Preparing for the Crossing.

The Route for our  Crossing

Preparing for crossing the Gulf of Mexico actually started in Panama City where we filled our fuel tanks up with diesel.  My main concern on this boat is getting dirty fuel and clogging up the filters, causing the engine to not perform or to quit running.  After two days and over 100 miles in choppy, turbulent seas, we are confident we have good fuel for the crossing.  (The boat pitching and rolling in choppy water causes the fuel to slosh around in the tanks so if any junk is in there we most likely would have an issue by now.)  We have done our own Gulf crossing weather analysis, and since all weather data comes from NOAA we are liking what we see forecasted.  If at least 3 weather (wave height/wind speed) predictions agree, then our confidence goes up.  Also, other experienced Loopers are all doing their own independent assessment and have an opinion as well.  In the end, it is up to each captain to make the decision to go or not to go.

This morning (Friday 11, Nov) we will fill our fresh water tanks and prepare food to take to the fly bridge to minimize the trips down below.  A trip to the Ace Hardware Store and a last minute stroll through the local IGA grocery store will be made for any last-minute impulse junk food/gadget purchases.

A total of about 10 or so boats will be crossing today out of Carrabelle.  We have organized into 3 groups based on what speed our boats/crew are comfortable cruising at.   There are a couple of sailboats that cruise around 6-7 mph/gps, Viridian, Golden and Observer at 8.5 mph/gps and last group is 9-10 mph/gps.  These are the laid-back Loopers that require overnight passage.  Fast movers will do a daylight crossing, but I don't know if any of those are here.

We will leave Carrabelle at 2:00 and go through East Pass between Dog Island and St. George Island where we will begin our passage 153 miles across the Gulf to the "R4" red buoy northwest of Tarpon Springs.  The speed difference in the boat groups will soon separate everyone leaving the groups, with same speeds working together on a VHF channel unique to that group.  We will check on each other hourly by radio and maintain radar/ASI contact as well.  Looking forward to a good cruise.

BTW, here is some interesting history on Carrabelle according to Wiki:
In 1528 the first Spanish expedition of Pánfilo de Narváez passed through the area on its way from Tampa Bay to the Rio Grande. From the late 17th century through early 18th century a few passages referring to the area are mentioned. Carrabelle, Dog Island, and St. George Island served as points to stage raids on local ports as well as San Marcos de Apalache in 1677 and 1682.

In 1876 explorer Nathaniel Holmes Bishop of Medford, Massachusetts, navigated the Crooked River through the lowlands east to the Ochlockonee River. In 1877, Oliver Hudson Kelly from Massachusetts founded the town and named it "Rio Carrabella". The following year the first U.S. post office was established with its address as Rio Carrabella. By 1881 the population was between 500 and 600 people.

In 1891 the Carrabelle, Tallahassee and Georgia Railroad was established to connect Carrabelle northward through Tallahassee to the Florida-Georgia line and eventually terminating in Augusta, Georgia.

The City was chartered by the Florida Legislature in 1893.

On August 1, 1899, the 2nd hurricane of the season struck the area, almost destroying the town and leaving just nine homes.

In 1942, Camp Gordon Johnston was opened for the purpose of training amphibious soldiers on nearby beaches. The camp trained a quarter of a million men and closed in 1946.


On August 23, 2008, Tropical Storm Fay made its record fourth landfall in the state of Florida at Carrabelle.n 1528 the first Spanish expedition of Pánfilo de Narváez passed through the area on its way from Tampa Bay to the Rio Grande. From the late 17th century through early 18th century a few passages referring to the area are mentioned. Carrabelle, Dog Island, and St. George Island  served as points to stage raids on local ports as well as San Marcos de Apalache in 1677 and 1682.

In 1876 explorer Nathaniel Holmes Bishop of Medford, Massachusetts, navigated the Crooked River through the lowlands east to the Ochlockonee River. In 1877, Oliver Hudson Kelly from Massachusetts founded the town and named it "Rio Carrabella". The following year the first U.S. post office was established with its address as Rio Carrabella. By 1881 the population was between 500 and 600 people.

In 1891 the Carrabelle, Tallahassee and Georgia Railroad was established to connect Carrabelle northward through Tallahassee to the Florida-Georgia line and eventually terminating in Augusta, Georgia.

The City was chartered by the Florida Legislature in 1893.

On August 1, 1899, the 2nd hurricane of the season struck the area, almost destroying the town and leaving just nine homes.

In 1942, Camp Gordon Johnston was opened for the purpose of training amphibious soldiers on nearby beaches. The camp trained a quarter of a million men and closed in 1946.
On August 23, 2008, Tropical Storm Fay made its record fourth landfall in the state of Florida at Carrabelle.

