A free dock at Indian Rocks beach embraced Dream Seeker overnight; the beginning of the long Thanksgiving weekend. Children were everywhere, fishing swimming and just running around yelling. 

The sign said no overnight docking but we had gotten an imprimatur from Terry England who knows these waters, so we stayed but we did leave early in the morning for Sarasota.

Sailing down the gulf intracoastal on Thanksgiving weekend brings out what Denny calls cowboys. Weekend warriors, full of hubris, and attempting to make their imprint on the waterway, weave in and out of the channel impeding our progress toward home. They are having  a lot of fun in these gorgeous waters. The homes are beautiful, the weather ideal, and the magnificent dolphins are ever present.

Marina Jack in downtown Sarasota was our next stop. We were greeted by two Looper wannabes having just bought their first boats and one who just finished the loop and flew their Gold flag for the first time. We currently fly a white Looper Flag but when we cross our wake (complete our Loop), in Stuart we will fly a gold one too.

We were very pleased to see Connor Davis, a Sea Craft buddy of Denny’s walking down the dock. It is such pleasure to me when friends take the time and effort to join us on our travels. A delightful man I had never met but who felt like a friend immediately.

Tarpon Springs on Florida’s Gulf Coast enjoys a legacy of Greek sponge divers who settled there in the early 1900’s. Historic sponge docks are a reminder of a once booming industry.  Greek eateries, sponge boats and a profusion of tourists, line the waterfront.

On a usual year, we are fortunate enough to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends.  This year, an unusual year, November 28 was not only Thanksgiving but Denny’s birthday. In spite of an invitation to spend Thanksgiving together with the other loopers we (mostly me) chose to spend the holiday on the move. I am eager to get home and scrape the barnacles off my body and remove the ravages of the sea from my face.

The two occasions were not forgotten though. Wild turkey makes great cocktails, a turkey roll substituted for the full blown bird which would never fit in Dream Seeker’s oven and Denny’s favorite, chocolate cake for a birthday celebration.

Broken bolts and a leaking transmission are still part of our daily engine clean up. Denny thinks he is getting closer to solving these problems every day, perhaps it will be fixed by the time we get home.

Two boats are making the crossing with us, Gyp C and Bite Me (not a Looper). The three of us run about eight knots basically ten miles an hour, each boat has a crew of two. 

The forethought:

Start at three PM, travel for twenty-one hours east, south and then east again to avoid the blinding morning sunrise and arrive at Tarpon Springs about eleven AM, without hitting anything.

Stay as close to shore as possible to avoid large swells,  stay in 50 feet of water or more to avoid the crab pots and watch out for large ships traversing the gulf. Be vigilant!

What Happened;

3 PM:  A picture post card day!  We embarked!  The seas are almost flat. The three of us are in hourly radio contact. The only boats we encountered the entire trip were Looper boats.

11PM:  Armed with a spot light,  “Bite Me” had a pod of dolphins following her,  I didn’t go out and check our bow, the moon had not yet risen and the spotlight was arbitrary.

1 AM   Dream Seeker, Bite Me, this is Gyp C,  are you all awake? It is so quiet and calm here.  The seas are still almost flat and the stars at their brightest, the way was lighted.

2AM: the winds shifted: it was a little bumpy for a few hours but calmed down by daylight. 

A perfect crossing with no unusual incidents of any kind! God is Good!

One grocery store, one liquor store, one post office, one hardware store, two restaurants, and three marinas, a quintessential small boaters paradise on the panhandle of Florida. We are here awaiting a favorable weather forecast so we can cross the Gulf of Mexico with the least amount of turbulence, a twenty-one hour trip in an eight knot boat. (10 miles an hour). 

Escorted along the Seaway to Carrabelle by the indefatigable and energetic dolphins, we found that all boats are seemingly treated to the same pleasure. Two other Looper boats are at the marina with us, Gyps C, from Canada, and Talisker, named for an expensive Scotch that I have never tried but will at my first opportunity.  Talisker said they drank their last ounce after they safely traversed Lake Michigan.

Buddy, an old time mariner led a discussion on the Gulf crossing at the marina next door. He filled us with fact and lore as he knows it. The heavens opened as we ran to the closest restaurant. Paper is a poor substitute for cloth when you are trying to get dry.  A delicious flounder dinner and a bottle of wine helped us weather the storm.

Denny installed hand rails in the pilot house for the captain’s comfort on bad seas and secured the engine room for travel.  I tethered the liquor cabinet and protected the galley (the important stuff).

A forecast from Captain Chris and the calm breezes determined; We are ready!

Florida’s  “Grand Canyon” starts on the GIWW east of Choctawahtchee Bay, at the edge of Mangoes Raw Bar. It is a twenty-five mile long cut through some of the highest elevations in the state.

Considering the highest natural point in Florida is 345 feet, naming it a canyon is a stretch of the imagination. Cliffs that formed from the sand dunes are said to give the appearance of a canyon that reaches down to the water. A quiet and calm waterway!

Two supersonic F35”s from Elgin Air Force base broke the silence along with the sound barrier, performing bombing exercises. At least that’s what we thought they were doing. They passed by many times and always demanded our attention.

A pod of dolphins greeted us as we stealthily approached our anchorage in West Bay; Separately and together they came to say hello. I think we found a dolphin refuge or at least a place for a family to call home. Perhaps it was the time of day, perhaps it was curiosity, whatever it was, it was awesome.

We took our drinks  and blankets to the flybridge and watched the sun set on a plethora of dolphins looking for dinner. See video.

Morning came clearly and quietly, the nights frivolities no longer seen in the flat sea.

