AT GULFPORT

DAY 175, SAT DEC. 17, 2011

DAY 176, SUN. DEC. 18, 2011

After tying up the GLORY DAYS it was time for some R&R (rest & relaxation). Even though we got some rest while not on watch, it is still tiring cruising for 25+ hours straight. We mostly just did our own thing, chatting with marina residents, napping, taking pictures and planning and packing for the trip back. We took a cab into the town, found a place to have dinner, walked around a bit and took a cab back to the boat. Though we didn’t see much of Gulfport, what we did see was interesting.   My first impression was the town seemed to be a throwback to the fifties. There is a small casino on the water and a lot of gift shops and restaurants in need of a facelift.   But it was dark, so I’ll reserve judgment until we return on Jan. 10. The marina was very nice with very good docks, clean rest rooms, and pump outs at every slip. The only drawback is that it is a long walk into town.   Sat. we did some more R&R, washed the boat, packed, socialized, and chilled out.   For the first time since we arrived we had dinner on board as we had to use up some of the food or lose it.   Sun. we finished up the English muffins, cereal, and bagels on board, cleaned up the dishes and took a cab for the 30 min ride to the airport. So much for warm weather!

NOTE ALL THE OYSTERS GROWING ON THE PILINGS

PARROTS IN PARADISE

DINNER ON BOARD

AN ANHINGA
 (looks like a cormorant, believe it or not, the ball is supposed to scare the birds away)

THE BIG DAY

DAY 173, THURS, DEC. 15, 2011; DAY 174 FRI, DEC. 16, 2011

DEP. CARRABELLE 1:00 PM   ARR. GULFPORT FL 2:20PM

1PM WIND E, 10-12K, WAVES 2-3’ 11PM WIND ESE 5K WAVES 1’ OR LESS

D. 203.8SM / 3353.01

The big day is finally here. We are up early as usual even though we will not leave until 1PM.   The reasoning behind this is that it will take us about 20 hrs to cross the Gulf, from Carrabelle to the entrance to Clearwater. We want to arrive off the coast at about 10AM, so as we head east into Clearwater the sun will be high enough so that we will be able to see the many crab pots that extend out 10 miles.   Our plan is to head to Clearwater with the rest of the fleet, and if the seas are calm and the weather good, go directly to our ultimate destination of Gulfport and bypass Clearwater.   We have 7 boats in our “fleet”, Gemini, Adagio, Laughter, Jeremiah, NautiNell, Gold Leaf, and Glory Days.   For some reason, Glory Days was the first out of the marina and since nobody wanted to take the lead, she led the fleet and set the pace at about 7.5 to 8.0 mph.   We headed south and cleared the R2 buoy off of Dog Island at 2:25 and changed course to head east for about 20 miles to L29* 40’N, Lo84* 10’W. This was the advice given to us by the locals so we would have a more comfortable ride in the easterly wind. When we reached the waypoint at 6 PM, we changed to a more southerly course that would take us about 35 miles off shore and bring us ten miles off the Clearwater Inlet. The seas were about 2’-3’ just about dead ahead, and by the time we made the course change the wind had died down and the seas were 1’ or less.   By 2AM, there was no wind and the sea was so calm we could see the reflection of the moon and the stars on the water. Since there were 5 of us on the Glory Days we set up a watch schedule rotating 2 men on for 2 hrs, and 3 men off for 3 hrs. It worked out perfectly as everybody had enough rest.   All of the other boats only had a husband/wife crew and they both stayed awake all night. There was very little boat traffic on the horizon, and none of it was less than 5 miles from us.   We also kept an hourly log noting Lat/Lon, speed, Dist. To Go, RPM, and oil press, coolant temp and volts.  At 08:25 AM we could see the coast with Clearwater in the distance, and according to our plan, we changed course to 165*m for the run to Pass A Grill Inlet. In effect, what we did was run outside from Clearwater Pass to Pass A Grill, instead of entering in Clearwater and taking the inland ICW route. This saved time and was much easier navigating.   We entered the inlet around 1 PM and made our way to the Gulfport Municipal marina by 2:30 PM.   As of this writing, that’s where the Glory Days sits.