Carrabelle, Last Stop on the Florida Panhandle

Looking back on yesterday's blog caused us to laugh so hard we almost got sick.  We just couldn't stop laughing looking at the pitiful photos and those were the good ones taken along the way to Port St. Joe.  The message we seem to convey through photos is pretty sad if all you can see is our post.  The truth is that huge bodies of windswept water in these bays we just crossed surround us.  The sun is low in the south and on clear blue-sky days it lights up the northern shore in a way I can't describe and a camera falls far short of capturing.  We are usually disappointed after reviewing our shots taken during the day because we just don't see in them what we experienced along the way.  There are times when exciting photo opportunities come up but we are too busy to fumble with a camera so it gets left out of our daily posting.  For example, yesterday we knew a tug named Creek was eastbound on the GIWW because we saw him pass PC Marina while we were preparing to leave.  He had an hour lead on us, but we knew we could catch him before the GIWW necked back down to a narrow canal.  We caught Creek just before entering the canal, but first we dealt with an ocean-going vessel crossing in front of us to dock at a paper mill to the north and a construction area caution zone under a bridge, all while F-22s out of Tyndall AFB were flying on afterburners right over Viridian while we tried to communicate with the tug under the bridge.  There were also two sailboats we had to overtake to get to Creek.  One sailboat had a really cheap radio, and the captain spoke with a thick accent, sounded like Watto, the Toydarian junk dealer in Mos Espa who bought Shmi Skywalker and her son Anakin from Jabba the Hutt. While all this was going on, Creek was scrubbing along the bottom of the channel kicking up thick dirt-filled seawater that Viridian was sucking into her engine cooler.  Once we passed the two sailboats (the channel goes to about 2 feet deep outside the marker buoys so all larger boats are confined to the channel) I contacted the captain of Creek and requested a pass.  He said we could come by on the 2-whistle on the next strait.  We were hugging the left channel markers trying to avoid the dirty water and trash kicked up by Creek.  We went to full power (note: that means going from 8.5 mph to 9.5 mph and a lot more noise) and crept between Creek and the red channel buoy and back into clean water.  After we passed we entered the narrows where most of our pictures were made.  Listening to the radio chatter, we heard that Creek had slid out of the last turn and was stuck in shallow water outside the channel.  The other boats behind him had to wait till Creek backed out and got going again. By then he had churned up a new channel.  The last thing we heard from the captain of Creek was, "I didn't understand a single word you said" to the one sailboat captain.  All this obviously can't be captured on a camera, but hopefully our readers can see that we are not just putting through the maritime junkyard on our way to the Gulf.


This morning we were up at 4 AM doing our usual routine andgot Viridian underway at first light.  We idled out of the marina and followed our bread crumbs back to the canal and back out to the GIWW. We made a turn to starboard that took us 60 river miles to the town of Carrabelle, FL.  Along the way we made a few photos but again, we are cruising through remote areas way off the beaten path till we reach the coast where there is nothing but water and sky.  However, while we were trying to make out the buoys against the sun in the south a bald eagle snagged a fish from the water in front of out boat, and dauphins are always catching a ride on our bow wave.  There is interesting chatter going on side channels on the VHF radio that give us some insight to commercial tug operators.  We also discovered that the tug Creek was ahead of us somewhere out of range of our AIS and we would have to pass him again today.  Well, we caught Creek again and he was stuck in the shallows out of the channel just after passing under the Bryant Patton Bridge that connects East Point with St. George Island over the Apalachicola Bay.  He had churned up more bottom material for miles and was making a big mess where he was stuck.  I radioed him to get permission to pass and so we went around him on the 1-whistle this time.  Viridian purred along north of St. George Island to East Pass where we will enter the Gulf of Mexico tomorrow at 3:00 PM for the crossing to Tarpon Springs.  Turning north after the Pass we sailed up the Carrabelle River to C-Quarters Marina, did a stern-first docking in light wind and current and tied off to creosote pilings for the night.  The Loopers self organized at a meeting on the dock and paired off into three cruising speed groups; slow, medium and fast.  Medium is where Viridian and two other boats, Golden and Observer landed (8-8.5 gps/mph).  We will all recheck the weather in the morning and decide yes/no.  If yes, we will all leave Carrabelle at 2:00 PM and cruise out East Past into the Gulf to the red "R2" buoy and make a beeline to red buoy "R4" just north of the Tarpon Springs channel just above Clearwater, FL.  If NO, we will spend at least a week in Carrabelle.  They have a great hardware store there.

That's the news and here's the views:

We are here

Our Route from Port St. Joe to Carrabelle, FL

 This goes down before the sun comes up!

 Apalachicola Bridge

 Looking out East Pass

 Lots of company today

 Now there are four!

 Entering Carrabelle via the Carrabelle River

 Viridian tied up

Supper at the Fisherman's Wife Restaurant