gallons of diesel.

C-Quarters Marina. Nothing fancy but it's easy in and out and good fuel prices. Also this place has a front porch crowd that would rival the troop that gathers every morning at Legacy!

We made our way back out to the anchorage behind Dog Island to relax and maybe have a cocktail.

The anchorage shown as Shipping Cove on the charts.

The crossing was as forecast with the last 40 miles giving us 3 foot swells from the Southwest topped by 1' waves from the South. While the ride was rolly towards the end it wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as if we were plowing into them. Tourist remained dry throughout the trip.

Thursday we started out intending to make our way to Panama City but as we neared Apalachicola technology got in the way by way of the weather app on my cell phone. Radar was showing a huge storm with plenty of red moving across the Gulf Coast. After a lot of calculation we decided not to chance running into it and found a slip along the wall owned by the Municipal Marina.

Found this bald eagle guarding the ICW in St. George Sound.

At the next marker we found this guy just loafing!

Under the bridge and we're in Apalachicola.

Well curses! We hung out at the boat most of the day doing boat chores and waiting for the storm to arrive. Occasional looks at the radar still showed it but in an increasingly smaller size. It was beginning to look like a wasted stop. That was until we took the marina supplied golf cart for a ride around town. This is when the stop went from wasted to beneficial when Pam found a couple of clothing items in one of the shops!

Our last stop was at the Boss Oyster House for dinner.

From the boats.....

To our table. Yumm!

The bar may be a little hokie.

Waterside dining. Just don't feed the birds!







Sunday, April 24, 2016

The Last Pump out (aka. End of Season)

As we moved into April the roadways heading North started to clog with departing Snowbirds. Not only the roads got busier but so did the waterways with people departing the marina for a variety of destinations. We will shortly become one of the migrating boats heading this year back into the river system.

During the "season" you couldn't buy a stall in the parking lot.

We did have a few end of season gatherings, some of which started in March! Probably the biggest was captured in a picture taken by Marv of M/V DeeLight.


Till next year!

We've been busy preparing for the journey North by waxing Tourist from the roof to the rub rail. Changing oil and fuel filters. And changing one of the exhaust elbows which had started to split.

Out with the old.

New elbow in place.

With all of the work we've been doing Pam thought a little reward was in order. No it's not what you're thinking!

It's Popcorn!

Of course with the lesser crowds it's now much easier to get a table at the local eatery's. We capitalized on this one evening to celebrate Diane's (M/V RiDi) birthday at Capone's. Good food and a good time was had by all in spite of a less than enthusiastic waitress. (She was replaced half way through the dinner.)

Dinner at Capone's.

It seems Diane also had another celebration which interrupted the girls Mah Jongg game one afternoon.

A few of the Mah Jongg girls.
Pam and I also checked out the new Nathan's hot dog restaurant one day while on a provisioning run. The chili cheese dog was great! They also have a selection of burgers and chicken. Judging from the crowd I'd say it's a winner.

Hot Dogs!

On a day that we were to pick up Bru & Sandy (M/V Coconuts) from the airport I was talking to Rich on the dock and he suggested we take the dinghies across the river to Marinatown for lunch. It sounded like a good idea and Pam concurred. The weather was favorable and we would still be back in time for our airport run. We prepped ourselves and the dinghies and away we went. Both units ran just fine. For us this was a treat after fighting an ill running motor for 2 years!

We had a smooth ride across and decided on Cactus Jacks for lunch. Midway through our meal I noticed the wind pick up. I knew this wasn't good but remained silent. Back underway all seemed well while we travelled the protected waters of Marinatown. And then we turned the corner! Pam hid behind a towel and went to the floor while the waves crashed over the bow. Fortunately all our electric gizmos were protected in our backpack.

It was a wet, bumpy ride back across the river but fun!

Pam taking a selfie. Still calm waters!

Marinatown.

Rich & Diane before their salt water bath!

We had a bit of excitement in the marina a few days before we left. We had a visit from an alligator. About a 10 footer! He patrolled a couple of the fairways between docks and looked to be minding his own business. Even so the Fish & Wildlife people were called.

On patrol.

They tried shooting him with a crossbow after luring him close with a taped recording of a female in heat.

After bouncing an arrow off his head they tried casting and hooking him with a big treble hook.
he spun out of that and disappeared. Last report was that he was headed down river.

On our last night at Legacy there was another dock gathering with plenty of food to go around.

Ed's checking out the chicken.

As always plenty of story exchanging.

All too soon it was time to go in (aided by a passing rain cloud). Our last dock gathering was a good one!

Donnie and Rich helped us get away. Thanks guys!

After fueling at the City Marina we took one last look at Legacy and the High Point Condos.

Oh. Don't fret. We did get the last pump out accomplished. Sadly though Pam wouldn't let me post any pictures!