THE CROSSING

We made it, we did it, we accomplished it, we are here and we are tired!

We left Apalachicola, Florida at 1:30pm  (a little earlier than planned, all of us got antsy)  Arrived at east pass at 4pm where we to join up with a few boats from Carrabelle (they had also gotten antsy) so they had left ahead of us.  We were 3 boats traveling together that we called the "Clearwater group"....then we had the "Tarpon Springs Group" behind us with another 3 or more boats.   We did this in groups (depending on where you were headed) and had a hourly check in process that put us in contact with our group once every hour thru the overnight.....It worked great and even helped the time go by as we were anticipating "the roll call".

We saw our last sliver of land and a beautiful sunset.....

Capt Bob had installed heat up to the cockpit so we weren't cold....except when he took this picture of me trying to sleep!

I did sleep off and on thru out the night, but up at the helm (just in case help was needed----refer back to the pic of me sleeping)  In between naps, I did manage to serve us a stew that I had going in the crock pot and then around midnight, made up another crock pot breakfast casserole.  So even though I wasn't much help at the helm, I did keep our mouths full and our morale up!

It wasn't as dark as I anticipated it would be.  We had a sliver of a moon, that disappeared into the darkness (where does the moon go??) and then a splendid array of stars that did reflect off the water....which by the way was FLAT!  We couldn't have asked for more perfect water pattern!  All our days of waiting for the "perfect cross" was worth it!   It did get just a little choppy for just a couple hours about 4AM, not too bad, but did make us happy when it calmed down again.  I said I was glad we didn't have that the whole trip, as it is DARK and hard to tell where the waves are coming from.

Instrument panel in dark....get your eyes adjusted!

I must say, Captain Bob did an EXCELLENT job of "co-piloting"  LeReve (auto pilot)....and she ran beautifully the entire 24 hours straight that the trip took!!   (that has something to do with Capt Bob also)..... and we burned much less diesel than anticipated.

Once day break appeared....a few hours later than I thought it would, but I am not awake for many daybreaks.....Bob finally said "I have to rest my eyes"....and I did take the wheel (along with auto pilot) and as long as I could see the water in front of us, felt confident with him sleeping just a few feet away.  After a brief rest, he took the wheel again to navigate us thru the countless\endless crab traps that are floating in and around the inlets to the intercoastal waterway.  It is all true what we were told about not arriving before daybreak as they would be impossible to see in the dark and you do NOT want them wrapped around your prop.

 We arrived at John's Pass, just south of where we parted ways with our "Clearwater group" and bid them a fond farewell..... we will miss the "looper" friends we had spent sooooo many cold nights with, both in Panama City Beach and Apalachicola. But, we know our paths will cross again (hopefully in daytime) in the spring, as we all make the trek up the east coast.  People say that the friends you make are the best part of this trip.....and by experience, we would have to agree!

This is Jane with Mark and Laurie (off "Ladybug") at the Apalach Oysterfest a week ago.  Note the winter coats!  But good food and sunshine.....don't let the sun deceive you......we experienced nights of 25 degrees!

Once we were in the intercoastal waterway we met "new friends".....lots of them, eager to swim alongside us!  It is something to see!..they love to swim in our wake and put on quite a show!

We arrived at the "Venoy" yacht basin, downtown St. Petersburg, about 1:30 pm.....24 hours since our engines started and ran non stop.  Once we docked and checked in, we decided to forgo the "Bacon and Beer Fest" going on in the adjoining park and opted for a much needed rest!

We will "plan" (that awful word) to stay here a few weeks.....Lots of former friends to visit and share stories!  Then on to Key West for new ones.  Now that we have "crossed" we almost feel like real "loopers"!! ...not sure I want to do it again, but hey, it's like child birth!

Thank you Lord for such a wonderful crossing and watching over us along this whole trip!....Thank you to our "pray warriors" also.  Keep praying!

Finally moving on to southern Florida...we hope!

This morning Chief Stew (Jane) and I are enjoying what promises to be our last day on the 'Forgotten Coast' of Florida. We are in Apalachicola (26 degrees last night), and we are scheduled to leave with a caravan of boats for Clearwater at 2pm tomorrow (Friday).

We have enjoyed the panhandle immensely. We have re-acquainted ourselves with PCB, and gotten to know Apalachicola (and several loopers in waiting) during our 7 day stay here. Very proud fishing (oysters) history here...as opposed to 'little drinking village with a fishing problem'. We have expansive views of brackish river and marshlands emptying in to the Gulf of Mexico. We have been in the panhandle area for 67 days now, having spent nearly 30 days of that in Michigan with family.

Christmas Tree in Le Reve at PCB

So what does one do with the other 37 days?

In addition to the trips to 'the PIG' (Piggly Wiggly) in the marina golf cart, light shopping in nearby town, two rounds of golf in PCB, several movie outings (loved Molly's Game), Happy Hour with other loopers, occasional dinner in the town, and a couple days on the beach back when it was warm....Captain Bob has had a couple projects:

• Installed mounts and extension to hold my tablet with Navionics software at the helm that is removable and fitted to a suction mount in the dinghy. I LOVE my Navionics charts and now I can use them on Le Reve, or in the dinghy.

Helm Tablet Mount

• Routed Salon A/C and Heat to the helm area in the flybridge. Originally intended to keep us a bit cooler on very hot/still days, this will be much appreciated for the heat when we cross the gulf in 35 degree temps!

New Helm HVAC Diffuser

• Sanded and oiled the time worn teak parquet floor in the galley.

Reconditioned Teak Galley Floor

• Replaced sundeck refrigerator/freezer/ice maker.
• Measured/sourced/ordered rolled teak and holly flooring to spruce (excuse the pun) up the two heads.
• Sanded and re-oiled the teak swim platform to good as new.

