5 Looper couples (Gulf Cart, Golden Lily, Highlander, Freedom’s Turn and Baby Grand) were up at 5:30 to consult all the weather and navigational aids (NOAA, both maritime and aviation, on XM; Looper emails from those who have recently crossed, and local knowledge). At 6:30, we met with Buddy, harbormaster at Carrabelle, who has unique local information and forecasts. With today’s forecasted East wind, his recommendation was that if we avoided going directly across to Steinhatchee and stayed more in the shallower waters initially going towards Buoy 26, we would have less wind and waves.
We decided to go for it as the odds looked more in our favor and headed out at 6:45. It did start out initially pretty calm as this sunrise picture shows and we hoped to have these calm seas for the whole day, but by 9:30 we were rockin’ and rollin’ with 2-3 foot bow waves. We thought that we were back on Lake Superior as the Gulf was churning the same green color. It was so comforting to be with a Looper flotilla through these waters. We kept up a steady chatter on Channel 68 checking in with each other, warning of obstacles, and getting weather updates.
Bob and I have been cruising in these protected waters too long and forgot to really batten down everything. When the waves increased to 3-4 feet, our secondary anchor on our bow pulpit broke away and Bob had to go forward to secure it. Our dinghy also started to shift and more lines were needed. We won’t make those same mistakes again. Even the pelicans were having a hard time just flapping their giant wings and not able to get airborne again after snagging a catch.
The faster Looper boats, Golden Lily and Freedom’s Turn, reported back to us in the afternoon that they had sighted land and the seas were calmer. This was welcome news to we slow trawlers 90 minutes back. However, the new menace was the dreaded crab pots which lay in rows scattered throughout the shallower waters. These yellow and red crab pot markers look pretty innocent and colorful but their underwater lines can reach out and grab propellers and bring even the biggest boat to an abrupt halt. We did not want to be a casualty.
We made it to the Sea Hag Marina at Steinhatchee by 5:15 which left just enough time to thoroughly wash down our salt-encrusted teak boat and go out to dinner at Fiddlers to celebrate our adventure. Dinner was quite good but some entrees were a little too salty or maybe we were just permeated with salt from today’s Gulf emersion.
We decided to go for it as the odds looked more in our favor and headed out at 6:45. It did start out initially pretty calm as this sunrise picture shows and we hoped to have these calm seas for the whole day, but by 9:30 we were rockin’ and rollin’ with 2-3 foot bow waves. We thought that we were back on Lake Superior as the Gulf was churning the same green color. It was so comforting to be with a Looper flotilla through these waters. We kept up a steady chatter on Channel 68 checking in with each other, warning of obstacles, and getting weather updates.
Bob and I have been cruising in these protected waters too long and forgot to really batten down everything. When the waves increased to 3-4 feet, our secondary anchor on our bow pulpit broke away and Bob had to go forward to secure it. Our dinghy also started to shift and more lines were needed. We won’t make those same mistakes again. Even the pelicans were having a hard time just flapping their giant wings and not able to get airborne again after snagging a catch.
The faster Looper boats, Golden Lily and Freedom’s Turn, reported back to us in the afternoon that they had sighted land and the seas were calmer. This was welcome news to we slow trawlers 90 minutes back. However, the new menace was the dreaded crab pots which lay in rows scattered throughout the shallower waters. These yellow and red crab pot markers look pretty innocent and colorful but their underwater lines can reach out and grab propellers and bring even the biggest boat to an abrupt halt. We did not want to be a casualty.
We made it to the Sea Hag Marina at Steinhatchee by 5:15 which left just enough time to thoroughly wash down our salt-encrusted teak boat and go out to dinner at Fiddlers to celebrate our adventure. Dinner was quite good but some entrees were a little too salty or maybe we were just permeated with salt from today’s Gulf emersion.
