Saturday, November 2, 2019
It’s good to be moving again! We’ve been stopped in this area for 4 months
now, so new scenery is most welcome. Of
course, we passed this way in 2016 when we began cruising. Today our main concern is how Dory will
handle her new lifestyle. So far, so
good.
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| Dory's first day cruising |
After an uneventful day, we stop at the Fort Walton Beach
Town Dock, a free place to spend the night, even though we need to run our generator for power –
always welcome! With no security and
lots of locals walking the docks, we elect to not leave the boat except to take
Dory for a short walk in the shore side park.
At least we have a magnificent sunset!
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| Sunset, Fort Walton Beach FL Town Dock |
Sunday, November 3, 2019
Another uneventful day finds us in the Panama City
area. This area was devastated by
Hurricane Michael in August 2018. Most
marinas were destroyed and have not yet been rebuilt. Although we would love to be able to get Dory
off the boat for some exercise, that will not happen tonight. Instead we anchor in a cove to get a little protection
from the north wind.
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| Under the Oaks anchorage, Panama City FL |
Monday, November 4, 2019
As we move further east we get a good look at what was once
densely wooded coastline. The damage to the
trees is stunning.
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| Wetappo Creek storm damage |
Derelict boats are washed up and abandoned along the ICW.
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| Wetappo Creek storm damage |
For comparison, here’s an area with less damage.
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| Searcy Creek FL |
We arrive safely in Apalachicola and tie up for one
night. This charming small town was not
as extensively damaged as settlements further west, but it does not appear as
prosperous as when we were here 3+ years ago.
Safe to say it is still known for its local oysters, harvested and
shipped from several nearby facilities.
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| Oyster shells and delivery truck, Apalachicola FL |
Tuesday, November 5, 2019
Although we would like to stay here one more day, we expect
windy weather by mid-week, so we move on to Carrabelle where we will wait for
good weather to cross to the west coast of Florida. The “crossing” is an overnight, 175-mile 20-hour
ordeal, best done in light winds and calm seas.
In anticipation of a wait for the right conditions to leave, we
moved our car to Carrabelle before departing Orange Beach and are happy to have “wheels” for the next few
days.
Wednesday, November 6 – Saturday, November 9, 2019
According to the 2010 census, the population of Carrabelle
was 2778. Small! Much less to see/do here than in Port
Aransas, our home for 21 years, with a similar population. We occupy our days with boat projects and
working with Dory at a local park. We
are starting to train her to retrieve.
She loves to chase balls, but still isn’t keen on bringing them back to
us.
One unique attraction is the Bottle House. Built by a local resident beginning in 2012,
it is an ongoing series of structures built with glass bottles encased in concrete. Visitors welcome!
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| Bottle House, Carrabelle FL |
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| Bottle House, Carrabelle FL |
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| Bottle House, Carrabelle FL |
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| Bottle House, Carrabelle FL |
See what I mean about not much to do here? This was the highlight of our stay! We did drive to a nearby town, St. Marks, to
buy stone crab claws. Lots of work to eat but
wonderfully sweet! And for those of you familiar with Port Aransas, we enjoyed shopping at a very nice IGA (grocery store).
Sunday, November 10 – Monday, November 11, 2019
Finally, we have a favorable weather forecast for our
crossing. We are one of nine boats
planning to depart Carrabelle today. We
have consulted numerous weather sources and all agree that conditions look
ideal with a slight chop for the first few hours, then calming to smooth seas
for the rest of the route. We will keep in
touch with the other boats until we are out of range of their VHF radios. We will move at our own pace and not try to
wait for slower boats nor keep up with faster ones. We have a plan!
We have timed our departure for late afternoon in order to
move through the pass into the Gulf of Mexico before dark. We also need to arrive at our destination,
Clearwater FL, no earlier than mid-morning as our approach direction will be
directly into the morning sun. We
anticipate lots of crab trap floats as we approach Clearwater and need good
visibility to maneuver around them.
We pass St. George Sound inlet and relax when we realize
seas are calm! Last time, in 2016, we
spent weeks agonizing about "the crossing", only to find it an exceptional and
enjoyable experience with spectacular views of the Milky Way. So we are actually pleased to be moving again
and hoping the full moon won’t obscure the stars too much.
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| St. George Sound inlet |
So far, so good for Dory, too!
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| Dory, Gulf of Mexico crossing |
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| Gulf of Mexico crossing |
Imagine our surprise when, about 10 pm, the wind picks up
and the seas start to build.