Reconditioned Swim Platform and Stairs

• Replaced the seawater rubber impeller on the starboard engine as routine maintenance, Old one was in good shape, so deferred changing the port engine impeller until in get to a marina and let them deal with the much smaller space on that side.
• Replaced 10 zinc anode rods on the engines and transmissions.

Science lesson.

The zinc is less stable than the valuable steel engine parts such as rods, crankcase, pistons, etc. There is always stray current in the water, especially saltwater, and this current will corrode steel...damaging the engines. These zinc rods are a 'sacrificial' metal that is designed to corrode before the steel will, thereby protecting the engine metals. These must be changed monthly now that we are saltwater.

• Washed air filter elements.
• Disconnected the 'Lo Water Temp' alarm on the Depth/Temp/Speed indicator. It is an original instrument (28 years old) and sending a false alarm that disturbed the Chief stew...I couldn't hear it! After fussing with it for a full day and talking with the repair service, we determined best to just disconnect the alarm. Much to do about nothing.
• Rigged a second anchor.
• Repaired display face on the Windlass display panel.
• Removed unsightly old caulk around rub rail (over 100').
• Removed old caulk around helm and re-caulked.
• Removed, resealed and replaced dinghy cradle on top on sundeck.
• Removed, resealed deck hatch window (grandson Ben's favorite escape route from the front stateroom).
• Many trips to hardware, West Marine, Caterpillar and other stores for materials. 

View from our dock at Apalachicola

 

So, on to SW Florida. This will be a 180 mile voyage from Apalachicola, through East Pass near Carrabelle, and then directly to Clearwater Pass. We will leave our dock in Apalachicola at 2:30 pm on Friday, and arrive at Clearwater Pass around 10:30 am on Saturday. Yes, this will be an overnight voyage, because we must depart and arrive in daylight. We will be asea for 20 hours at  9.5 MPH. Once we arrive through Clearwater Pass we will proceed another 20 miles to the                  Venoy Marina in the heart of St Pete. We will have FINALLY arrived in St Pete on January                20th...not December 12, as we had planned.

All is good, and I am loving every minute of this adventure.

Happy New Year to all,

Captain Bob

Is this REALLY Florida?

As of this morning, Captain Bob claims he has worn his long underwear more on this trip than he ever did when we lived in Colorado!  Probably True.  It is FREEZING.

We DID move the boat on Thursday and are presently in Apalachicola, Florida .....home of OYSTERS!  In fact, today there is an Oyster Fest.....the presenters are setting up this morning in 30 degree weather, and we are hunkered down below with all the heaters going.  We left Panama City Beach Thursday morning in extreme fog, hung out in the mouth of the bay until it lifted so we could at least see the front of boat, and as the sun got brighter, conditions got better and we had a good trip until we got to Apalachicola where the fog set in again.....lifted enough so we could find our marina and slip.  The highlight of the trip were the several pods of dolphins that would dive in front of our boat and then come up behind us and jump in our wake.  It was very entertaining!  If I hadn't been so engrossed with them, I would have taken pictures.....next time!   It felt good to get the engines going again and be moving.  We decided to come this far and wait for a window to cross.  One is suppose to open on Monday eve, Tuesday....(although we have heard those promises before, this one is looking better each day)  We are traveling with one other boat at this point, but think there are others in different marinas here waiting also.  We both felt we needed a change of view, after spending 6 weeks in PCB....and that we did get....It is very much a "working" shoreline here along the riverbanks, meaning the marinas are far from deluxe, usually just a tie up with electricity.  We have the luxury of a complimentary golf cart!!   Could be because their bathroom (singular) is 3 blocks down!  So happy for the onboard bath facilities on LeReve.  The downtown is within walking distance and there are lots of oyster bars, an ice cream shop, complete with old soda fountain atmosphere, and some nice shops.  Yesterday was a nice day (sandals, not gloves) so we "toured" the town.   Want to get out to the farmers market this morning but haven't gotten up the courage to think of leaving the warmth of the boat just yet.  Some call this adventure "chasing 80"  as in degrees.....right now we would settle for 60 or even 50s!!    brrrrrr.

ARE WE STILL HERE???

That's the question I have asked almost every morning for the last 6 weeks.  Yesterday several boats here decided that we would all move to Apalachicola today and then the "weather wags" were saying MAYBE a chance to cross on Thursday.   I told Capt....don't tell anyone until we are underway....well he announced our plans to the family yesterday,....and this morning it was all cancelled!  The window closed and we were told to stay put until next week....AGAIN!  It seems that the water gets more and more unpredictable in December and January.....(as anyone who knows Florida, these are the coldest 2 months also).  We have paid a monthly rate here for the last 2 months and decided that we would stay because we've paid....until Thursday this week.  Then we will move (via inland waterway) to Apalachicola and wait it out there for awhile.   This gives us a change of scenery and puts us closer to our goal of Clearwater by 50 miles.....at 10 mph that is a considerable amount of time that we will not be out in the open ocean.   AND it is oyster fest this weekend there.....so something new to see and do!  We returned the rental car yesterday that we had signed up for one week, and ended up keeping it 7 weeks,  fueled up the boat and pumped out....so WE are ready, just seems like the wind and waves are not ready to give up just yet.  Patience!!!   but I am running low....the fact that it is dreary and colder here than in Colorado Springs doesn't help...and we've seen just about every movie at the theater and The Price is Right and Wheel of Fortune are now highlights of our day!


We still "have plans".....(haha, should know better by now)......but do have a reservation for the month of February in Key West...and then still plan to go to Bahamas for March.  So this huge delay is taking up our time we planned to have in St. Pete with old friends.  We will just have to squeeze out the most of our time there.....IF we EVER get there!  I'm not saying a word until we are underway.