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.

Chattanooga, TN to Jackson, AL

Total Miles Traveled 1043

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After departing Chattanooga, and anchoring for a few days, we stopped at Decatur Alabama at the Ingalls Harbor city dock.  The harbor has two long floating piers to tie to, and the city provides them free of charge.  Before reaching the harbor, we were stopped by a passing train.  It reminded us of our hometown in Indiana, very seldom could we cross town without being delayed by a passing train.

Our last anchorage before Decatur.

Our friends Steve and Libby were traveling through the area by car on the way to their boat (m/v San Souci) at Columbus Mississippi and stopped by to pay us a visit.  They had a rental car with their luggage, but all six of us managed to squeeze in for a short ride to a downtown restaurant.

On October 4^th, we traveled to the marina at Florence, Alabama to visit some of the attractions in the area.  This is a great marina with floating docks, a good restaurant, and a courtesy car. 

The Rattlesnake Saloon is located across the river near Muscle Shoals Alabama.  The Seven Springs Lodge is located here also which offers a campground, horseback riding, hiking trails, and a cool under the rocks saloon.  

After arriving at the parking lot, a pickup truck picks us up and takes us down a winding dirt road to the saloon.

We had to swing by the Coon Dog Cemetery, where more than 185 coon dogs are laid to rest.  Only registered coon dogs are permitted.

Fields of cotton......

Our last stop was Muscle Shoals, home of the Muscle Shoals Sound where world class artists such as Paul Simon, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Rolling stones, Bob Seger, and many more have recorded here.  The Muscle Shoals Documentary video on Prime and other streaming services is very interesting.

We departed Florence on October 7^th and traveled 38 miles to an anchorage at Panther Creek on Pickwick Lake.  

A great advantage of anchoring with Steve and Jan is their onboard smoker......awesome!

As we were rafting up, the bow thruster on Forever Young made a strange noise, then failed to move the boat.  This is a big deal as the boat has a single engine and we have several locks ahead of us.  Steve braved the 70-degree water to investigate the problem. 

Steve found the propeller was free wheeling indicating a sheared pin, or the propeller itself, requiring a haul out and repair at Safe Harbor Aqua marina, about 6 miles from our anchorage.  Moni and I decided to take advantage of the awesome weather and anchored at Zippy Branch for a few days before joining several of our friends at the marina on October 13^th.  During our 4-day anchorage we discovered one of our battery banks was not holding the charge that is should, so we ordered new batteries to be delivered at the marina.

Boston Butt from the smoker!

After all our repairs were made, and visiting with our boating friends at Aqua, we traveled 37 miles on October 18^th to an anchorage at Bay Springs, an awesome body of water just before the first lock on the Tenn-Tom waterway.  This is one of our favorite places to anchor, clean water, abundant wildlife, and several secluded protected anchorages.  We saw eagles, a beaver, and a flock of turkeys flew in front of the dingy while we were exploring the area.

The girls had fun with a little beach art, this guy looks really stoned.

All sorts of critter tracks.

On October 22^nd we traveled 39 miles and through 4 locks on the Tenn-Tom waterway, anchoring near the Wilkens Lock and Dam. 

Sunrise preparing to enter the Wilkens Lock.

We passed through an additional 3 locks on October 23^rd arriving at the Columbus Mississippi marina.  Our friends Steve and Libby (m/v San Souci), and Sonny and Phyllis (m/v Corkscrew), are both here so we had a great visit and an evening dinner at a local restaurant.

We departed the marina on October 25^th, passed through 2 locks, and anchored at Cooks Bend, then on the 26^th we continued through another lock to an anchorage at Rattlesnake Bend near Demopolis, Alabama.  This is another great anchorage and during a full moon!

Traveling down the Tenn-Tom waterway past the white cliffs of Epes.  The white cliffs of Epes are part of the Selma Group, a geological formation in North America.  Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the Selma Group.

Do you think they have a clue how close it is to Thanksgiving?

We stopped at Kingfisher Bay marina at Demopolis Alabama for one day to get supplies before heading south, Demopolis is the last place to provision until Mobile Alabama, over 200 miles away.  

Steve pulling his cart full of goodies to the boat with his electric bike.

After passing though the Demopolis Lock on October 29^th, we anchored at Bashi Creek traveling 71 miles.

We were surprised to encounter a section of fog about an hour after exiting the lock.  A good test for the fog horn, navigation lights, AIS (automatic identification system), and radar.

Fortunately we did not meet any tows and it only lasted a mile or two.......but that was more than enough. 

Just before arriving at our anchorage at Bashi Creek, I spotted this big guy sunning himself.  Bashi Creek is very narrow and remote, I don't think we'll do any exploring during our stay.

Bashi Creek

We were delayed by fog again on the morning of the 30^th, then when we arrived at our last lock at Coffeeville Alabama, we were delayed by tow traffic.  We were unable to travel the distance to our planned anchorage, so we anchored on the river near Jackson Alabama, traveling 50 miles.  

We have passed this vertical pipe coming out of the river with a good flow of water since 2015 and have know idea where it comes from.  There isn't any buildings or roads that we can see anywhere for miles?  Things that make you say huh?

A cold front is passing through with 15-20 mph winds, so we have decided to stay at this anchorage for another day.

We weighed anchor November 1st and traveled 60 miles to an anchorage about 40 miles from Mobile Bay.  The winds are still a little stiff for crossing Mobile Bay, so we'll anchor again tomorrow before crossing the bay on November 3rd.

An Alabama state trooper boat passed us this morning, and as we rounded a bend a few miles down river we came across this grounded trawler.

We assume he anchored overnight with water around the boat, but after leaving Coffeeville Lock we are now in tidal waters.  On top of that, we have almost a full moon, and the wind has been blowing out of the north for 3 days pulling water out of Mobile Bay.  He is hard aground so I'm not sure when he'll have enough water to float away.