The Crossing

Every blog about the Great Loop has an entry called "The Crossing".  If you have thought about doing the Loop then you know that at some point you will need to cross the Gulf of Mexico from somewhere in the Panhandle to somewhere in Southwest Florida. The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway ends at Carabelle, Florida so that is where most people cross from. The Intracoastal starts again in Tarpon Springs Florida. If you look at a map you will see that it is about 175 miles straight across. Instead of crossing straight you can also go around the "Big Bend" which means you can stay closer to shore and make a few stops. This sounds much easier but because of the weather and shallow waters this is not always true. As a Looper you need to decide the direction and the speed. The direction is either straight across or around the bend. The speed is either slow (7-10MPH) or fast (20-25MPH). As I said in my last post, every boat and every crew is different so there is no right answer. You also will probably want to travel with at least one other boat so you may need to compromise. Ginny and I had not decided what we were going to do until we started traveling with "FREE TO B". Gene and Ginny said they were going straight across and fast which sounded like a good idea to me so we decided to do that also. I was always going to go straight across but I was thinking about going slow (18 hours at night) instead of fast (8 hours all in daylight) because it would cost much more in fuel. If you read my last post about being out on the water in the dark you probably guessed that we would run in the day at speed.

The process is to first get the OK from Buddy, pray that he knows what he is talking about and then cast off the lines. In the late fall and winter there are not many good weather days to make the crossing so you could be in Carabelle for several days, if not weeks, waiting. When we left Panama City on Tuesday we kind of thought that the weather window would be on Thursday or Friday so we thought we would have time to get ready. On Wednesday morning at 6 it was freezing cold but we went to the meeting expecting to go back to bed afterwards - but Buddy said this was the only day in the next week to go and it was marginal. Gene was not very enthusiastic but he agreed to go and if it was rough we would come back. Actually he said that if his wave meter went off we were coming back. When Bob asked him later what his wave meter was he pointed to his lovely wife Ginny and said her. I also have a a wave meter named Ginny so I knew what he was talking about.

We cast off the lines at 7 and headed out. The only boats that were going fast were us and the "Mary Frances IV". We agreed that we would run at 20MPH and we would be in Clearwater by 4:30. I keep saying straight across the Gulf but you don't leave Carabelle and go straight South because you would be in the Gulf Stream where the waves were likely to be higher. Buddy said to go 15 - 20 miles due East and then head Southwest. The waves were rolling swells that seemed to go in all different directions so the boat was moving around quite a bit but not pounding like you would if the waves were closer together. Neither of our "wave meters" went off so we pushed on.

The "Mary Frances" was going to Tarpon Springs which was a little North and East of where we were going so we lost sight of them after about 6 hours. We later heard them talking to Sea Tow about possibly not having enough fuel to make it so Sea Tow came out and followed them into a safe harbor. The reason they were low on fuel was because the waves were steep and you need more power to get up each wave. My Port engine burns more fuel then my Starboard and I was also very low on fuel when we came in. About 2 hours before reaching Clearwater, FL my Starboard engine started acting funny. It would be fine and then would lose power for a few seconds and then come back. This got worse as we went on but I decided to keep going because I did not want to be in the Gulf at dark (see my other posts). We slowed down a little and Gene waited for us as we struggled. As we got the handle on that situation - the crab pot markers started. The four of us were standing on the helm yelling "left - right - straight ahead". The markers are supposed to be laid in a straight line, but Ginny and I looked like drunk drivers trying to get by them. We finally made it into Clearwater about 4:30 P.M - cleaned up the boat, had a drink and went to dinner. It is now the next day and all of the slow boats that went at night are starting to come in so we will see how their ride was.

I won't go on and on about the trip but I will say that is was not our most pleasant experience and I would not want to do it again in my boat - but we are here safe and sound.

Buddy

Saying goodbye at the dock

Leaving Carabelle

We still have a long way to go

I think this picture sums up the trip quite nicely