GLORY DAYS DEPARTING CARRABELLE

GEMINI

JEREMIAH

ADAGIO

LAUGHTER

NAUTI NELL

 

THE FLEET AT DUSK

SUNRISE 07:22

LOOKING FOR LAND

LAND HO!  CLEARWATER

FOUR DAYS AT CARRABELLE

HOW MANY MEN DOES IT TAKE TO REPAIR A HOSE?

DAYS 169 – 172, AT CARRABELLE. FL

We arrived at C-Quarters Marina about 12:30, and proceeded to the fuel dock where we purchased diesel at the least expensive price per gallon since we started the trip. Kim, the person in charge, gave us our slip assignment and guided us bow in starboard side to. Getting in the slip was easy, but getting on and off the boat was not as we had to go all the way forward and climb over the bow rail. Carrabelle is a small rural town whose main attraction is commercial fishing and oystering.The marina, though old, was nice and a short walk into “town.” There was also an IGA across the street which made restocking very easy.There is one other marina in town The Moorings, which boasts a pool, but ours was clearly the right choice as it was much less expensive and most of the Loopers stayed there.In fact, the Loopers who stayed at The Moorings complained that there was nothing to do there and they came over to our marina daily to socialize, especially at cocktail time. C-Quarters has a good size tackle/marine store with a huge covered dockside porch with rocking chairs and picnic tables, perfect for socializing.The main topic of conversation among Loopers is when will there be a good weather window for us to make the crossing. The consensus is Wed., in 4 days. In a laid back town like this it’s hard to imagine what to do for 4 days to keep busy.The normal routines, like shopping for food, eating out, boat cleaning, laundry, etc. take up a lot of time, especially when there is a lot of time. We ate most of our meals out except for breakfast.We had cold cuts for an occasional lunch, but had dinner out every night, mostly local seafood. One of the favorites was steamed fresh gulf shrimp purchased from the "shrimp lady." One day we walked to the Coast Guard Station and Jim Mello, a USCG employee, made arrangements for a tour of the CG Cutter Seahawk, stationed there. We were eagerly welcome by the Captain and crew, and were given a tour of every part of the boat, from stem to stern. We were all very impressed by not only the outstanding condition of the vessel, but the quality and enthusiasm of its crew. Another day we walked to a local WWII Museum. We happened to get there just as a group of “HOGs” (Harley Owners Group) arrived. These were what I guess is becoming more typical of HOGS, retired senior citizens touring on Harleys. Except for the mode of transportation, we are all alike. Talking about a lot of time, the evenings were taken up by Looper Gatherings. Every night on the porch every one would bring their favorite snack to share and their own cocktails. We would have as many as 20 to 30 people, and the main topic of conversation would be weather for crossing. Everybody had something to say. Information was gathered from TV, internet websites, marine radio, Tom Conrad on the AGLCA forum, and last but not least, local weather gurus, also known as fisherman. After much deliberation, we finally all come to the same conclusion. Wed. is OK, but Thurs is ideal.The decision is made, we depart Thurs at 1:00PM.

PIC AT MUSEUM, WHERE AMPHIBIOUS FORCES BEGAN

MERRY CHRISTMAS

4 POUNDS OF GULF SHRIMP

PILOT HOUSE ON SEAHAWK

C-QUARTERS MARINA STORE

ONE OF MANY LOOPER GATHERINGS

WATCHING THE PATRIOTS GAME ON BOARD

BUYING FRESH GULF SHRIMP @ $5 PER POUND

HOGS AT THE MUSEUM

COMMERCIAL FISHERMAN LOADING ICE

USCG CUTTER SEAHAWK

BEAUTIFUL DOWNTOWN CARRABELLE

WAR MEMORIAL

 

