mvalwayshome

Good Morning, Loopers and Cruisers!!

Gulf of Mexico – Here we come!!  We were up early to get the last minute preparations done before hitting the water.  We didn’t sleep as well as we expected probably because of anticipation and excitement.  Wayne was thinking about all the things that had to be done before we left the dock.  I was thinking about the long journey – overnighter – that we hadn’t done in a long long time.  Did I copy enough music and interviews on my iPod to last the night?  Will the interviews be strange enough to keep us awake and alert?  Will the music have that “keep me awake at all hours” beat?  You know… preparations for an all-nighter.  Snack food is a given.  Caffeinated drinks is a given.  They are the easy preparations, actually.  We are ready!  Let’s go!!

Leaving Apalachicola Marina

Here is a small map of the area as we leave Apalachicola.  We will be cruising eastward toward “East Pass” between St. George Island and Dog Island.  There is another pass that we were thinking about going through from Apalachicola Bay to the Gulf – The Government Cut.  The rumors we heard was the Government Cut was deep because the shrimp boats go through there all the time.  The approach would be the problem.  The water gets shallow and sandy bottom is constantly changing.  We opted to go the long way around and go through the “East Pass”.  As far as we know, there is no problem with water depth going that way.  Easy Peasy!

NOTE:  See those numbers in the white portion of the chart above?  11, 12, 14, kind of numbers?  They are not feet.  When we were out into that deeper water, we saw 70 -80 feet.  What gives?  Checking the charts, we found the units were in Fathoms.  Which is 6 feet.  So 12 x 6 = 72 feet.  About right.  We thought 12 feet was too shallow for the Gulf.  Ooops.  Things to remember…check the units of measure!

Upon entering the Apalachicola Bay, we met with a large tow and barge we hadn’t seen since the Rivers.  It was cruising right along and finally made its 90° turn toward us in the ICW preferred channel.  It looked huge!!  It looks like it is making a bee-line right toward us.  We increased our speed to get out of its way!

Tow making its turn toward us after leaving Apalachicola

We watched the tow approach the Green marker.  It looked like it was going to run it over! By the way, the channel was rather shallow around this turn.  We were in maybe 7 feet water giving us very little room to move out of the Tow’s way and not hit aground.  The tow did run over the marker!  It popped right back up after the tow got past it.  Glad everything worked out for all of us and the marker!  There is another Looper behind us and they will need that marker to stay in the channel.

The water looks pretty good.  Not flat as a pancake, but very low wave action.  I would estimate less than a foot.  Nearly perfect cruising conditions.  56°F, sunny, and clear!

Entering East Pass toward the Gulf of Mexico

12:45pm Entering the Gulf of Mexico!! Nov. 29, 2015

On our way across the Big Bend with 2 other Loopers in the lead

Gulf of Mexico – view along the way

Sunset on the Gulf of Mexico

Our chart plotter has a night-time screen option.  Certainly will come in handy during our overnighter.  As night fell, we got our red lights out.  Always Home doesn’t have red night-time lighting.  Who cruises at night?  Normally, we wouldn’t even think about it!   We read that to save your night vision you need red lights.  We found a string of red LED Christmas lights and a couple of light bulbs.  We hung the light string above the helm.  The light bulbs went into light fixtures in the saloon and back enclosure area.  I don’t know what we looked like in the water from a distance, but it certainly worked for us.

Red Christmas lights for our helm area – Wayne manning the helm

Moon rising just above the horizon

10:30pm Moon Reflections on the Gulf of Mexico waters

The night passed as boring as it is always hoped it to be.  During the night we kept our eye out for the other boats traveling with us.  We saw a couple more boat lights in the distance.  The two Loopers started angling for Tarpon Springs, north of Clearwater just after midnight.  We were on our path to Clearwater.  The distance between us increased but we could still see each other and contact between the boaters was made during the night.

We went from smooth to lumpy water.  That means the boat intermittently went up and down, side to side.  Then we had smooth again.  The wave action wasn’t so bad that we couldn’t walk around the boat.  We did.  Just really carefully.  It would be called the boat dance.  Walking between the waves.  Yes, every tenth wave was a bit higher than the preceding nine.  Yes, I had plenty of time to count.  Sometimes, we had 2 high waves in a row.  I lost my count and had to start over again.  😉  That is how you stay awake past midnight!

We were steering southeast all night.  Jupiter made an excellent ‘star’ to focus on.  Straight ahead in the night sky.

