Crossing the Gulf of Mexico to get Home

Our Approach to Old Bridge Village

Well we crossed the Gulf of Mexico on our way to our Floridian home.  Crossing the Gulf of Mexico is not to be taken lightly. The Gulf is about 1,500 km wide. The winds here are often gale force.  Many hurricanes come in this gulf on their way to land.  The latest ones were Irma, Maria and Nate.  We've seen some recent hurricane damage while in Mobile, Alabama and travelling down the panhandle.

Carrabelle, our waiting town is not very big.  We found three restaurants and three museum.  There may have been more, but because of our lack of wheels, we don't always explore. We had to fix the flat on my bicycle. Tried to go for a ride that evening but I had a flat again. We were leaving the next day, so we had it fixed again in Tarpon Springs.

At Fisherman's Wife

There are a lot of ways to cross the Gulf, but its a matter of choice and boat types. We waited severals days for the ideal conditions for the Gulf crossing. Because of the winds and the size of the Gulf, we think this was the most serious part of our voyage.  The crossing from Carrabelle to Tarpon Springs is 170 miles. We normally travel 50 to 70 miles in a day at 10 mph.  So 170 miles is a long journey for us.  We travelled at 15 mph, a bit faster then usual to avoid travelling at night. 

We went to Dog River the day before and anchored near the Gulf to prepare for an early morning departure.  It was fun playing in the sand.

Mismatched feet

Sand Angel

Shelling

New toy idea!

Dog island sunset

Had fun watching this little machine as we waited for sunset.












We left just before dawn, it was still dark outside.  It was fun watching the sunrise on the Gulf, but a bit daunting because it was red.  I wanted to call my sailor sister to ask: "What do they say about a red sunrise again?"  Unfortunately, no telephone reception on the Gulf.  The seas were fairly calm and it was too late to go back by then. The pictures of the sunrise do not do it justice.  It was quite an experience, about an hour in we could not see any sign of life or land except our buddy boat. We have experienced this before, but we still had 11 hours to go. We had been by boat on the Gulf before, but not for this long or this far. 

Also saw a lot of huge jelly fishes.  The biggest we've ever seen.  They are prettier floating.

Jelly fish on shore.  Hard to photograph in water.

Also saw the sunset twelve hours later, but by then we were so worried about running out of gas or of hitting the crab pots.  It looked like we were in a mine field of crab pots.  They can do serious damage to your boat.  So did not bother with the camera.

When we arrived in Tarpon Springs, the sun had set and it was getting dark.  We saw an anchorage and dropped the anchor.  We would worry about finding gas and make our way to the marina in the morning to meet up with our buddy boat.  We had 16 gallons of gas left according to our gauge.  The generator provides us power for running appliances and stuff.  We had so little fuel that it would not start. It's probably a safety thing.  We could have jumped in the dinghy and gone for a nice meal, but since it was a long day, we had some cold appetizers and we went to bed very early.

The next morning, we woke up to a beautiful calm day. We had slept 12 hours! Turns out there was a fuel pump about a mile from where we anchored.  So we worried needlessly.  We went up the Anclotte River to Tarpon Springs.  We highly recommend this stop.  It is one of the nicest stop so far for us.  This is like being in Greece!  Good food, fun place and in a bit of a tourist meca.  It is the Sponge capital.

We had friends Gerald and Anne from our home port marina, in Britt visit us.  What a surprise! It was nice to spend time with them.  The boys had more fun then us girls.  Deep in conversation as we shop and them working on their bucket list.

Working on my bucket list!

We could have stayed longer in Tarpon Springs but we are also anxious to get to our Florida home.  We went to St. Petersburg, a big city!  We started breakfast at the airport.  It's an easy walk from the marina. We never walked to an airport before. Why not watch planes and helicopters land as you enjoy a meal. We visited the city and the Dali museum during the day. We were invited to dinner at friends of friends from our home town.  They winter in Florida here.  It turns out we know a lot of their friends and family.  We met a couple who knew my Dad. It was fun to celebrate our third month adventure with friends.

