Hogtown Bayou, anchor (...so close!)

A big part of boating is having a plan B. And C. And a D if you need it. Sometimes, you need options.

We left the anchorage with calm winds and water, but we knew storms were coming. Both Russ and I check various weather apps and sources, all of which confirmed rain, possible thunderstorms, and winds around 15. We still had to get off the West Bay (a sizable body of water) and cross the Choctawhatchee Bay to get to Destin, another large body of water.

While on the canal we passed a barge,
the first of many to come, I'm sure.

The West Bay was no problems. The storms came and went while we were on the canal, also no problems. Blue skies were in the distance as we entered the Choctawhatcee, and our destination was still 3 hours away.

About an hour in, however, the winds picked up. Then they picked up again.

All the while I watched the wind direction (and the waves it created) with respect to our own. If we can take waves on the stern or quarter, we ride pretty well, even in good sized waves. We weren't out in truly open waters like the gulf, so this should be doable.

See the blue skies? We're out of it now, right?

The winds were blowing from the south, and we had land on that side to protect us. But then we had to turn, which meant what waves we did get were on our beam. We really don't like it on the beam.

Initially, the waves were so close together that we bounced but didn't have a terrible ride. But the land recedes a bit for the Hogtown Bayou, and -- because Murphy -- the winds kicked up. Our weather station reports sustained gusts of over 40 mph. When the first 4 footer hit us on the beam, sending anything not tied down either flying across the room or skittering across the floor, Russ found us an anchorage. We made a 90 degree turn into the wind and headed for some shelter.

This particular section of the water is marked with lots of CAUTION warnings about pipes in the area. But we couldn't find any discussion about that. How big are these pipes? Were they laying on the bottom? Were they sticking up to damage our hull? More information, people!

We safely navigated to an anchorage tucked back in the bayou. Once engines were off I noticed that I had a NOAA warning about major winds that followed the storms and could affect the area for the next 2 hours. However, 3 hours later we still had winds of over 25 mph.

Not the ideal anchorage since there is no dog walking opportunity. But then again, 25 mph winds -- odds were she wasn't going to get walked anyway.

Pearl Bayou, anchor

For the next few days we'll be retracing our steps from this segment of the loop in 2019. That is fairly handy since we know exactly where to go, at least until we get to The Wharf in Alabama.

While in Apalachicola we were docked by the Ice House (which means something to those who've been there). As I walked the dog I noticed a small bakery directly on the other side of the street with a chalkboard sign out front that read "BISCUITS." I love biscuits. I made a note that I'd pick some up in an hour or so. When I went back, however, they were closed with a "SOLD OUT" sign on the door. It was only 8:30 in the morning!

Dawn in Apalachicola

So, this morning, just as dawn was breaking Russ went across the street and snagged us some biscuits. Turns out it isn't a bakery at all, just a small business that makes and sells biscuit sandwiches for breakfast. All of which have meat, and we're mostly vegetarian. So they made us special egg and cheese ones on the spot. I can't recommend the place enough. But. GET THERE EARLY.

We shoved off around 8:30, bellies full of biscuits sammiches, and took the toodle on the ICW. We're planning on fueling up near Destin so we're watching our speed today.

Two Bald Eagles, count 'em, 2!

The only notable event were dolphins, which followed up almost the whole way along the East Bay, for a couple of hours. Clearly these dolphins were seriously looking for a ride.

The south wind kicked up quite a bit by the time we dropped the hook. The advantage of anchoring is that you almost don't care, unlike trying to dock in such a breeze.

Your eyes do not deceive you.
That is a Staten Island Ferry.
They are built here, then sailed to NY for use.

MORE FOOD: We timed our meals poorly yesterday so we weren't able to get to The Hole In The Wall for oysters. (Moreover, they only had 1 table outside, which bummed us out). I decided, as I always do in such situations, on pizza. Of late, getting a decent pizza has been elusive, so our hopes were not high. This time, however, we were not disappointed. If you want pizza in Apalachicola, you must go to Up To No Good Tavern. We simply got a cheese pizza with extra sauce on the round crust (that will make sense if you go there). I'm looking forward to when we get back there, this October or November.

Back to having to watch for, well, logs. Do you see it?

Oh, and we're now in Central Time.

Apalachicola, City Docks

Although it made for a long day it was worth doing. And although we waited many days for the right weather window, again, it was worth doing. When the day began (around 8:30 when we hit the gulf) the wind was calm but westerlies from the night before made for small swells on the nose early in the day, maybe 1 - 2 foot. Thus the early ride was a little lumpy. By 10 am those dwindled to solid 1 footers, then to near nothing. Smooth ride for the rest of the day. In fact, I'd look out at the placid gulf in every direction and giggle. Stunning to see.

Amazing water in every direction

Given the depth and open water we decided to put our engines to a test. Rather than travel at 8.5 knots at 2300 rpm, we opened her up to 2800+ rpm, traveling mostly around 10 knots. You can see where we exceeded 10 knots on our map -- the track line is red. As the day calmed and the current changed we were over 10 knots a fair bit of the way across the gulf.