I took these dawn pictures and had no idea they weren’t straight until I posted them here.  You can see the rollers.  What would you say?  1.5 feet?  Less than 2 feet was predicted.  They were correct!  Wayne would argue that these were higher than 2 feet, though.

7.04am – sunrise on the Gulf of Mexico 11-30-15

7.06am – sunrise on the Gulf of Mexico 11-30-15

After Jupiter and Mars rising in the eastern sky, came our Sun!  It was quite blinding and we were glad we were still out in the Gulf.  As we approached the coast line, we were expected to start seeing Crab Pot buoys.  About 10 miles out, we saw our first of many crab pot markers.  I call them “daubers”, for short.  I blogged about them months ago.

9.25am – sun reflections on the Gulf of Mexico

Is that the city on the horizon??  Can you see the daubers?  We could barely.  I ended up standing and staring into the sunny reflections for any round thing in the water.  Luckily most of the crab pots were our of our cruising heading.

That is civilization!!  Clearwater in the horizon!

10:30am Approaching Clearwater, Florida

We docked.  We had lunch and a couple of beers in celebration of surviving the night.  We napped.  Then we checked in.  The Clearwater Downtown Harbor Marina staff were busy helping other boaters arrive behind us.  Everyone exhausted and glad that trip was over.

Sunset in Clearwater, Florida

Good morning Loopers and other Floridians!!

We are leaving Panama City and heading east to Apalachicola to get ready for the Gulf of Mexico crossing.  How exciting!  How scary!!  The last “big water” for Always Home as we finish our Loop.  This is a 61 mile day.  Should be an easy 6 hours going at 10mph.  Right?  Well, there is a current that runs through these channels, rivers, and bays.  Tides, even!  It may take us more like 7-7.5 hours.

Leaving Panama City Marina – finally

We decided to cruise to Apalachicola and cross the Gulf from there hoping to find other like minded boaters and Loopers to do the crossing with.  There is a 3 day window opening up and it is time to get in position.  It will be a shorter journey across the water from Apalachicola than from Panama City.  Also, we hear the oysters in Apalachicola are the best!

What a glorious day to be on the water!!  Even the pelicans think so.  We saw this pod or squadron of pelicans floating around in the water watching us cruise by.

Group of Pelicans = squadron or pod

The smells of industry that wafted through the fly bridge from time to time while we were in Panama City Marina can be daily explained by this paper mill factory.

Busy paper mill factory

Can you believe these waters?  Less than 10mph winds and almost flat bay.  Awesome!!

East Bay near Panama City, Florida

Entering the GIWW or ICW.  You can see the trees on either side of the “ditch” protect you from wind pretty much.  The water is flatter and calmer.  No need for a ‘magenta line’ since there isn’t anywhere to go but within the channel.  We also can’t get lost.  We only had one go-fast boat pass us by.  We saw a couple of fishermen.  That is all.  What a beautiful day to be on the water.

Surprisingly, we had to navigate around debris!  We haven’t seen this kind of debris since the rivers.  Just unexpected.  Logs, trees fallen over into the water blocking the channel, and floating gardens of water plants.  This means we couldn’t just put on the autopilot and let the boat drive by itself.  We had to stay vigilant and aware.  As always!

Debris!

Floating Log!

Some Loopers have taken this channel to Port St. Joe before going on to Apalachicola.  We decided we didn’t want to stop there if we are hoping to cross the Gulf soon.  Maybe we can visit this city next time.

ICW cutoff to Port St. Joe

Can you tell the difference between these two pictures?

Bet you can’t!!  They were taken just moments apart BUT the time changed and we had to move our clocks up on hour!!  I aged instantly!  Really.  How does anyone travel the country going through time changes constantly?  Do truckers really know where they are and what time it is?

Because of the time change, we arrived in Apalachicola later than we expect.  An hour later!  😉  Time enough to get settled at the Face Dock provided by the Apalachicola Marina near the “ice house”.  The dock hand told us to go up the Scipio Creek till we see the brick building they are working on.  We actually found him waving before we noticed the building.  It looks pretty bad from the back side in the dusky light.  The back side of the building is being torn down brick by brick.

Face Dock View of the building being torn down

Apparently they are taking the bricks from the back of the building and refinishing the front of the building.  The front looks pretty darn good in the morning!  I like the idea of re-using the brick.  I hope it ends up looking wonderful by the time they finish.  Looks like a labor of love.