Hanger Restaurant downtown airport

History Museum

Dali Museum

 Our next stop was in Venice.  The marina we are visiting sells fuel at cost, but we didn't need much gas. The Crow's Nest restaurant was very nice.  I had a delicious meal of the local soft shell crabs. From the marina, it's a quick walk to the beach.

The next day, we hurried to our Floridian home.  We had thought of doing it in two days, but we were excited as we neared it. Only 75 miles, and we have done many such journeys.  It was fun to ride with dolphins again.

We drove under pretty ominous clouds on our right. At one point we couldn't see behind or over us.

 It may have been better to stop but we were pretty excited to dock our boat at home in North Fort Myers.




This is my last blog this year.  We will stay here until January 9, 2018 and my blogging will resume then. Thank you for following our journey and we like all your comments.

We've done almost half of our journey.  There's an approximate line of our travel across the Gulf. 

The Florida Pan Handle.

Left the waves splashing around us, the center Luc navigating the waterway and on the right a beautiful beach where Luc wants to retire to.

Well it's not all fun and games on the loop.  We spent a week at Turner Marine for an oil change and maintenance stuff.  The boat is working well, and we want to keep it that way.  While we were waiting, we explored Dog River by dinghy.  Saw the rich and the poor side of living on and off the water. Interesting rides in the bayou.

Flood marker

After we left Alabama, we stopped at the famous Lulu's restaurant.  Jimmy Buffet's sister owns it.

We crossed into Florida as we travelled the Panhandle up to Carrabelle.  We are travelling so close to the Gulf without having to travel in it. So many beautiful beaches, wildlife and interesting sights.  We were greeted by a pool of dolphins as we crossed into Florida's water.

Parasailing

We stopped in White City free dock.  Pretty small town.  There we saw ten homes, a park and a gas station.  It was interesting, the time change was just across this river.  

From Carrabelle, we will probably do the long crossing of 171 miles across the Gulf of Mexico. The other option is the Big Bend.  It is four stops.  The weather will probably be the deciding factor so we'll see.  Now we have arrived in Carrabelle and the waiting begins for a weather window.  It looks like Friday is promising.  Meanwhile we will visit our surroundings. We started by eating at Fantom.  An open air restaurant with live entertainment. We got a real taste of Florida there.

Here is our journey so far.

You can't cross the sea by merely standing and looking at the water.

A third of the way

Well we are completed almost a third of the loop.  We have travelled 350 miles down the Tenn-Tom and Mobile River since my last blog.  It was a long journey. At time there wasn't much to see but it was interesting to watch the landscape change from the white dried cliffs, the pine forests and the bayous. Now we can see alligators.   Haven't seen any yet but keeping my eyes open.

To get an idea of how winding the river is.  The fog is on the river ahead.

We anchored out several nights as the marinas were far and few.  It wasn't a bad thing. We explored by dinghy and made more looper friends.

We lucked out as a must stop was closed on Wednesday  but Bobby's Fish Camp opened for us.  We were able to celebrate Halloween there with other boaters.

Drone shot at Bobby's Fish Camp.

Waiting for the famous catfish dinner.

We travelled down the Mobile River. It was a highway of barges and as we neared Mobile it was mayhem.   The big ocean going ships and submarines were in the harbor along with tows and barges. We really looked small in there.

Mobile, AL downtown

Now we are stopped for a couple of days.  Here we are resting under a bridge and for boat maintenance before we enter the journey to the Gulf of Mexico with a full moon to lead the way

Turner Marine

With limited internet, I won't post our journey so far.  If you look at the map, it appears that we are went nowhere. It is actually a long winding river.  We anchored several nights along the way.

Mark Twain. “It is with rivers as it is with people: the greatest are not always the most agreeable, nor the best to live with.