St Lucie Lock and Dam
On November 15 we were near Stuart, Florida. We docked on the St. Lucie River at the beginning of the canal that travels across Florida. This is the Okeechobee Waterway which includes Lake Okeechobee.
It was nice to return to this place where our dream of doing the Great American Loop began. In November of 2016, while camping there in our RV, we saw a Ranger Tug. We then started looking, and we bought a 27 foot Ranger Tug which we named "Aisling" (means Vision) We started our Great American Loop journey on Aisling in the summer of 2017.
A year later, in November of 2017, while again camping here, we saw an Endeavour TrawlerCat 36. We started looking for one and we bought one which we named "Aisling Gheal" (means Bright Vision) After selling the Ranger Tug, we again started our Great American Loop journey from Cape Canaveral, FL in March of 2018.
We now are continuing the Great American Loop on our third boat, a Rosborough 25 named "Aisling Nua" (means New Vision).
Travel across the Okeechobee Waterway
Tuesday, November 15, Travel Day 16
We were on our way to Indiantown Marine - a short run of 14 miles. It was a nice cruise. Indiantown is a very nice landlocked marina to be in case of a hurricane.
Wednesday, November 16, Travel Day 17
We got an early start of 7:30 so that we could get across Lake Okeechobee, a large lake that can get VERY rough with wind. We had a lock to go through that lifted us up 2 1/2 ft. Although this large lake can be very rough in strong winds, we had perfect weather. We were across Lake Okeechobee in 3 hours. It was a very clear and calm crossing. We had one more lock before we would be at Port Labelle Marina where we were going to spend the night. Jeff was able to do the line work at the dock. His ribs are healing. We had a very pleasant night with the temperature in the upper 50's.
Thursday, November 17 Travel Day 18
We left LaBelle Marina at 8:00 am. It was a sunny day with 10 mph winds. We went through our last lock on the Okeechobee waterway. At noon we went past Ft. Myers with 15 mph wind behind us. We cruised past several Ft. Myers marinas which had been destroyed in the recent Hurricane Ian. We saw wrecked boats being salvaged with large cranes. We were now on Florida's West Coast.
West Coast Florida
We were looking forward to docking at Cabbage Cay and experiencing the restaurant. Hurricane Ian had damaged this place, but they were able to re-open the restaurant rather quickly. This was because it had been built on a prehistoric Calusa Indian shell mound and is one of the highest points in all of Southwest Florida.
The docks had sustained major damage from Hurricane Ian, and they lost the electric service at the docks. However they had room for our little boat to tie up for the night. We were very happy to get the wonderful help and direction from the dock hand, Jeff. We enjoyed our evening of a wonderful meal. The boat was rocked all night from a northeast wind. We used the diesel stove heater in the morning to take the chill off the cabin.
History of Cabbage Cay
In 1936 Alan and Gratia Houghton Rinehart bought this undeveloped land to build their "island dream" winter estate. The main building has six working fireplaces, a storm shelter, and a rainwater collection system with 12,000 gallons of storage built into a concrete foundation. There is a water tower which the Rineharts built and is still used today. The water tower has a capacity of 6,000 gallons and has weathered many storms since the 1930s. The only way to get to the island is by boat.
Friday, November 18 Travel Day 19
As we left Cabbage Cay we saw a dolphin. It was a cloudy day with a 23 mph wind. We went across Charlotte Sound with 2 - 3 foot waves on our starboard (right) side. Barbie felt very safe being rocked side to side at almost 45 degrees knowing that this boat would right herself. After all she was built to take the rough weather off Nova Scotia!
We did change our heading a bit to make the ride smoother. Once in the channel we had no more rocking. It was very comfortable. We went to Sarasota's Marina Jacks, a very large marina with 50+ foot boats and several commercial tourist fishing/sight seeing boats. We walked 0.8 miles to Whole Foods and bought some provisions.
Saturday, November 19 Travel Day 20
As we left Marina Jacks at 7:15 we had 6 mph winds and a temperature of 56. It was mostly cloudy. By 9:00 we were in Tampa Bay and by 10:20 we were across the Bay. We again had a rather bumpy ride. We arrived at our marina in Clearwater. Due to weather we stayed Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights. Weather predictions look good for traveling on Tuesday, November 24.
Sunday, November 20
Stayed at the marina in Clearwater Beach. Sunday and Monday were "wait for weather" days. We did some boat projects and explored the restaurants in this beach town.
Monday, November 21
We rented an Enterprise car. We thought we were getting a truck. However the truck wasn't available so we were given a RED MUSTANG convertible! Barbie really enjoyed the POWER!
We drove to Tarpon Springs, and ate lunch on the waterfront at Demitri's. Tarpon Springs was settled by Greeks who brought their food, cooking and sponge collecting skills with them. It is a very busy touristy town.
Tuesday, November 22 Travel Day 21
Leaving Clearwater Beach, we had to make three long passages in unprotected water. These passages would take us across the large expanse of the Gulf of Mexico. Some boats choose to do a direct crossing of 175 miles which would be about 20 hours offshore and overnight!
Instead, we chose to do the crossing over three days of about 70 miles each day, in daylight, and staying much closer to shore. We planned to stop at marinas in Crystal River and in Steinhatchee before crossing the Gulf of Mexico to Carabelle, FL.
Leaving Clearwater Beach, the wind was forecast from the North - North East at 8 - 10 mph . The wind increased to 12 - 15 mph and waves were 2 feet with some white caps. However the ride was very comfortable since the wind was coming toward us. We experienced battery low voltage problems and had to turn off our autopilot for two hours. The autopilot requires a large amount of electrical power.
