SAUL CREEK TO PANAMA CITY 4/6/15

Saul Creek was a beautiful and private anchorage.  Its only a day away from our new home port! We will remember that when we want to just get away from the hustle bustle of life!  We headed out of Saul Creek at sunrise, I took the first watch.  Our route took us up the GICW to the Gulf County Canal to Port St. Joe, and outside in the gulf to St. Andrews Pass.  We listened to coast guard interaction with a vessel in distress all morning.  It was a 27 foot sailboat that was capsized, off of Cape San Blas, which was approximately 10 miles from where we were.  We spotted a military helicopter and listened to the Coast Guard Cutter that was in route to the boater.  It was so sad to listen and we were hopeful the sailor/sailors were okay.  As we were approaching the St. Andrews Pass we saw a navy boat with divers on board coming in.  We figured they were involved with the rescue.  The news aired the story about the incident.  The sailor was rescued by a navy helicopter and later released from the hospital.  He must have hit the reef coming out the inlet so hard as to put a hole in his boat, then went down.  So sad, but glad he was okay.
We caught a Spanish Mackerel, so yum, had fresh fish dinner planned.

 We watched several very large military jets fly overhead, some in formation.  F16s and F18s.  Then Ed spotted something in the water.

In the mid-day sun, we couldn't make out what it was!  But it was big!  It had the shape of a huge mantaray, or something!  We slowed down and circled around it, I was taking pictures with my phone. 

As we approached it, (we got close), we saw that it was a large "tarp" with the 4 corners tethered down.  Hmmm.  Oh crap!  Perhaps its a target of some sort for the military jets to practice with!  And here we are, dumb little sailboat, circling and circling and getting closer and closer!  10 extra points if you get the sailboat!! We revved the engine up and got back on course.

Dolphins playing in the bow wake

We got to St. Andrews Pass around 3:00 pm, and decided we were not quite ready to go to the marina and establish our new home.  So we found a very nice anchorage off Shell Island just past the Tyndall Air Force Base and in beautiful clear water.  Anchored and marveled at how pretty it is here!

Coming around the inlet at Shell Island

View from our anchorage, a walkway goes over to the gulfside

The following morning I practiced more in the dinghy, trying to get comfortable starting and running the outboard.

We dinghied over and walked the beach for a couple of hours.  There were lots of shells and driftwood.  

As the morning progressed we watched pontoon boat (rentals) parade in, non-stop.  Then came the jet skis (rentals) non-stop.  The beautiful pristine beach was now wall to wall pontoon and fishing boats and jet skis!! And people everywhere!! It must still be spring break!

Most of the people were young adults, college and high school aged.  After lunch, it was time to go. We motored over through St. Andrews Bay to the marina.  

St. Andrews Marina

Our slip was waiting for us.  Got all tied up and secured.

 

We have just completed our first real sailing cruise!  Although it sure didn't go as I pictured.  But we came home with the perfect boat to continue this adventure next season.  Now its summer fun time, heading to NOLA JazzFest to meet up with our buddies Steve and Erica, and then spend much of the summer in Arkansas, playing with our children, grandchildren and Parrothead Phriends!!

See ya in October, as we begin our next Sailing Manatee Adventure!  Thank you EVERYONE for following us and sharing our adventures!

SAUL CREEK, 4/4/15 TO 4/5/15 EASTER WEEKEND

We took our time getting up and out, weighed anchor at 8:30 am and motored west across Apalachicola Bay.  There was a strong current, we were running about 4-4.5 knots.  The winds picked up shortly thereafter out of the west at 18-20 knots.  We motored for a few hours and an alarm sounded.  We quickly got out of the channel, determined it was the high temperature alarm.  We shut down the engine and Ed went to investigate.  He found a loose belt and tightened it. All set and on our way again. The rest of the day we pounded into the west wind and the chop.  We went in the channel at Apalachicola and passed the anchorage we were at Christmas time and where we met Dan and Audrey on Brynli.  (who are currently in the Bahamas!)  A few miles up the Apalachicola River the high temperature alarm sounded again.  Same drill, get out of the channel asap and shut down the engine.  This time the belt broke.  Lucky for us, there was a spare on board.  Ed replaced the belt and off we went.  We tucked up into an anchorage in Saul Creek (Active Captain tip) and anchored, as it started to rain.  The winds were much much calmer in the creek, it was beautifully quiet.  It was a deep river in spots, up to 50 feet.  We anchored in 12 feet.  Only 1 other sailboat anchored a little ways down, other than that we were totally alone in the swamps of old Florida.  NO PHONE OR INTERNET SIGNAL!!  And its Easter....BUMMER!!  The boat sat super still, no wind and not much current.  We slept like a rock.    

