PORT ST. JOE TO FAIRHOPE

We left Port St. Joe Marina early after having stuffed ourselves with hot dogs, brick oven pizza and Piggly Wiggly deli food.  The morning we left a fishing boat was going out full of passengers which was a good sign because no one had left the marina for the past several days.

Fishing boat heading out.

The winds were from the east, which sped us along to our next destination.  After a long uneventful day through the canal, East Bay, St. Andrews Bay, Panama City and West Bay, we dropped our anchor behind Breakfast Point (N30*15.270, W085*.48.429).

A view along the way.

From here, we would have a couple of miles to the entrance to the Grand Canyon and Choctawhatchee Bay.

The view from our cockpit at Breakfast Point. A very nice anchorage. We enjoyed Happy Hour and the sunset.

Sunset at Breakfast Point. It is hard to believe that our trip will be coming to an end soon. We will miss the seeing sunsets right from our boat.

Here is what the galley looks like when I am cooking. When David cooks it is much tidier. We have found that we eat just like we eat at home for the most part. We will be hauling cans of stuff off of the boat that we did not use. We have been surprised at how often we can get fresh veggies and fruit as well as good fresh meat.

Just wanted you to see our cabin when she was looking good.

After a restful night, we were up at dawn and preparing to head out.  For some reason, David decided to check the weather and radar before we hauled the anchor – !!HOLY COW!!.

Did David say Holy Cow?

There was a line of thunderstorms and much bad weather coming through Pensacola along with marine warnings for Choctawhatchee Bay heading our way.  There had been no mention of any of this the night before – welcome to the land of the Mobile National Weather Service.  We hauled our anchor and headed for a safe harbor at the Panama City Municipal Marina.  About thirty minutes after tying up, the weather hit.  Not much rain, but plenty of wind – enough wind to last for three days.

These dark clouds had been following us all the way to Panama City Marina from Breakfast Point. You hate to back track on a trip but it was the right decision.

Being in Panama City gave us an opportunity to partake of more hot dogs.  This time at Tom’s World Famous Hot Dogs.  They were even better than we had remembered them from our last visit.  We caught up on some laundry and reading and prepared to head out again to Choctawhatchee Bay on Monday.

I guess you can tell we love hot dogs. We talk about them enough. They advertise as Panama City's finest hot dogs and they are not exaggerating.

We headed out early, along with two other boats, with some following wind and tide.  After entering Choctawhatchee Bay, we had another Holy Cow moment and three phone calls from friends in Fairhope warning of the impending weather.

Did David say Holy Cow again!

We checked the radar and decided we could not hide and that the storm system was weakening.  We battened down our hatches and donned our fowl weather gear to prepare for the wind and rain.  The rain hit us before the Mid-Bay Bridge and wasn’t too bad, but then the wind followed.  Choctawhatchee Bay can get rough with a big wind.  We carried on and ducked into Joe’s Bayou and out of the big wind.  Shortly after our arrival, Mark, from Pensacola,  pulled in and dropped his anchor. He put his dinghy into the water and motored over for a “meet and greet” on LIZA.  He had just purchased his boat in Tarpon Springs and was headed back to Pensacola.  We enjoyed visiting with and learning about him and hopefully can connect with him and his wife in the future. The wind calmed and we had a beautiful night on Joe’s Bayou.

A view of our surroundings in Joe's Bayou. It is just off of the bay. A very protected anchorage surrounded by homes.

Another view from our boat.

Tuesday morning dawned with thick fog and calm wind.  We (and Mark) headed out and kept in close contact with each other and other vessels on the waterway.

Mark getting ready to haul anchor. Even though is was foggy it was so peaceful and still.

We both had to be very careful going under the Brook’s and Navarre Bridges because of our mast heights.  We led the way, since we had been able to clear both bridges on our trip east.

We passed three different rowing crews as we went along.

We also passed quite a few rafts of Coots.

Here is a close up of a Coot. Very pretty.

