NORTHWEST GULF COAST of FLORIDA

We have been on the NORTHWEST GULF COAST of FLORIDA the last few days.

Our first stop after "The Crossing" was Tarpon Springs. Early settlers saw Tarpon jumping out of the water and so named the location Tarpon Springs.

Tarpon Springs is famous for its sponge industry. In the 1800's, John Cheyenne founded the first local sponge business. Many people from Key West and the Bahamas settled in Tarpon Springs to hook sponges. In 1905, John Cocoris introduced the technique of sponge diving. He recruited divers and crew members from Greece. The sponge industry soon became one of the leading maritime industries in Florida. In 1947 a red tide alge bloom wiped out the sponge fields in the Gulf of Mexico. Eventually, the sponges recovered, allowing a small but consistent industry today.

The 1953 film "Beneath the 12-Mile Reef", depicted the sponge industry, takes place and was filmed in Tarpon Springs. 

Tarpon Springs has the highest percentage of Greek Americans of any city in the United States. We both like Greek cuisine and were very happy with our dining experience.

Our next port was Dunedin. The towns name comes from the Scottish name for Edinburgh, the Capitol of Scotland. It's a small town known for its bike trail and unique business district. The business district is notable for its absence of commercial signage and lack of franchise restaurants or chain stores. Our favorite shop was named Thistle :)

On to Sarasota and we docked at Marina Jack. Sarasota was once the winter home of the Ringling Brothers Circus. Today the City has a number of cultural centers, notably The Ringling Museum of Art. There are many barrier islands that separate Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. These islands are known as keys and have some of the prettiest beaches in the world!

Our next port was Longboat Key Moorings on Longboat Key. Longboat Key is the largest barrier islands in Sarasota County.  We agree the beach is absolutely gorgeous:) 

Looper Tip: Be Thankful for you Loop experience... its unbelievable!

The last few days we have traveled from Tarpon Springs to Longboat Key.

(red line)

Yummmmm...The Stone Crab Festival.

Herb, the Tarpon Springs Harbor Host, had a celebration for the Loopers who Crossed together:)

Tarpon Springs is famous for their sponging.  

There is a large Greek population in Tarpon Springs.

Hellas was our favorite Greek restaurant.

The Pinellas Trail is 38 miles long.

It connects Saint Pete to Clearwater.  

We rode our bikes to Old Tarpon Springs and enjoyed breakfast at the Trailside Cafe.

We waited for the tide to rise and departed Turtle Cove.

It was very shallow!

Our depth gauge read 4 feet 6 inches at low tide?

Thistle's draft is 4 feet 1 inch.....

A beautiful day heading south on the ICW.

We went under a drawbridge and had dolphins jumping in our wake before docking in Dunedin. 

Thistle docked in Dunedin. 

Our favorite shop in Dunedin. 

We rode our bikes to Clearwater and had an interesting lunch at Kara Lynn's, our first ever Paleo Restaurant!

Then got caught in a rainstorm and rode the Jolly Trolly back to Dunedin. 

Back on the ICW headed to Sarasota.

Tooooooo close ... on a few bridges?

We made it :) 

Thistle is docked at Marina Jack. 

We are near the "Unconditional Surrender" statue. 

The BIG smooch is 26 feet tall, it honors a famous photo of V-J Day in Times Square. 

The statue has been a very controversial addition to Sarasota, people either love it or hate it? 

We  Love it XO 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Missing family and friends today, but we are unbelievably Thankful for our Great American Loop Adventure.  

XO 

We enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving dinner aboard Thistle.

(With a little help from Whole Foods :) 

The next morning we had rain and clouds.

Thistle had some pretty nice company on the guest docks!

( 100 + foot yachts :) 

The rain stoped...

We docked at Longboat Key Marina.  

We spotted a pink bird (Roseate Spoonbill) near the golf course on Longboard Key 

and

a Manatee in the Marina (red circle). 

Longboat Key was featured on the cover of Marina Life.

While docked at the Marina we have use of the Resort.

A very nice day on the beach relaxing and collecting seashells :) 

THE CROSSING

We made THE CROSSING!!!

We were both slightly nervous about the crossing... it ended up being a great weather window, and we were fortunate to travel with seven other Looper boats.

A favorable weather window means winds under 15 knots and seas 1-2 feet. History indicates that these windows are few and far between (typically about 10 days for November). Eddy's Weather Wag available to AGALC Members is the best crossing resource. (Thanks Eddy)

We prepared Thistle and us....ready to GO! 

           Made sure all of our electronics were fully charged.

           Prepped a ditch bag with essentials.

           Called family to notify them of our plan.

           Made a sleeping bed on the fly deck.

           Made a pot of chili.

           The two of us agreed on a shift schedule.

           Rechecked our weather and course.

           

There was a total of about 12 Loopers crossing with the favorable weather opportunity.

We traveled with 7 Loopers in our flotilla. One experienced Looper took charge and lead the way,  checking in with all 7 of us by radio on the hour. It sure was nice to hear a familiar voice in the middle of the night :) ... Thanks Golden XO.

Greg and Reenie shared time at the helm with one and two hour shifts. The stars and shooting stars were spectacular!