I know it's blurry but that's a house. On pontoons.
With an outboard. On the gulf.
That is a clear sign of a "GO DAY"
if ever there was one.

On a number of occasions we were accompanied by dolphins. These seemed smaller than the ones we'd been around before, and much more spry. They zipped and zigged and zagged. At one point we saw 12 of them, and they were diving and twisting in every direction near and under inQuest. I got some good footage.

Of the 10 hours journey the last 3 are in protected waters behind Dog Island and St. George Island. We successfully docked on the city wall around 5:30pm.

Behold the wiley dolphins of the Gulf of Mexico (watch your sound)(added bonus you can see Russ's feet!):

Steinhatchee, Sea Hag Marina

Last day heading north. Tomorrow, west!

First time we've been plugged in in 10 days! I argued, given the mild weather, we didn't need to (no heat nor AC needed right now) but Russ wanted to top off the batteries, which haven't seen 100 since we left Tarpon Springs.

When we left Cedar Key there was just a little wind, and the seas were around a foot. It was on our beam for the first bit as we headed clear of shallow water. Once we turned the ride smoothed substantially. As the day went on, the water got calmer and calmer, dwindling down to maybe 3 inch waves. If you can even call them waves at that point.

Mostly the ride was about diligence and paying attention. Even though we were in deeper waters we were in Florida, which means crab pots everywhere. There were sections of the trip that was more of a slalom ski course than a boat ride.

Sunrise in Cedar Key

After making the turn at Marker 1 into the Steinhatchee channel, Russ contacted the Sea Hag to get further docking instructions. They told us we would be docking on the middle T-head. As we approached, however, someone was in our spot. They were piling into the boat to get ready to depart but didn't see the big boat looming until Russ called out to them. Otherwise, docking went without a hitch.

The waters here are very tea-like; a clear brown. It reminds of the of tannin waters of the Pungo River and it's tributaries. We're in a more piney area, so it makes sense the waters would be brown.

We have 2 depth gauges, one for each hull.
In this pic, one reads 5.2, to other 5.7.
That's feet below the keel. Yes, it looks like water is everywhere, BUT IT'S NOT!

Cedar Key, Anchor

This night will make it 9 nights on the hook in a row. A record for us.

We waited for the blow to do its thing. Even this morning it was still a little windy. Since we didn't have far to get to Cedar Key we held off until 11 am to make the trip. Moreover, turns out that a north wind will blow the water right out of the river. We saw really low lows during the last 2 days. Research told Russ that the gulf itself was about 2 feet lower than normal. So waiting also let us leave near a higher tide. That plan worked wonderfully.

See the lower left box? That's depth. As in
1.8 feet! (It got as low as 1.2)

It's about 60 minutes to get down the Crystal River to the gulf then another 30 to get out where you can clear the man-made dredged channel. Some of that is crazy skinny. Then you run on a vector towards the islands for about an hour. Or so we thought.

Nice day to be out on the water. Albeit nippy.

As Russ piloted I looked ahead on our chart plotter. I commented that I saw depths of 1 foot where we were heading. I mentioned it to Russ, who took a closer look, then started to read about Cedar Key and their shoals. All writeups mention that you need to use the big channel. That was on the other side of the island. We diverted course.

The center of "town", Cedar Key

Just because it's the recommended channel doesn't mean anyone has made it easy to navigate. There's some serious twists, and one u-turn maneuver you need to make. Depths were wonderful, but you seriously needed to stay in the channel.

Some quick highlights of Crystal River:

MANATEE! They are such a thing that the town has a number of
tours to view and dive with them. Apparently, manatee love CR.

At one point we needed pumped out and some water.
The city has a pump out boat, which was handy, but
to get water we needed to go to Pete's Pier. 
We moved to a better spot when we returned, which was
a good thing given the water dropped 2 feet. 
It was deeper where the sailboats anchored.

April Fools! The blow came, dropping temps. 
We went from highs of 85 to lows of 42.

We decided to stay a while, Crystal River

We woke this morning originally thinking we'd head to Steinhatchee. From there it would be just a 9 hour trip to Apalachicola, shorter if we aimed for Alligator Point. But looking at the weather ahead for the week it looked like we'd be stuck in Steinhatchee for most of it. Which probably isn't bad, but there were also stories of the wind in the right direction making the already thin waters of Steinhatchee even thinner.

Fun times on the Crystal River!
Turns out this was the weekend of the Manatee Festival.
Such a lovely day brought out the crowds.

Russ driving the tenders, inQuest in the back

Russ thought it better to stay. If you have to spend a week somewhere, you could do a lot worse than Crystal River.

And thank goodness we opted for that. The winds were way worse than predicted, even tucked way back here up the river. If we had gone and needed to bail the only out was Cedar Key, which is an island. Then we would have been stuck there for a week.

Needless to say, good call.

The river was placid on Saturday.
inQuest is out there, on the left.

Tarpon Springs to Crystal River

Originally we wanted to do this trip yesterday, Thursday. But Wednesday night I really worried about the trip -- weather apps were predicting windy weather. And while it all would be on our stern -- one of the best ways we like our waves -- I just didn't feel good about it. So we waited a day.

