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

MOBILE BAY

We finally made it to Mobile, Alabama! (This seems like a huge accomplishment after some very long days on the river system.)

Mobile is Alabama's only saltwater port. Throughout history, the Port of Mobile has always played a key role in the City's economy. It was originally a trading center between the French and Native Americans. Currently Mobile is the 12th largest port in the United States.

Mobile began as the first Capitol of colonial French Louisiana in 1702. During its first 100 years it was a colony of France, Britain and finally Spain. Mobile first became part of the United States in 1813 under President Madison. In 1861 Mobile joined the Confederate States of America, which surrendered in 1865. 

During the American Civil War, Mobile was a Confederate City. One of the most famous naval engagements of the Civil War was the Battle of Mobile Bay on August, 5, 1864. 

Mobile is also famous for having the oldest "Mardi Gras" celebration in the United States (Yes, Mobile NOT New Orleans.) 

Today Mobile is one of the Gulf Coast's cultural centers. It has many museums, a symphony orchestra, opera house, ballet company and a large concentration of historic architecture.

We truly enjoyed our short one night stay in Mobile...definitely worth the visit!

The next day we traveled accross Mobile Bay to Fairhope. We stayed in the Fairhope area for four nights. One night at the Fairhope Yacht Club and three nights at the Grand Hotel Marina. 

The town of Fairhope was founded in 1894. It is a small charming town with a population of about 15,000. In 2016 it was named the best small town in the South by Southern Living Magazine. The town is now a boutique resort and one of the most affluent suburbs of Mobile. 

"Fairhope Avenue" was one of the properties on the 1910 version of the board game Monopoly!

The Fairhope Yacht Club was very nice, but remote from the town. After one night at the Yacht Club, we moved Thistle to the Grand Hotel Marina. Originally we only planned on getting fuel at the hotel dock...after seeing how nice the grounds were we asked if there was a transient dock available? Yes, we were very lucky to stay there the next three nights. 

The Grand Hotel was originally built in 1847. Guests traveled to the hotel by steamboats, that docked at what is now the Marina. During the Civil War the 21st Alabama Regiment camped on the Hotel grounds and the Hotel was used as a base hospital. The Hotel has been destroyed by hurricanes and changed ownership many times. It's still very "Grand" and we enjoyed a restful visit.

After three nights we traveled back across Mobile Bay to Dog River Marina, for our engines recommended 1000 hour service.

Looper Tip: After finishing the River section of the Great American Loop...everyone needs a rest! We highly recommend the Grand Hotel. 

On a cloudy cold day we traveled 44 miles down the Mobile River to Mobile, Alabama.

We docked at the Mobile Convention Center right in the heart of the City. We used every fender available to protect Thistle from the huge cement cruise ship wall. We checked in with the security officer ... a little nervous about our safety, we both decided it was ok to spend the night :) We asked the security officer if there was anything special we should know about? .... He let us know that there was The First Annual River Walk Wine Event starting in about an hour 50 feet from where we were docked!  

 

We changed into warm clothes and walked over to purchase tickets for the wine festival. At the entrance we were asked, if we were checking-in to volunteer?  "Sure we are happy to volunteer:"... thinking we would be moving boxes or trash ? Upon agreeing to volunteer, we were assigned to booth # 35 pouring California wine :) 

The River Walk Wine Festival... A very fun afternoon into the evening:) 

We met some locals at the wine festival that suggested Dumbwaiter for dinner, excellent!

The next morning was clear and cold!!! Feels like 33...Burrrrrrrrr?????

There were Navy ships docked across the Mobile River from Thistle. 

We spent the morning walking around downtown Mobile. 

The Mobile  Convention Center. 

Navigating across Mobile Bay to Fairhope. The Bay is very shallow!!! 

Just ask us in person, to tell the story :) 

Thistle docked at The Fairhope Yacht Club.

We celebrated friends crossing their wake to become Gold Loopers (upon finishing the Loop you are presented with  a gold burgee to replace your white burgee). 

From the Fairhope Yacht Club we traveled about 5 miles to The Grand Hotel. The Hotel has a fuel dock (we really needed  some diesel) and a Marina with a few transient slips. When docked at the Marina you have the opportunity to use all of the Hotel amenities ( pool, gym, lobby, wifi, bikes and best of all a shuttle to the town of Fairhope). It was a perfect place to relax after some looooooooong river days :) 

 

Everyday at 4pm the Grand Hotel Cannon is fired in honor of all our Veterans! 

Then everyone says The Pladge of Allegiance...very inspirational:) 

Smiling at the Grand Marina near the hotel herb garden. 

We rode bikes to Battles Wharf to see the beautiful homes With private piers on Mobile Bay. 

The charming  town of Fairhope populated with "Fairhopian's". 

Lots of great restaurants in Fairhope.  

The Confederate Rest Cemetery.

The Grand Hotel has a nice white sand beach...after reading the caution signs we decided NOT to swim? Watching the sunset from shore on our last night at the Grand. 

Back across Mobile Bay the next morning. 

Trying to imagine The Battle of Mobile Bay in 1861.

Dog River Marina.

Filling up with diesel (for a free slip) with Thistle assigned to N32. 

Sunset and the Thursday night sailboat races on Mobile Bay.
Goodnight XO