It was a ONCE in a lifetime experience:) 

Looper Tip: Believe Eddy's advice not to arrive at the R4 Buoy prior to 10am. There are more crab pots than you can imagine! And very difficult to see when looking into the sun. 

The red line indicates our planned crossing.

The blue line is the traditional Great American Loop.

We choose course #1.

The Good: It is the shortest distance and best of all we only need one good weather day!

The not so Good: It will take us 24 hours.

The red line is course #1.

We rechecked multiple weather reports...

Especially Eddy's Weather Wag! 

It's a go :)

More dolphins in Thistle's wake.

We left Apalachicola at 11am and traveled about 20 miles to Dog Island.

Dog Island is where Loopers stage to cross together.

You stage according to your boat speed. 

Crusing @ 8 knots, we want to depart Dog Island at about 2pm.

It will take us approximately 24 hours to reach Tarpon Springs. 

Sunset about 5:30pm.

Darkness ...except for the (comforting) running lights of other Loopers.

Sunrise at about 6:50am.

There are numerous crab pots starting in 30 feet of water (The last two hours).

When tired and looking into the sun, crab pots are challenging to avoid.  

At 11am we were thrilled to radio Turtle Bay Marina and dock at our assigned slip :) 

We made " THE CROSSING " safe and sound...the purple line was Thistle's course.

Thanks for the well wishes XO 

THE PANHANDLE

Back aboard Thistle and we are ready to start our Great American Loop journey on the Intracoastal Waterway. 

The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is a 3,000 mile inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Coast's of the United States. Some of the waterway consist of natural inlets, saltwater rivers, bays and sounds, while other sections are artificial canals. The northern end of the Intracoastal Waterway is Boston, Massachusetts and the southern end is Brownsville, Texas.

The next few days we will be on the Gulf Section of the Intracoastal Waterway, and will travel about 250 miles. We entered the ICW off Mobile Bay on the way to Carrabelle, Florida. The ICW provides a channel with a depth of at least 12 feet. The Gulf Waterway was proposed in the early 19 century, but opened in 1949. 

The ICW parallels the Florida Panhandle. The "Panhandle" is the unofficial term for the western section of Florida. It is a strip of land about 200 miles long and 50-100 miles wide. The Panhandle is nicknamed "The Forgotten Coast." The area has remained true to it's southern hospitality and conservative values. Today the Panhandle is known for its  hurricanes, white sandy beaches, barrier islands, and excellent boating and fishing. 

We enjoyed the Panhandle more than expected:) Back in the salt water is a great feeling! 

Once finished with this section of the ICW, we have the only overnight passage on the Great American Loop Adventure. We have been constantly checking multiple weather reports to ensure a safe crossing across the Gulf of Mexico to Tarpon Springs, Florida. 

Leaving Apalachicola in the morning ...all reports look good :)

We will update our family and friends after our approximately 24 hour passage!

XO wish us good luck along with the dolphins :)

Looper Tip: Start checking your weather window to cross in Mobile! (In November 2016 there were only 11 good weather window days.)

Dinner at the Mobile Yacht Club... fresh grouper and Gulf shrimp!

Excellent:)

Thistle's 1,000 hour service, bottom clean and new zincs.

Going from fresh water to salt water ... 

Back across Mobile Bay...we are getting good at this!

We saw the USS Mobil going across the Bay...very exciting!

Entering the Intracoastal Waterway.

Our first stop was one night at Homeport Marina in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

We enjoyed dinner and live music at LuLu's, Lucy Buffet 's Restaurant.

 (Yes, Jimmy Buffet's CrAZy SiStEr !).

Our next stop was two nights at The Wharf Marina in Orange Beach, Alabama. 

The Wharf was hosting the World Food Championships. 

It was fun to watch the "Cheferee" judge the cooking contest. 

Best of all...Greg won a fancy cookware set by being the first person to #hashtag the event:)

When we departed The Wharf we decided to "Cheferee" our dining experience!

The bruschetta at red & white won first place :) 

We are in Florida! 

Next stop the Pensacola! 

On our way into the harbor we helped a small sailboat.

That night we enjoyed our first oysters.

Good night Pensacola XO 

The following day, dolphins followed Thistle's wake :) 

We watched and heard the Blue Angels practice... their home base is Pensacola.

(We did not take this picture... impressive to watch, impossible to photograph from a boat?) 

Next stop Sandestin, Florida!

We were fortunate to attend the grand opening of Provisions:)

At the celebration we met some very nice and friendly community members...thanks for your wonderful hospitality.

Sights around Sandestin.  

It's a planned community where everyone rides a bike or drives a golf cart :) 

Our new friends from Sandestin shared pictures from the 4th of July festivities!

More dolphins:) 

Next port Saint Andrews Marina in Panama City, Florida. 

Just The Cook Off The Hook is a floating restaurant in the Marina. It's owned by, Ernie Hall  a    celebrity chef and actor. We cheered dinner and sunset on the restaurant rooftop:) 

Thistle docked with the fishing boats in Panama City. 

Next port picturesque Apalachicola.      

We docked at the Water Street Hotel for the night.  

The town is famous for producing 90% of Florida's oysters. 

Apalachicola.

Departing Apalachicola.

The dolphins are following Thistle...hopefully wishing us a safe journey on our BIG crossing :) 

Stay tuned XO