Clearwater to Bradenton Loop Complete

December 11, 2010 Clearwater to Bradenton, Florida: Loop Completion. Well this is the big day, and we wake up to fog so heavy that even the birds are grounded. We can't move, because we can't see the other boat traffic or the channel markers. We can only wait and anticipate the final leg of our 5,000+ mile trip. Due to all the plans that have been put into motion to fly to Amarillo we know that at some point a decision has to be made to move out or stay put, there is another cold front coming in tomorrow and the move would be delayed another 3-4 days. At 11:30 am Wayne and I decide that we think it is time to go. As we move out, the fog is dense and travel is slow and cautious. As the day goes on, the conditions improve. We continue on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway through St. Petersberg, the point at which we started our loop adventure. We are looking for those magic numbers: N27 deg 43.426 min W82 deg 42.328 min. We will cross our "Wake" just off Maximo Point. All of a sudden there you are, you have completed an adventure at 2:24 PM, 9 months and 24 days after starting out into the unknown. We pulled into Twin Dolphins Marina with Ruth and Wayne, of High Spirits. We tied up and Ruth took pictures of our new Gold Looper flag. We had arrived at Bradenton, Florida on the night of their winter festival with streets filled with Christmas decorations, games, and a childrens choir. The night finished with the four of us toasting our completion of the loop and eating delivery pizza, watching a lighted boat parade. We will now pack and get ready to fly to Amarillo. What lies ahead? Who Knows.

Clearwater December 6, 2010

December 6, 2010 Clearwater. Today was kind of a knock around day, just staying out of the wind. We had breakfest out and then walked through a few shops, seeing all the things we did not need. When living on a boat, for something else to come aboard, something has to come off, so you tend not to buy alot of unnecessary stuff. Well we are making plans to come to Amarillo for a few days. Saturday we will make the last leg of our Great Circle Trip, we will go to St. Petersberg, Florida, this is the port at which we started. We will have traveled 5,214 miles by water, and over 1,100 miles by car. We have lived on the boat for 10 months. We will be looking for our next adventure. We want to see family, friends, and Doctors when we return December 13-21.

Tarpon Springs

December 5, 2010 Tarpon Springs, Florida. There are several Looper boats now at Clearwater and we have rested and decided to take the Jolly Trolly to Tarpon Springs where the Greeks have made this a thriving Sponge business center. The Jolly Trolly takes about an hour to get there and we arrive just about lunch time. We have to have lunch before the serious shopping can begin. Friends of Richard and Jill have recommended HELLAS as a great place to eat. The atmosphere was very festive and several large tables were having a good time. We traded turns with another table to take pictures of each group. At our table were Richard and Jill aboard Finally, Tom and Linda aboard Q's End, Eddie and Nancy aboard Dream Fever, Wayne and Ruth aboard High Spirits, and Claude and Yvette aboard Trusty III. Tom and Linda wanted a real show, Tom likes to play with fire anyway, so they ordered the Flaming Chesse, at which time everyone in the room yells out OOPAA. The meal and dessert were great. Next to see the sponge musem, where we saw a film of how the sponge harvest begin with a glass bottom bucket and long pronged poles. As the harvest required deeper and deeper depths, the diving suits were used. Nancy searched until she found the right sponge, I am not sure how one tells they have the right sponge, but she knows. Well back on the Jolly Trolly and back to the marina. Get ready for another day of chores.

Gulf of Mexico Crossing

December 3-4, 2010 Crossing the Gulf of Mexico from Carrabelle Florida to Clearwater Florida. The weather window to cross the gulf was now, once we start, we were committed to go. The wind was down, the water had laid down and the weather window was short. We had to go or wait another 6-10 days for the opportunity for another good window. Four boats had decided to make this crossing, Dream Fever, High Spirits, The Old Grouch, and Kim Jo III. We had our early morning briefing from Buddy, the local guru for the crossing, and the time was set to go at 11 am. The crossing is normally 18-20 hours depending on how fast you travel. This would mean that someone had to be at the helm the entire 18-20 hours. You can not get within 20-30 miles of Clearwater before daylight, because of the possibility of getting a crab pot wrapped around your shaft and props. That had happened to another boat and it snapped off their prop and shaft, so the timing of the arrival is important. The plan was to leave Carrabelle early to get as much distance between us and the cold front that was coming and then slow down once we got nearer to Clearwater. As we traveled, the weather was great, once the sun went down, you were constantly on watch for other boats, so we monitored the VHF and the radar, always watching the position of your companians and other boats merging to the same point. We had dolphins traveling with us, which is now becoming a common site. It is really dark on the Gulf at night and the stars are beautiful. Next morning as the sun begun to come up High Spirits was ahead of us and Ruth was calling out the locations of the crab pots, they were so hard to see with the sun in your eyes. We finally arrived at 9 am Saturday morning to a host of friends, Richard and Jill of Finally and Tom and Linda of Q's end. Our crossing was a total of 22 hours, because of our early arrival and had to motor around until daylight. Total distance was 191 miles. They helped us tie up, we rested and refreshed ourselves and went walking in the park and saw the large inflatable movie screen for the movie that night in the park. We then went to dinner at the Palms with Ruth and Wayne. Returned to the boat and CRASHED.

Port St. Joe to Carrabelle

December 2, 2010 Port St. Joe to Carrabelle, Florida. The sun is coming up on a very cold morning after a very windy night. The front has passed, the cold is here and it is time to move further East to Carrabelle to make our big Gulf Crossing. We are backtracking on the canal that brought us to Port St. Joe from the Intracoastal Waterway. We pass again the boats that have fallen to the wayside from negelect. They will only return to the sea as debris, never to be restored to days of glory. As we travel to the East, we will pass Apalachicola, we had hoped to have spent time there, but because of the narrow weather window to cross the Gulf, we must press on to Carrabelle. After entering Apalachicola Bay, we come upon a sailboat that has gone out of the marked channel and has grounded. The first boat on the scene is "The Old Grouch", no that is the name of his boat. He makes several attempts to pull the boat out, but was not able to free him. A tow boat will have to be called. As we cross St. Georges Bay, we come upon a clam harvest. I am not sure if they plant these clams or they just mass produce naturally. We have arrived at Carrabelle. It is hard to believe we are finally here. The Great Gulf Crossing. This is something many fret about, and are constantly concerned with WEATHER, or can I stay awake for 18 hours, and I hate to travel in the dark. Well, there is not much choice if you don't have a fast boat. We will leave Carrabelle at about 12 noon tomorrow. Friday, and arrive in Clearwater about 10 am on Saturday after running continuously for 18-20 hours. I may not write the blog until Sunday. I have sent a Float Plan to our Instructing Captains and to our Good Broker Friend. That is all for now. See you on the water.