No problem for either of us, so our next stop was Ingram Bayou.  While traveling across Pensacola Bay, we received a phone call from our friends Herman and Marghuerita, who live on Wolf Bay, offering to bring dinner and refreshments to Ingrams.  We couldn’t say yes quick enough.  We trimmed the sails a little better and hurried westward.  The water at Pensacola Pass was just beautiful that day.

The last time we passed this area was after the oil spill. We were coming home from a shortened trip due to oil spill. They were laying boom here and made us so sad. As you know that was a sad time for all of us who live down here on the beautiful Gulf Coast.

We dropped our anchor in Ingram Bayou about six o’clock, looked up and saw Herman and Marghuerita rounding the point into Ingram.  We were doing the “Dance of Joy”.

In case you don't know this is The Dance Of Joy.

Herman had slaughtered a pig today and prepared fresh tamales and a wonderful slaw.  After many laughs and a few refreshments, we feasted on tamales and they were worthy of a king’s feast.  They headed for home around dark and we were sad.  We enjoyed their food and especially their visit.

Herman and Marghuerita getting ready to tie up to LIZA. It was such a nice welcome.

Wednesday morning we were up very early in anticipation for an early departure for home – wrong.  We had really really dense fog.  The fog did not lift enough for us to safely depart until eleven o’clock.

After getting into Mobile Bay, we encountered more fog.

FOG! Our view was definitely limited.

We were in this fog from a mile north of the ICW until we got to the Fairhope Pier.  We pulled LIZA into her slip at five o’clock.  Paul came over to greet and assist us it getting tied up.  Then Michael, Mary Katerine and Abbie came up with our car.  We were happy to see some home folks.

Heading in the channel.

Ah FYC. So glad to see you.

PC Paul Ring welcoming us home.

Abigail, Michael and Mary Katherine came to welcome us back and to bring us our car.

We are now back in our home, sleeping in a bed with no waves slapping against the sides, toilets that magically flush with the press of a lever and  more room than we have adjusted to yet.  We are glad and sad to be back home.  This was such a special adventure for us and we will have wonderful memories for many years to come.  The people we met along the way made our trip really special.  Thanks to all who helped make this possible for us.  Check back in a couple of weeks and we plan to have a wrap-up posting with thoughts and thanks.

HOME SWEET HOME!

Apalachicola and Port St. Joe – we are getting closer to home!

IF YOU HAVE NOT READ ACROSS THE GULF OF MEXICO AGAIN PLEASE READ THAT FIRST.  WE ARE POSTING TWO ON THE SAME DAY.

After our celebratory oyster dinner we got a good night’s sleep and were up and at it early Thursday.  Our friend Charles picked us up at 11:00 for what we call a road trip.  We drove around here and there to places we could not walk.  Had more oysters for lunch, snacks and dinner.  We stopped at several places for beer. Arrived back at the boat at 9:30 pm.  A very nice day.  Below are some pictures of our day.

David and Charles. We so enjoyed spending the day with him.

Papa Joe's on Scipio Creek.

Eddy Teach's Raw Bar on St. George Island.

The food at The Tap Room was delicious.  This is one place we did not have oysters.

"In December 2011, the doors of the brand new Tap Room at The Owl opened for business. Located right next door to the Owl Cafe. The Tap Room is the perfect place to enjoy an evening out with friends. You can satisfy your appetite with cuisine from the Tap Room’s unique menu, sample the Forgotten Coast’s best beer selection, or sip fine wine and spirits from the full bar."

This sign was over the door leading to the restrooms in The Tap Room. Very appropriate.

The Light House on St.George Island.

The Consulate features four world class luxury vacation suites in Apalachicola's Grady Building, which is located in the heart of the Historic Riverfront District.