The following morning we got into Lil Bit and motored around, into the smaller little creeks, or I should say swamps.  We turned off the outboard and rowed into the swamps, into smaller and smaller waterways and just stopped and looked around.  It was so quiet, and yet so busy with all forms of wildlife!  There were beautiful orchid looking flowers and lilies hiding in the underbrush.  Easter flowers!

Ed spotted an alligator, about 8 ft. long, just floating next to a lily pad, as if to say, "I will stay perfectly still, and you won't see me or bother me".  We didn't bother him, rowed on down and he was still there when we came back!  He paddled over to the shore line and stopped right in front of a root along the shore, thinking he was camoflaugued.

                                     

                                           Can you spot the gator?

                                           

                                        Lilypads

                                         

                                        Cypress Knees

                                        

                                                                                     Gnarly roots!

Reflections

Swamp trees, reflections in the water

Seems to be the thing to have around these parts!

Reviews on Active Captain for this anchorage talks about how it is a good hurricane hole.  We saw signs of that; very old rope, wrapped around the bases of several trees, then cut free.  If these trees could talk, they would have lots of stories of holding all kinds of ships, work boats, sailboat, who knows...from days past and boaters tying their boats to the trees and hope for the best.

                                  A sign from many years past, the tree grew around the sign!

                  We spotted fiddler crabs along the shoreline and watched them for a few minutes

 Fiddler Crabs

A lilypad flower!

Manatee in the swamp

Practicing the dinghy motor

Cypress knees

Old, old rope, hanging from a tree for some purpose at one time

It certainly was a different way to spend Easter Sunday.  It was great to see other forms of life going on.

CROSSING THE BIG BEND TO DOG ISLAND 4/3/15

 We relaxed in the morning, Ed did boat maintenance, while I prepared easy to eat foods for the trip across.  In case the seas were rough, I  wanted to have a hot meal already cooked and in the thermos to avoid having to be down in the galley for any length of time.  I made a dish of yellow rice, black beans, stewed tomatoes with slices of cheddar cheese folded in.  I also washed and cut up fresh veggies, and made up some dips, bleu cheese for Ed, Ginger Mayo for me.  We were all set and weighed anchor at 11:40.  The winds were dropping, SE at 6-8 knots.  By the time we cleared our anchorage, the wind had died.  By the time we got out in the gulf proper, by Seahorse Reef, the winds became light out of the Northwest.  Figures…thats the direction we were going!  So, no sails, just motoring.  We started doing watches, I took the first watch from 12-3pm.  Ed enjoyed just relaxing and moving about the boat as he wished.  While on watch, I had to monitor the horizon, look for boats,  keep on course, using the chart plotter and the auto pilot.  We didn’t take many pics, all we saw was calm water!  None the less, very peaceful, we were all alone!

It was an uneventful crossing.  We were each able to rest and sleep a little on our off-watches. 

Full moon over Cedar Key

A picture of the key we anchored by

We slowed down half way through the night to time our arrival to East Pass at daylight.  Ed even went in circles outside the channel waiting for daylight.  Was a good plan in theory, however un-forecasted heavy fog set in, just as we were ready to go into the channel!! Damn fog!! Its got to be the worst conditions to navigate a channel in.  The chart plotter, luckily, showed us where the buoys marking the channel were located.  We could not see them in the fog until they were about 100 feet away.  What is it about this crossing?? We had the same scenario back in December going into Crystal River.

FULL MOON OVER THE GULF

SUNSET OVER THE GULF

This is one of the buoys that was impossible to see in the fog, as big as they were!

We managed to get through the channel without hitting one of those suckers!  Just call us the “FOG MASTERS’!!  We’re getting the practice, thats for sure.  

We settled into our anchorage off Dog Island around 9:30 am, ate a good breakfast and took a few hours nap.  Enjoyed the rest of the evening. The full moon was beautiful.

Morning came and Ed went topside as usually to greet the day.  He yelled down to me, that there is an eclipse going on!! Either that, or someone is trying to steal the moon!!!

Lunar Eclipse!!

Weighing anchor at sunrise and heading for Saul Creek, off the  Apalachicola River.  There is another big blow coming across with wind gusts 30 +, so going to find a peaceful spot to hole up for the weekend.  Happy Easter everybody!