By 1:00 the wind was decreasing and the batteries had increased in volts. The auto pilot was again steering with winds at 7 - 8 mph. We were getting into more shelter from the east winds and waves were less than 1 foot.
We were docked in our slip at the Crystal River Marina by 4:50. We had a nice quiet night.
Wednesday, November 23 Travel Day 22
This day we traveled about 70 miles to Steinhatchee. We stayed at the new marina there. The first slip we went into did not have 30 amp electric and our 50 amp electric adaptor did not fit into the receptacle. We had to move to a different slip. There was very little wind and Barbie went in bow first so there was no problem getting into the slip. Unlike other marinas, this one had no singe dedicated fuel dock. We were surprised that gas and diesel fuel was available at each slip.
There were 4 other loopers at the marina. All of them are going south. We are the only looper going north.
Crossing the Gulf of Mexico
Thursday, November 24, Thanksgiving Day Travel Day 23
We left the Steinhatchee dock at 7:20. We were excited that this was our passage to cross the Gulf of Mexico. This would take us about 50 miles from the nearest shore as we crossed open and unprotected water!
It was a foggy morning with the temperature 63. By 8:00 am the fog was lifting so visibility was getting better. We changed time zones so we are now in Central Time Zone instead of Eastern Time Zone. We will be in this time zone until we get past Chattanooga, TN. We got a nice push from the 10 - 12 mph wind that was behind us. We arrived in Carrabelle and were at our slip by 3:30.
Traveling the Panhandle of Florida
Friday, November 25, Travel Day 24
We left the Carrabelle dock at 8:45. It was VERY FOGGY and we had a hard time seeing navigation aids. By 10:45 the fog lifted. We saw dolphins.We were going to Apalachicola Town Dock. At 12:30 Barbie made a big circle to head the boat out of the harbor and did NOT pay attention to the chart. There were LARGE shrimp boats tied at the dock so she assumed there HAD to be PLENTY of water. Well, we went aground!
This time we did NOT try to use the engine too much to try and get us off. This could damage the engine by sucking up sand. Instead we called for help from SeaTow.
SeaTow was able to get to us within 30 - 45 min. They towed us off the sandbar to deep water where we re-started the engine. By 2:15 we were in a slip at the City Dock South of bridge and we had electricity. We enjoyed visiting the town brewery and the seafood restaurant.
Saturday November 26 Travel Day 25
We stopped at St, Andrews Municipal Marina and bought fuel. By 4:15 we were anchored in West Bay. We had traveled 77 miles. This was the first time we had anchored for the evening on our cruise. We used the Rocna anchor which did a good job holding us this night. However the boat keep swinging from side to side. Jeff rigged an anchor bridle to help prevent this.
Sunday, November 27 Travel Day 26
After a VERY bumpy night with wind speeds of 15 - 20 miles per hour, Barbie made breakfast on the Wallas diesel cooktop. It worked very well. The Wallas has NO control over the temperature of the cooking surface. However, the left side is HOT and the right side is warm. Barbie successfully made hash browns, egg and sausage for Jeff and oat bran and sausage for herself.
The next night we went to a restaurant, Juana's Pagodas. They had a few slips. However, the wind was blowing so hard and we decided we could NOT get into the slip. There was a boat ramp with a dock that we tied to and ate supper at the restaurant. As we were leaving the restaurant we were told we could not keep the boat there all night. We motored into the bay and anchored again using the bridle that Jeff had put on the anchor. It was a very pleasant night.
Monday, November 28 Travel Day 27
That night the batteries were running low. At 1:00 am we ran the engine for a half hour to charge the batteries. In the morning Barbie cooked breakfast on the Wallas. We are glad that we have the Wallas - it provides heat for the cabin and cooking does not use electricity except to run a fan. The Wallas runs on diesel (the only diesel on the boat).
By 8:20 we were on our way to Wharf Marina. The wind had died down during the night and it was a calm, sunny day. This was a very nice passage of 50 miles. Wharf marina had fuel and modern docks.
Tuesday, November 29 Travel Day 28
We were on our way to Dog River Marina by 7:30. The winds were 12 - 15 mph and we were going with the wind. It was a very pleasant ride. We only had 28 miles this passage. We arrived at Dog River Marina in Mobile, AL. We had made arrangements for a mechanic to do the 100 hour routine maintenance on our engine -- changing the oil and filters.
Wednesday, November 30
The prediction was to have a strong storm coming to a tornado-prone area called "Dixie Alley." We were a little bit south of the area. Wednesday morning around 6:00 we had a lot of lightning and thunder and rain. By 7:00 the storm had passed but the wind was continuing to blow. We were tied up and safe at Dog River Marina. The marina has a courtesy car which Barbie had signed up to use at the 8:00 - 10:00 time. The rain had stopped and she went to Publix Grocery Store to buy provisions. Jeff stayed on Aisling Nua waiting for the engine mechanic to come.
Our planned route from Mobile
We had successfully crossed the open water upper part of the Gulf of Mexico by taking three shorter hops instead of a 178 mile direct crossing. We were pleased that this major passage was behind us.
Dog River marina was about 12 miles from the start of the Tombigbee Waterway. We were now ready to travel the last 12 miles to the beginning of the Tombigbee Waterway which will take us 450 miles into the Tennessee River. Once on the Tennessee River we will travel 350 miles to Kingston, Tennessee, our home marina.