Next we were off to Port St. Joe Marina in Port St. Joe.  We had been there before on our way to south Florida.  It is a great marina with all of the comforts.  The only thing they could not give us was good weather.  So here we sit waiting.  We have filled our time with reading, eating, napping, watching movies and talking to other boaters who are waiting too.  We met Larry and Theresa Valentine (m/v Lauren Grace) and went over to their boat for drinks one night.

This is Larry of Theresa and Larry Valentine. They are on a 42 foot motor vessel. Very nice. These are the folks that Jerry and Sally told us to look up. Sally and Jerry really enjoyed their company as did we.

Sunset from the docks.

This place has great hot dogs.

We hope to leave in the AM (3/8/12) if the winds will cooperate. Meaning if they will lessen.  For days they have been blowing to hard to leave!   We plan to stop in Panama City,  Niceville and Ingrams Bayou or Bear Point.  Of course you know about best laid plans don’t you.   Cross your fingers for us!  The sooner we leave the sooner we arrive home.

ACROSS THE GULF OF MEXICO AGAIN

After consulting with Weather Guru Arla, Linda & Rusty (s/vSea Yawl Later) and our amulet, we decided the weather was right for us.

Dick and Barbara Davis gave us our amulet for our first cruise quite a few years back. We have it hanging in our boat for consultation as needed.

We left Dunedin Municipal Marina and headed north under the Dunedin Causeway Bridge and on to Anclote Key.

This is the Dunedin Causeway Bridge - the last bascule bridge to go through of many on our trip.

We were out in the Gulf by 10:30 with NE winds at about 5 mph and some light fog.  We pulled out the head sail and started dodging crab traps.  This routine went on for the first 35 miles (never knew there were so many crab traps in existence).

Mary doing a much better job of watching for crab pots this time. Now remember last time we had been mostly awake for 24 hours.

The temperature rose to a comfortable 80* and we settled in for a long ride.

This is approximately our course.

We started our two hour watches at mid-afternoon.  Fortunately our auto-pilot was able to steer so we could relax and enjoy the scenery.  We were privy to a beautiful sunset, but no green flash.  We did see some wildlife during the daylight hours – Northern Gannet, Loons, turtle and gulls.

View from our boat of the gulf. It was very smooth early on. Water and sky beautiful.

During David’s late night watch he heard a dolphin breathing alongside the Liza.  After leaning out of the cockpit for a better look, he was treated to a beautiful surprise.  Several dolphins swimming along and they were all glowing like green ghosts – phosphorus.  Suddenly a large dolphin came from the stern of the boat and jumped alongside.  It looked like a Fourth of July fireworks display.  What a treat and surprise!  The pod of “green ghosts” stayed with us for quite a while.  A really special happening.  And the stars! My goodness how beautiful.

Sunset!

We were treated to a beautiful sunrise at about 6:30 AM Wednesday morning.  The sunrises and sunsets are just “drop-dead-gorgeous out on the open water.  By 9:00, we were 5 miles out from Dog Island’s East Pass.  This is where we were enveloped in a super thick fog.  We continued on into East Pass slowly, following our chart plotter, and with a sharp look-out.  After safely entering East Pass, we pulled east into Shipping Cove off of Dog Island for a couple of hours rest.

You can see the spot where we anchored. There are homes on Dog Island. No bridges.

We hauled our anchor at 1:00 PM, and headed for Apalachicola.  We still had some fog to deal with, but we arrived safely at the Water Street Hotel and Marina at 5:30.  A very long couple of days.

We have stayed here several times. Short walk to town.

A shower, change of clothes and we were off to have our celebratory oyster dinner.  Back to Liza for a “sleep-of-the dead” night.

More Dunedin

We spent the rest of our time in Dunedin (upon reflection our favorite city that we visited) waiting for a weather window to cross the gulf.  We like for the weather to be a calm as possible.  While we were there one person we met decided to leave and not wait.  He reported on the other side that it was a “D” crossing.  We are glad we did not go that day.  Fortunately we had Arla to help us with the weather.  She watched and then she and David consulted.  Her choice of time to cross was right on target.  More on that later.