CEDAR KEY

We left Johns Pass after taking care of business in town and saying goodbye to our dear friend Cathy. We left out the pass and sailed up the coast outside to Anclote Key, approximately 35 miles to the anchorage.  This is another spot we had wanted to visit on the way down, but due to Shamrock's issues, we were on the hard instead.  This was a very quiet anchorage and a stop over for the run up to Cedar Key.  All we did was rest, enjoy sunset, and sunrise while under way.

Anclote Lighthouse

Sunset

Sunrise

It was a long day up to Cedar Key, 10 hours.  But we had great winds out of the west northwest 12-20 knots, to allow us to motor sail the first half and to sail the second half of the day.  We sailed almost as fast as we motored!  Manatee loves to sail on the higher winds.

This is what they do with all those crab and lobster traps we have to navigate around!

Seahorse Key, in the Cedar Key area

We found our protected anchorage off Cedar Key and Atsena Otie Key, a natural wildlife refuge.  We were planning on leaving here this morning for the crossing to Carabelle, a 20 hour run.  Upon awakening this morning and listening to NOAA, we are going to take a rest day and leave tomorrow instead, when the winds are PREDICTED to be a little calmer!  We'll leave by noon tomorrow and should reach Dog Island off Carabelle by Friday daylight.  This works out well, we will be able to see the Jimmy Buffett Playlist Concert on Margaritaville TV tonight! yay!

PELICAN BAY TO JOHNS PASS

Heading north, and the weather is getting chillier in the mornings!  Once the sun comes up, it warms up.  We arrived in Pelican Bay and found a perfect anchorage, tucked up close to the shore.  We really like this anchorage, in the same bay as the entrance to Cayo Costa State Park and part of the waterway that Manatees migrate to.  Upon anchoring, the couple in the next boat, a large catamaran, came by in their dinghy and asked if we knew that there was a canal leading to a small lake where Manatees are hanging out right now, its mating season.  It will be a nice dinghy ride for the afternoon. We had planned on staying here for a couple of days and enjoy the scenery. 

Entrance to the lake with Manatees

We took the dinghy out and watched Manatees floating on the water.  I didn't get pictures tho, we met a couple who were cruising on a trawler from Wisconsin. We started talking, ended up talking for quite a while as we watched the manatees come up and down.

We spent the remainder of the day walking through the state park to the gulf, took a nice long walk on the beach, dinghied around the islands.  We revisited the island where we had that very strange encounter with the family and the stray children.  We still haven't decided just what that was all about!

Cactus Flower, at Cayo Costa State Park

Walking through the state park to the gulf

The gulf side 

Sea Urchin shell!  (but already broken and they are super fragile, left it there)

The abandoned tent, on the island where the family and children were

The beach we walked, where the children were playing in the sand, and walked through those mangroves to meet up with us a second time

We were ready to move on after a couple days enjoying the solitude of Pelican Bay.  We weighed anchor at first break of day and motored up the ICW to Sarasota.  We decided to take a mooring ball at Marina Jack's again and walk into the Whole Foods Market for fresh produce.  It was a nice quiet run up the ICW. Raised the sails for a little while, opened bridges, played with the dolphins.  

This guy came up right next to me, along the side of the boat!

Another boat was watching also, this is actually 2 VERY playful dolphins, the other spectator thought it looks like mating season for them too!

EAGLE!

The back of the elementary school that was right on the ICW, Venice

Sailing!

Egmont Key Lighthouse

The entrance to Johns Pass, more "boys and their toys", this guy was really good. Kite Surfing!

Arrrgghhh!! Pirates!

We first anchored in Boca North Anchorage, up a short channel from Johns Pass Marina.  A storm blew in (we knew it was coming) around 1:00 am.  Ed sat up in the cockpit for over an hour monitoring our position.  He was concerned about the anchor dragging.  The wind was blowing out of the northwest 35-40 knots with higher gusts.  Sure as he suspected the anchor started dragging.  So in pouring rain and wind we got the anchor up and went straight for the marina.  Luckily no other boat was there, and we got all secured and safe by 3:30 am.  We were heading there the next day anyway! The marina staff remembered us from being there in January on Shamrock.  They were very accomodating to us. 

We had another great visit with Cathy, and she was able to cart us around town to do our errands and take care of mail.  It is worth coming back regularly to Johns Pass, to see Cathy and she helps us so much with needed errands that come up.  My brother Dan and his wife Lori came for a visit from Cocoa!  

We're lucky people!!