What??? This is NOT in the
forecast!! As the seas get rougher,
Robert does one of his regular engine room checks and sees a hydraulic fluid
leak on one of the stabilizers. Those
are the gizmos that keep the rough seas from feeling so rough. After a short discussion of pros and cons of
continuing to use the stabilizers, we realize we really must shut them
off. Bummer!
So now the boat is pitching and rolling; we are taking spray
over the top, running the wipers and straining to see waves coming at us from
several different directions in the dark.
With the increased motion, poor Dory is now seasick, throwing up! We decide to turn toward shore in the hope we
will find calmer seas closer to land since the wind is blowing from that
direction. Unfortunately, after
diverting from our direct route for a couple of hours, we realize we are in the
midst of crab trap floats that we can barely see. So we return to deeper water to avoid
entangling our props in the trap lines.
We never did find calmer seas.
And now we have lost almost 4 hours, delaying our arrival in Clearwater
until early afternoon, a 24-hour passage. Never even tried to see the stars!
Needless to say, after all 9 boats arrived safely at our
destinations, there was considerable discussion on how the forecasts could have
been so wrong! We relax for the rest of
the day and catch up on much-needed sleep.
Tuesday, November 12, 2019
We are up early to pick up a rental car, drive back to
Carrabelle, and bring our car to Clearwater – a long day driving in fog and drizzle ahead of another cold front. Just as we return to the boat, strong north winds arrive and we must hurry to secure the boat tighter to our dock, which is totally exposed to the wind blowing down the ICW.
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
By morning, the wind has diminished some and we plan a busy day, running errands, buying groceries, and
preparing for our final run to Fort Myers, where we will stay for at least six
weeks.
Thursday, November 14, 2019
We’re off again, cruising along the ICW, past the densely
developed west coast of Florida.
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| Ridgecrest FL |
Thick stands of Mangroves line the shore, providing privacy
and shelter for many of the homes. This is a lovely area!
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| Ridgecrest FL |
Mid and high rise condos are everywhere.
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| Bay Pines FL |
We pass St. Petersburg and into Tampa Bay, under the Skyline
Bridge, then back into the ICW, thankful for light winds and calm seas in this big open bay. As we
near our stop for the night, we wait for a bascule bridge to open. While we can barely clear most of the many
bridges along this part of our route, this one is a little too low and must open for us.
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| Anna Maria Island bridge |
As we pass under the open bridge we get a good, close look at the bridge operating mechanism. Looks quite simple, doesn’t it?
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| Anna Maria Island bridge |
We tie up for the night at the Seafood Shack in Cortez FL, a
restaurant and marina combo. We agree to
have dinner at the restaurant and get our slip comped in return. Marvelous!
And the food is quite good!
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| Seafood Shack, Cortez FL |
Friday, November 15 – Saturday, November 15, 2019
Moving on, we continue south past Longboat Key and Sarasota to
Venice. Here we will stop for 2 nights
to wait for another cold front to pass.
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| Longboat Key FL |
We discover our slip is positioned in just the wrong
direction, getting the brunt of the wind and waves rolling up the inlet from
the Gulf. Robert stays on board,
watching the lines and working on projects while Dory and I walk to town. This huge Banyan tree (in the Ficus or fig family)
was full of squirrels, which Dory much preferred to town with its shops,
restaurants, traffic and people. She’s
not a city girl yet!
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| Dory, Banyan tree, Venice FL |
Sunday, November 17, 2019
The wind has laid enough for us to leave, so we head south for
one more day of cruising before our winter stop. After an uneventful day, we arrive at The
Marina at Edison Ford and our slip. The
weather today has been dreary but the rest of the week looks fabulous!
Monday, November 18, 2019
Sure enough, the day dawns clear and calm. Temps are expected to warm into the 80s by
late week. We stayed at this marina in
2016 and liked it, so we have booked a slip through Dec. 31 and are getting
settled in for our stay.
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| The Marina at Edison Ford, Fort Myers FL |
We are located next door to the Edison and Ford Winter Estates,
a museum and grounds of the winter homes of Thomas Edison and Henry
Ford. We enjoyed the tour on our last
visit and look forward to spending time here again.
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| Edison and Ford Winter Estates from our slip |
And we have a perfect view of sunsets over the Caloosahatchee
River!
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| Sunset, Caloosahachee River |