The following is a mishmash (is that a word?) of happenings in Dunedin while we waited.

Dunedin had Green Markets on Friday and Saturday mornings. We thoroughly enjoyed them both days. Lots of fresh veggies, fruits, specialty items, fresh baked goods, music and artisans. We stocked up. We also enjoyed eating hot dogs while sitting in the sun people watching. One of our favorite past times.

This lady was making beautiful straw baskets.

A group of artists from the Tarpon Springs art association were painting outside of the marina. This beautiful lady told me her husband has Alzheimer's and was at respite care that morning. She has only begun to paint recently and says it helps to give her the respite care she needs.

Jim said that he has been painting since he retired. His wife told him that he needed to DO SOMETHING. He shared with me a recently framed painting. Very nice man. I am sorry there is a glare on the picture. It was lovely.

We took several walks and the following are some of the sights.

Gourmet Dog Shop. We thought of our god dog Abbie.

Osprey and osprey nests everywhere in Dunedin. This one was eating a fish.

Azaleas already in bloom.

Beautiful walkway along a bay front street.

House along the bay.

We passed these people while walking. You can't see from the picture but they all (dogs included) have on sunglasses. Cute.

Mermaid we saw on our walk.

We visited the Ice Cream Shop several days. Yum!

Sneaky art has a surprise payoff.    “Sometimes unintended consequences are a good thing. A rogue artist is leaving more than painted oranges in downtown Dunedin.Shoppers from surrounding cities have flocked to Dunedin to view the artist’s early morning work.It’s obvious — a professional did the artwork. Is this another first for Dunedin? Some people say it’s vandalism, some think it’s a group of art students taking on an end-of-school project. Some think it’s a protest against the Clearwater City Council’s view on murals”.

We noticed oranges painted all over town.  Very beautifully done.  Each one different.  It started with the Sneaky Artist and I found out later only one artist painted all of the oranges.

This is a picture of an orange on one of the shops we passed.

This is a picture I took of the Orange Poster in the Chamber of Commerce with examples of the oranges that the artist painted around town.

Martha and Wally drove up to visit. We went for coffee. We were sad to say goodbye as it will be a while before we see them again.

The Jolly Trolley runs from Clearwater north to Tarpon Springs. It runs Friday through Sunday. Cost of an all day "senior" pass was $2.25. We rode it to Publix to get our groceries and then on to Tarpon Springs and back.

Our very friendly Jolly Trolley driver. She pointed out sights along the way.

We visited the Dunedin History Museum housed in a former railroad depot.  Learned a lot about the history of the area.

In addition to history of the town there was a lot of history about railroads nation wide. We watched a wonderful movie about railroads while at the museum.

Bryan and BJ came to visit us in Dunedin. We met them while we were in the marina at Ft Myers. We really enjoyed their visit and appreciated that they drove up from Ft Myers. They said they enjoyed touring around Dunedin after lunch as we had to go wash clothes and get ready for our crossing the next day. We ate at Alfresco. Very nice.

Lots of parks and play areas for children. This one was by the marina.

“The Pinellas Trail is truly one of Florida’s premier urban trails. Stretching from Tarpon Springs to St. Petersburg, the trail links some of Pinellas County’s most picturesque parks, scenic coastal areas and residential neighborhoods”

“An estimated 90,000 people on average use the trail per month. The trail provides an excellent alternative to the automobile – even for the visitor – amidst Florida’s most densely populated county. Eight overpasses, for example, allow trail-goers to travel above traffic at several busy intersections”  There were always people on the trail biking, walking, skating, and skate boarding.

CLEARWATER BEACH, DUNEDIN AND MARDI GRAS

We followed the pirate ship in but were able to dodge the other excursion and fishing boats. We tied up at the Clearwater Beach Municipal Marina.

There are excursion boats and fishing boats coming and going from the harbor all of the time.

