Crossing the Gulf to Clearwater, Florida

After waiting out Tropical Storm “Ida” in Orange Beach, Alabama, we departed November 12th for a great anchorage in Pensacola at Ft McRee. We passed this sign as we arrived in Florida and received an escort by dolphins.  Along with “Meander”, “Dar Sea” and “Bullitt” – including about 100 other boats – we anchored on the beach to view the Blue Angels Homecoming yearly air show. While there, we took the dink to a local fish market for fresh fish and shrimp and spent the afternoon on the beach to view the show.  Pictures below of "the crews" on the beach with the Blue Angels overhead.Good time had by all. Early on Saturday, we moved to a marina in Pensacola, rented a car and visited the house where Pia’s parents lived for 10 years and took the chance to reprovision. We left the marina on Sunday and, over the next week, made our way 200+miles through the intracostal waterway to Apalachicola to prepare for our greatest challenge so far – an overnight trip across the Gulf (Stopping overnight at several quaint fishing towns along the way ). We arrived in Apalachicola on the Panhandle on Thursday the 20th to wait for the right weather window to cross the Gulf.  The picture on the right is "Still Busy" at the Waterstreet Marina, taken from the dingy.

From Apalachicola on the northern Gulf, the trip to Clearwater on the Florida west coast is 185 statue miles with no place to stop in the middle. One option is to leave prior to dawn, travel fast – 15+ MPH – and try to make the crossing in daylight and hope we have enough fuel. The other option is to travel at a slow speed – 8 MPH to conserve fuel - requiring a 20+ hour trip and overnight travel. Along with 4 other Loopers, we chose the latter, leaving our marina at 11AM on Monday the 23rd and arrived at an anchorage in Clearwater on Tuesday at 9AM – a 22 hour trip. In 2 hour shifts, we alternated between driving and sleeping. The 2 pictures above are sunset in the Gulf after we were on the water for 5 hours and sunrise in Clearwater as we arrived the following morning.  The night was overcast with a quarter moon so our visibility beyond the bow was minimal and we followed the GPS and lights from the boat in front of us all night. The seas were rolling 3 – 5 feet so the entire night was choppy. When we arrived in Clearwater harbor at daybreak on Tuesday we were obviously tired but happy to be on this side of the Gulf. All day Tuesday was spent recovering (i.e. sleeping) and we then joined “Meander” and “Spey” on Tuesday evening for a celebration of our safe crossing. WOW – what a trip!

One of the best aspects of doing The Loop is the great people we have met. While in Clearwater, we contacted a Looper – Fred and Sharon from “Perfect Remedy” -that we have interacted with a number of times since leaving Charleston in April. “Perfect Remedy” finished The Loop a few weeks ago. When we contacted them that we were in town, they immediately offered to bring us a car to use while we are in town as well as an offer to tie up to their dock, which we will do on Saturday. Along with Ron and Marji, we used their car on Thanksgiving Day to drive to Tarpon Springs - the sponge capital of Florida, picture below of sponges being off loaded - for the day and to a local restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner. As usual, we all ate too much but still enjoyed the time with friends and the chance to think about all we have to be thankful for.

Our plans are to leave Clearwater on Sunday and take a week or so to travel the 100+ miles to Punta Gorda where Ron and Marji have offered us the chance to leave “Still Busy” at their dock when we fly home for the holidays. Over the next few days, we will spend time in Tampa, St. Pete, Sarasota, and other places of interest along the ICW before arriving in Punta Gorda. When we continue our trip in January we will travel to The Keys before heading up the east coast of Florida and/or the Bahamas. We are looking forward to a warm winter in tropical Florida!