CARRABELLE, FL

DAY 168, SUN DEC. 11, 2011

DEP APACHICOLA (mm351) 08:30   ARR. C-QUARTERS MARINA, CARRABELLE, FL (mm 380) 12:30

AM CLOUDY, COOL, WIND NNE 15 -20

D. 29 sm / 3149.21

As noted, another cloudy cool and windy day.  Since we are in protected waters the wind doesn’t delay us any so we get under way with Adagio behind for the 30 mile trip to Carrabelle.  We head south for 1 mile and enter Apalachicola Bay.  The channel is narrow and continues south for about 5 miles, then makes a 90 degree turn to the east.  In another 5 miles we enter St Georges Sound and continue east with St Georges Island to starboard protecting us from the wind and waves of the Gulf.  It’s roughly 15 miles to East Pass, the channel between St. Georges I. and Dog I.  This is where we will enter the Gulf for the crossing when the weather is good.  For now, we turn north toward for another 5 miles to the entrance of the Carrabelle River and C-Quarters Marina, our port until we get a good weather window to cross the gulf.  We do see a few dolphins as they come by to check us out, other than that there is no boat traffic as it is too windy for the oystermen to be out tonging.  

ADAGIO

LOOKING FOR A MEAL IN OUR WAKE

CARRABELLE SHRIMPERS

THAT'S OUR SLIP ON THE LEFT

BUBBA'S BOATS

APALACHICOLA

DAY 166 FRI. DEC.9, 2011

DEP. PANAMA CITY (mm290) 07:05;  ARR. SCIPIO CREEK MARINA (mm 351) APALACHICOLLA 3:10

AM 40* COOL, OVERCAST, W. NE 5.

D. 62.41 sm / 3120.21

We left Panama City without GEMINI.  They met friends from Steve’s AF base and stayed an extra day, so it was just GLORY DAYS and ADAGIO.  We continued across St. Andrews Bay to Wetappo Creek (mm 310), into Lake Wimico (mm 335), 5 miles across, and into the Apalachicola River at mm 340.  From there it was another 11 miles to our destination at Scipio Creek marina.  The ride was smooth in spite of the wind, as we were in well protected and very shallow water.  In many of the areas we saw a lot of men “tonging” for oysters from their small shallow draft oyster boats.  We are now into some really rural areas.  The last three stops, while not booming metropolises, compared to Apalachicola, were big. The main source of income here is oysters, commercial fishing and shrimping, definitely not tourism.  That said, we liked it here, especially “Pappa Joe’s Oyster Bar,” right at the marina.  Good food, plenty of it, and oysters served 15 different ways, from ice cold on the half shell, $6.95/doz., to oyster stew, $7.95/ bowl, to fried, baked, stuffed, steamed, etc.  The first thing we did after tying up the boat was to have a doz. raw oysters and a cold beer.  It was so nice here, we stayed for 2 days, took lots of pictures, and ate lots of oysters, and were joined by good friend John Rosso.    

A LOOPER GATHERING

MOONLIT ANCHORAGE

JOE'S NEW BOAT

AFTER A FEW BEERS

THE MOTLEY CREW OF THE GLORY DAYS
JOHN, JOE, BOB, JIM, TOM

A RED NECK WS WIPER

ELVIS SIGHTING!

FINALLY TIED UP

HURRICANE CASUALTY

OYSTERMEN

PANAMA CITY, ANOTHER COLD DAY IN FL

DAY 165, THURS. DEC. 8, 2011

DEP. FT.WB (mm222) 06:30;  ARR. PANAMA CITY (mm290) 2:20

AM 35*, W NE 5-10, PM, WARMING UP

D. 68 sm / 3057.8

We left the Ft. Walton Beach Marina with GEMINI in the lead and ADAGIO bring up the rear.  We cruised roughly 30 miles across Choctawhatchee Bay into a 15 mile canal which took us to St. Andrew Sound, then turned NE for about 5 miles to the Panama City Municipal Marina.  The marina itself is a pretty nice facility very close to downtown, so it is just a short walk to shops and restaurants.  Nice town, but without a car we can’t see much of it.  Too tired (and cold) anyway!

TIED UP IN PC

UNDER WAY

ANOTHER PRETTY SUNSET