We waited 11 days for a weather-window that would allow us to safely make the crossing from Florida’s Panhandle to the West Coast. Criteria: winds no higher than 10 mph; waves no greater than 2 feet. We spent 4 days in Panama City Beach, 3 days in Port St. Joe and 2 days in Apalachicola. Even though we spent the fewest days in Apalachicola, it was the most endearing of the three stops. Its the one where we took the most pictures... oysters, shrimp boats, historical homes and friendly townspeople. On Fri. Jan 13, just as we were settling into Apalachicola for another week of waiting, Eddy’s Weather Wag gave us the go-ahead we needed to cross on Saturday and Sunday, Jan 14 and 15. With full fuel and water tanks and an empy black water tank, SUMMERTIME was ready to hit the high seas. We began to gather all the creature comforts we needed to carry us through the 24 hour crossing: a comforter and pillows, a variety of finger foods, bottles of water and an audio book up in the pilot house. Would we find any other 8 mph Loopers to make the crossing with us? Four cruisers arrived in town on Friday. We enjoyed our reunion with VALENTINE AND REVEILLE, but our hopes for having company through the night were dashed. They were mostly faster boats, 12-15 mph, and all were headed for Crystal River, FL... not Tarpin Springs. Oh well, alone again.
We departed Apalachicola at 9:30 Sat. morning. Our 24 hour trip would put us on the West Coast well after sunrise so we could clearly see the crab pots in the water. Wrapping pot warp around our propeller could really spoil an otherwise pleasant cruise! We could have entered The Gulf through Government Cut, but instead we cruised inside St. George Island to Carrabelle’s Dog Island. After checking the anchorage there for any Looper boats about to make the crossing... there were none...(deep sigh) we made our way out to Marker #2. It was now 1:30 pm. Here we put the auto pilot on a 137 degree course heading for Marker #4 150 miles away. There would be no other markers in the water to guide us! We were surprised to find ourselves in 70-80 feet of water... Florida waters are notably shallow along the West Coast. Every once in a while a pod of 6-8 dolphins would joyfully play along our bow, able to maintain our 7-8 mph speed for a few minutes. From nightfall at 7 pm until midnight the seas continued to be smooth, the winds light. By 12:30 the seas had freshened up a bit with waves heights 2-4 feet and winds 10-15 mph. Coming from the east, the waves smacked SUMMERTIME against her beam, causing us to rock and roll until about 5 am. We took one-hour watches, Wally choosing the even hours, me the odd hours. It was amazing that we each woke up just as our hour of sleep was ending... must be all those one hour naps we’ve come to enjoy each afternoon! Sirius radio kept us company (’70’s on 7) long after our phone service ended about 20 miles off shore. Nicholas Sparks’ The Long Ride was precious with Ira, Ruth, Sophia and Luke intertwining their stories.
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| Apalachicola River departing to Dog Island |
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| Crossing the Gulf of Mexico |
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| Sunset on the gulf |
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| Radar and Chart Plotter keeping us company through the night |
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| Moonrise at 9:00....finally some light |
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| Dredge Pipe on the move |
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| Enjoying a well earned nap |
From the folks at the Tarpin Springs Marina, our intended destination, we learned that their harbor was too shallow to enter until high tide at 2 pm. Since it was barely 9:30 am, we decided to move on down the coast to the deeper harbor at Clearwater Beach, adding another 3 hours to our already exhausting 24 hour trip. Just as our spirits needed lifting, dolphins came careening in from all quarters. At least a dozen gathered along our bow, cavorting with each other and SUMMERTIME for at least 10 minutes before veering away. What a welcoming treat!
As we strolled along Clearwater’s sugar-white strand of sand, we chanced to chat with a young Asian couple. Their 5 month-old baby was having his first beach day. “When we dipped his feet in the water, he cried,” his mom confided. “My husband did, too,” I replied with a smile. We all chuckled. The water certainly did have a chill that was not inviting many partakers.
The Albin 36 trawler in the slip beside us has a hailing port of Waterville, Maine. It didn’t take us long to discover that the three brothers on board once owned a supermarket chain with a store in my hometown of Lincoln. “You mean Giguere’s”. Yes, indeed. It was my family’s major food store in the ’60’s and ’70’s... small world!
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| The Ellis family "Wall of Fame" |
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