This is such a busy and exciting place to stay.  We fueled Liza, showered and got ready to visit our daughter-in-law, granddaughter and a friend of hers who were in Florida looking at colleges and chose to spend the week end at Clearwater Beach.

Clearwater Beach is a beautiful beach, but we miss our beaches.

We walked across the street to their hotel and then to sunset festivities at the pier.  Afterwards, we headed to Frenchy’s Restaurant.  We had a very nice, but way too short, visit with them.

Judy and David enjoying Pier 60 at Clearwater Beach. The Sunsets at Pier 60 Festival is a nightly sunset celebration that takes place in Pier 60 Park on Clearwater Beach, Florida.This free family event features artisans, crafters, street performers and musical entertainment, weather permitting.

David, Mary, Hannah and Morgan at Frenchys Restaurant. Fun place.

When we got back on board Liza, we noticed a business card stuck in our hatch boards.  It belonged to Bob, from Bon Secour, who was interested in a boat buddy for crossing the Gulf.  We called and met Bob the following day to talk about our crossing plans.  He was single-handing and anxious to get home.

Bob from Sailboat Bay in Bon Secour. We really enjoyed getting to know him.

Bob heading out from the Dunedin City Marina to cross the gulf.

We both moved on up to Dunedin Municipal Marina to wait a day or two.  Bob saw a weather window on Tuesday that suited him and off he went.  We received a call from him Wednesday afternoon letting us know he had made it to Dog Island safely.  He gave the crossing a “D”.  Glad he is headed home and we look forward to catching up with Bob when we get back home.

On Sunday in Clearwater Beach, we got together with our friends, Martha and Wally.  Always good to see them and catch-up.  Both are still working and hope to get out on the water for extended periods next year.

We met Wally and Martha on a cruise in 2010 at the Panama City Marina. This is a picture of them on their beautiful boat Blue Wing.

Tuesday morning, we moved up to Dunedin Municipal Marina (N28*00.822″,W82*47.406″) to start our preparations for crossing the Gulf and WAITING.  After getting tied up, we helped Bob out of his slip to get on his way across the Gulf.  Walking back to Liza, we met a couple who live in Dunedin and got some local knowledge from them.  The most important was a Mardi Gras celebration in Dunedin Tuesday evening (Fat Tuesday).

The Harbor Master, Bill, has his office upstairs. He is very nice and helpful. He found an inside slip for us which is nice because we may be here a while waiting for our weather window.

We showered, dressed and headed to town (two blocks) to check out the festivities.  We were not ready for what we encountered.  People everywhere, thousands of people.  There were concert stages for major entertainers, a large parking lot filled with all sorts of food vendors, trinket vendors and spirits vendors.  We had to take advantage of the food vendors – we had been lacking in Vitamin “G”.  We wandered over to the main stage to listen to the The Vodkanauts.  Their music was varied and enjoyable.  More strolling and observing the local color and celebrants.  Lots of them in very creative costumes.

Lots of people dress up not just the ones who parade.

Paraders heading the the starting place. The parade did not start until 7:30.

The parade started at 7:30 and it was a real spectacle.  There were forty floats, marching groups, beads and thousands of people, all having a fun time.  We were not expecting anything of this magnitude.  After the parade passed, we headed back over to the main stage for the headliner – Cyril Neville.  He and his band were a big hit.  More wandering and observing of the celebrants.

          Lots of things to smile about as we strolled around.

It seems there are pirates everywhere we go.

More unusual characters.

Wednesday and we are starting the waiting period to cross the gulf.  There is some nasty weather coming and we are glad to be tied up in a well protected marina.  We plan to do some more exploring of Dunedin.

