Jackson AL, to Marathon FL

Total Miles Traveled since departing Green Turtle Bay 1958

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After departing Jackson Alabama on November 1^st, we traveled 60 miles to an anchorage on the Tensas River cut, about 40 miles from Mobile, AL.  We cannot be south of this location until November 2^nd due to our marine insurance policy, which is also the end of hurricane season.

Frost on the deck!  We have to get farther south!

On November 2^nd we traveled 29 miles to another anchorage at Big Briar Creek, Mobile Bay was still a little choppy, so this is a good place to time the bay for good crossing conditions.  We traveled 65 miles on November 3^rd, passing through the ship channel at Mobile, crossing the bay, stopping at LuLu’s for a burger, then to one of our favorite anchorages at Pirates Cove.

After 3 days at Pirates Cove, we traveled 65 miles on the 7^th to an anchorage at Destin Florida, another one of our favorites.

Too late to get a pic before the cleaning started.

We have been watching the weather closely and a cold front is approaching our area in a few days with high winds and possible severe storms.  We traveled 70 miles on November 10^th to an anchorage at Pearl Bayou, near Panama City. 

This boat has been here for several years from a previous storm, looks like someone made it home.

On November 11^th we traveled 41 miles to a marina at Port St Joe.  This is a great little town with plenty of shops and restaurants within walking distance from the marina.  We have stayed here twice before, but hurricane Michael destroyed the marina and all the boats docked here a few years ago.  The new marina opened last fall, with all new docks, a dry stack, and ships store.  This was a good stop as we had 25-30 mph winds when the cold front passed through.  We stayed here a week, timing a good weather window to cross the Gulf of Mexico.

 

The lighthouse attendant is cleaning the lens.

I was due for oil changes in the engines and generator, we haven't used the folding cart since last year, looks like we had a stowaway.  Found an Advance Auto to take my used oil.

We departed Port St Joe on the 17^th, anchored at Carrabelle Beach for one night, then arrived at C-Quarters marina in Carrabelle for fuel and supplies before our Gulf crossing.

On November 19^th we departed the marina and anchored at Dog Island, a barrier island of the Gulf.  We anchor here to prepare the boat for the crossing and try to squeeze in a nap.  The crossing from Dog Island to Clearwater Florida takes us about 22 hours.  We leave the anchorage at 3 p.m. to arrive near clearwater around 10 a.m., as we approach the coast, there are several crab pot floats we must dodge.  When the sun is rising, the glare on the water makes it almost impossible to see them and running over a float, with a line connected to the pot on the sea floor, can wrap around the prop and drive shaft stalling the engine.  The sun is high enough around 10 o’clock making it easier to see the floats.  We departed the island at 2:30 p.m. and traveled 177 miles arriving at our anchorage at Clearwater Beach at 11:54 a.m...

 It's very rare to see the Gulf this flat, this was one of our best crossings.

We watched the sunset until it disappeared over the horizon but were unable to witness the notorious green flash.

Rut Roe, someone didn't plan the course very well.  We crossed a space capsule recovery zone, good thing is was a none event.

Navigating in total darkness.

We had a partial moon until after midnight.

And an awesome sunrise..

After a 2-day rest, we departed our anchorage November 23^rd traveling 57 miles to an anchorage at Sarasota, then continued another 40 miles on the 27^th to an anchorage at Cape Haze.  

As we approached the Sunshine Skyway Bridge crossing Tampa Bay, these fishermen give you an idea how shallow the water is throughout the west coast of Florida.  Drifting out of the channel is not an option. 

 The four lane bridge is over 4 miles long across Tampa Bay. 

 I don't miss the traffic at all.

This ship, traveling at 14 mph is approaching the bridge, I'm traveling 8 mph so I'm pretty sure we can cross the channel before he gets to us......okay, I picked up rpm's just to be on the safe side and we had a good quarter mile to spare.

While anchored at Cape Haze, we dropped the dinghy and visited Don Pedro Island State Park.  Although the park is closed due to hurricane Ian, we were able to access the beach and spend a couple of days relaxing and enjoying the mild weather.

There are still a few boats strung across the coast from hurricane Ian

Lots of shells.

We weighed anchor on the 27^th and traveled 14 miles to another favorite anchorage at Punta Blanca Island.  We dropped the dinghy and cruised a couple of miles to Cabbage Key for a burger in paradise. 

 

We've been cruising with our friends Steve and Jan on m/v Forever Young since Kentucky Lake.  They were also trying to find a slip somewhere and helped us get into Marathon.  

After the wind finally calmed down, we weighed anchor and arrived at Laishley Marina at Punta Gorda.  We have been anchored for 9 days and this is a good stop to resupply.  Our friends Larry and Linda on m/v Lila Blue bought a “new to them” boat this year and have moved it here from the east coast.

Our cruising plans are continually changing, we were on several waiting lists this summer for dockage in the Keys, but everything was reserved.  We decided to go to the Bahamas instead but received word of an available slip at Marathon through our friends Steve and Jan.  We departed Punta Gorda on December 1^st and cruised 51 miles to an anchorage at Glover Bight, near Cape Coral, FL.  From this anchorage to Marathon will be in Gulf open waters and we have a good weather window to make the jump.  On December 2^nd we weighed anchor and cruised 47 miles to an anchorage at Marco Island.  I thought I’d try out a new lure I purchased a Port St Joe.  I think it was a good choice.

 10 pound 35 inch Kingfish Mackerel

Our friends from Terre Haute, Indiana Steve and Libby on m/v San Souci have also anchored at Marco and have a slip reserved at Marathon, this should be a great winter!

We planned to leave Marco Island at daybreak but were fogged in until 9:30, we are 64 miles from our next anchorage and wanted to be there before dark.  When the fog lifted, we had about a half mile visibility when we left the harbor, but after a few miles on the Gulf, another fog bank rolled in

Here we go again.....

Another set of eyes in the fog never hurts...

We anchored at Little Shark River offshore just as the sun was setting.  Although we were a half mile offshore the Gulf was mostly flat all night.

We weighed anchor at daybreak with clear skies and calm seas but that didn’t last long, about an hour into our 51-mile cruise to Marathon, the fog rolled in again.  Hmmm, either we have wind and waves or calm seas and fog.  The fog finally cleared around 11 a.m. and we arrived at our slip in Marathon at 2:30 on December 4^th.

We caught a few Spanish Mackerel on the way to Marathon but we have plenty of fresh fish to last us awhile so we released them.