An hour into our trip we were again regaled with dolphins escorting us all the way. The entire morning was spent taking pictures. A wonderment!

Don’t know what happened. I am sending just the videos again.

 

We are in Florida again!  But Florida is such a big state, 160 miles wide and 500 miles long and we have most if it still to navigate before getting home.

We accessed the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) in Pensacola with its beautiful white sand beaches and pleasant seaside villages and found Dream Seeker surrounded by groups of five to seven dolphins taking turns to ride in her bow waves. 

I took three videos but then decided to just lean back and watch them cavort in the sea. Two videos are posted with this blog, just click on them to start. The GIWW is much wider than the ICW on Florida’s east coast but both are beautiful.

In the past nine months, Dream Seeker and her crew successfully negotiated one-hundred and fifty-four locks. Each is unique, each is different, and yet, all serve the same purpose. Only one Lock, the Okeechobee lock in Stuart remains to be enjoyed.

Sheared bolts are still dropping on the engine room floor at a rapid rate and the drive shaft appears to be getting longer. A marina with a good service department,Two Georges Marina at Fort Walton proved to be an excellent stop.

Are you one of the two Georges? I asked our greeter. He said, no, he is both of them. Somewhere there was a parting of the ways, but they do have good mechanics.

 

 

Quirky seas followed us across Mobile Bay. Dishes were rattling, the table walked across the room and the inclinometer sporadically read ten to twenty degrees. The heavy winds pushed us off the dock as quickly as Denny pulled us in but Dog River Marina welcomed us. Time to repair and regroup.

Ten Looper boats shared a transient dock with us and joined us for dinner at the Mobile Yacht Club.  The days brought warmth from the sun but the heater was on at night. 

Three nights and two days in port and Dream Seeker has a new stern light, fresh oil and new gaskets on the port engine. I found a Dillards but not enough hours to spend there.

Leaving Dog River the sun was shining and boaters wore only light weight jackets. The fuel  and water tanks were filled the holding tank emptied. We are on our way south east through Mobile Bay, toward the Florida panhandle and onto the Gulf intercostal waterway.

 Unbelievable! Mobile Bay, the water is like a sheet of glass, the seas are dead calm and seagulls are floating on the still water. The sun is shining.

Dolphins! At two o’clock! Straight ahead!  Dolphins! In Mobile Bay!  Dolphins are riding our bow waves they are all around us.

We are  almost home!

Morning came sunny and cold. Untie the lines on deck! Oops! What’s on the deck? It’s very slippery!  Even in my sneakers I’m sliding.  Wow, it’s ice!  The thermometer reads 30.5 degrees. Are we still going south?  Yes, just not fast enough.

The next marina is at Mobile 200 miles down river we will have to anchor out for two nights or more.  Traveling in caravan through the locks everyone is accounted for. Can we get 65 miles down the winding river today before dark? Unfortunately, the way south is not in a straight line, it follows the river.

The port engine is overheating again!  I take the controls and throttle back while Denny goes to his holy place to pray.  Go on ahead we will catch up. Later, the proclamation, It just needed a little coolant.

The chosen anchorage was passed up by the other boats who radioed that It was too full of floating timber, trees and overhanging branches to stop there. We were behind the others and the sun was setting rapidly. Anchoring was imperative. Slowly and very carefully we enter the chosen anchorage.

Go further into the creek!  No, those logs are too big! It is probably better in further. Take the boat hook move that timber! I am dropping the anchor!  Oh no, the current is strong we need to turn the boat around. As Dream Seeker slowly turns we hoist the anchor!  OK!  Now!, drop it again here!

There is too much current here, we need to put out a second anchor. But Denny, you only have one windless.  I am the second windlass! The second anchor is deployed and we back into the trees that are close enough to put overhanging limbs in the cockpit and broken ones all over the fly bridge.

Otter, a thirty-four foot trawler, comes doodling in next to us waving and stops in the middle of the creek. In less than five minutes, drops his anchor, turns on his grille, gets his beer and he is settled in for the night. Calls to us “I have been here before.  This is as good as it gets for anchorages on the river system.”

Demopolis, Alabama, marks the end of the Tombigbee Waterway and the beginning of the Black Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway. The entire span is called the Tom-Tom by the locals but the Black Warrior includes 14 more locks.

Sailing down the river and hidden around a bend, the calm suddenly turns to wonder. The White Cliffs of Epes come slowly into view.  They are part of the Selma Chalk formations which were deposited at about the same time as England’s famous White Cliffs of Dover and are surprising and absolutely stunning!

In Demopolis, the wind is whistling through the gauges, the flags are straight out and I am wearing my new hat and gloves.  The sky is grey and the 20 mile an hour arctic winds are following us south. Everyone says this weather is an anomaly, it should still be very warm. Winter doesn’t usually come to Alabama until January. I guess the only explanation is climate change.

We are marooned with about ten other Looper boats waiting for the forces of nature to subside. Traversing the locks requires two people on deck to control the boat and no one wants to be outside in this inclement weather.

The marinas party room is upstairs and outside but warmed by the many bodies and good cheer. Two courtesy cars are shared and a shuttle runs twice a day. The female dock master runs the organization with an iron hand. We made the mistake of handing off the car keys to another looper without handing them first to the dock master and were properly reprimanded.

4PM.   Meeting in the laundry room! When it is really cold the ample laundry room serves as a closed party room.  The agenda, “Who wants to leave in the morning?”. It is easier on the Lock masters for us to travel in caravan.  Ok two groups the first leaving at five AM, the second at 7AM. Thank God we are in the second group, this is supposed to be fun.

The wind should die down by morning and the sun promises to be shining, Let’s go!