GASTRONOMIC DELIGHT

We left Venice early headed for Longboat Key and Moore’s Stone Crab Resturant.  After negotiating narrow channels and draw bridges, we got to Longboat Key and headed into the anchorage at Longboat Key.  We decided to tie up at Moore’s and have dinner there.  We took a table in the beach area and started trying to decide what appealed to us.  Everything!  We started with a couple of drafts, then stone crab claws, then crab rolls, then stone crab and lobster soup and then the coup-da-gras – fresh broiled pompano.  What an experience!  The crab claws so sweet, the soup so rich and creamy and the pompano broiled to perfection and topped with sliced almonds.  Delightful!!

This is where we had our first stone crabs. Delicious!

The view from our boat. By evening there were quite a few boats that arrived to anchor out.

Here we are enjoying the view while waiting for our dinner. By the way - we ate way too much. Stone crabs, crab rolls, crab and lobster bisque, and a pompano dinner. We happily waddled back to the boat.

We went for a walk after dinner and saw this beautiful plant. Just had to take a picture.

Out of Longboat Key early, under two opening bridges and then out into Tampa Bay.  We had called BOAT US to obtain some local knowledge about a channel that was charted at six feet, but turned out to be much deeper.  Because we could us this channel, we saved over an hour’s travel time.

As we were tying up at the Gulfport Municipal Marina, a young man approached our boat and invited us to have dinner at the Boca Ciega Yacht Club, which was located adjacent to the marina.

Ray stopped by our boat just as we were tying up. He invited us to the Lasagne dinner  at the Boca Ciega Yacht Club. He also invited us to their potluck dinner the next night. Unfortunately we would miss the potluck as we would be heading on.

We walked over at six for the lasagna dinner, which turned out to be a fundraiser for their Sea Scouts.  The people made us feel like we were family members.  Such a nice group.

They have an annual Labor Day Sunflower Raft-Up that started in the summer of 1989 with only 17 boats with no wind and nothing better to do than to tie up and party. This event grew each year to be the best-attended activity in the Club. Festivities included a dinner and dance the night before the raft-up, and then a day of rafting, swimming, and end of summer companionship.

This is the picture of the boats that was used for the cover of Boat US when they did an article about the raft up.

The 1991 raft was built in 5 hours and gained national recognition in Boat US Report with the 81 boats participating. The 1994 Raft-Up was the largest ever on this continent and it had a record-setting 176 boats.

On our way out we passed Ray who invited us to the Lasagne Dinner. A very friendly fellow.

The next morning we awoke to thick fog, so we had an extra cup of coffee.

Heading out into Boca Ciega heading back to the ICW.

We entered the ICW and headed to Clearwater Beach.  The water on this leg of our trip was so incredibly beautiful – sparkling turquoise.  Again, the channel was narrow and shallow.  To give you an idea of how treacherous this area was – Sea Tow had a boat anchored off the side of the waterway and ready to accept calls.

Looks like Sea Tow is prepared for someone to run aground. Thank goodness it wasn't us.

VENICE

We had a wonderful visit with our friend, Pat, in Venice.  Ate way too much, laughed, talked lots, saw sights, shopped and we are now moving on.  What a lovely place.  We could get used to spending time in Venice.

Just thought these were pretty.

On one of our excursions, we went to the Warm Mineral Springs in North Port.  It is a huge mineral spring that has a constant temperature of eighty seven degrees year round.  A beautiful setting surrounded by big oak trees.  Hundreds of people visit these springs annually to experience the healing effects of the warm mineral water. We were told that many people come from European Countries to bathe in the warm springs.  The setting was so pastoral, it was easy to understand how this place could stimulate healing.

This pond had beautiful fish in lots of colors.

“Warm Mineral Springs’ water has the highest mineral content in America and ranks as the third highest mineral content in the world! There are over 51 different minerals found in the rich water at Warm Mineral Springs, each one having its own unique health benefits that are absorbed naturally through your skin, helping to re-mineralize one’s body and promote health and healing.”

We have Liza re-provisioned and are sadly leaving our friend.  What a fun visit.  We are grateful that she puts up with us for a week.

Thank you, Pat!

Our friend Pat. She put up with us for a week!

Getting ready to get back on LIZA