Front view of the Ice House Building being refurbished

I took some daylight pictures the next day for this day’s posting since we arrived so late.  Across the street from us is the “Honey Hole Liquors” and Antiques and Pottery place.  We didn’t go into it because our day was cut short.  This is a picture of the establishment the next morning.  All I can say is this place does a healthy business at night.

The Apalachicola Marina loaned us a golf cart to travel from the office up to the side face dock.  Along the way, I was able to capture this Christmas Tree all lit up along the major thoroughfare.  It is after Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations are now OK to display, Right?!?!

Tree at Night

Tree by day decorated with fishing buoys and tackle

We did have dinner at one of the popular Oyster restaurants.  I had them fried and they were delicious.  A long day and we were ready for an early bed time.  We have plenty of time to explore this cute little town we heard so much about tomorrow.

Boss’s Oysters

……………………………………..

Until we got a knock on the side of the boat at 9:30pm.  Hey!! Loopers!!  You want to cross the Gulf of Mexico with us tomorrow?!?!   We surely do! When are you leaving in the morning?  9:30am.  Gotcha!  We will be ready!!

We didn’t get to explore Apalachicola after all.  These are the only pictures I took before we hustled to get ourselves ready for the “Crossing the Big Bend”.  Are we ready for our all-nighter?  When was it the last time you pulled an all-nighter?  For me, it has been…hmmmm…..  years and years!!  Stay tuned!!

Good morning Weather Watchers!!

It looks like a good weather window is opening in the next few days.  We are getting ready to cruise across the Gulf of Mexico.

We have enjoyed our stay here in Panama City.  We have taken advantage of their benches along the city dock to enjoy watching the water, waves, birds, and boats along the North Bay.  We watched fishermen almost everyday cast lines out.

Heron in the morning light – Panama City Marina

We have noticed the large pilings actually had numbers on them.  Which would indicate that someone uses them?  Then, during a windy rain storm, a tow did come for a few hours.  The next couple of days, other tows dropped by to change crew, take on groceries, or just rest for a few hours.  Fascinating!

Numbered Dolphins or Pilings along the Pier

A tow at the Pier waiting out stormy weather

Along the pier we saw these large metal cleats.  Thoroughly rusted yet seem to be still holding their own.  The large wooden ‘dolphins’ the tows tie up to and these cleats, affords a rather safe harbor during that windy rainstorm we experienced.  The rust is almost pretty.  Can you image the stories this cleat could tell.

Rusty cleat along the pier

We rented a car and did all the errands normal folks do.  Visit the grocery, auto, marine  and hardware stores in the city.  Getting all the junk food that anyone would need for a 24 hour road trip…on the water!

The Panama City Marina is one of the top 5 places to visit by Trip Advisor.  We can understand why.  There is a beautiful monument for September 11th.  Each of the black benches is dedicated to one of the planes that went down that day.  Very well done.

Sept 11th Monument

Closeup of the writing in the black marble

Nearby the city office building is an Eternal Flame…

Engraving on the Flame of Freedom

Lastly, here is Always Home on the transient dock at the Panama City Marina, Panama City, Florida.

Always Home – November 2015

Pananorama View of a Sunset at Panama City Marina

Good Morning Loopers and Cruisers!!

We have opted for Plan B.  We have stayed in Panama City Marina due to the high winds and weird weather.  Wind gusting to over 25mph.  A bit of rain mixed in.  More wind in the near term with gusts over 30mph.  This will give us plenty of time to get over our colds that we picked up in Mobile.  A joy to have that last cough and sneeze leave our body.

We don’t know just how long we will be here.  We are waiting for that elusive weather window to make the Gulf of Mexico crossing.  Loopers and locals call it the “Big Bend”.  The most eastern end of the panhandle of Florida.  Our last large water crossing.

There are at least 3 ways to cross the Big Bend.

The first is the coastal route from Apalachicola or Carrabelle, FL to Steinhatchee, FL then southward along the coast line.  Stopping at Cedar Key and any other places along the way that fancies you.  An issue with this crossing is the shallow nature of the coast line.  Perfect for fishing since the waters are marshy but not for deep draft boats like Always Home.  This Gulf crossing is only about 80 miles of open water.  Then cruising down the coastline until you get to the ICW again.  I have designated Clearwater since it pops up on the Google maps but Tarpon Springs is also a common entry point off the Gulf.  This route may take a cruiser several days to make the transit.