The plan was engines on at 7 am. At 6:30 am we noticed how low the low tide was. Across the fairway we could see lots of mud. Next to us was a really long SeaRay whose nose stuck out 15 feet beyond the piling between us. To clear him and spin to turn out, I was going to need maneuvering space and not mud. As a result we waited for 90 minutes or so to let the tide creep back in before heading out. Getting out was tricky even with the added water, but we did just fine.

We hit the Gulf of Mexico around 9:30 am and turned northward. The seas were maybe a foot, and we trundled nicely as we cleared the last of the barrier islands. The further north we went -- and I can't stress my glee enough -- the better the water got. One footers turned to 6 inches, which turned to smooth. Throughout the day the water kept improving. THIS phenomena, I can tell you with confidence, I have never experienced before. But the day was fabulous.

Nice start to the day

But, wow, look at that water!

I was also pleasantly surprised that, while off the coast about 12 miles, for the most part we had cell service. I love that.

LOON!

It was quite a nature day, too. We saw dolphins (we continue to be the envy for folks with dolphins; when other boats jamming by us notice our hitchhikers they slow down and point and take pictures), ospreys, a bald eagle (I couldn't snap a pic of him fast enough), and a loon. A LOON! We could tell by it's famed Katherine Hepburn-style warble. We haven't see one of those since Canada on the loop.

It's about a 90 minute ride off the gulf into Crystal River as you go up the (shockingly) Crystal River. We anchored without incident. Then Russ toted the pug off to land for a reprieve while I made dinner -- French Onion Ramen.

The breeze is lovely, the temp is ideal. I predict a hardy night's sleep.

Still in Tarpon Springs

The boat splashed on Monday right around 9 am, which was when the tide was high. There was a decent north wind, which was helpful in blowing us out of the chamber, but made docking a little tricky.

While the weather is good for traveling--and we really want to only travel on decent days for the next 4 or 5 destinations--we can't leave TS just yet. I got my first Covid shot yesterday, but Russ is scheduled to get his second Wednesday. We'd been in the Port Tarpon marina a while, which isn't very handy to getting to town. So today we took a small cruise back to Turtle Cove to spend the next 2 nights. Also, they have a pump out here, which we needed (there is not in Port Tarpon).

Look how shiny the tunnel is!

Tomorrow we'll drive back to LBK, hopefully for the last time in a long time, and with lucky weather we'll take the 8 hour run for Crystal River on Thursday.

Some crazy driving in and around Port Tarpon

Getting hauled in Tarpon Springs (Monday)

Since we painted the bottom about 6 months ago we haven't checked how our running gear is doing or how the paint is holding up. Moreover, while we sat in LBK all that time we never had the bottom cleaned. So. We're curious.

The plan was to haul us out at 8 am. Russ went to the office around 7:30 to verify we were still a go, and they wanted to get us in sooner if possible. The tide was going out, and the haul-out dock is shallow. Even with our small draft, they wanted to do it ASAP.

We're up really early, as we usually are. It's too bad no one looked at the tide charts last night since we could have gotten it done around 7 if they were up to it. But we made the attempt around 7:45. Gotta say, it was a challenge, as the outgoing tide was stronger than anticipated, and we were trying to enter the chamber with it on our starboard beam. But I set her up for a second try and got her in without much fret. They had us shut off engines with the idea they'd pull the boat forward into the slings. But she didn't move. They pulled and pulled. No joy.

Turns out the tide was low enough that we bottomed out in the chamber. They mostly haul out mono-hulls, so the mud divot is deepest in the center of the chamber. Our double hulls stuck firmly in the mud around that. Nothing to do but wait for a higher tide. They asked us to park inQuest on the floating platform nearby and wait until noon.

Hauled again

Backing out was another challenge, and almost a disaster. Immediately we were pushed to the port where there were lots of boats. Realizing we were being pushed into them I jammed the engine back hard. We missed, but not by much!

Knowing the strength of the current this time I was able to set up for a first-try against the platform. That went well... so then we waited until the second try. When the current will be running the other way.

See all the worms?

Around 12:30 they were ready to try again. Wind gusts joined the party, blowing with the current on our port side. We planned on nearly hitting one of the boats on the pier with the expectation that the current and wind would push us off and line us up perfectly for the chamber. From the helm it looked like I was going to run into it which freaked me out, all the while my husband (on the bow) is saying it's great. I backed and twisted a bit, and tried a second time. And we nailed it -- got right in. I love it when that happens.

Also, see the blue paint? 

That all results in us staying in a hotel for a couple of nights while Russ washes, polishes, and chisels off the worms from the bottom of the boat. Yeah. Shoulda had that puppy dived while in LBK. Also, he wanted to touch up the paint. If you recall, when they reblocked the boat so we could paint the bald spots it was raining. Pouring, in fact. So the paint patches didn't cure right, and have washed away. Good thing we did the base coat in blue, to that was obvious to see.

One of 2 depth gauges. Totally explains why it's so off!