Carrabelle to Clearwater/Tarpon Springs via the coast line

Many Loopers opt to take the other popular route.  Whether crossing from Apalachicola or from Carrabelle, it may be a 150-180 mile cruise.  Fast trawlers may be able to make this distance is a daylight crossing.  Going at 20mph, a fast trawler can make this in less than 10 hours.  If I do the math correctly.

Apalachicola to Clearwater/Tarpon Springs

Most slower trawlers require an overnight crossing.  Starting in Apalachicola and end up in Clearwater around 10am the next day.  180 miles at less than 10mph means we will be doing a 20 – 24 hour cruise.  Getting to the west coast of Florida after the sun has risen is so we can see all the crab pots and other fishing gear found in the waters and not be blinded by the sun.

Another way to cross the Gulf is to go directly from Panama City to Clearwater.  Not a usual crossing but some Loopers do this.  This is around a 240 mile cruise.  More open water, it looks like.  But doable.

Panama City to Clearwater

We have done that “hurry up and wait” routine several times now while on our Loop.  Cape May, NJ, Erie Canal and Petosky, MI come to mind.  We are doing it again.  Right now, as of November 20th, for us slower trawlers there is nothing in the short term, at all.

The Panama City Marina is in the downtown area.  Like most towns, there are few stores we prefer to shop at near us.  In the meantime, we have rented a car to run errands.  Those places like Home Depot, Walmart, Ace Hardware, West Marina and such.  The facilities here at the marina are excellent.  A good place to hunker down and wait.  We are keeping busy with boat chores and planning.  Getting ready for the big crossing!!

Check out this sunset!

Sunset at Panama City Marina Nov 15, 2015

Good morning Cruisers and Loopers!!  A beautiful day today.  A perfect day.  We are planning a short day of only 50 miles or so.

Leaving Baytowne Marina, Sandestin, Florida

The channel markers leading us out of the marina back into the Choctawhatchee Bay.  They look like runway markers, don’t they?  It is important for us to stay within the markers since the depth of the waters on either side of the markers is only 2-4 feet.  More remarkable is how calm the water is!

Channel markers to and from Baytowne Marina

Pelican standing guard

9am in Choctawhatchee Bay

After traversing the Choctawhatchee Bay, we entered the GIWW.  The waterway reminded me of why the GIWW (or ICW) is called “the Ditch“.  We have cruised in similar surroundings when they were called “canals” or “channels”.  What is fascinating is that we saw no one else in this Ditch.  Miles and miles of this narrow waterway.  The good news is we had very little wind gusts affecting our travel.  Very nice.  We actually had to open the eisenglass on the flybridge because it was getting warm.  Almost 80°F.  Nice for me.  Warm for Wayne.

The Ditch – or ICW

We know we are in Florida by the color of the sand.  I would call these different colors of “cream”.  I was told that Florida has lots of white sand.  Within the Ditch, there are more texture and color.  Very interesting.

You can see the water ripples as we entered a larger water in the later afternoon.  The West Bay.  The ripples didn’t cause us any trouble with the wind at our stern.  We just cruised right along feeling pretty good.  A gorgeous day on the water!

Entering West Bay approaching Panama City

West Bay becomes North Bay as we approached the Panama City Port Authority.  You can tell that is a very busy place with the cranes and barges around the area.

Industrial Park

Around the corner is a floating island.  I looked with my binoculars to see what this small island was.  It had grass!!  As if someone put sod on a floating system of some kind.  Grass wouldn’t grown naturally in salt water, would it?  The charts call it “Audubon Island”.  A bird sanctuary.  Of course.  That explains all the cormorant and sea gulls resting on the rocky shore.  I did not see any birds on the sod, however.  😉

As the day ends, I thought I would share my short videos of the dolphins that helped us find our way to Panama City.  Enjoy!  The 44 second clip is a group of dolphins.  Different sizes all swimming together.

Dolphins – 5 seconds   

Dolphins – 13 seconds    

Dolphins – 44 seconds – group  

4pm as sunsets in the late afternoon

A cold front is expected to come through this area in the next day or so.  Plan A is to forge on to Apalachicola ahead of the higher winds.  Plan B is to stay in Panama City until the weather gets better.  We will let the morning dictate which Plan we will end up doing.

Sunset in Panama City Marina